Instructors

Jillian Shay
DIRECTOR OF FITNESS
ACE (American Council on Exercise) Certified Group Exercise Instructor (1989)
Zumba, Zumba Gold and Zumba Toning Certified Instructor
Jillian’s first love for exercise came through group exercise classes back in the 1980’s – Remember Jane Fonda and leg warmers? Jillian attended classes at Sante West in the Marina District of San Francisco. There she met Joanie Greggains who mentored her and encouraged her to follow her dream of helping others to find the joy of exercise. She became an ACE certified instructor in 1988 and was hired by Rolling Hills Club the day after she moved to Novato in 1989. Since then, Jillian has taught many popular classes. She started the first of it’s kind muscle class for women, Muscle Madness, which is still on the schedule today. Currently, Jillian is teaching the wildly popular Zumba® and Zumba Toning® classes. She also teaches Fitness Interval Training (FIT), which she designed to increase muscle strength and endurance while creating maximum calorie expenditure. Jillian has an incredible passion for group exercise classes which shows in her enthusiasm and joy of teaching. She always welcomes newcomers.

If you have any questions about our fitness classes, please feel free to CONTACT JILLIAN >

Melissa Adkison
Melissa has extensive experience as a Swim Instructor at Rolling Hills Club. As a competitive swimmer with the Mud Sharks Masters Team Melissa has won High Point Medals in Pacific Masters, All American Swimmer and has placed in US Masters National Meets. She currently teaches water aerobics, group swim lessons and helps coach the Swimfit program at Rolling Hills Club. In her spare time Melissa is a professional artist/teacher. Melissa combines a great ability to teach the technical aspects of swimming with a friendly style of coaching that helps swimmers learn to swim fast in a fun and enjoyable environment.

Janna Barkin
Janna has been a practicing yogini for over 20 years, and she delights in creating a safe space for others to experience the power and grace of yoga. Janna’s Anusara-inspired classes invite a joyful opening in body, mind, and heart. She combines a playful passion for the practice with a strong understanding of universal alignment principles, as taught by John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga. Janna teaches yoga all over Marin County, and has been teaching at Rolling Hills since 2005. Prenatal yoga and Mom and Baby yoga are some of her specialties. Janna leads yoga retreats locally and abroad. Visit her website at JannaBarkinYoga.googlepages.com

Barb Brown
ACE Certified
Fitness has been a significant part of Barb’s life for the last 34 years. During her career, she has managed two fitness companies; The Bod Squad, Inc. and Steppin’ Out. Barb has taught a variety of classes including pregnancy, kids’ aerobics, muscle, spinning, stretch, step, and regular aerobics. Currently at Rolling Hills Club, Barb teaches our Muscle Madness and Movement, Muscle & Stretch class. Teaching students of all levels is her passion. When she is not teaching exercise, Barb substitute teaches and enjoys playing tennis and reading.

Winnie Comfort
Growing up in the country, Winnie learned at an early age the importance and value of community. The theme of community and providing an emotionally, physically and socially satisfying experience for each individual is one that she has carried for 23 years at Rolling Hills Club. As an instructor of Water Fitness and Kindergarten PE Specialist for almost 30 years and as a manager, she has followed this model of providing opportunity for change and growth in a nurturing environment.

Gregory Foster
Gregory Foster is 57 years old and has been practicing hatha yoga more
than 30 years. Gregory has been teaching yoga at the Rolling Hills Club for 15 years. He earned a B.A. degree from Sonoma State College in Humanistic Psychology. Having had multiple sclerosis for 30 years, Gregory is aware of how M.S. can be a crippling auto-immune disease. Thanks to yoga, he has retained most of his balance, coordination and flexibility. To stay well toned and for cardiovascular work, Gregory swims with an adult swim team three times a week. Yoga is his passion. “Through yoga the mind, body and soul is nourished and relaxed. The posture is improved as we learn to stand and sit taller. The internal body functions much better through yoga. Yoga is a meditation and the brain drops into the more relaxed alpha level. I truly enjoy exploring and sharing the many healthy benefits yoga provides for me and all my students. Namaste”

Debbie Gleeson
ACE Certified / Schwinn® Cycling Certified / Flirty Girl Fitness® “Flirtification”
Debbie loves helping people achieve their fitness goals. She finds coaching group exercise classes a very rewarding job. The best part is helping people feel great about working out and see them happy! Debbie’s fitness experience goes back 20 plus years. She has even had the privilege to be part of Aerobics competitions back in the day. Debbie’s classes are always well prepared and thought out. She continues to attend fitness seminars yearly to keep updated on the latest fitness trends and skills.

Tori Graw – Introduction to come.

Heather Hartley
ACE Certified
Heather has been teaching group exercise classes since 1989 and joined Rolling Hills Club in 2007. Heather teaches a variety of classes including our early morning Bootcamp class, Cycle, F.I.T and Senior Fitness. In the early nineties Heather received a Silver Medal in the Bay Area Reebok Aerobic Championship. Heather truly enjoys working with all ages and levels (especially her amazing Senior exercisers and her hard working boot campers!) She enjoys connecting with members and seeing their progress. Her workouts are tough but always FUN!

Amy Hesla
Amy has been teaching with Rolling Hills Club 20 years this year. Amy enjoys teaching both water aerobics and indoor cycling.

Beth Huizenga
Beth finds doing yoga practically beneficial and endlessly fascinating. She loves to share her passion for yoga with others, from first-timers and beginners to devoted practitioners, on Tuesday and Saturday mornings at RHC. Having turned 50 in 2011, Beth credits her yoga practice for helping her to feel vibrant, energetic and grounded while also managing and preventing injury. A radio broadcaster since the mid-80s, Beth worked at Radio Bangkok for 3 years and became certified in Thai massage at Wat Pho in 1993. She then immersed herself in Iyengar (alignment-based) classes, workshops and retreats for ten years with numerous master teachers while working at KFOG and later KQED. Beth also studied yoga philosophy, Pranayama and Ayurveda at the California Institute of Integral Studies and did her yoga teacher training through Yoga Tree in San Francisco following a year of studying Anusara yoga at the Yoga Kula in San Francisco. She continues to study Acroyoga (a blend of acrobatics, yoga and Thai massage) and to offer workshops in Partner Yoga, a beautiful way to work out through give and take and learning to trust and communicate well.

Beth Kraft
Beth Kraft is a skilled, seasoned, certified yoga instructor. She has been a yoga practitioner since she was a teen. Beth has studied Anusara yoga for the past ten years and continues to take in depth courses with master yoga teachers. She has been teaching yoga for ten years in Marin County. She incorporates her knowledge of the bio-mechanical principles of movement with yoga philosophy. She believes strongly in creating a safe, nurturing, and fun environment for all of her yoga students.

Melissa Lakritz
Melissa Lakritz is an enthusiastic and motivated teacher who has been practicing yoga for 11 years. She uses precise instruction, alignment with breath, and fluidity of movement so that her students feel focused, empowered, and connected to their core. Learning how to generate energy into different parts of the body helped Melissa relax and release tension both on and off the mat. Her passion for asana practice led her to complete a 200 hour teacher training and become a RYT through Yoga Alliance. Melissa continues to be inspired by the transformation that yoga has provided in her life. She feels blessed to have the opportunity to share her passion and teach others how to unite mind, body and spirit through Yoga.

Juliet Mason – Introduction to come.

Heather Ophir
AFAA Primary Group Exercise Certification
Heather has spent her whole life teaching or learning in a classroom. After 15 years as a high school English teacher she was ready to reinvent herself, and embarked on a journey of physical wellness which included learning to swim, bike and run in preparation for triathlon competition, participating in the life changing UltraSimple Diet program, and embracing all that Group Exercise at Rolling Hills Club has to offer. Zumba fitness classes quickly became the favorite, and after spending a year and a half positioned at the front of the room, it was a natural next step to pursue certification to teach the high energy, incredibly fun Latin rhythm-inspired cardio class!

Susie Powell – Introduction to come.

Phyllis Schultz – Introduction to come.

Amy Stubblefield
Amy has been in the fitness industry for over thirty years, and still feels as passionate as ever about being able to help people lead healthy, energetic lives. She began as a group exercise instructor and enjoyed the excitement of leading a group. She also enjoys working with people one on one. Amy’s specialties are cardio interval training, circuit training, endurance training, sport specific training, Pilates, and core training.

Tim West – Introduction to come.

Amy Wolff
AFFA, Storytime Yoga Instructor / Associate Baptiste Yoga Instructor / PAI Pilates Mat / CPR, First Aid and Pediatric First Aid
Amy Wolff is a Petaluma mother of three who enjoys sharing her love of yoga with people of all ages. With over 20 years of teaching experience, Amy has developed a broad base of knowledge and expertise while bringing a great balance of fun, joy and learning to all of her classes. After discovering yoga in 2001, she began her study of the ancient practice which has blossomed into a career in yoga with a focus in special populations from children with special needs to people who live with chronic pain. Amy is a nurturing soul with a motherly touch who’s personal passion is to encourage people to step into their own personal power. Come experience the joy and journey into possibility with Amy.

Interested in learning more about a particular instructor? CONTACT US »