The Conclave includes:

• a goalsetting workshop to refine your goals for this cycle
• an online assessment of your mobility, strength, and technical strengths and weaknesses
• a 13-week progressive training program delivered in the TrueCoach training app, which includes form checks on key exercises
• weekly virtual 1-to-1 check-ins within TrueCoach
• one 30-minute live 1-to-1 coaching session
• a group kickoff introductory call
• biweekly group coaching calls on a range of topics with time for Q&A and form checks
• an epic text chain group in Telegram

You will have access to the program on TrueCoach through the last day of the month when your cycle ends (unless you place a deposit for the next cycle). You can also receive a text-only export of your program via email at the end of the program.

Each drill in your program comes with a video where I or another coach demonstrate the exercise with a text explanation of the movement. If you have any questions about any exercises during the program, you can use the TrueCoach app to ask questions. You can also ask questions live during our biweekly coaching calls.

The program requires at least a 4 hour per week of time commitment to your training, which includes at least 2 hours per week dedicated to your Conclave programming.

If your schedule is non-negotiably packed full of classes or sessions with other coaches, I will not have enough input into your training to help you to meet your goals.

I will also be here to tell you if I see that you are OVERTRAINING. Recovery is where the gains are made.

Other than that, we'll work together to come up with a training plan that works for your life and revise as needed along the way.

This program is 3 months long and designed to get you maximum results within that timeframe. I decided to retire my 7-week custom programs, because it felt too damn short for the gains I was looking for in my clients.

It's up to you to put in effort, but I'll be here cheering you on. Remember that sometimes results are visible and other times they are a feeling of comfort or lack of pain or restriction. I am stoked for you (and your circus shoulders) to feel amazing at the end of this program.

If you have been cleared by a physio to return to your activity, you may begin this program. If you have any limitations or rehab protocols due to prior injury, please let me know in your intake questionnaire and I am happy to work them into your programming. Comprehensive means comprehensive.

If you regularly upload your videos for feedback into TrueCoach, you will receive regular form checks, which is necessary to help me progress your exercises. In addition, you can ask any questions you need about your program. According to past Conclavers, consistent feedback is the highlight of this program.

Yes. I coach clients from all over the world. Previous Conclave cycles have included folks from all over the US, Canada, Australia, Kuwait, Jordan, and Europe.

The group meetings will be scheduled to best make the time zones represented in your cycle. Recordings will always be made available. I'll also take questions via email before the sessions to ensure that your questions are answered even if you cannot attend.

You will be responsible for scheduling your own 1-on-1 through Acuity. I will make slots available to accommodate all time zones represented in the cycle.

The Conclave is a group of intermediate through advanced hobbyist and professional aerialists and pole artists. It's not about the tricks that you can do in The Conclave. It's about your investment in and your goals for your practice.

I want to work with folks who are motivated beyond it being a mere phase, have clear goals, and are used to training hard to achieve them. Not sure if that's you? Just ask!

I will ask you to purchase some inexpensive supplies (mini-bands, peanut, etc) that can readily be procured on the interwebs, if you do not already have them. They're worth it!

Cycle 6 officially begins on August 21st and ends on November 19th. Once you're accepted into The Conclave and make payment, you'll receive your membership forms, which will be be due 3 days after receipt. Based on the goals stated in your forms, you might be asked to provide additional information, including photos and videos. Programs will be delivered the week of August 14th. 

That's me.

I'm Jessica John (she/her).

I'm a coach and mentor to performance artists across the globe. With over 30 years of high-level sport experience, I'm a premier skill acquisition specialist for circus artists and pole dancers, from Cirque du Soleil professionals trying to stay healthy on tour to committed enthusiasts trying to fit in training between careers and kids. I draw from my own rich movement background as a circus artist, dancer, and competitive athlete, as well as a former career as an intelligence officer and lawyer, to offer a unique opportunity to learn what it takes to reach high performance goals.

My human-centered coaching philosophy is evidence-based and multidisciplinary, addressing technical, strength, mobility, nutrition, psychological, and creative challenges. I use sport and exercise psychology theoretical frameworks to design performance programs that help my clients achieve their goals through habit-based behavior change interventions. What that looks like in practice is a relational approach to high performance coaching, aimed at helping driven aerialists reach their highest potential while still retaining their autonomy and creative voice.

In a past life, I worked as a leadership analyst with the CIA for more than a decade, where in addition to living in Africa and the Balkans, I developed training programs in applied political psychology. My background in assessing world leaders from a distance has inspired my innovation in working with and addressing mindset challenges in circus artists from afar. In additional to a bachelor’s degree from University of Colorado at Boulder—where I graduated with a degree in political science while immersing myself in physical and cultural anthropology—I also hold a law degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from George Washington University where I concentrated in political psychology.

I am a lifelong learner and my education did not stop at university. My movement education began as a GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Trainer, and I continue to take specialized courses, such as Therapeutic Applications for the Shoulder Girdle, the Pelvic Girdle, and Scoliosis, that inform my coaching and practice. I am a Girls Gone Strong Women’s Coaching Specialist and a NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, and am certified in the Functional Movement Screen Level 1, Progressing Ballet Technique Levels 1 & 2, Integrated Kinetic Neurology Level 1, and Precision Nutrition Level 1. I have participated in a Dance Movement Analysis course and Katie St. Clair’s Empowered Performance program to up-level my assessment and programming abilities. I am currently in a Clinical Somatics Education Level 1 certification, as well as a Certified Biomechanics Specialist Certfication through Conor Harris.

I view coaching as a relational practice and an opportunity to shape circus and pole culture. I hold a commitment to actively applying a trauma-informed lens, and I completed CULTIVATE {trauma-informed space holding training} with Katie Kurtz, MSW LISW-S. I have participated in James-Olivia Chu Hillman’s 6-month Disobedience School, Fleur Lawson’s Power With Not Power Over: Accountability in Action for White Women, and Kelly Diels' 11-month feminist power-building and culture-building program We Are The Culture Makers. I am currently working to build a racially equitable online business through Annie Gichuru's program Represented.

I founded and direct Alter Circus, a contemporary circus, dance, and performance company. I am a Galen Hooks Method and Jacob Jonas the Company Digital Intensive alum.

I am not afraid to ask if I don't know the answer, and I use a range of outside advisers and referrals to help clients meet their goals.

I hold a systemic analysis and my feminism is inclusive and about justice. I believe that empowerment is a collective practice and a collective outcome. I believe in using my positional power as a coach to shape circus culture to cherish all bodies. I know that gender is a social construct, and I am in solidarity with my trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming siblings. I enthusiastically support Black Lives Matter and the movement to dismantle white supremacy. I believe that Fatphobia and Diet Culture are social justice issues. (H/T Kelly Diels)

The Concave will not run again until fall of 2024. 😳

This program requires a significant time investment up front for custom programming as well as daily feedback. As such, I cannot offer scholarships or financial aid for this program. I do, however, offer a significant number of other free resources to the community that I encourage you to check out.

Getting your first straight-arm inversion. Reaching touchdown in your middle split. Eliminating shoulder discomfort in back flags.

The types of results you can expect from The Conclave are dependent on your own goals. What is achieving your goals worth to you? 🤷🏼‍♀️

If something difficult is happening in your life, and you're struggling to keep up with the program, I will work with you privately and give you extra support to help you feel successful, which at my discretion might include moving you to a subsequent cycle. However, I do not offer refunds. My commitment to you and prep work begins on the day you enroll. Please check in with your gut, your schedule, and your bank account to be sure you're a "hell yes" before applying.

If you are not sure that the program is right for you, you can email me at [email protected] to discuss your situation and ask questions.

If you have not worked with me previously, I highly suggest taking a few mobility classes, either live or through recordings in The Parish, before the program begins. This will give you a sense of my style of programming and the tools that I frequently use. I also suggest that you spend some time thinking through what you would like to focus on in our time together.

After enrolling in the program, you will receive information about refining your goals, an intake questionnaire, and a list of photos/videos for your intake assessments.

Yes!

• Take full advantage of the feedback within TrueCoach. Upload all requested videos for feedback (there will only be 3 per session) and ask questions if you are unsure if you are doing something right.
• Ask! If you need to cut a training session from 2 to 1 hours, if you need a substitute exercise, if you need a progression, if you need a pep talk, if you need to understand WHY you're doing something. Ask.
• Carve out time for your training sessions and make that time nonnegotiable. Tell your family, friends, and work.
• Show up and contribute in the Telegram group chat. Get to know the group. There are not many people in the world who would make this type of investment in their circus training. These are your people!

Yes. But truth? There will be some growing pains.

The primary delivery mechanism for this program is the TrueCoach app, and it is not without annoyances and glitches. I will do my best to overcome them, but I cannot control the app or platform.

I will ask you to film 3 exercises per training session and then upload them to the TrueCoach app. You will have to find a system that works for you.