Shani Stephens is a professional acrobat and strength coach who spent years searching for a strength program that actually understood the demands of circus performance. When she couldn't find one, she built it herself. Perform Athlete is a structured strength and conditioning program designed specifically for acrobats—with dedicated tracks for bases, middles, and flyers that reflect the real demands of each role.

But as Perform Athlete grew, the platform Shani was using couldn't keep up. It was clunky, inflexible, and didn't support the experience she wanted her acrobats to have. Scheduling around touring life was hard. Progress tracking felt disconnected. And building sessions took longer than it should have. The platform didn't match how she coached or how her acrobats actually trained.

When Shani switched to Movement, everything changed. Clean, professional design. Full customization. Seamless video importing. And a team that actually cared about supporting her vision. Now she's delivering Perform Athlete exactly the way she's always wanted to—while touring full-time as a professional acrobat herself.

Can you tell us about our business and who you help?

Perform Athlete is a strength and conditioning program built specifically for acrobats and circus artists—created by someone who understands the demands of being a full-time touring performer.

We help bases, flyers, and middles build real strength that is tailored specifically for their role. Not just getting stronger in the gym for the sake of it, but developing the kind of strength, control, stability, power, and body awareness that directly shows up in their skills.

A lot of circus training is still very skill-focused, and strength work often ends up being inconsistent, optional, or disconnected from what artists actually need. Perform Athlete fills that gap with structured, intentional programming that fits around rehearsals, shows, and touring life.

What drives me is seeing acrobats finally feel confident in their training. Knowing exactly what to do, why they're doing it, and feeling it show up in their skills. I want acrobats to perform at their peak throughout their career—with less fatigue and fewer injuries. That's the goal.

I'm passionate about raising the standard of how circus artists train. Circus has evolved, and our training should too.

"Perform Athlete is a strength and conditioning program built specifically for acrobats and circus artists—created by someone who understands the demands of being a full-time touring performer."

What problem were you facing before using Movement?

Before this, I was running everything through a platform that just didn't match how my program actually works.

It was hard to give the acrobats flexibility with their training—especially with touring schedules constantly changing. Swapping days, adjusting sessions, or making things flow week to week wasn't as smooth as it should be.

Tracking also felt clunky. Logging weights, understanding progress, and things like leaderboards didn't always reflect the intent of the program, which sometimes caused confusion.

And on my end, it was time-consuming to manage and build things in a way that felt clear and simple for the user.

Overall, the biggest problem was that the platform didn't fully support the structure, clarity, and experience I want my members to have.

"The biggest problem was that the platform didn't fully support the structure, clarity, and experience I want my members to have."

What made you choose Movement over other platforms? Did you try any others?

I tried a few different platforms, but I kept running into the same issue—they just didn't really match how I coach or how my acrobats actually train.

What stood out with Movement straight away was how clean and shmick it looks. The whole experience feels professional, and I can customise it in a way that actually makes it feel like my own brand, not just another generic program.

It also gives me a lot more flexibility in how I build and deliver sessions, which is huge for my members who are constantly dealing with changing schedules.

And honestly, the team has been incredible. Every interaction I've had with them has been so helpful, responsive, and supportive. It's made the whole process feel really easy and collaborative.

It just feels like a platform that actually supports both me as a coach and the experience I want my members to have.

"What stood out with Movement straight away was how clean and shmick it looks. The whole experience feels professional, and I can customise it in a way that actually makes it feel like my own brand, not just another generic program.

It just feels like a platform that actually supports both me as a coach and the experience I want my members to have."

How has Movement helped you grow, simplify, or scale?

Movement has made everything feel a lot more streamlined on my end, which has been huge for me as I am a full-time touring artist on top of running a business on my own.

It's simplified how I build and deliver programs, so I'm not spending unnecessary time managing things behind the scenes or double handling tasks. That's given me more space to focus on coaching, content, and actually growing Perform Athlete.

And from a growth perspective, it's allowed me to scale without things feeling messy. I can support more acrobats while still keeping the quality and experience high, which is really important to me.

"Movement has simplified how I build and deliver programs, so I'm not spending unnecessary time managing things behind the scenes. That's given me more space to focus on coaching, content, and actually growing Perform Athlete."

What features or aspects of Movement have been most useful for your work?

The biggest thing for me has been the level of customisation. I can actually build things the way I want, so it feels like my program—not something I've had to force into a system.

The way they imported all my videos was incredible. Having everything clean, high quality, and organised from the start made a huge difference.

I also love the tagging feature—it makes building and navigating the program so much smoother on my end.

One of my favourite parts is being able to have the descriptions live with the videos. It means I don't have to rewrite cues every single time, and I know my acrobats are always getting the right information in a really clear way.

And then being able to create additional resources outside of just the program has been really valuable too as I'm hoping to put all different types of content on this app.

Overall, it just makes everything feel more organised, more professional, and way easier to manage.

"The biggest thing for me has been the level of customisation. I can actually build things the way I want, so it feels like my program—not something I've had to force into a system."

What would you tell another coach or creator considering Movement?

I'd say if you really care about the experience your members are having—not just completing workouts, but how everything feels and flows—it's 100% worth it.

For me, it's been the first time I've felt like I can actually deliver my program the way I've always wanted to. It looks good, it's easy for athletes to follow, and it removes so much of the friction on both sides.

But more than that, it just feels like a team that actually cares. The support has been amazing, and it's felt really collaborative the whole way through.

It's taken a lot of the stress out of running things behind the scenes, and let me focus on what I actually love—coaching and building something I am so passionate about.

"If you really care about the experience your members are having—not just completing workouts, but how everything feels and flows—it's 100% worth it."

Shani built Perform Athlete because circus artists deserve the same level of structured, high-performance training as any elite athlete. But delivering that vision required a platform that could keep up—one that matched how she coached, supported touring schedules, and gave her acrobats the clarity and flexibility they needed.

When she switched to Movement from FITR, she finally got it: full customization, seamless video importing, professional design, and a team that supported her every step of the way.

Now, while touring full-time as a professional acrobat herself, Shani is scaling Perform Athlete without compromising on quality or experience.

For any coach or creator who knows their vision deserves better than a clunky, generic platform—Shani's story proves the right platform can change everything.

Check out the Perform Athlete App or find Shani on Instagram.

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Ready to build your programs exactly the way you've always envisioned them?

If you're a coach or trainer whose current platform doesn't match how you actually coach—if it's clunky, inflexible, or forces you to spend too much time managing things behind the scenes instead of coaching—Movement gives you the customization, flexibility, and professional experience you've been searching for.

What is Movement?

Movement is an all-in-one platform that helps coaches, creators, and community builders launch beautifully branded apps and memberships—without needing to be technical or piece together multiple tools.

Whether you're offering courses, events or programs, selling digital products, or hosting a private community, Movement gives you everything you need in one place: content and video hosting, chats, events, directories, and more.

It’s designed to be intuitive for you and seamless for your audience—so you can focus on delivering value, not managing tech.

For coaches who are tired of stitching together tools like Kajabi, Squarespace, and Facebook Groups, Movement offers a simpler, more scalable way to grow your business and deepen client connection—all under your own brand.

Find out more or sign up for a free account here.