About Me

Nic Nakis

Nicholas John Nakis Amha Selassie

Health & Fitness Coach

I was raised in a treehouse and grew up in the foothills of the North Cascades, hiking, bicycling, camping, and playing sports.  My parents taught me to forage, to garden, and to cook my own food.  I experimented with diet and exercise from a young age, and began developing my personal code of health. 

In the 90s, I was a scrappy, street-fighting youth who did a lot of paramilitary training and calisthenics. I worked tough, physical jobs. When I didn’t go into the Marines at age 18 (that’s another story), I went to Seattle instead, and got myself into a lot of trouble.

My appendix burst at age 21. After emergency surgery, I went through a long recovery, embarking on a quest to rebuild my body and improve my nutrition.  I became fitness-obsessed and practiced a series of popular diets. Towards the end of 2003, started doing workouts from a little-known website called CrossFit.com. I became one of the first 100 CrossFitters in the world

That same year, my younger brother died in Iraq. I realized that life wasn’t cheap and you only get one chance. I went to the University of Washington and got a degree in Entrepreneurship. I trained at the world’s first CrossFit affiliate (CrossFit North in Seattle) and competed during the birth of the sport of fitness.  I began a decades-long career working in film & television production on feature films, TV shows, corporates and commercials.

In 2006, I left the country for the first time. I met my future wife in Thailand and traveled with her through India and Kenya, her home. We continued to travel the globe frequently and my love of health & fitness grew as I constantly learned new things and spread the knowledge of things I’ve learned.  I took courses in mountaineering, Olympic weightlifting, and Yoga teaching.   I participated in a vast array of sports and fitness modalities, such as street workouts, logging sports, various martial arts, and the Highland Games. I did all kinds of jobs in my my thriving film & video career, and many other projects besides.

When I turned 30 in 2012, I decided to change careers and see what it was like in the fitness industry. After achieving my CrossFit Level 1, I started as a part-time CrossFit Instructor at Xplore CrossFit in Seattle.  Within the year, I was living in Phuket, Thailand, running the cross-training program at Tiger Muay Thai & MMA, working as a Personal Trainer, and teaching Nutrition seminars. 

I returned to the USA in 2014 and kept working at gyms. As a partner at Crossover Fitness & Training in my home town, Sedro-Woolley, WA, I brought the do-it-yourself backyard fitness style into an independent box gym setting, and introduced the gym-scene to downtown Sedro-Woolley. From there I went to work for Riverside Health Club, where I became the affiliate owner-of-record at CrossFit RHC and eventually the Personal Training Supervisor of the whole club, with. a staff of 12 Personal Trainers, Nutrition Trainers, Group Instructors, and Massage Therapists.  I added to my knowledge with certifications from TRX, Precision Nutrition, and what I consider to be the crown-jewel: the OPEX Coaching Certificate Program.  This program taught me about Individual Design Coaching.

In 2019, I struck out on my own with Smart, Fit, and Clean, my own Individual Design coaching company. I now coach both remotely and in-person from my home gym in Sedro-Woolley, WA.

What I Do