Meet Our Team

Kris Gruner spent the first 25 years of his career in the commodity option trading business where he built and managed his firm's risk. Along the way, he trained and coached many young traders the art of risk taking. At the end of 2017, he decided to retire from the option trading business.

Having been a collegiate athlete and high school football coach for many years, Kris decided to join with a business partner, Chris Falcon, and create an entirely new business built around fitness and performance. Kris’s passion has always been teaching and coaching to help connect people and build relationships. That energy is now fully focused on building the WIN community. A community committed to a fitness experience that is better shared!

Kris teaches Punch45 and HIIT45 as well as Youth SAQ

Erika Gruner was a Division 3 collegiate athlete as a swimmer at Depauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. At Depauw, she met her husband and co-founder of WIN Athletic Club, Kris Gruner, in a class called “Teaching and Coaching Individual Sports.” While coaching for the Evanston McGaw YMCA swim team, Erika competed in several triathlons in the Chicago-area. Aside from athletic pursuits, Erika worked as an account-executive for Fedex and then became a stay at home mom for her 3 children while running her own small computer consulting business.

She is a spinning certified instructor and loves to fill in when needed teaching StrongSpyn and PLYOSpyn. Her main focus is building a strong community at WIN Athletic Club while keeping the administration of building a new business in check.

Chris Falcon is the Co-Founder of WIN Athletic Club and the Founder of Reactive Performance Enhancement Center - the Personal Training division of WIN. He is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist,Youth Exercise Specialist, and Golf Fitness Specialist. He is also a Certified Reiki Healing practitioner. He is a natural born creative, writer, artist, motivational speaker, fitness enthusiast, realtor, podcaster and the 2020 - 2022 President of the Glenview Chamber of Commerce.

Certifications: NASM CPT,PES,CES,YES,GFS

Courtney’s first career was in elementary education in The Chicago Public Schools where she taught for 10 years. After staying at home with her three children and moving back to the suburbs, Courtney returned to work, this time in the fitness industry. Courtney comes to WIN from another large fitness company, where she focused on membership sales. She developed relationships with members, planned events, and created a sense of community in the club.

Courtney was encouraged to pursue a certification in group fitness because of her obvious enthusiasm and participation in classes. She has a passion for teaching, and focuses on connecting with every member in her class. Courtney currently resides in Highland Park with her husband, three children, and her Bulldog, Waffle. Her favorite food indulgences are sushi and coffee ice cream.

Certifications: AFAA certified group fitness instructor
Courtney teaches StrongSpyn, PlyoSpyn and HIIT45

Justin teaches both HIIT45 and PUNCH45

Edward has worked with all walks of life, from young athletes as early as 5yrs old learning about fitness, to the elderly fighting for their lives dealing with Parkinson’s disease, to professionals that play in the NFL, NBA and fight professionally. "I believe fitness is supposed to be fun and every person is different, so I approach every training session in that way by designing fun and effective workout plans.” Edward’s workouts are full body workouts that combine cardio and boxing to tone your muscles, burn fat, and increase your overall stamina, endurance and strength.

Certifications: NASM CPT and Certified Boxing Coach.
Edward currently teaches both HIIT45 and PUNCH45

Brian Murphy is a physical education/health and wellness teacher at Evanston Township High School with a bachelors degree in both physical education (preK-12) and health education (preK-12). He currently teaches Strength and Conditioning to Juniors and Seniors and Healthy Lifestyle’s to boys, 9-12. Brian has a masters in Education Leadership and 60 additional graduate hours in various mediums of Physical/Health education.
Brian has been teaching group fitness classes for 7 years. He is married to Glenview native, Kirby, and they have three wonderful children: Max (2013), Sam (2014), and Liv (2018).
“I’ve made some lifelong friends working in Glenview and I am so excited to continue to make new relationships at WIN. I feel a deep responsibility to provide our members with a great experience and a sense of belonging every time they come to class. I am so excited to be a part of the WIN family!”

Nina is a comprehensively certified Pilates instructor . She is married with two children ages 11 and 13 and resides in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Nina has a B.S. in Education and pivoted away from teaching in the classroom when she was home raising her children. While being a member at a local pilates studio, she decided to deepen her knowledge by enrolling in the Balanced Body Pilates Teacher program. She is passionate about helping clients find more flexibility, mobility, and strength to help them move better in their everyday endeavors.

Joe is a Physical Educator and wrestling coach at Evanston Township High School. He also coaches football with WIN founder, Kris Gruner, at ETHS. Joe specializes in mixed martial arts and boxing. "I truly believe it's important to build positive relationships with every person within the WIN community. A strong, positive relationship fosters positive classes, and more importantly, unforgettable experiences. I strive to create engaging and challenging classes for the WIN community.

Certifications: CrossFit Level 1, Mobility CrossFit Level 1, USA Wrestling Bronze Level Coach
Joe currently teaches HIIT45, Youth SAQ and RECESS

Nicole comes to the WIN with 7 years experience teaching group fitness at athletic clubs and studios along the Northshore of Chicago. Prior to entering the wellness space as a fitness instructor and yoga teacher, she had a career in medicine. Seeking to truly embrace the “healer” within her, she left medicine and approached wellness from an entirely new perspective. As a former dancer she found a way to combine her passion for health and wellness with dance and got certified to teach a dance fitness format called WERQ. From that day, a new path towards health and JOY was found. She added on certifications in yoga, strength, children’s yoga, Reiki and meditation. She is passionate about providing as many paths towards well being as she can for her students, seeking to integrate fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness into their daily routines.

Nicole’s guiding philosophy when teaching is this: “Whether I am teaching a handful, or a 100 people in a class, there is always one person in that room who was meant to hear my message and share my energy that day; and that may be the moment that can shift them forward on their journey. That is my purpose in teaching and connecting. To quote Glennon Doyle, I am here to help people on their path towards their “truest, most beautiful self’.

Nicole is a California native that currently lives in Glenview with her husband, two kids, and their gigantic, quarantine-acquired cat, Grayson. When she is not teaching, training, or dancing, she is a writer, speaker, storyteller, mental health advocate, and a “forever student”, always looking to deepen in and understand the “why”.

Certifications: AFAA, RYT-200Hr, C-RYT, WERQ, MS-PA

Cheryl Jasinski is owner of Peak Performance Massage Therapy operated out of WIN Athletic Club. Cheryl specializes in deep tissue massage and keeps our members feeling good!

John's background in Physical Education and Health makes him a great trainer for people of all ages. John received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education with a minor in Health Education and a concentration in Psychology from Northern Illinois University.

Certifications: B.S. Physical Education, NASM PES

Will Ko is owner of Ko Wellness and Rehab Center operated out of WIN Athletic Club. He specializes in sports performance for volleyball, soccer, football and hockey players. His rehab services include muscular / skeletal injuries, chiropractic and physical therapy as well as sports rehab.

Samantha Berke is owner of Uplifted Cryo operated out of WIN Athletic Club. Uplifted Cryo offers body positive aesthetic treatments. We help motivated clients who live a healthy and active lifestyle get rid of stubborn fat and we help inspire others to get started on their health journey.

Alix Williams works at WIN part time as a front desk assistant as well as one of our trusted kids club counselors. Alix attends high school at Glenbrook South and plays on the lacrosse team.

Hudson Brin is part of our part-time staff working at the front desk and helping out with Youth Summer Camps.

He is a student at Highland Park High School and plays lacrosse. He has 2 sisters and a bulldog named Waffle! Hudson's mom, Courtney Brin, is one of our talented group fitness instructors.

One of Hudson's WINNING moments is when he saved his first shot as goalie in a lacrosse game when he suddenly had to go into a Varsity game as a Freshman.

Liv Perkins works at WIN part time as a front desk assistant. She also is our social media/graphic design intern. Liv attends high school at Glenbrook South High School and is the editor of the school newspaper.