Meet the Coaches
Our world class coaches are highly trained & passionate about helping people achieve their health and fitness goals. Skilled in intuitive coaching, they can identify & understand individual needs.
Harriett Hlavac
Owner & Head Coach
With 9+ years of CrossFit coaching under her belt, Harriett has well and truly refined her craft of mentoring people in achieving their health & fitness goals. A coaching specialist in mobility & movement dysfunction, CrossFit Gymnastics & Olympic Weightlifting, Harriett has a vast amount of knowledge to share and many years of experience helping people move better & expand their skills. Harriett also works with people on mindset mentoring & nutrition coaching, providing a holistic approach to how she works with people. She is passionate about movement, wellness, and everyone having the opportunity to get the most out of life. Harriett’s vision is for everyone to be able to experience a supportive and empowering community and the power of feeling fit, strong and healthy.
Daniel Rankin
Owner & Head Coach
Dan has been involved in Functional Fitness for 10 years, first starting CrossFit when he was 15 and had just moved over to New Zealand from Samoa. He has competed locally and internationally in CrossFit, and loves the mental challenge of competition. Dan is a strong believer in the Propolis model, particularly the constant variation it offers that keeps every fitness session new and interesting. The accessibility of the functional fitness training model to a diverse range of people is something that he is truly passionate about. As a coach Dan particularly enjoys working with people new to training, and finds great reward in seeing their progress in physical ability and confidence.
Bernd Steinwender
Epsom Strength Head Coach
Bernd’s sport background is in skiing. Before starting CrossFit early 2013 he was keeping himself fit in the gym. Fascinated by the variety and challenge of the movements he fell in love with Functional Fitness training and after two years he started coaching classes in his hometown in Austria. After coming back to New Zealand he became a coach at CrossFit MCR which now is Propolis Fitness Collective and did his Level 1 Trainer Course. He competes in CrossFit as well as Olympic Weightlifting for Epsom Strength, the in house weightlifting club, and coaches athletes wishing to focus on Olympic Weightlifting. Bernd has a PhD in biological sciences and as a scientist he is interested in all facets of Functional training and sees himself as an all-rounder. He is passionate about our members and wants to help them to become a stronger, faster and healthier version of themselves.
Micheal Rankin
Coach
Mike first walked into a CrossFit gym in 2010 and has both observed and participated in the positive growth of CrossFit as a sport and more importantly as a framework for health, wellbeing and community. Although Mike is an exercise racing enthusiast, the community aspect is by far his greatest passion and interest. As a coach Mike most enjoys creating an atmosphere of comfort and equality promoting an environment without barriers between experienced athletes and beginners starting their fitness journey.
Gray Barclay
Coach
Gray has been involved in Functional Fitness training for five years, with a diverse background in both team and individual sports and loves the variance of different functional training workouts. He has competed in New Zealand CrossFit Nationals, and outside of Functional Fitness he enjoys Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, mountain biking, surfing and skiing. Gray loves both the friendly competition and strong community that Functional Fitness brings - something you don’t often find in typical gyms. As a coach, he likes to see people obtaining skills they didn’t know were possible and making their training session the best part of their day. Gray believes in the uplifting quality of exercise and wants people of all skill levels to feel as comfortable and safe as possible during their workout.
Sophie Yandall
Coach
Sophie started CrossFit in 2015 as a way to help build strength & conditioning for other sports and has never looked back. She loves the variety in CrossFit and being part of such a great community. Over the last seven years Sophie has had more of a focus towards Olympic Lifting and has competed at Olympic Weightlifting Nationals twice. As a coach, Sophie loves being able to help people realise their potential and surprise themselves with what they can achieve. She also loves being able to bring people into such a supportive community.
Carissa Garcia
Coach
Carissa came from a diverse sporting background and eventually started her functional fitness journey in 2018. This lead her to the community here at propolis. Although she’s a sucker for a good workout and some competition, what she loves most about this sport is it’s ability to build mental fortitude and bring together a community of people working towards similar goals. Coaching gives Carissa the opportunity to help people break through barriers, achieve their goals and make training one of the best parts of their day.