OUR SWEATY TEAM

WHO WE ARE

Flex & Flow (formerly Fit Approach) was created by Jamie King & Alyse Mason, cousins and bffs who believe in the power of movement to bring people together.

The Flex & Flow community connects digitally via live events, locally at our flagship fitness studio in Portland, OR, and globally at our events, trainings, and retreats.

OUR MAGNETIC INSTRUCTORS AND COMMUNITY ARE FLEX & FLOW'S SECRET SAUCE.

Meet the team who supports us, coaches us, and pushes us to reach our personal bests—whether on the mat, the trails, or through that next mountain climber.

MEET THE TEAM

JAMIE KING

Jamie King is the owner of Flex & Flow PDX. She launched Flex & Flow (formerly Fit Approach) in 2011, and opened Flex & Flow PDX in 2016. She believes that each person who walks into Flex & Flow PDX should feel a sense of belonging and leave feeling empowered through movement and community. She is a 500 hour RYT yoga instructor, RCYT 95 hour kids, teens, and trauma certified instructor, creator of Flex & Flow’s signature HIIT & Flow workout, and competitive ultra runner.

Jamie enjoys challenging students to move with their breath, build heat and strength, and find their power within. She loves bringing people together on the mat and out on the trails - where she loves to encourage everyone to climb a little higher.

After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2004, Jamie started a career in high tech marketing and public relations where she first got bit by the entrepreneur bug. Through her own transformation through movement, she quickly realized her purpose in life was to inspire everybody to move and feel more free in their bodies. Jamie is an accomplished instructor, teacher training lead instructor, podcast host, and speaker. She is available to coordinate with you to:

Guest teach workshops
Lead off-site private yoga classes
Lead large group classes at specialty venues, festivals, or retreat centers
Participate as a guest speaker on podcasts
Speak at conferences and events on entrepreneurship, social media, and finding power through movement

ALYSE MASON

Alyse is the founder of the Flex & Flow brand and communities. She brings together more than ten years of experience in product development and marketing, as well as a lifelong commitment to active living, to develop and grow the brand, community, and its products.

Alyse leads product development and operations to empower Flex & Flow to connect more and more people around the world through fitness and active living.

She holds degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Chicago. Alyse has been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle and has been published in Mother.ly and the IDEA Fitness Journal. She has been a featured speaker at IDEAWorld, FitBloggin’, and CapitalOne.

NICCI RANDALL

Nicci teaches Power Vinyasa, HIIT & Flow and CHILL at Flex & Flow. Her goal is to teach and guide students in a practice that connects breath and movement in a direct and fluid manner, in order to create strength, balance, and ease in the body and the mind. She has a love for working the core as well as different muscles of the body to prepare for the more challenging poses of arm balances and inversions. Nicci’s classes are built around a theme or pose and can be accommodated to all levels. Come one and come all for a sweaty, fun flow, that will leave you feeling good!

RUBY
LABRUSCIANO-CARRIS

Ruby fell in love with movement practices as a young ballet dancer, when she was first exposed to yoga as a tool for cross-training and mindfulness. Over the years, the amazing yoga communities in Vermont helped to strengthen and guide her practice, and in 2018 she completed her 200-hr certification with Chrissy Lefavour of Grateful Yoga before moving to Portland.

By combining elements of contemporary dance and yoga, Ruby’s classes use heat-building, flow, and breath-work to find grace, strength, and stability. Her instruction in the studio focuses on simplicity, creativity, and building a warm and welcoming environment for students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Off the mat, you can find her on long backpacking trips in the woods, rustling through thrift stores, and meditating on what to eat for lunch.

ALISSA PAQUETTE

Recently transplanted from Boston MA, Alissa Paquette has taken yoga classes since her junior year of high school, but it wasn’t until she was 26 that she truly found Yoga when she needed it most. Practicing consistently since 2012, yoga has enriched her life and helped her live with less stress while working full time as a Research Scientist in MA. Through the study of Ahimsa (non-harm) Alissa realized her own inner potential and decided to share with others; she received her 200 YTT in April 2014 from Inner Strength Studios in Watertown MA under the guidance of Roman Szpond and Lauren Star. Alissa’s classes aim to challenge the student physically and mentally, while creating a safe space to nurture and grow love for the self and fuel appreciation of body. Alissa believes that happiness is simply a by-product of living in love with the self, being mindful of your actions, and kind in your ways.

In June 2014 Alissa received her Reiki I attunement from Master Reiki Justin Bernhold (Cambridge MA) and is available for private Reiki healing; she also has a Kids Yoga Certification from Flow and Grow Kids Yoga with Lara Hocheiser.

When Alissa is not teaching or practicing she is dancing, exploring Portland, drinking tea, hula hooping, reading/writing, and looking for dogs to pet!

GERALD SCRUTCHIONS (SCRUTCH)

Gerald Scrutchions aka Scrutch found yoga in 2016. He quickly became passionate, invigorated by the uplifting energy provided through daily asana practice. He is currently a 300 RYT. Scrutch’s classes are designed to promote physical and mental strength. He believes every individual has an ability to push themselves just a bit further, into a space where growth is attained. He implements his experience from physical conditioning undergone while training and competing in Muay Thai kickboxing. When he is not teaching and practicing yoga, Scrutch teaches seventh grade World Studies, enjoys trail running/conditioning, and traveling with friends and family.

MARIA VILLEGAS

Maria started practicing yoga in 2006. While the physical practice got her hooked, Maria later discovered true power of yoga is in its healing properties, the discovery of self, and the quieting of the mind.

Maria was guided through her 200 RYT by Jaime Scates Schmitz, founder of Freedom Seeker Yoga (FSY) in Seattle, which is also where Maria got her start in teaching. Jaime and her experiences at FSY taught Maria how equally freeing it can be to fly on your hands or sit in the quietness of your own space. Moving to Portland in 2016, Maria has enjoyed exploring the Portland yoga scene (as well as food carts and breweries). Finding Flex & Flow was like coming home – to the type of home where both handstands and a-middle-of-class savasana is always welcome. Maria is committed to honoring the roots of traditional yoga (maybe complemented by a hip-hop playlist from time to time).

Outside of the studio, Maria is a social worker. Besides spontaneously doing yoga on the street, she also likes to snowboard, run, and attempts to surf. She equally enjoys sleeping in and lazy Sundays.

KUSHLANI DESOYZA

Kushlani has practiced yoga since 2001, when it was introduced to her as a tool for injury prevention and mindfulness for the varsity rowers she coached at the University of Virginia. Since then her practice and life have ebbed and flowed, primarily studying the Mysore style of Ashtanga yoga, completing her 200-hour yoga teacher training with Indu Bhardwaj in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moving to Oregon — eventually teaching feminist theory and gender studies at a community college. In Portland, she also studies Mysore with Ashtanga teacher Jason Stein.

Her classes are influenced by Ashtanga’s primary series. This set of standing and seated postures lengthen and strengthen the muscles along the back body and core while focusing on alignment, injury prevention, and body awareness. She welcomes practitioners of all levels, backgrounds, and body types because any class can be as vigorous or as restorative as the student desires.

In her past lives, Kushlani has worked as a newspaper and radio journalist, a high school English teacher, and a high school and collegiate rowing coach. She once was a regular runner and completed a few marathons (slowly), but lately yoga, cooking, and making earrings are her main hobbies. Always a student, you’ll likely see her taking lots of classes from her fellow teachers at Flex and Flow!

JESS SOMMERS

Jess started practicing yoga in Chicago nine years ago, finding it a challenging, rewarding, and humbling way to find release both physically and mentally. For her, the best part of yoga asana is allowing people the space to move and breathe in an effort to get out of their head, even if just for a few moments. Besides being a yoga teacher and forever student, Jess enjoys all things outdoors, whether that’s hiking, cross-country skiing, or reading on the beach.

ALEXIS JOHNSON

Alexis fell in love with yoga in the spring of 2011, and has been enjoying the yoga journey ever since. She completed 200-hour teacher training with CorePower in 2012, and several other trainings with CorePower over the years, and is glad to have landed her mat alongside friendly and powerful friends at Flex & Flow. Outside of her main squeeze of yoga, Alexis loves jokes, the outdoors, technology, games, and her pup, Woof.

TRACY SUBISAK

Tracy aims to create a lighthearted space for discovery in her classes. She is jazzed about anatomy and fascia, and focuses on providing tools to condition and release the body and mind from everyday stress. Since her early 20s, Tracy has encountered chronic upper body pain, trauma, and grief. She is consistently in awe and gratitude for the ways yoga has helped her heal and grow. Everyone is on their own journey, and awareness, acceptance, and involvement with positive communities like Flex and Flow can help one pave their own path! Come practice with Tracy!

In 2018, Tracy completed her RYT 200 yoga teacher training guided by Julia Gavin. Tracy also earned her HIIT and Flow teacher training and advanced training certifications with Flex and Flow. She continues to learn meditation and yoga techniques through awesome humans like Tara Brach and Emily Light.

Besides teaching yoga, Tracy illustrates and writes children’s books and designs visual strategies for companies. She has an affinity for adventures big and small, loves pickles, and enjoys being a silly human with her pals.

JOSEPHINE WOOLINGTON

Josephine is a yogi and musician who enjoys helping others develop a lifelong love of yoga and music.

Josephine has practiced yoga for eight years. She earned her 200-hour yoga teaching certificate in 2015 in Eugene, Ore. and has since been teaching in her hometown of Portland. She also earned her prenatal teaching certificate in 2015 at Yoga Shala of Portland.

Her classes combine meditation with a breath-centric vinyasa flow to help students go about their days with a clearer mind and stronger body. She hopes to help students develop a deeper mind-body connection and, eventually, a better sense of self through the asana practice. She warmly welcomes students of all levels and body types.

In addition to yoga, Josephine also teaches private piano and voice lessons at Ethos Music Center in North Portland.

Come flow with her!

DALLAS SCRUGGS

Dallas is originally from Alabama but in 2016, he moved to Portland from Virginia Beach where he was stationed in the Navy. Dallas began practicing yoga in July of 2017 and by September of 2017 found himself in a 200-hour Teacher Training at The Yoga Space in Portland, OR. What Dallas loves the most about yoga is the calming effects of focusing on the breath and connecting that breath with the body in movement.

In his free time, Dallas is most likely playing guitar jamming out to his own loops or dropping into random yoga studios for their hot classes– he is a full-on hot yoga junkie!

ROBYN BISHOP

Robyn grew up in San Diego, California and went to college at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where she was a member of the lacrosse and equestrian teams. After college, she moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in the wine industry and a few years later decided to attend law school, which brought her to PDX in 2015. She is currently studying business law at Lewis & Clark Law School and graduates in May 2018. Robyn’s passion for yoga started when she was living in San Francisco, where she would often meet her sister for an after work sweat. Once she moved to Portland she began to practice regularly, mixing yoga in with her running and other gym routines. When she found Flex & Flow in 2016 she knew it was love at first sight! Instantly she fell in love with the workouts, the community, and all the sweaty good times. In May 2017, she completed the Flex & Flow HIIT yoga teacher training and is excited to make the transition from student to teacher. Robyn also loves power vinyasa, running, hiking, paddle boarding, snowboarding, horseback riding, camping, and anything else in the great outdoors.

VANESSA LANGE

Vanessa moved to Portland from Singapore in 2016 and holds a Bachelors in Physiotherapy from the University of Newcastle, Australia. She started practicing yoga 4 years ago, and though it was not love at first Downward Dog or Chaturanga, she slowly fell in love with the practice as it was the perfect union of strength, flexibility, and breath. Inspired by her younger Sister, who is a yoga teacher, she completed her 200hr yoga teacher training at The Yoga Mandala in Singapore. Vanessa loves incorporating arm balance and inversions in her practice, and with her background in anatomy, injury prevention and management, she is a firm believer in the importance of basic techniques and alignment to achieve poses safely.

LIZ WILSON

Liz grew up in Asheville, NC (namaste y’all!), and went to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Here she fell in love with yoga at a Baptiste power yoga studio, Franklin St Yoga Center, where the unofficial motto was, “the sweatier the better.” She postponed law school after graduation to do as her hippie lawyer father recommended: travel and have fun. She completed her 220-hour teacher training at Asheville Yoga Center and moved west. After three and a half years ski bumming and teaching yoga in the mountains of Colorado, Liz moved to Portland in March 2015. She loves photography and being active, so connecting with Sweat Pink and working as the Social Media Manager and now Flex & Flow studio manager is a perfect fit! (aka, she LOVES Instagram!). She also loves running, skiing, hiking, surfing, vinyasa-ing, handstanding, traveling, and drinking wine and coffee with girlfriends! She’s also up for a #stopdropandyoga session. Anytime. Anywhere.

BIANCA WHITESIDE

Oi gente ( Hi everyone :] ). Bianca hails from Brazil, São Paulo and is one of our lead kids yoga instructors and an aspiring 200-hour yoga instructor (she is joining us this spring for teacher training in Nicaragua!).

After graduating with a business management degree in 2014, Bianca moved to America as part of an au pair program with the goal of improving her English language skills. She began her journey in Los Angeles and then eventually made her way up to Portland where she met her husband, and decided to make Portland a more permanent home. She started working for Jamie (Flex & Flow’s owner), as a nanny in 2018, and began assisting Jamie with Flex & Flow signature kids yoga program, Little Yogis. From there, her own personal yoga practice really began – starting with a 108 sun salutations class – and she found herself falling deeper in love with the way yoga made her feel and experience the world around her. Bianca’s growing love for yoga, coupled with her special ability to communicate and hold space for kids has made her instrumental in growing Flex & Flow’s Little Yogis program, and she is excited to eventually hold space and spread her love for yoga with all ages. Outside of yoga, Bianca loves the outdoors, hiking, workout out, reading, traveling, and trying new foods!

SARAH DIEDRICK

Sarah Diedrick teaches from the belief that yoga is a way to access the ecstatic and inspiring qualities of life. Her style is strong, alignment-based vinyasa infused with playful flavors, and focused on moving with the rhythm of the breath. Sarah hopes to empower her students by sharing tools and insights that can be woven into life both on and off the mat. Through precise alignment cues, intentional sequencing and philosophical themes, Sarah hopes to direct each student toward the incredible potential of their own Self.

Sarah has completed two 200-hour trainings with Amy Ippoliti and Paula Tursi, and has continued to study with and assist her mentor, Amy Ippoliti. She trained with Judith Hanson Lasater to receive her restorative yoga teaching certification. Sarah has had the pleasure of studying Tantric philosophy with teachers such as Douglas Brooks and Bill Mahony.

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