Why Wellness With Stackzzz Exists
Wellness shouldn’t feel overwhelming, restrictive, or complicated.
And it definitely shouldn’t make you choose between running hard and enjoying your life, or between eating well and eating what you love.
We created Wellness With Stackzzz because we believe wellness works best when food, fitness, and real life actually support each other. When training feels purposeful, fueling feels joyful, and your day-to-day habits help you feel strong, not stressed.
This brand is our way of bringing that balance to you, through better-for-you recipes, personalized coaching, honest conversation, and a community that’s rooted in real, sustainable wellness.
Our Story
We met at Run Club, but what actually connected us wasn’t pace, mileage, or PRs. It was balance.
Ryan had structure, discipline, and a training schedule that made sense.
Nicole showed up with passion, creativity, and energy… BUT absolutely no balance whatsoever.
Nicole loved healthy baking, better-for-you recipes, and the heart behind fueling well, but she still struggled with overdoing, underfueling, and tying her worth to her workouts.
Ryan loved performance, strength, and intentional training, but he did it with ease, calm, and balance that Nicole had never experienced.
We were speaking the same language, just from completely different directions.
As we got to know each other, we realized something important:
food, fitness, and real life don’t just coexist, they make each other better.
Together, we found a rhythm neither of us had alone:
structure and joy, discipline and flexibility, performance and presence.
And that’s where Wellness With Stackzzz was born.
A space where all the pieces of wellness work together, not against each other, through three pillars that represent who we are:
Snackin’ AKA Nicole’s world — better-for-you recipes, simple ingredients, fueling that actually tastes good, and the belief that dessert belongs in every healthy lifestyle.
Runnin’ AKA Ryans world — custom coaching, smart training, sustainable performance, and helping every athlete (from first 5K to sub-3) find their strongest stride.
Yappin’ (Our Podcast “Wellness With Stackzzz”) AKA our shared world — the conversations that tie it all together. Honest chats about balance, growth, setbacks, mindset, relationships, joy, and the real-life side of wellness that numbers alone can’t measure.
Together, these three pieces form the foundation of Wellness With Stackzzz —
a realistic, sustainable, joyful approach to health.
Because we’re not here to preach extremes or perfection.
We’re here to show you that you can:
train hard and have dessert
push yourself and rest without guilt
fuel well and actually enjoy what you eat
be disciplined and still love your life
Wellness isn’t choosing one or the other, it’s learning how they work together.
And that’s the life we’re building, and sharing, with you.
More about Ryan and Nicole
Nicole started running for reasons that had nothing to do with performance, it was about joy, movement, fresh air, and feeling alive. A simple routine that sparked confidence and brought her a kind of runner’s high she’d never felt before.
But like many runners, it slowly became too much.
The miles increased. The pressure increased.
And eventually, the joy disappeared.
But the story didn’t end there.
Along the way, she earned a 3:56 marathon for her one (and only) 26.2 so far, and set a 1:44 PR in the half marathon. Now, with a healthier mindset and Ryan’s coaching in her corner, she finally feels excited about taking on future races from a place of joy, strength, and balance.
Through rebuilding her relationship with running, finding joy in movement again, and nourishing her body better than ever, Nicole discovered what truly helps her thrive:
Healthy baking that actually tastes good.
Fueling for performance, not restriction.
Training smarter, not harder.
Living balanced, without giving up dessert or identity.
Snackin’ With Squigzzz grew because people connected to the honesty, that you can be healthy and human, disciplined and joyful, strong and soft.
Nicole’s approach to food is simple:
Fuel your body, feed your soul, and never skip dessert.
Her recipes prove that healthy food can be cozy, nostalgic, satisfying, and delicious — without being complicated or restrictive.
Ryan didn’t grow up a runner, he actually started on the opposite end of the spectrum as a bodybuilder and powerlifter, obsessed with strength and discipline. Running was never the plan.
Until it was.
COVID hit and Ryan decided “I’m going to lace up my shoes and get outside while the world is shut down.”
His first-ever race wasn’t a 5K or even a marathon… it was a 45-mile ultra, completed in 6:31:45 (8:42 pace). Most people ease in, Ryan jumped straight into the deep end.
From there, he went all in:
Marathon debut: 2:42:29 — in the Florida heat.
Boston Marathon: 2:47:55 — after an 8-week comeback block following injury.
Chicago Marathon: 2:45:57
Half Marathon: 1:17:17
What makes Ryan different isn’t just the times — it’s his approach.
He knows what it’s like to push too hard. He knows what it’s like to get injured.
He knows that strength, running, and longevity intersect, and that performance doesn’t have to come at the cost of balance.
Today, he coaches runners from their first mile to sub-3 ambitions using a mix of Jack Daniels principles, strength training, practical recovery, and common sense. In fact, he’s the one who helped Nicole not only redevelop her love for running, but actually progress on less miles than she’s ever ran before.
His belief is simple:
Running should bring joy to your life, not take away from it. And every plan should be built for the person, not the pace.