OUR COACHES

Jess Thurman

Jess found strength and conditioning training in 2011. After struggling with her weight since childhood, she finally decided to make some health changes once and for all. Strength and conditioning training was finally a fitness plan that Jess felt passionate about and kept her inclined to train everyday.
Her passion for fitness and helping others paved a path to become a trainer and eventually lead to opening Barrier Island.
Jess is passionate about using fitness to help people with their fitness, nutrition, feeling part of a community of like minded people and using fitness to help improve mental health.

Lori McMahon

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Lori, along with Jess, founded Barrier Island Fitness (formerly Barrier Island CrossFit).  Lori is a 2x CrossFit Games Masters Athlete, having competed in Carson, CA in 2016 and Madison, WI 2017. She placed 9th in the World in her division in her first year at the Games. She enjoys coaching and inspiring others to lead a life of health and wellness. 

Steve Abgarian 

 
Steve, a 2009 Collegiate All-American and 2013 Games Athlete, is the former owner and coach at CrossFit King of the Beach and CrossFit King of Island Park.

Steve was also an Affiliate Owner and Coach at CrossFit Floyd Bennett field, coached at Forged Fitness in Texas, and hosted Olympic lifting and gymnastics seminars.

Lauren Leo

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BS, MA
NASM-CPT, USAW-1, CF-L1, Pn1, MGCP

Lauren discovered her love for functional fitness while training as a competitive junior tennis player.  She is currently a head coach at an NCAA Division 1 institution and has been coaching for over a decade. She understands the value of strength and conditioning and loves to share her passion of physical fitness with others.  In addition, Lauren is always striving to better herself along with encouraging others through proper nutrition and exercise.  She currently holds certifications in personal training (NASM-CPT), Olympic lifting (USAW-1), CrossFit (CF-L1), nutrition (Pn1) and mental toughness (MGCP) and is actively pursuing a master’s degree in Sports Science with a concentration in Exercise Physiology and Strength and Conditioning.