DAU NGUYEN
OWNER
Dau’s journey into fitness began when he witnessed the benefits exercise brought to his mother while she was battling breast cancer.
After her chemotherapy treatments, Dau would at times lock his mother out of her apartment when she didn’t feel like being physically active because he saw how she would recover faster after their daily hikes. As a cancer survivor, Dau’s mother continues to exercise to maintain her health and wellness.
What began as one of the most challenging journeys of Dau’s life evolved into a passion for helping others realize that their health is gold. Fitness is a journey—a celebration of what one’s body and mind are able to do. Investing in health takes care of the only vehicle that will go with you through the rest of your life. When you have your health, you have everything.
After a lengthy career as an Assistant Manager and Master Coach at 24 Hour Fitness, Dau expanded into virtual training sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic to accommodate his clients’ personal training needs. The outcome of this decision was quite fortuitous and set the stage for the launch of DauFit.
DauFit’s mission is to provide personalized training programs that guide, educate, and elevate individuals to a healthy and good practice lifestyle. Individuals are welcome to pursue their health and wellness goals at Dau’s fitness center in Downtown Portland.
When Dau is not managing DauFit, Dau enjoys spending time with his parents and traveling.
ALLAN JOHNSTONE
COACH
Allan grew up an active kid in southern California playing everything from baseball and soccer to lacrosse and tennis. As active as Allan was growing up he was always battling with his weight. He would lose five pounds, then gain ten back and repeat over and over again.
When he graduated college in 2019, he was unhappy and weighed 330 pounds. With no immediate job after graduating he decided to commit his life to his fitness journey.
At first, Allan struggled with staying consistent in the gym and understanding how to utilize food in his weight loss journey. He finally found a personal trainer that helped him understand nutrition, hard work and a better understanding of how the body moves and operates. With that knowledge he was able to lose over 100 pounds and keep it off!
Now you can find Allan playing sports including volleyball, basketball, and softball with his friends or going on hikes and taking photos. Not only did losing that weight help his physical health but it helped his mental health as well.
After that experience, Allan fell in love with the idea of helping others with their fitness journey. With experience training people as young as 14 or as old as 87 whether your goal is to lose weight, improve at a sport, get back in a consistent routine or “age with grace”; he has experience as both a client and a coach.
MATT SHANKS
COACH
Since Matt was young he enjoyed the outdoors and he enjoyed pushing himself physically.
Growing up in Bend, Oregon he used to make up little challenges for himself like climbing a tree or outrunning a friend on a bike. As he got older, he became interested in martial arts and parkour; the body mastery and awareness that he witnessed practitioners showcase was absolutely amazing and still continues to inspire him.
During high school, he had a friend introduce him to weight training and powerlifting and he was ecstatic to have a new avenue to grow with. Since then, he has put on 70lbs of muscle and learned so many new things about the human body, dabbling in corrective exercise and physical therapy based practices, bodybuilding and athletic training.
During his 5 years at 24 Hour Fitness he had experience with clients from as young as 12 all the way to 87 years old, and he facilitated progress with every one of them. He pushed each client in a consistent, steady manner, all while having fun doing it. Every person is a new story with new challenges, setbacks, successes and motivations, he looks forward to hearing yours!
NEV INGLEY
COACH
Nev hails from England and grew up in an active household which exposed him to many recreational activities including martial arts, skiing and horseback riding. Therefore, it is of no surprise that Nev had a natural inclination toward fitness and weightlifting. When he discovered fitness, he found his passion.
In his late teens Nev suffered from an eating disorder. Nev skipped meals and lived an unhealthy lifestyle to try to conform to societal pressures to look a particular way. Eventually Nev realized that he needed to change. He did this by reestablishing his relationship with food and taking control of his body dysmorphia by exercising regularly.
In his mid 20’s Nev decided to take fitness seriously. At the same time Nev became a drag performer and found that both pursuits really helped him discover his inner power and confidence. He realized he wanted to help and inspire others too, especially queer people who are susceptible to body dysmorphia. Thus he began his education to become a certified personal trainer. His education continues as Nev is currently studying to become a certified nutritionist to better aid his clients with nutritional guidance.
Nev’s mission is to provide fitness education in a friendly and safe environment. He believes fitness should be accessible to all. Specializing in body transformation and strength training, Nev wants his clients to be the fully realized versions of themselves – mind and body.