ThriveWise Coaching
Meet the ThriveWise Coaching Team
Meet the coaches behind ThriveWise Coaching, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based coaching practice serving clients locally and virtually nationwide. Our team brings experience across life coaching, health and wellness, executive and professional coaching, teen coaching, fitness and endurance, and personal development.
Our Coaches
Johnna Smith
Founder & Head Coach | Life Transitions, Purpose & Wellbeing
Johnna brings more than 20 years of experience coaching, counseling, teaching and leading people through significant periods of change. She works with adults navigating career change, divorce, retirement, changing health priorities, and questions of purpose and direction, helping them clarify what matters and make thoughtful decisions about what comes next.
Johnna’s background spans psychology, postgraduate counseling studies, health and wellness coaching, Ayurveda, yoga and contemplative sciences. She is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist (AYT), Ayurvedic Health Counselor and 500-Hour E-RYT. She is also the founder of Teja Shakti Yoga School.
Over more than two decades, Johnna has led more than 70 yoga teacher trainings across the United States, along with corporate and health and wellness programs and international retreats in Bali, Italy, Portugal, Belize and Mexico. Her experience working with people across different stages of life informs a grounded, practical approach to helping clients understand themselves, clarify what matters and make thoughtful changes.
Background & Training
NBC-HWC · Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist (AYT), California College of Ayurveda · Ayurvedic Health Counselor · 500-Hour E-RYT · Founder, Teja Shakti Yoga School · Psychology & Postgraduate Counseling Studies · Additional Ayurvedic Training, Shakti School
Coaching: Life Coaching · Health & Wellness Coaching · Executive & Professional Coaching
Blair Dagenhart
Executive, Professional & Wellness Coach
Blair works with executives, professionals and business owners navigating leadership demands, career decisions, stress, burnout and changing health priorities. With a pre-med science background and training in coaching, breath and health behavior, she helps clients recognize patterns affecting their wellbeing and performance and develop practical strategies for change.
Blair earned a B.S. in Zoology/Pre-Med from North Carolina State University with a minor in Genetics. Her training includes Integrity Solutions Coaching Facilitator Training, Integrity Solutions Sales Facilitator Training and Anatomy of Breath certification. She is currently completing the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy curriculum. Her interests include neuroplasticity, breath, posture, body language, self-talk and health behavior.
Background & Training
B.S. Zoology/Pre-Med, NC State · Minor in Genetics · Integrity Solutions Facilitator Training · Anatomy of Breath Certified · Functional Medicine Coaching Academy Curriculum in Progress
Coaching: Executive & Professional Coaching · Life Coaching · Health & Wellness Coaching
Kristi Ray
Nutrition & Endurance Coach
Kristi works with people who want to become stronger, improve their nutrition, return to consistent exercise or prepare for an endurance goal. With a master’s degree in nutrition and extensive endurance experience, she coaches beginners through experienced athletes across running, walking, strength, cycling, swimming and triathlon.
Kristi holds a master’s degree in Nutrition from Appalachian State University and is a USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Certified Personal Trainer and 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher. A six-time Ironman finisher with extensive marathon experience, she understands endurance from both professional and personal perspectives and leads ThriveWise endurance programming in Charlotte.
Background & Training
Master’s in Nutrition, Appalachian State University · USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach · Certified Personal Trainer · RYT 200 · Six-Time Ironman Finisher
Coaching: Fitness & Endurance Coaching
Julie Hutton
Life & Career Coach | Professional & Personal Transitions
Julie works with adults facing important career and life decisions, including professional transitions, changing priorities and questions about what comes next. Her background in business, finance, exercise science and coaching gives her a practical perspective for clients seeking greater clarity around consequential personal and professional decisions.
Julie holds an MBA from George Washington University with a concentration in Finance and a B.S. in Exercise Science from Virginia Tech. She spent ten years in banking advising individual and corporate clients and began her professional work with clients as a personal trainer. She is a Certified Life Coach through the Robbins-Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention Coaching.
Background & Training
MBA, George Washington University · B.S. Exercise Science, Virginia Tech · Certified Life Coach, Robbins-Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention · Banking & Financial Strategy Experience
Coaching: Life Coaching · Executive & Professional Coaching · Health & Wellness Coaching
Georgi Dienst
Life Coach | Clarity, Transitions & Life Alignment
Georgi works with women navigating overwhelm, changing circumstances and decisions about what comes next. With experience in life coaching and professional organizing, she helps clients simplify competing priorities, examine the beliefs influencing their choices and develop greater clarity about how they want their home, work and life to function.
A certified life coach with a background in professional organizing, Georgi brings an unusual understanding of the relationship between our surroundings, decisions and priorities. Her experience includes helping people through home and life transitions as well as firsthand experience building three homes and completing four major renovations. Her coaching encompasses values, mindset, purpose and intentional decision-making.
Background & Training
Certified Life Coach · Professional Organizing · Home & Life Transitions · Values, Mindset & Decision-Making
Coaching: Life Coaching
Amanda Garvey
Health & Wellness Coach | Women’s Midlife Health
Amanda works with women who want to improve their health during midlife and build habits they can maintain. A National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, she supports clients with nutrition, movement, sleep, stress, hormonal and metabolic changes, translating health goals into practical, sustainable daily choices.
Amanda is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) whose work focuses on sustainable behavior change and whole-person health. She supports women navigating changing health needs and can help clients implement physician-directed care, including lifestyle considerations surrounding HRT or GLP-1 treatment. Her role is coaching and behavior-change support, not medical diagnosis or treatment.
Background & Training
National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) · Women’s Midlife Health · Nutrition & Lifestyle · Sustainable Behavior Change
Coaching: Health & Wellness Coaching
Silvana Masiero-Lewis
Life Coach | Positive Psychology, Life Transitions & Wellbeing
Silvana works with adults navigating change, important decisions and evolving priorities. Her background in coaching, positive psychology, education and mind-body practices gives her a broad perspective on wellbeing, while years of working closely with people through consequential decisions bring a practical understanding of personal change.
Silvana holds a B.A. in Sociology and Master of Education from the University of Miami and completed Foundations of Positive Psychology through the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Jay Shetty Certified Life Coach and 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher with more than 700 hours of yoga training. Her background also includes community leadership and mentoring. Silvana is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Background & Training
M.Ed., University of Miami · B.A. Sociology, University of Miami · Foundations of Positive Psychology, University of Pennsylvania · Jay Shetty Certified Life Coach · RYT 500 · English & Spanish
Coaching: Life Coaching
Lexi Strawder
Teen Coach | Teens & Families
Lexi works with teens and families, supporting young people as they navigate confidence, relationships, communication, school pressures, decision-making and growing independence. She is completing counseling training at Wingate University and finishing her internship as she works toward professional counseling licensure in North Carolina.
Lexi’s combination of teen coaching and developing counseling experience gives her an informed understanding of adolescent development, family relationships and the pressures young people face. Her work also supports families as they navigate communication and the changing dynamics that accompany adolescence.
Background & Training
Counseling Training, Wingate University · Counseling Internship in Progress · Teen & Family Coaching
Coaching: Teen Coaching · Health & Wellness Coaching
Persia Mohseni
Licensed Therapist | Teens, Families & Addiction
Persia works with teens and families and brings clinical experience addressing addiction, behavioral concerns and family dynamics. Trained at UNC Charlotte and licensed in North Carolina, she brings a clinical perspective to the ThriveWise team and experience supporting adolescents and families facing more complex challenges.
Persia completed her professional training at UNC Charlotte and is a licensed therapist in North Carolina. Her work includes experience with adolescents, families and people affected by addiction. Her clinical training also gives her experience recognizing when concerns may require specialized mental health or substance-use treatment.
Background & Training
UNC Charlotte · North Carolina Licensed Therapist · Teens & Families · Addiction Experience
Coaching: Teen Coaching · Health & Wellness Coaching
Noell Yenik
Health & Fitness Coach | Strength, Nutrition & Women’s Wellness
Noell works with women who want to become stronger, improve their nutrition and establish a sustainable approach to fitness. Her background spans personal training, sports nutrition, pelvic-floor health, yoga and gut health, giving her a well-rounded perspective on strength, fitness and women’s wellness.
Noell’s training includes Master Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist certifications through ISSA, along with Pelvic Floor Specialist, 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and gut-health training. She created UnbreakableCORE, a postpartum fitness program focused on rebuilding core and pelvic-floor function. Her own experience includes triathlon and natural bodybuilding.
Background & Training
Master Personal Trainer, ISSA · Sports Nutritionist · Pelvic Floor Specialist · RYT 200 · Gut Health Training · Endurance & Strength Experience
Coaching: Health & Wellness Coaching · Fitness & Endurance Coaching
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers to common questions about working with the ThriveWise team.
Each ThriveWise coach brings different areas of experience and expertise. The right fit depends on what you want to work on, from life direction and wellbeing to professional development, fitness, endurance or support for a teen. A complimentary 30-minute coaching consultation can help identify the coaching approach and coach that best fit your needs.
ThriveWise coaches bring professional backgrounds and training across coaching, psychology and counseling, health and wellness, nutrition, endurance and fitness, executive and professional development, and mind-body practices. Individual credentials and areas of expertise are listed with each coach above.
No. ThriveWise Coaching is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and works with clients virtually nationwide. Some coaching, programs and community experiences are also offered in person in the Charlotte area.
ThriveWise coaching supports people working through life transitions, health and wellness goals, habits, career and professional decisions, leadership challenges, confidence, relationships, fitness and endurance goals, and the changing priorities that come with different stages of life.
Coaching focuses on goals, decisions, behavior, personal development and forward action. Therapy may address mental health conditions, diagnosis, treatment and deeper clinical concerns. ThriveWise coaching is not therapy and does not replace appropriate medical or mental health care.
Coaching begins with understanding what matters to you and what you want to address. Our approach draws on established research and theories of human behavior and change, including behavioral science, cognitive behavioral principles, motivational interviewing, self-determination theory, social cognitive theory, stages of change, habit formation, positive psychology, and family systems theory. Your coach applies relevant methods based on their training, area of expertise and more importantly: your goals to help you recognize patterns, clarify priorities, make thoughtful decisions and translate insight into practical action.
Start with a complimentary 30-minute coaching consultation. We’ll talk about what you’re working on, answer your questions and help you determine the ThriveWise coaching option and coach that best fit your needs.
Not sure where to begin?
Start with a complimentary 30-minute coaching consultation. We’ll talk about what you’re working on and help you determine the best ThriveWise coaching option for you.