Meet Ashley Onstott, MS
Say hi to Ashley Onstott! Ashley is the Fitness Services Manager at Thrive Studio in Kansas City, MO, a part of Premise Health. Although Thrive Studio is new this year, Ashley has been with Premise Health for the last 2.5 years.
Ashley received her MS in Exercise Science and Health Promotion from the California University of Pennsylvania (note: California is a town in PA), her BS in Anthropology and BFA in Ballet both from the University of Utah. Ashley is also a Medical Exercise Specialist, Health Coach, and Personal Trainer through ACE; a Performance Enhancement Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Group Fitness Instructor through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and holds specialty certifications including Zumba, Spinning, YogaFit and PHI Pilates.
As a member of MFA, Ashley serves on the Certification Committee and as the Missouri State Representative (thanks, Ashley!!).
We caught up with Ashley recently and here is what she had to say.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
I most enjoy the collaborative relationships we are building in the medical fitness industry. This relatively new industry relies heavily on the collaboration between like-minded people and organizations. The Government Employee Health Association (GEHA) and Premise Health have collaborated to create the Thrive Studio, featuring Technogym’s MyWellness platform and state-of-the-art equipment. Technogym’s MyWellness platform enables us to offer all of our services in a virtual setting allowing our Premise Health team to impact the lives of GEHA employees. Premise Health, GEHA and Technogym all rely on the Medical Fitness Association for guidance and direction. Facilitating collaboration between these large organizations is at the forefront of the move from sick-care to health-care to well-care.
What has been your favorite/most successful initiative?
Mindful Living is one such program created out of a collaboration between Premise Health and GEHA. This 12-week program is designed to promote healthy lifestyle habits among participants using strategies such as mindfulness and stress reduction. The program consists of weekly educational lessons and discussions as well as support materials, regular one-on-one meetings with a fitness specialist and tracking on Technogym’s MyWellness platform. Recognizing and honoring each individual participant while creating a sense of community has made this program a success.
What one piece of advice would you give to those just coming into this field of medical fitness?
Medical fitness offers a paradigm that is more in line with current lifestyle evolution. It re-imagines the principle that preventative care is more beneficial and longer lasting than curative care. Medical fitness offers several paths of development that can be strategically and specifically designed to meet the needs of individuals and communities. This new paradigm embraces all aspects that one would consider essential for living a rewarding life. This includes the use of the most current research as well as time tested behavior.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I have always enjoyed volunteering in my community. In fact, I met my husband while making sandwiches in a community outreach program and much later in life we re-instated the Kundson Cougar PTA at our daughters’ middle school. Most recently I have enjoyed volunteering with my teenage daughters in the National Charity League and in 2019 we all earned the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us to rethink our volunteer efforts and moved us to collaborate with larger organizations to create physically distanced volunteer opportunities. Our Thrive Studio has launched a challenge to our members where the more they MOVE and log their MOVEs on the MyWellness platform the larger the donation will be that is made to two local non-profits, the Paseo Stairs Project, a community project to promote physical activity and the Pro Deo Youth Center, a community outreach program for teens.
Thank you, Ashley for all the incredible work you do!