Casey Neville

I am a Richmond native and lived in the Fan for 5 years. In high school, I was a competitive cheerleader and have since channeled my competitive nature and drive for team sports into finding dynamic and exciting workouts. In college at James Madison University, I joined ROTC and commissioned upon graduation as a 2LT. My experience in the military trained me to push through the hardest workouts and find where my strengths were (unfortunately, they weren’t in running). I spent 9 months overseas on a deployment as a Captain for a base support element and spent my free time weightlifting and learning how to properly develop muscle. Since returning home, I’ve been lucky to find Pure Fitness. It’s been such a perfect blend of my team centered fitness interests while also allowing me to share what I’ve learned over the years.

I finished my first year of college at JMU poor and having gained the infamous freshman 15 (maybe 25). Having grown up in a military family, I turned to that route to pay for school and better myself by joining ROTC my Sophomore year. For the first two years, I battled with constantly feeling behind from my peers who have prepared for this since high school. I was shy, unsure, and full of doubt in if this was the right thing for me. Summer before senior year I had to participate in a month long training camp with other ROTC cadets from across the country. I was DREADING this training - it involved sleeping outside for two weeks, little sleep, and no access to my phone! Through the months of anxiety at the thought of this camp, I arrived and quickly realized I wasn’t as far behind as I thought. I was forced out if my comfort zone into leadership roles and saw myself come out of my shell, trust my instincts and actually do quite well. I left that month feeling so much more confident in my army career and my own abilities to persevere, trust myself and find the positive side of all situations. I went on to thrive in ROTC and follow on trainings, finally having the confidence to find my place. Even now, I find myself pulling in those skills to work through moments where I feel that imposter syndrome kick in. I remember confidence is key and pushing through a tough situation will bring me strength in my own abilities.

My motivation is seeing people grow while having fun. I love seeing members in my classes get to know each other and cheer each other own from one workout to the next. I love watching their confidence in themselves grow and their classmates support them through it.