Justin also owns Twister Sports in Warrensburg, MO. His background is in Occupational Safety and Health. He spent 21 years in the United States Air Force before retiring in 2019. Justin spent seven years in the Missouri Highway Patrol. In his current role at Twisters, he is the facility manager of a 35,000 sq. ft. building and specializes in contracts and leasing agreements. Justin has general contracted all renovations at the gym to include a 1,000 sq. ft. ninja warrior obstacle course. Justin is the CEO of Next Generation Gym Owners and the first point of contact for all new Academy members. Justin can be seen alongside his wife, Danielle, on weekly episodes of Fireside Chat with the Johnstons.

Shelley owns and operates Five Star Athletics in Reno, NV. Shelley has owned cheer gyms since 2003. Along with her husband Tom, she opened Five Star in 2010 from the ground to now over 500 athletes. Five Star Athletics has a strong All Star Cheer Program known throughout the industry. Five Star also offers recreational cheerleading, tumbling, warriors, summer camps, and high school programs. Shelley has a bachelor’s degree in education. As a Next Generation coach, she specializes in teaching how to have a profitable All Star program and systemization. Shelley is the Chief Operations Officer for Next Gen ensuring the effective implementation of all programs within the company including conferences, programs, and sponsorships. Additionally, Shelley is a consultant in the Next Gen Owners Academy specializing in all star programs and all star budgeting.

Danielle owns Twister Sports in Warrensburg, MO. Twisters offers recreational and competitive cheerleading, tumbling, hip hop, gymnastics, ninja warrior, and indoor batting cages. They have about 700 athletes and host approximately 275 birthday parties each year. Danielle and Justin have founded 7 businesses over the past few years and have sold several. She has worked in digital media and marketing for many years. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and did public relations for the Air Force for 7 years. Danielle is an owner and consultant for the Next Gen as well as the CMO and CFO. As a consultant, Danielle specializes in staff management, partnerships, marketing, public relations, website development, and budgeting. Danielle and Justin are best known for Fireside Chat with the Johnstons and her daily blog.

Riana owns and operates Premier Academy in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada and is a co-owner in two other locations. Premier Academy offers competitive and recreation cheerleading, Ninja, tumbling, a licensed preschool and hosts a large number of birthday parties and camps throughout the year. As a mom of five young kids, she has been able to create systems to create freedom to spend time with her family and ensure the gym is successful. Riana is responsible for all curriculum in the Next Generation Academy. She develops the content for all courses, and also serves the company as a consultant. In her role as a consultant, Riana specializes in working with international gyms, staffing, and systemization.

Dan, along with his wife, Tori, own and operate Oregon Dream Teams in Beaverton, OR. ODT specializes in all star cheerleading, but also has a thriving recreational program. Dan is also the owner of Dream Camps, providing residential and at-home camp instruction to All Star and high school programs throughout the United States and Canada. Dan served in the United States Army National Guard for eight years. He currently works full-time as a police officer for the City of Beaverton. Dan is the Head Coach for the Next Generation Academy and the host of the Next Generation People and Profits podcast, which notably received more than 5,000 downloads in its first year. This podcast is the #1 business building podcast in the after-school industry.

Kierra co-owns and operates Premier Academy in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada as well as coaches & manages the Keyano College Cheer Team. As a teacher/educational assistant for many years, the transition to cheer gym owner was all about learning and growing as an entrepreneur.  Using Next Generation Gym Owners was a big factor in the growth of the gym, and sustainability through the COVID-19 closures. As the owner of a thriving gym for the last nearly 6 years, Kierra has become a driving force in the industry, empowering athletes and gym owners alike to embrace their love for cheerleading while achieving business success.  After just 3 years, she joined the Next Gen team, offering learning opportunities, connections and coaching for owners in the Academy.  Kierra emphasizes the importance of systems/proper delegation, community/culture building, and fostering a sense of purpose within the industry to build your business as a gym owner.  Aside from competitive and recreational cheerleading, Premier Academy now offers birthday parties, recreational tumbling, school programs, and day camps to name a few of the many programs making it a profitable business and serving roughly 400 athletes.

Kierra remains actively involved in coaching in the gym, competitions, and community events. As a mom of two young kids, she has been able to create systems to create freedom to spend time with her family and ensure the gym is still successful. As a Next Generation coach, Kierra’s primary strength is systemizing and time management.

Liz Yntema is the owner of Pegasus Cheer Athletics in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. Liz has grown her program dramatically over the past few years to include all star cheerleading, recreational programming, preschool programming and a thriving summer camp program. As a consultant with Next Gen, Liz specializes in summer camp and events as well as delegation.

Adam Forte is the co-owner of Forte Spirit Solutions, through which he consults gym owners and coaches on coaches training, curriculum development, stunting and tumbling training, and music production. Adam was also a gym owner and director with his wife Jessica, of Cheer Intensity for 16 years. Adam and Jessica built their gym from the ground up in an area “unpopular” in cheerleading – Albany, NY.  This has given Adam experience to help gym owners, coaches, and athletes across the world grow programs from the ground up in a creative and efficient way. Adam has coached multiple teams to victories at the Summit, NCA Nationals, and place in the top 10 at the cheerleading worlds.

Adam operates out of a place of service, sharing his knowledge and experience in the industry by leading gym owners and coaches in creating efficient, productive, and strong systems that promote success and longevity!

Kellie Buchanan is the owner of Big Rock Gymnastics & Dynamite Cheer in the small town of Richfield, UT. Kellie owned Dynamite Cheer for 10 years before buying Big Rock Gymnastics in 2015. Kellie runs a number of successful programs at her gym and is an expert in daytime programming and maximizing floor space. Her gym also offers a full curriculum preschool, day camps, night camps, class and team programs as well as birthday parties. As a consultant at Next Gen, Kellie specializes in teaching owners how to effectively delegate as well as maximize their space and fill all hours of the day.

Jessica Forte is the owner of Forte Spirit Solutions, a cheerleading consulting business that specializes in choreography, clinics, and staff training. Her passion is in creation, so choreography and program development light her up! Jess also owned and operated her own gym prior to founding FSS. She opened Cheer Intensity Athletics at the age of 18 and ran it for 17 years before transitioning into consulting. Jess has served on a number of industry boards and is passionate about being a part of the evolution of the industry at large. She specializes in problem solving and creative solutions as well as communication and organization!

Samantha Losack owns Quantum Athletics in Lockwood, MO. Quantum offers recreational and competitive cheerleading, tumbling, hip hop and ninja. Her facility also offers an After School Program as well as full time Summer Kids Camp. She has grown her business close to 250 athletes in a town of less than 1,000 people. Through systems and delegation, her gym has continued to thrive while she is also handling the day-to-day of two young children and two additional businesses outside of the Cheer industry.

As a Next Gen consultant, Samantha specializes in helping gyms get systemized and organized while delegating tasks to free up their time. She also has personal experience as a gym owner who opened her business at a very young age and in a very small town.

Tracey Page owns Supreme Cheerleading in Burlington, Ontario. She started the gym 13 years ago and specializes in success within a very saturated market and large city of 200,000. Supreme Cheerleading offers elite and prep all star cheerleading, as well as recreational cheerleading, tumbling, day camps, skills clinics, private lessons and a number of other services. Tracey has experience as a consultant in a variety of fields. As a Next Gen consultant, she specializes in building program culture, how to stand out in a saturated market, recreational programming and developing a successful sales funnel.

Lexi is the Client Success Manager at Twister Sports in Warrensburg, MO. For the past four years, Lexi has been in charge of the trial program, birthday party program, specialty summer camps and all events at the gym to include large-scale community events and performances. In her role at Next Gen, Lexi is the client success manager, assisting with on-boarding new clients and ensuring they see success in their journey.

Jaclyn has been in the cheer industry as an athlete, coach and program director for more than 17 years. Before moving to Alaska, she resided in Tokyo, Japan where she began her own Competitive cheerleading program for American and Japanese athletes. She is now the Program Manager for Next Generation Gym Owners and is an all star coach at Alaska Golden Heart Cheerleading in Fairbanks, AK. She has a Bachelors of Science in Human Resource Management and is actively pursuing her Masters in Business Administration. She is the primary point of contact for members of the Next Gen Academy, and manages the Academy members area. Jaclyn also provides administrative support and questions, and phone and email support for our clients.