Joel Zayas
Co-Founder / Coach
Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Joel began his fitness journey through the world of hip-hop, gymnastics and breakdancing. This early passion for dance honed his understanding of balance, spatial awareness, and proprioception, enabling him to perform complex movements with precision and control. However, after sustaining a significant injury to his right ankle, Joel sought an alternative form of training that would replicate the intensity of breakdancing while ensuring long-term strength and stability.
This quest led him to a local gym in Mission Hill, where he discovered and fell in love with functional fitness. The rigorous training style, combined with the motivating community of members and coaches, fueled his commitment to training. Inspired by the environment, Joel transitioned from being a dedicated member to becoming a coach, earning his CF-L2 and PN-L1 certifications. His leadership and expertise quickly propelled him to the role of facility manager, where he gained invaluable experience in gym operations.
Driven by a passion for health and wellness, Joel partnered with two esteemed members of the gym, Derek and Oz, to co-found R3VIVE Fitness. Their collective vision is to create an inclusive and welcoming environment that fosters a love for fitness. Together, they aim to inspire positive change by developing a community of individuals who are not only passionate about their own health but also committed to inspiring those around them.
Derek Saffold
Co-Founder / Coach
Growing up in Alabama, Derek started his fitness journey when he began playing football in highschool. This was his first real introduction to training. Derek realized that he enjoyed the challenge and feeling of accomplishment afterwards. After high school Derek joined the Marine Corps. This is where he got a real introduction to endurance training and functional fitness. Once in college Derek would often train alone until he found a local Crossfit gym where he would really begin to explore both his enjoyment for training functional fitness, accomplishing physical challenges, and competition.
Through training with the community at Crossfit on the hill he also learned that he has a passion forteaching and coaching others to accomplish their own goals. Discovering this passion led him to earn his CF-L2 , and USAW-L1 certifications. He also decided to completely dedicate himself to become a full time coach.
Derek worked at multiple gyms coaching many different athletes and individuals in a variety of different communities. This experience drove him to create a supportive community, to help others begin to continue their fitness journey, with coaches that care about them. In 2019 This dream came to realization When Derek partnered with two friends, Joel, and Oz to create R3vive Fitness, and help launch the faculty we workout at today.
Agne Jakubauskaite
Coach
As a teenager, Agnė competed in heptathlon for her country, Lithuania, and played other sports. However, in her twenties, she found herself in a very poor physical shape, because the regular gym, yoga, and running couldn’t keep her motivated. Nothing seemed to truly resonate with her until she walked into a CrossFit gym in 2018. At first, Agnė couldn’t do a pull-up, a push-up, a decent air squat, or even hold a barbell over her head, but she fell in love with the constant challenge and the infinite potential for improvement. Her desire to enhance her own athletic performance led Agnė to seek various learning opportunities, such as CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course and other specialty classes and hands-on seminars for functional fitness athletes and coaches in Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, powerlifting, rowing, jump rope, kettlebells, endurance, mobility, nutrition, mindset, and programming.
In July 2021, Agnė joined R3VIVE Fitness as a member. She loved the R3VIVE community so much that she wanted to become more involved. After completing R3VIVE Coaching Internship in March 2022, Agnė started coaching functional fitness classes and helping out with the gym community building efforts. As a coach, Agnė strives to ignite a lifelong passion for fitness and health in others, foster a culture of effort and growth, and create a sense of supportive and inclusive community where we can all work towards being the best versions of ourselves.
Cristian Pereira
Coach
Cristian Pereira, a native of Boston’s South End, earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise and Health Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a Post-Baccalaureate certificate in Pre-medical Studies from Northeastern University. Growing up, Cristian was deeply involved in sports, playing track and field, soccer, and baseball. He is one of five siblings, with family members residing in Boston, Miami, and Honduras.
Cristian’s fitness journey began in 2014 when he discovered CrossFit, sparking a passion for learning and coaching functional fitness. Since 2015, he has been a dedicated fitness coach, known for delivering positive feedback, emphasizing sound mechanics, and creating a fun and immersive class environment. He has been a long-standing coach at Revive since 2020.
Before coaching, Cristian gained valuable experience working as a Physical Therapy Aide, an Assistant Coach for introductory gymnastics in Cambridge, and a Strength and Conditioning Intern at Boston College.
Cristian enjoys partnered workouts, relishing the shared experience of hard work with a teammate. When working out solo, he prefers AMRAPs and movements like Wall Ball Shots, Bench Press, and Dual Dumbbell Cleans—but he’s not a fan of Barbell Thrusters!
You can catch Cristian at Revive early in the morning, coaching or attending a class, and he’s always ready to join you for a workout!
Patrick Li
Coach
I was born in Maryland, and grew up overseas in Asia. I played sports growing up year round consisting of tennis, soccer, and then later on primarily baseball. Was first introduced to strength training during high school offseason training, which later carried over and spurred a passion for strength sports. Initially started in powerlifting in college, and then made the switch to weightlifting which I consistently competed in for 8 years afterwards. I have been coaching to some capacity at R3VIVE since the beginning, and have primarily served as the barbell coach, but also provide 1 on 1 training and coach the functional fitness classes as well. My passion is to help people reach their fitness goals, whether it may be gym/training specific or something outside of the gym. As for training, I enjoy the two classic lifts the most, but also enjoy any strength movements/strongman style exercises that are challenging. Outside of the gym I enjoy being outside whether it’s going on a bike ride, playing golf, or tennis.
Kristen Fennell
Coach
I am from Boston, born and raised, and went to UCONN. Growing up, I played basketball, softball, and loved gymnastics as a little kid. I am the third and favorite of 4 kids in my family, and have 11 nieces and nephews. I have coached at R3VIVE since Spring of 2022, and was a member since the gym opened, but have been a fitness instructor and personal trainer since 2011. For a long time running was my favorite form of fitness, because for me it is always challenging. I still love running (as evidenced by my Saturday workouts), but I really enjoy all aspects of strength training.
My favorite fun fact about R3VIVE and why it is so special to me is that on the same day I took my first class here, I went out that night and happened to meet the guy I ended up marrying.
