Dani Taylor
Head Coach, Vegan Figure Competitor and Champion.
Co-founder of VeganProteins and PlantBuilt
About
Dani Taylor is a vegan figure competitor and champion, the co-founder of VeganProteins.com and also co-founder of PlantBuilt.com. As the head coach at VeganProteins, Dani pioneered our training and nutrition approaches and has taught each Vegan Proteins Coach thoroughly.
Dani grew up in a very unhealthy & chaotic environment, eating a diet made of predominantly processed foods and not much else. She was obese by 16 years old. After going vegan at age 16, she began to take her health into her own hands. She found strength training and began to learn more about proper nutrition and never went back. Over the next few years, Dani lost 90 pounds and gained a whole new life!
After being shot down by many coaches for her vegan lifestyle, she has never let the naysayers stand in her way (or anyone else’s) when it comes to achieving fitness goals as a vegan. Helping people become more confident in themselves via exercise and a healthy diet and mindset is what motivates her on a daily basis. She believes in honoring your body by treating it well and listening to it, while simultaneously challenging it and never becoming stagnant.
She especially enjoys working with women who have always been too nervous to lift weights, and loves seeing the confidence that clients see when they realize their own strength for the first time! She also enjoys teaching women that food is not something to be afraid of, but rather a gift we give our bodies to fuel it all the way through life.
She also specializes in vegan competition prep using evidence-based approaches and many years of personal coaching experience to help people achieve a shredded look to be competitive on stage in natural bodybuilding competitions.
Dani is a Certified Personal Trainer with the NASM, AFAA, Certified in Plant-Based Nutrition with Cornell University and the T. Colin Campbell Foundation, and is Precision Nutrition Certified.
Giacomo Marchese
Coach, Physique Champion, USAPL Powerlifter.
Co-founder of Vegan Proteins and PlantBuilt
Giacomo is the co-founder of VeganProteins.com and also co-founded PlantBuilt.com, a non-profit organization of strength-based vegan athletes who compete together to raise awareness for veganism and money for rescued animals at farm sanctuaries. As an assistant coach, Giacomo works in daily communications with coaching clients. Giacomo also uses his unique strengths to make sure the client is getting the best programming and guidance they can from the VeganProteins team. Giacomo has been vegan for over 18 years and involved with fitness for over 23 years in many different arenas and specializes in coaching others and actively competes in bodybuilding and powerlifting specifically. Giacomo uses strength-based sports & traveling to various Vegan Festivals across the country to raise awareness for animal rights and welfare.
Giacomo has coached clients at NYSC, Bally’s Sport Club, and LA Fitness. Currently, he coaches clients online for VeganProteins and holds a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University.
Alice Robeson
Bodybuilding Coach, Pro Bikini Bodybuilder & World-Championship Qualified, NASM CPT, PN Certified, Vegan Strong Ambassador, Professional Athlete on the PlantBuilt Team
Alice is a passionate, natural bikini competitor and fitness professional. She is a shining example of how to thrive on a fit, healthy, vegan lifestyle. Alice hit the ground running as a coach at Vegan Proteins and is proud to have helped her clients transform their physiques and mindsets. Her approach to everything is about finding balance, from learning how to eat for both health and enjoyment to training to gain real-life skills and enjoy the journey – not just to look better.
100% vegan muscle, her entire bodybuilding career has been on a plant-based diet. She’s living proof that plants have all the protein you need to be a competitive athlete and champion. Vegan since 2018, she loves advocating for vegan athletes at the Vegan Strong booth, Mr. America, and sports expos and conventions.
Alice is a certified Nutrition Coach from Precision Nutrition, a certified Fitness Coach from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and has a bachelor’s degree in English. She loves competing, cooking, spirituality, hiking, road trips, and spending her downtime with her significant other and family.
Ben Mitchell
National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, B.S. in Exercise Science with a Minor in Psychology, Competitive Natural Bodybuilder & PlantBuilt Team Athlete
Ben is a person-first, client-centered coach specializing in body recomposition, physique transformation, and contest preparation. He enjoys working with individuals of all backgrounds and has experience with various skill levels, from complete beginners to bodybuilding competitors. As a coach, he has multiple pro card wins under his belt as well as both domestic and international pro show titles.
His passion and love for fitness began in college while studying exercise science, with a plan to become a physical therapist. After completing all of the prerequisites, he realized that he was meant to go down another path. Around this time, he adopted a vegan lifestyle for animal welfare reasons and pivoted towards a post-grad education in nutrition to complement his undergraduate degree.
After completing one semester, he felt called to make a change again. Having completed a concentration (and passed his national board exams) in integrative health and wellness coaching while in school, he had a burning desire to get hands-on experience working with folks on their mindset and approach to behavior change within the context of fitness.
Ben believes that the best results are achieved when a coach and client work in collaboration as a team. He loves helping people discover and lean into their “why” for taking charge of their health and body composition goals and finds deep fulfillment in witnessing not only the physical, but mental transformations that occur throughout that journey.
On a personal level, he feels that his life’s purpose and mission is to use his competitive bodybuilding career as a means of advocacy. He is committed to demonstrating through his actions and results that it is possible to be a world-class, drug-free athlete without consuming animal products and causing unnecessary harm to others.
Athena Trombly
Vegan Coach, Psychology major, NASM CPT, brain tumor survivor.
Athena Trombly is an inspiring vegan coach and an amazing human being. Her goal as a coach is to make the process of reaching your goal enjoyable and meaningful. After years of inner work, she’s reached many of her fitness goals, while also finding comfort in her body. Finding comfort in your body does not mean you have let go of having goals. Rather, it means you’re able to accept yourself as you are while striving for goals that are fulfilling to you – not society.
She wants to help people cultivate self-acceptance while also striving for their full potential. No more starving, no more cookie cutter workouts, no more self-doubt, no more feeling not good enough. Let’s kick low-esteem in the ass and reach your goals together!
NASM certified, and more importantly, Dani certified (she passed our very rigorous internship) you’re in great hands with Athena!
Athena is a psychology major, NASM certified, Vegan Proteins certified, a practicing Buddhist, and a brain tumor survivor. Quite the impressive human. And a great coach.
We love our community!
We take pride in building up this vegan community that has been so good to us over the last decade or so! As a way to give back, we have made a facebook community called Muscles by Brussels Radio (named after our podcast!). In the group, you can ask questions, make suggestions for content you want to hear or see, and meet other like minded new and seasoned vegans who are looking to take their fitness to the next level. Please come join us and be a part of the conversation!