Cheree Smith
Sierra Symmetry Owner Cheree Smith, PTA, NCPT, PCES
Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant, BASI® Pilates Trained and Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher, Certified Barre Above Instructor, Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist.
Cheree’s passion for athletics began in early childhood. Growing up as a dancer and a competitive swimmer in the Sacramento area, she learned early on the importance of balancing strength and flexibility. As a young adult, she participated in and has coached a variety sports. Today she continues to be very active in a number of outdoor athletic activities including: trail running, hiking, kayaking, snowboarding, paddle boarding. Cheree discovered the Pilates method over 18 years ago and instantly fell in love with the principles of concentration, balance, flow, centering, control and precision. While going to school for physical therapy, Cheree studied and was certified as Pilates instructor through the BASI Pilates® Comprehensive Teacher Training Course in Aptos, California in 2010. She has enjoyed teaching ever since. Cheree also has extensive experience in rehabilitation as a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant since 2012, and has worked in both the in-patient and out-patient/orthopedic settings. While recovering from her first pregnancy, Cheree discovered the strength and conditioning benefits of the Barre workout. She certified as a Barre Above instructor in 2016. As a Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist Cheree has the skills to teach women to safely and effectively correct the many postural adaptations and strength deficits that naturally occur with a pregnant and postpartum body.
Hillary MacLean
Sierra Symmetry founder Hillary MacLean, NCPT is a Polestar® Certified Pilates Instructor, and Painless Running Coach.
Hillary was a competitive gymnast through high school, snowboarder and wakeboarder through college, and after having her second child, directed her active nature to trail running. Although a successful trail runner placing well in races, she started experiencing pain as a result of her active lifestyle. Upon researching how to minimize pain while not sacrificing her love of running, she came across Pilates. Efficient movement coupled with a healthy diet has reduced pain associated with old injuries and shaved time off of PRs. Hillary now has three children and is motivated to share her love of exercise and running with those young and old. She believes everyone can benefit from efficient movement. Through Pilates, those just starting their careers in competitive sports can reduce the risk of injury and perform at the highest level, and those who want to spend every day feeling great can perform their daily activities with ease.
Nancy Brest
Nancy Brest is a Balanced Body Pilates Instructor, Certified Personal Trainer (Functional Movement Screen 1), and USSA 300 Snowboard Coach/AASI 3 Snowboard Instructor.
Nancy has always been passionate about progressing and helping others. During college, she competed in sprint triathlons until she found snowboarding and was unable to resist the call of the mountains. Her drive to compete and passion for snowboarding took her to USASA Nationals in Halfpipe, Slopestyle, Boardercross and to New Zealand for the World Heli-Challenge. Wanting to help young athletes in competition, she started coaching competitively in 2005. After 20 years of participating in a directional sport, injuries and imbalances became evident. This inspired her to focus on sport specific training with clients ranging from rehab to elite athletes. Further striving to correct these imbalances, she started to incorporate Pilates to help correct bio-mechanical issues, develop greater core control and increase balance and stability in dynamic, rotational sports. She brings her passion, knowledge and athletic experience to help her clients develop mobility and strength in tandem, whether for rehab or performance, in both sport and life.
Kim Grow
Kim got her Pilates Mat and Reformer training and certifications from Polestar®. She was certified by International Teacher Training and Pilates Coach for all other Pilates Apparatus and is also an ISSA Personal Trainer.
Kim has 10 years of modern dance and tap background and has been a coach for the Squaw Valley Ski Team for many years. She owned a Pilates studio from 2001-2014 and has been teaching on the reformer and tower for 20 years. When asked “Why Pilates?” Kim says, “I have witnessed improvement in posture, core strength, everyday movement and recreational sports performance through consistent Pilates practice.” Kim describes her teaching style as: “Challenging, flowing, and rehabilitative. As a resident of Tahoe for nearly 50 years, Kim continues to be awed and inspired by it’s beauty each and everyday!
Cynthia Todd-Foygel
Cynthia Todd, NCPT, is a Polestar® Pilates Trained and Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher.
Cynthia has been a competitive swimmer, bellydancer, avid cyclist, skate skier, and runner. Cynthia is the mother of two fun and charming children and previously worked as an engineer, technical writer, and patent portfolio analyst. She discovered the benefits of Pilates as a way to prepare for major abdominal surgery after being diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer. Cynthia is excited to share this life changing form of exercise with other people, from those who just want to be more agile with their grandchildren to those who want to feel less achy after their Tahoe style extreming.
Leanne Aho
Leanne Aho, CMP, Somatic Coach and Certified Pilates, Yoga and MAT (Muscle Activation Technique) Instructor.
Leanne is a Somatic Coach with 17 years experience training people in Pilates. She began her competitive athletic training as a dance roller skater at age 5 and then continued to compete in ice skating, gymnastics, ballet, and cross country running. She worked her way through college as an aerobics instructor, while continuing to explore Hip-Hop, Haitian, and Jazz dance. Her love of yoga, rock climbing, wind-surfing, dance and running through Golden Gate Park led to Certification in Pilates through Physical Mind Institute in 2004. She has studied multiple healing disciplines including Muscle Activation Technique(MAT), acupressure and massage, all of which she incorporates in her private and group teaching. In 2005, Leanne discovered yoga, meditation and fire ceremony as a path of empowerment and includes key concepts from each to help promote physical and mental confidence. She is thrilled to be living in the woods in Truckee so she can continue to explore the mind-body-soul connection through trail running, rock climbing, back-country skiing, yoga and sometimes, visiting far away beaches. She is interested in finding right alignment in the studio and in life and makes it a point to observe how people learn in order to help them train more effectively. She is happiest helping people reach big goals and do things they didn’t think they could ever do.