About COMPASS
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About COMPASS /
Compass Fitness blends high-intensity training and intentional coaching to help people build strength, self-awareness, and connection—in and out of the gym.
We believe growth happens when we challenge ourselves with intention. Through thoughtfully designed workouts, meaningful coaching, and a community that shows up for one another, we help people become stronger in body, mind, and self.
WHY WE EXISTCome for the workout.
Stay because it’s something more.
At Compass, we believe fitness and community are two of the most powerful tools for personal growth.
Every workout is an opportunity to get stronger, move better, improve your health, and work toward your fitness goals. It’s also an opportunity to practice resilience, build confidence, and discover what you’re capable of. It’s a chance to challenge yourself, embrace discomfort, and come out stronger on the other side.
That’s why we care so much about how we train—and who we train alongside. The physical benefits matter, and they’re only part of the story. The strength, confidence, self-awareness, and connection people build along the way often extend far beyond the gym walls.
Every day, people walk through our doors looking for a workout. What they often find is something bigger: meaningful friendships, a stronger relationship with themselves, and a community that helps them keep showing up—both in the gym and in life.
THE HUMANS
BEHIND COMPASS
No ego. No intimidation. No yelling. Just experienced humans who know their stuff, coach with intention, care deeply about their clients, and are committed to helping you become stronger, more confident, and more capable—both in and out of the gym.
Our coaches bring decades of combined experience across strength training, conditioning, mobility, nutrition, physical therapy, and coaching psychology. While their backgrounds and specialties may differ, they all share one thing in common: a genuine passion for helping people grow.
SUNNEE
Owner, Coaching Psychologist,
Lead Instructor
WARNING Comes with puns you didn't ask for and a pep talk you didn't know you needed.
Sunnee is the owner of Compass Fitness, where she combines over 20 years of experience in fitness, nutrition, and coaching with a deep passion for helping people become stronger—in every direction.
Sunnee's connection to Compass goes back to 2019, when she joined as a personal trainer and instructor and fell for its community and unmistakably gorgeous space. She stepped into ownership in 2025—while finishing her master's degree—and, in a conversation with the founders, learned their visions were already aligned—carrying forward the culture Heather and Jillian built while adding a layer she'd spent years studying: coaching psychology.
A Colorado native, Sunnee has coached individuals and groups across cycling, kickboxing, TRX, mobility, personal training, nutrition coaching, and behavior change. She holds a Master of Science in Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, where her research explored how intense and intentional movement can strengthen self-awareness, resilience, confidence, and our connection to ourselves.
As owner, Sunnee's vision for Compass is simple: kicka$$ workouts, meaningful coaching, and a genuine sense of belonging. She believes fitness is one of the few places we voluntarily choose to do hard things—and in doing so, discover we're capable of more than we thought. It's a philosophy she brings into her own classes as much as into how Compass is run.
When she's not coaching, reading research papers, or dreaming up new ideas for Compass, you'll find Sunnee trail running, learning the ropes of overlanding, or chasing the perfect cup of coffee in the mountains—usually trying, and failing, to convince her cats, Moose and Monkey, that camping is as fun as she thinks it is.
AMY E
Instructor
WARNING: Side effects include being stronger than you thought and having way too much fun getting there.
Amy has been coaching for five years, focused primarily on strength and HIIT. She's currently pursuing her AL-P (Active Life Professional) certification, which looks past the obvious source of pain—that nagging shoulder or hip issue might actually be behind years of stubborn back pain—to help people work through limitations instead of just modifying around them indefinitely.
Amy describes her coaching style as Sour Patch energy: sweet, then relentless. She'll meet you where you are, but she's not letting you quit on yourself—and she counts it a win any time someone leaves feeling empowered, proud, and a little less stressed than when they walked in. What's struck her most about Compass, even as a newer member of the team, is how intentionally the community was built.
Outside of Compass, Amy runs her own personal training business, Ernst Longevity Training, built around the idea that your body should enable your life, not limit it. When she's not working, she's doing all the Colorado things—snowboarding, hiking, camping, photography—usually with her goldendoodle in tow, whose internal monologue she narrates out loud, unprompted. Her favorite trip was to Albania, and she genuinely cannot stop talking about it.
AMY H
Instructor
WARNING May Contain Showtunes.
Amy's coaching career started in 2014 teaching Air Conditioning—Compass's original trampoline fitness class—before expanding into strength, HIIT, and personal training, and eventually endurance running and triathlon coaching in 2022. She's a Certified Personal Trainer (NASM), an Endurance Running Coach and Corrective Exercise Specialist (UESCA), and a UESCA-certified Freestyle Swim Stroke Form specialist.
Amy describes her coaching style as a cheerleading camp counselor—she wants people to leave every class energized and genuinely glad they came, and loves nothing more than watching someone surprise themselves with what they're capable of. For Amy, what makes Compass different comes down to something simple: everyone here is just so nice.
When she's not at Compass, Amy works in theatre and spends a lot of time on the road for it, coaches endurance athletes virtually, and is rarely indoors—hiking, open water swimming, running, and camping whenever she can. She's married to a fellow fitness professional, and the two of them are kept plenty entertained by their two tiny chihuahuas. A self-described wordplay and Broadway nerd, she's not kidding about her warning label.
DREW
Instructor
WARNING You're going to learn a little more about me than you probably hoped to.
Drew has been training and coaching since 2018, with experience spanning personal training and group fitness—kettlebells, Animal Flow, Fitwall, Rumble, park boot camps, run clubs, Olympic lifting, and barbell landmine classes, among others. Rather than leaning on one certification, he's built his knowledge of exercise science, anatomy, biomechanics, and how the body moves format by format, picking up something new from every training style he's coached.
Drew loves watching people leave their comfort zones—that moment someone realizes they're stronger than they thought, usually right after he's handed them a heavier weight or a harder modification. He wants people to walk out of his classes exhausted, a little buzzed on dopamine, and mostly just proud of themselves. What sets Compass apart, in his view, comes down to the coaches: you can have the best equipment in the world, but it's the people who make you want to come back.
Outside of Compass, Drew is either at a music show or festival surrounded by people, or on the complete opposite end of the spectrum: horror movies, pizza, full couch-potato mode. He's genuinely into biomechanics, but just as into self-reflection—he takes understanding his own emotions as seriously as he takes his training. He eats the exact same post-workout snack every day, doesn't listen to music while he works out, and, by his own admission, is a little weird about it.
GIULIA
Lead Instructor + Personal Trainer
WARNING You're gonna do sh*t RIGHT.
Giulia has spent seven years coaching everyone from Division I athletes to CrossFitters, with a focus on strength and conditioning. She holds a BS and MS in Kinesiology and Health Psychology, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a Certified Health and Nutrition Coach, and is additionally certified in Barbell Rehab and Pain-Free Performance.
Giulia calls her approach an intentional, personalized style of coaching that helps people build strong bodies they're actually proud of—cueing closely so every client moves well, moves safely, and has fun doing it. She loves the moment a client hits a lift or a pull-up they didn't think was possible, or realizes something in everyday life just got easier because they got stronger. For Giulia, that's Compass in a nutshell: an educated, welcoming coaching staff that genuinely invests in its members.
Outside of Compass, Giulia runs her own personal training and nutrition coaching business, Evolve Strong, and fills the rest of her time biking, hiking, skiing, and nerding out over anatomy, movement science, and American frontier history documentaries. She's self-described as sassy and unafraid to curse—so it's no surprise her favorite class to teach is Lift Heavy Sh*t. One thing most members don't know: she is, by her own admission, a fantastic parallel parker.
KELLI
Instructor + Physical Therapist
WARNING May include cheesy slogans like ‘motion is lotion’ and ‘embrace the shake.’
Before she ever led a Compass class, Kelli spent six years working as a physical therapist, helping people recover from sports, orthopedic, and pelvic floor injuries. She holds a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree and is a Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS), and fully stepped into teaching at Compass in 2025 after years of coaching group fitness on the side.
Kelli describes her coaching style as relaxed and supportive, with a strong emphasis on intentional movement and good form—she wants people to leave feeling accomplished, energized, and better than when they walked in. What she loves most about Compass is the lack of ego: whether you're grabbing 5s or 50s, every workout meets you where you are, and the community shows up for each other without judgment.
Outside of Compass, Kelli is usually hiking in the mountains or playing cards at Denver Beer Co. with her husband and their dog. A self-described women's health nerd, she loves digging into how training and recovery shift across different life stages—and applying that research to help women train smarter. Long before physical therapy, Kelli spent from age three through college as a competitive dancer, including a stint on her college hip-hop team, The Bomb Squad—a rhythm she still brings into class.
LAURA
Instructor
WARNING: Your body will be fine, your eardrums may not.
Laura has spent nearly 20 years in the fitness industry, coaching everywhere from the US Navy to boutique studios, big-box gyms, health clubs, and private schools nationwide. Her expertise comes as much from her own body's history of injuries and chronic pain as it does from formal training—she's a personal trainer, a master trainer in foam rolling and trigger point work, a certified indoor rowing coach, and Program Co-Creator for Rhythm Road Cycling.
Laura's coaching is built around the how and the why—she wants people to understand that working out isn't one-size-fits-all, and that there's always a workaround for how they move. She hopes people leave her classes feeling empowered to move with confidence, in a gym that's genuinely inclusive of every shape, size, and goal. For Laura, that inclusivity is exactly what makes Compass feel like home—coaches and members alike who are approachable, easygoing, and genuinely engaged with each other.
Outside of Compass, Laura is usually trying, and failing, to convince her very indoorsy dog to enjoy the outdoors, traveling, or planning the next concert. Long before fitness, she lived in Switzerland working for the United Nations and later the State Department, mostly across Western Europe. She makes her own chai daily, nerds out over music, food, and wine, and loves teaching cycling most of all—because for her, music is what makes people push harder, faster, longer.
MAISIE
Instructor
Warning This class will make you a morning person.
Maisie started coaching in college back in 2011, earning her Turbo Kick and Body Pump certifications, and has since taught nearly every format on the Compass schedule, including spin and VersaClimbing. She holds an ACE Group Fitness Instructor certification, along with past certifications in VersaClimber and Les Mills.
Maisie describes her coaching style as golden retriever energy—let's hang out and have fun. What she loves most is watching people push past mental barriers and try things outside their comfort zone, and she hopes everyone leaves her class feeling a little lighter than when they walked in. For Maisie, Compass's community is what sets it apart: a support system that's shown up through injuries, job losses, marriages, and new businesses—programming and people you can actually trust, without chasing the latest trend.
Outside of Compass, Maisie works in public relations, backcountry skis, runs, and spends her free time with her husband, their doodle, and a long list of podcasts and audiobooks. In college, she was on an intramural curling team, self-deprecatingly named the Sweeping Beauties. Consider yourself warned: once you take her class, you might just become a morning person.
NIKIA
Instructor + Personal Trainer
WARNING: I have been known to weaponize encouragement.
Nikia has been coaching and personal training since 2012, and teaching group fitness since 2014—starting as a swim coach for a middle school team and adult triathletes before moving into strength training, athletic conditioning, HIIT, and running technique. She holds a NASM Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) and Physique & Bodybuilding Coach (PBC) certification, a BA in Psychology, a BS in Kinesiology, and a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification, and is currently beginning graduate school in Counseling Psychology.
Nikia coaches the individual in the room, not just the program—she wants to know why someone's there and what motivates them, and puts as much care into curating the room's energy, music, and connection as she does the programming itself. She's new to Compass, but what drew her in was the community itself: strong, hardworking members who are also genuinely kind to each other, in a space with a real no-ego culture.
Outside of Compass, Nikia is finishing grad school, helping her partner open a business, personal training, and starting work with Adventure Recovery, combining mental health, movement, and the outdoors. A former powerlifter, bodybuilder, and Ironman triathlete, she's also, by her own admission, a crazy plant lady. When she's not working, she's usually hiking or paddleboarding with her dog, Milo, chasing a sunrise with zero timetable.
VERONICA
Instructor
WARNING: Not responsible for the sudden realization that you are, in fact, stronger than you thought.
Veronica has been coaching for nine years, working as a personal trainer, spin instructor, and across HIIT, strength, and Lagree formats. She holds a bachelor's degree in Nutrition, a USA Weightlifting certification, and is Lagree certified.
Veronica describes her coaching style as supportive and empathetic—she'll coach you through moving with power on heavy lifts, and through staying mentally tough during grueling cardio intervals. What she loves most about coaching is meeting people from all walks of life and watching them improve over time, and she wants everyone to leave her classes feeling one thing above all: strong. For Veronica, Compass's edge comes down to its diverse skill sets, and a community, equipment, and programming strong enough to show in the space's longevity.
Outside of Compass, Veronica's world revolves around her kids, a good cup of coffee, and anything involving a barbell or kettlebell. She's hiked Mt. Fuji, is a huge Broncos fan, and somehow makes room in one day for strength training, hunting down great coffee, and making pizza.