Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Schaller.
Nicole, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve spent my career in fitness, most recently as a manager at Orangetheory Fitness in Medford for about seven and a half years, where I saw firsthand what drives real results and real community in a studio. When that door closed, another opened. That experience is what’s leading me into this next chapter: opening FitSpan Medford, the first studio of its kind, built around low impact, high intensity training using water-based resistance equipment designed by Andy Baxter. It’s a completely different approach to strength and conditioning, one that lets people push hard without the joint strain of traditional high impact formats. Opening FitSpan feels like the natural next step in my own fitness journey: taking everything I’ve learned managing a studio and instructing classes, and building something new that didn’t exist here before.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Opening FitSpan hasn’t been a straight line, but it also hasn’t been a nightmare. Bringing something entirely new into a community is a real challenge. People don’t have a frame of reference for it yet, so a lot of the early work has been education: explaining what concentric and isokinetic water resistance training actually is and why it works. On top of that, there have been the practical hurdles that come with any new build-out: construction delays, unexpected issues with the space, and all the logistics of getting a studio ready to open. None of that has shaken my belief in the product, though. I know once people experience it, they’ll understand why it’s different, and I see a lot of room for this studio to grow and genuinely change how this community thinks about fitness.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about FitSpan Medford?
FitSpan Medford is the first studio of its kind and is located in Southern Oregon, built around concentric and isokinetic water resistance training on equipment designed by Andy Baxter. It’s a low impact, high intensity approach to fitness: joint friendly enough for people managing injuries or looking for something sustainable long term, but still challenging enough to build real strength and conditioning. My background brings a unique perspective to the brand: I have a Master’s in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s in Psychology, and I grew up immersed in sports and fitness before continuing that path into group fitness and personal training. That combination of business, psychology, and hands-on coaching experience shapes how FitSpan is run, from the education behind the program to how we support members through their goals. What sets us apart is that this format simply doesn’t exist anywhere else. We want people to know that FitSpan is about functional longevity: helping people move well and stay strong for the pursuits that matter to them, for the long haul.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Opening FitSpan is, without question, the biggest risk I’ve taken. We’re bringing the very first location of this franchise into a community that has never seen anything like it, with no local track record to point to and no guarantee people will understand the concept right away. That’s a real gamble, both financially and reputationally.
Part of what pushed me toward taking that risk was getting laid off from Orangetheory. Rather than looking for another role in management, I realized my heart was set on running my own gym and building something of my own. Partnering with Dr. Laurie Dutkiewicz made that leap feel possible — her medical background gives our approach to training a credibility and depth that a solo venture never could have had, and having someone equally invested in getting this right made the risk feel shared rather than solitary.
So this risk wasn’t just about the business opportunity, it was a personal turning point: betting on myself, on Laurie, and on the belief that this community would embrace something new if we gave it the chance to prove itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Fitspanstudios.com/medford
- Instagram: Fitspanmedford
- Facebook: Fitspanmedford
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-schaller-344b4296
