HELLO I'M
As a young trainer, I spent long hours in the gym, grinding my way to a decent income and an unsustainable life. I needed a better way to work, but soon realized that if I wanted a roadmap to the career I deserved, I had to create my own.
I launched the Personal Trainer Development Center in 2011 with the goal of bringing my fellow fitness professionals the information, support, and business guidance they needed but couldn’t find anywhere else.
What We Do
Launched in 2011, the Personal Trainer Development Center serves a worldwide audience of fitness and nutrition professionals like you, with information and support for every stage of your career.
Click here to see our latest content or browse the 1,000+ articles in our archives.
The Online Trainer Academy is the world’s first education program for online coaches, and the only one with proven results. We’re so confident our acclaimed OTA Level 1 Certification will boost your bottom line that we offer a money-back guarantee.
Click here if you’re ready to start making more money with online training.
Launched in 2020, Online Trainer Coaching is a unique service for a unique audience: you. We’re the only online personal training service specifically designed for the needs of fitness professionals—personal trainers, gym owners, and nutrition coaches.
Click here to learn more about the only training program created by coaches, for coaches.
BOOKSTORE
Click here to learn how to get started or take your career to the next level.
Who We Are
The Personal Trainer Development Center team includes fitness, marketing, and publishing professionals with decades of experience in our specialties. We combine the skills we honed at some of the world’s top brands to bring you the most complete and authoritative career guidance in the fitness industry.
Jonathan Goodman
Jon launched the Personal Trainer Development Center in 2011; published Ignite the Fire, the first of his 11 books for personal trainers, in 2012; and founded the Online Trainer Academy, the first-ever certification for online fitness and nutrition coaches, in 2016. Originally from Toronto, Jon spends his winters traveling the world with his wife Alison and son Calvin. They’ve lived in 10 countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Thailand, Greece, and Montenegro.
Alex Cartmill
Alex has worn a lot of hats since he joined the PTDC in 2014 as an intern while he was still training clients. The biggest one began in 2016, when he got in on the ground floor of the Online Trainer Academy. He’s overseen the operation ever since, and now manages a team of eight coaches and mentors. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his dog Charlie.
Amber Reynolds
Amber is an OTA Level 2 graduate, OTA coach, podcast production manager, and our team’s gifting guru. When she’s not helping students, she’s running her own online personal training business and managing the chaos of a toddler and three rescue dogs.
Avigayil Basser
Avigayil not only has the longest title in PTDC history, she’s the only full-time staffer who’s trained to beat people up. She currently applies her BJJ skills at home in Toronto, where she and her husband tag-team against their two kids.
Bhavi Aloysious
Bhavi is a certified personal trainer and, not surprisingly, loves working out. She enjoys operating quietly in the background to make sure things run smoothly at the office. Her hobbies include writing and taking long walks.
Jason Maxwell
Jason studied to be a rocket scientist, but quickly decided his future was in fitness. After building a multiple-six-figure fitness business, he joined the Online Trainer Academy in 2019 to create the OTA Level 2 curriculum. Originally from a tiny Canadian town, he currently resides in Toronto, but in the past has lived off the beaten path in Malta, Ukraine, Slovenia, Sicily, and Nicaragua.
Jerilyn Covert
Jerilyn is a writer, editor, and copywriter with more than 15 years of experience in publishing. She’s written hundreds of articles for Men’s Health (where she was an editor for more than 10 years), Women’s Health, Runner’s World, ONE37pm, and many more. She joined the PTDC in 2018. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and their three cats.
Joey Bene
Joey’s life changed at 12, when he stumbled across a copy of Photoshop. He’s been designing ever since. After surviving a detour into accountancy, he joined the PTDC in 2019, where he learned to say “brand” at least three times an hour and lose to Jon at basketball. He lives in Toronto with his family.
Josh Duvauchelle
Originally from Hawaii, Josh surfed to the Great White North and worked at various nonprofits and software startups before joining the PTDC to manage organizational operations. Today he leads affiliate and partner relationships and lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with his wife, two toddlers, and one very clingy French bulldog.
Lou Schuler
Lou is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, a longtime contributor to Men’s Health, a two-time James Beard Award nominee, and the author of many popular fitness and nutrition books. He lives in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley with his wife and three kids, where he struggles with technology and cries during war movies.
Alina Paredes
Andrea Maxwell
Brad Overstreet
Buddy Hammon
Carolina Belmares
Chloe Shovein
Jasneet Jhinger
Joe Dowdell
Kaye Otis
Misch Parsotham
Rob Yontz
Ren Jones
Senka Stevanovic
Sven Drumev
Swati Gupta
Yegor Adamovich
