Leadership

Our Instructors are lead by an elite cadre of strength professionals known simply as the StrongFirst Leadership. Our members of leadership are hand selected by Pavel Tsatsouline or Brett Jones because of their own dedication and practice of our principles and their ability to teach these principles and methods to others.

• Chief SFG: Our Chief SFG, Brett Jones, is tasked with maintaining the curriculum and standards for all of our Kettlebell Certifications and Courses. He is also responsible for developing and mentoring the rest of our SFG Leadership and SFGs (more on Brett Jones).
• Chief SFL: Our Chief SFL, Dr. Michael Hartle, is tasked with maintaining the curriculum and standards for all of our Barbell Certifications and Courses. He is also responsible for the development and mentoring of our SFLs (more on Doc Hartle).
• Chief SFB: Our Chief SFB, Karen Smith, is tasked with maintaining the curriculum and standards for all of our Bodyweight Certifications and Courses. She is also responsible for the development and mentoring of our SFBs (more on Karen Smith).
• Master SFGs: Our Master SFGs have reached the pinnacle of achievement in the world of kettlebell training and instruction. They are all hand-selected by Pavel for their ability not only to demonstrate the skills but also for their ability to pass these skills on to others. Master Instructors serve as the Lead Kettlebell Instructors at our Certifications. For a list of our Master SFGs, click here.

  Name	Country
  Tommy Blom	Lindome, Sweden
  Shaun Cairns	Somerset West, South Africa
  Andrea Chang	Seattle, WA, United States
  Jon Engum	Brainerd, MN, United States
  Michael Hartle	Fort Wayne, IN, United States
  Zar Horton	Albuquerque, NM, United States
  Brett Jones	Pittsburgh, PA, United States
  Peter Lakatos	Hungary
  Jason Marshall	Lubbock, TX, United States
  Doug Nepodal	Carpinteria, CA, United States
  Mark Reifkind	San Jose, CA, United States
  Phil Scarito	King of Prussia, PA, United States
  Karen Smith	McKinney, TX, United States
  Fabio Zonin	Isola Vicentina, Italy

• Senior SFGs: Our Senior SFGs have proven themselves as Team Leaders time and time again at our live Certification events. They are all hand-selected by Pavel for the ability to demonstrate skills and their ability to help teach these skills to others. Senior Instructors lead teams at our Kettlebell Certifications. For a list of Senior SFGs, click here.

  Name	Country
  Tim Almond	Booragoon, Australia
  Massimo Bonora	Ferrara, Italy
  Mark Cheng	Venice, CA, United States
  Lance Coffel	Portland, OR, United States
  Betsy Collie	Durham, NC, United States
  Paul Daniels	Foothill Ranch, CA, United States
  Steve Freides	Ridgewood, NJ, United States
  Hector Gutierrez	Corpus Christi, TX, United States
  John Heinz	Upper Black Eddy, PA, United States
  Gabi Katschthaler	Debrecen, Hungary
  Ronen Katz	Even Yehuda, Israel
  Jeremy Layport	Paso Robles, CA, United States
  Pavel Macek	Prague, Czechia
  Craig Marker	Peachtree Corners, GA, United States
  Brad Nelson	New Hampton, IA, United States
  Michael Perry	Chelmsford, MA, United States
  Prentiss Rhodes	Scottsdale, AZ, United States
  Delaine Ross	Atlanta, GA, United States
  Joseph Sansalone	Columbia, MD, United States
  Alexandre Senart	Paris, France
  Cole Summers	Winnipeg, Canada
  Derek Toshner	Fond du Lac, WI, United States
  Ryan Toshner	Brookfield, WI, United States
  Woochae Yoon	Seoul, Korea, Republic of

• SFG Team Leaders: Our Team Leaders have proven themselves as assistants at our events. They have been hand-chosen by either Pavel or Brett Jones. Team Leaders will lead teams, with help from our assistants, at our kettlebell Certifications. For a full list of SFG Team Leaders, click here.

  Name	Country
  Ferenc Acs	Budapest, Hungary
  Denzel Allen	New York, NY, United States
  Jody Beasley	Birmingham, AL, United States
  Claire Booth	Bracknell, United Kingdom
  Laura Callegari	PADOVA (PD), Italy
  Anne Casstevens	Salt Lake City, UT, United States
  Bruno Castro	New Orleans, Brazil
  Michael Castrogiovanni	Campbell, CA, United States
  Myren Constantine Fu	Singapore, Singapore
  Rachel Darvas	Budapest, Hungary
  Kevin Dea	Ardmore, PA, United States
  Sara Dos Santos	New Orleans, LA, United States
  Ron Farrington	East Hanover, NJ, United States
  Ric Garcia	Modesto, CA, United States
  Mira Gracia	Portland, OR, United States
  Tony Gracia	Portland, OR, United States
  Marty Gutowsky	Arlington, VA, United States
  Debbie Hayes	Silver creek, GA, United States
  Valerie Hedlund	San Clemente, CA, United States
  Scott Iardella	Parkland, FL, United States
  Martine Kerr	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  Louka Kurcer	Pierrefonds, Canada
  Piers Kwan	Brisbane, Australia
  Jun-Young Lee	Daegu, Korea, Republic of
  Scott MacIntosh	Johannesburg, South Africa
  Ivan Masperi	Brescia, Italy
  Stefano Massa	Napoli, Italy
  Benjamin Mayer	Zur Moshe, Israel
  Granville Mayers	Mississauga, Canada
  Matt McBryde	Nashville, TN, United States
  Jennifer Meehan	Alexandria, VA, United States
  Derek Miller	Springdale, AR, United States
  Steve Milles	New York, NY, United States
  Gary Music	Shelby, OH, United States
  Reneta Music	Shelby, OH, United States
  Brian Myers	Amarillo, TX, United States
  Roxanne Myers	Amarillo, TX, United States
  Analisa Naldi	San Francisco, CA, United States
  Ricardo Nieves	Sarasota, FL, United States
  Jason Pak	Somerville, MA, United States
  Lauren Perreault	Somerville, MA, United States
  Sarah Polacco	Brighton, MA, United States
  Tiago Proenca	PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil
  Oliver Quinn	Austin, TX, United States
  Sasa Rajnovic	Rijeka, Croatia
  Dustin Rippetoe	Guthrie, OK, United States
  Danny Sawaya	Tucson, AZ, United States
  Artemis Scantalides	Las Vegas, NV, United States
  Nikki Shlosser	Venice, CA, United States
  Tim Shuman	Orlando, FL, United States
  James Sjostrom	Midvale, UT, United States
  Mark Snow	Valley, NE, United States
  Jeff Sokol	Seattle, WA, United States
  Mike Sousa	Modesto, CA, United States
  John Spezzano	Los Angeles, CA, United States
  Jozsef Stefanovics	Tárnok City, Hungary
  Andzelika Stefanska	Kraków, Poland
  Yoana Teran	San Diego, CA, United States
  Mike Torres	Seattle, WA, United States
  Ervin Toth	Budapest, Hungary
  Asha Wagner	Concord, CA, United States
  Dariusz Walus	Zielona Gora, Poland
  Michael Wille	clearwater, FL, United States
  Brian Wright	Leesburg, VA, United States
  Jimmy Yuan	Phoenix, AZ, United States
  Arianna Zaccagnini	roma, Italy
  Cristian Zedda	Quartu Sant'Elena, Italy