Meet Alexis Pacheco
I was very fortunate to fall into my passion at a very young age. Dance for me was an outlet and way to truly have a “voice”. It was and still is an extremely competitive and cut throat industry but the critique and competition seemed to fire me up to do better and be better. After nearly a decade battling with eating disorders as a professional dancer, I took matters into my own hands to find healthier ways to reach the desired aesthetic and still feel strong in my profession. The “way” for me was through truly understanding what it meant to be “healthy” from both a mind and body perspective.
I took a year off dancing as Captain for the Detroit Piston’s Dance Team and Detroit and Windsor Casinos in my late 20s to become a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine as well as Fitness Nutrition Specialist, Zumba instructor, Group Fitness instructor, Sports Performance Coach and began developing program plans for high school, college and professional dancers in the Detroit area. After working as a personal trainer I recognized that the primary factor to someone succeeding wasn’t actually the program plan they were on, it was their mindset about succeeding. This led me to want to know more about the psychology behind sports performance and goal setting, thus I received my masters degree from Michigan State University in Education with a specialization in Sports Coaching and Leadership. Although dancing and choreography were my craft, COACHING and TEACHING were the gifts that seemed to have the largest impact positively on people as a whole. I am humbled to have received Oakland University’s Award for Outstanding Alumni due to my contributions to dance in the Detroit area, most especially as the director for the dance program at Detroit Country Day School and Coach and Asst. Professor at Oakland University in Rochester, MI.
I have choreographed and trained some of the most widely recognized collegiate dance teams in the nation, but nothing fills my cup more than building community. I found my home in doing so at Life Time Fitness where I managed at three different locations, presented at the Empower Fitness conferences, acted as a Master Trainer for indoor cycle and facilitated training for STAGES indoor cycle instructors and AFAA Group fitness instructors. I have met some of the most amazing people on my journey of which I miss dearly and hope to reconnect with through Five Crown Fitness as well as welcome new people into our family.
In my opinion, the fitness world as a whole, much like the dance world, well much like the world- world is just too damn judgemental. Anyone who knows me knows my commitment to providing a space and place for people that is “judgement free” but part of that comes with knowing and understanding ourselves and giving ourselves grace and permission to be who we are. This site, this family, this community is in part, admittedly, self-serving for me. I TOO want a place where I can be myself. I TOO want a community that I can learn from and grow with. I need YOU as much as you need me. Our lives are changing. Times are changing. And I am thrilled for the opportunity to adapt, to grow, to learn and to connect on a wider scale with like-minded people.