How an Atlanta training studio expanded from one-on-one fitness to customized wellness programs with global reach, while one trainer’s role grew alongside it.
“My superpower is my ability to meet somebody where they are.”
A casual invitation to train for the Silver Comet Half Marathon can have consequences. For Katie Jensen, it helped turn a new job into a 12-year professional home, a friendship with Julie Jones and a career that now stretches from personal training to global corporate wellness programs.
Katie joined what was then Excellence in Exercise in 2014 after the studio where she had worked for five years closed. She met founder Kristian Jones, liked the atmosphere and settled into the familiar work of personal training. Soon after, Julie invited her to join a half-marathon training group. Katie said yes, completed the race and found the friendship that would run alongside her career.
A Small Studio Learns to Think Bigger
Excellence marked 20 years in business in January 2026. Kristian founded the company as a compact studio focused on one-on-one training and small groups, along with fitness classes and basic challenges for local businesses. The footprint grew a little at a time. A major renovation added fresh space and a golf-performance area with a hitting bay, supported by TPI-certified trainers who connect strength and mobility work to the golf swing.
Today, Katie estimates that Excellence Wellness Solutions includes roughly a dozen core professionals, nearly as many class instructors and a wider network spanning nutrition, mental health, women’s health and other specialties. That depth helps the organization match people with the right expertise.
Katie’s Role Evolves with the Business
Most mornings, Katie is still at the studio near The Battery Atlanta, working directly with clients. Personal training remains her comfort zone after nearly 18 years in the field. The rest of her job would have been harder to predict when she arrived. She now works as a wellness program coordinator and program manager for corporate clients, helping design, organize and deliver programs that can reach employees around the world.
One global 5K challenge includes a major Atlanta event along with groups in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Australia and across the United States. Excellence also supports a global LiveWell community, online wellness classes, year-round challenges and workshops covering physical, mental and financial wellness. The company’s corporate wellness programs in Atlanta now extend far beyond the city.
The original studio still serves people looking for personal training near The Battery Atlanta and draws clients from across the Atlanta area. EWS team members also travel to deliver in-person programs to clients across the United States, while virtual classes, workshops and wellness initiatives reach employees around the globe. It is an unusually broad footprint for a team Katie still describes as “small but mighty.”
Why ‘Wellness’ Became the Better Name
The shift from Excellence in Exercise to Excellence Wellness Solutions followed the work itself. Exercise can sound like a narrow assignment: go to the gym and complete the workout. Wellness makes room for the full effect of movement. A run, hike or bike ride can provide sunshine, time away from technology and social connection along with physical benefits. The new name caught up with the broader goal.
The Pandemic Pivot That Stayed
Excellence was already moving toward a broader corporate model when the pandemic arrived, but 2020 demanded speed. As Katie prepared to teach her final in-person class in downtown Atlanta, Julie was already pushing the team toward Zoom. They moved classes online and expanded into workshops, coaching and global programming. Katie still values seeing faces and reactions on a screen. Technology works best for this team when it improves the human conversation.
A Specialty Katie Never Expected to Need
Katie’s own professional evolution became especially personal when four clients were diagnosed with breast cancer within about four years. She had the privilege of working with them through treatment and recovery, and each experience reinforced how different one person’s needs can be from another’s.
Registered dietitian Shayna Komar, a member of the Excellence Wellness Solutions team whose background includes decades in oncology, introduced Katie to the Cancer Exercise Training Institute. Katie completed its Cancer Exercise Specialist program and learned more about how treatments and surgeries can affect movement. Her work begins with medical clearance and careful assessment. For one client, the priority was restoring arm range of motion before returning to strength work.
For anyone searching for a cancer exercise specialist in Atlanta, the certification matters. So does the quality Katie names as her superpower: meeting people where they are. The work requires judgment, patience, emotional energy and the discipline to pause and send a client back to the medical team when needed.
Personalization in the Age of Wellness Snippets
Katie sees modern wellness information as a mixed blessing. People have extraordinary access to research, workouts and nutrition advice, but the loudest recommendation may come from a tiny study, a narrow population or an influencer’s favorite solution. Even solid information can be a poor fit for the reader.
Customization is where Excellence does its best work. The team asks what an individual or company needs, what people will actually use and which professional is best equipped to help. A golf client may work with Kristian or another TPI-certified trainer. A client needing nutrition support can be connected with Shayna. Other needs draw on specialists in stretching, mental health, women’s health and additional areas. The point is to build around the person rather than squeeze the person into a prepackaged program.
Micro Moves and a Wider Definition of Success
As Excellence looks toward 2027, Katie expects greater emphasis on small, accessible actions. A person does not need to identify as an athlete or enjoy the bench press. Gardening, walking or a bike ride can reduce stress and create enough breathing room to show up better at work and at home.
That philosophy helps explain why the partnership between Excellence Wellness Solutions and Big Peach Running Co. East Cobb works so naturally. We have supported its corporate 5K programming and even delivered running-form education online. Both teams see movement as something that should meet people at their current starting point and remain useful in real life.
Helping East Cobb Move More Comfortably
At Big Peach Running Co. East Cobb, our part of that equation begins with what people put on their feet. We help runners, walkers and people seeking everyday comfort compare properly fitted shoes through a fit-first, research-informed process. We also carry apparel, socks, hydration and nutrition for workouts, races, walks and daily movement.
A customized wellness plan cannot do much if sore feet make every walk less appealing. A thoughtful running shoe fitting in East Cobb can remove one avoidable barrier, whether the next goal is a 5K, a healthier workday or a comfortable lap around the neighborhood. The lesson from Katie and Excellence is wonderfully practical: start where you are, choose support that fits and keep evolving from there.
FAQs About Excellence Wellness Solutions, Katie Jensen and Wellness in Atlanta
Excellence Wellness Solutions is an Atlanta wellness company founded by Kristian Jones. It provides personal training, small-group fitness, golf-performance training, corporate wellness programs, online wellness classes, challenges, workshops and coaching. Learn more at Excellence Wellness Solutions.
Its studio is near Windy Ridge Parkway and Cobb Parkway, just outside The Battery Atlanta, and serves clients throughout the Atlanta area. EWS team members also travel across the United States to deliver in-person programs, while virtual classes, workshops, coaching and wellness initiatives reach employees around the globe.
Katie is a personal trainer, wellness program coordinator and corporate wellness program manager. She works with individual clients in the studio and helps organize global fitness challenges, online classes, workshops and broader wellness initiatives for corporate partners.
Yes. Katie completed the Cancer Exercise Specialist program through the Cancer Exercise Training Institute. She works within her professional scope, requires appropriate medical clearance and adapts movement to the client’s treatment history, current capacity and goals.
Our team helps runners, walkers and people seeking everyday comfort compare footwear through a personalized fitting process. We can also help with comfortable walking shoes, performance running shoes, apparel, socks, hydration and nutrition. Visit the Big Peach East Cobb page for hours, directions and Reserve to Try.
Ask Footwear Guru to explore questions, compare options and arrive at Big Peach East Cobb with a smarter starting point. It is built on our fit-first, research-informed and product-aware approach. Footwear Guru does not diagnose conditions or replace an in-store fitting. Start there, then finish in the store with the shoes on your feet.