Stanislav Kravchenko was raised in the city of Lviv, Ukraine. At just 5 years old, Stanislav started his career in gymnastics, marking the beginning of his lifelong interest in sports and health. As a young person, Stan pursued a variety of sports, including skiing, basketball, soccer and tennis. In 2009, he was invited to take part in a bodybuilding competition.
In 2010, Stanislav moved to the United States. His first job ever in the US was at a McDonalds in Maryland where he continued to work on his English skills. After a short period of time, he managed to save his money and relocate to the city of endless opportunity: New York. Upon arriving, Stan worked a number of odd jobs including construction, security, busing tables and at a moving company. Most were physically tolling, which inevitably led him back to his passion for fitness and strength — he decided to compete in Men’s Physique.
During this time, Stan decided to fully commit to his interests in strength and wellness. He started to study to become a personal trainer and was soon certified by the National Academy Sports of Medicine (NASM).
Based in Brooklyn at the time, his training career started small. He took on several private clients in the area before interviewing at Equinox in 2014. He was green and slightly unaware of just how prominent the luxury fitness club was. Nevertheless, this made him even more endearing and he received an offer to work there full time at the Greenwhich location.
With such a strong presence (and impossible to miss physique) Stan quickly became a high- demand trainer. While he continued to grow his clientele at Equinox, he also started working for Wilhemina Modeling Agency and was published in Men’s Fitness magazine.
His professional life was really formulating and though he was happy with the progress he had made, he still knew there was more opportunity. After 5 years at Equinox, Stan decided to leave the company to pursue a private practice. Throughout all this new success, Stan also had become a US citizen, further inspiring and motivating him to focus on his own business.
Stan noticed there was a gap in the fitness world. Working with high-end clientele and celebrities, he realized their schedules, often demanding and full of travel, left little room for consistency. He wanted to be able to support a larger audience and provide a convenient way for them to continue to track their success and train with him — wherever or whenever! So he created just that; in 2018 he founded ONEFIT, an on-demand wellness platform.
From personal strength training to nutrition, ONEFIT helps it’s users get connected to a team of experts who custom create a body solution for the individual and then deliver results through 1v1 coaching. The platform allows users to record all of their goals and training history, making it incredibly easy to stay on track regardless of your hectic schedule or location. Not to mention, ONEFIT also has a team of trainers across NYC that will workout with you anytime, anywhere.
The company, still in early stages continues to evolve and grow. As he tested new formulas and ideas, he was introduced to a company called NEOU, an on-demand platform that grants streaming access to 1,400+ fitness classes on any device. ONEFIT now collaborates with NEOU to bring Stan’s workouts into the users home across America! It’s been an incredible opportunity to reach a larger audience for Stan. Grateful for where he’s come from and what he’s built, he somehow still knows there is so much more to come.
MM: Tell us more about your role at NEOU. How did it come about and what types of classes do you teach?
SK: At NEOU, I program, create, and instruct primarily strength classes that anyone can take literally at any time, anywhere. It’s really great because you have so much autonomy as a fitness professional to truly create the class as you wish. For me, I’ll always lean towards strength given my bodybuilding background, but on NEOU I wanted to be able to teach proper form, technique and ensure anyone can learn to lift – safely. I do also incorporate HIIT routines and toning exercises so that the user can get a variety of fitness routines. I started in the fall after learning of the organization through Andy Cohen. The concept really resonated with me, but I had never taught class routines and found the new challenge interesting, but to be frank, a bit intimidating at first since it was outside my comfort zone. I had to kick the idea around in my head a bit before committing. After chatting through it with people I trust and trialing some new routines for myself, I decided to take the audition. The rest is history!
MM: You also do private training, how does that work exactly do you go to their home gym or studio or meet at a local gym in NYC?
SK: Totally! Primarily, I do private training one on one. This is my expertise. I mostly train my clients at a gym location in NYC that I work from, but through ONEFIT I also have the ability to train any of my clients at their preferred location – if that be a home gym, studio or hotel they are staying at; it’s up to them!
MM: We know you train Andy Cohen, how do you handle high profile clients? What is the best part and what is the most challenging?
SK: That’s an interesting question because it’s the same – but different. All of my clients receive top tier service and training. It’s important to me that quality is always consistent, regardless of the client’s popularity. However, with high profile clients, privacy does take priority. Andy is very open that I train him, and that’s great! But not everyone is as open to sharing their fitness routines or strategies and I always need to respect their comfort level and ensure trust is #1. The best part is that these types of clients always keep me on my toes! I feel a need to be more creative since they tend to get bored more easily. I’m constantly creating new workouts or exercises and movements to try with them. The most challenging part would likely be the high-demand scheduling of these types of clients. I very rarely will say no to them if they request a specific time which makes it can make it difficult. Especially since the timing is constantly changing due to their own demanding schedule. Either way, we find a way to make it work!
MM: You seem to form a personal bond with your clients. Why do you think that is, and what has been the most rewarding thing about those 1 on 1 relationship?
SK: I appreciate that! Honestly, I really value all of my clients. I enjoy my time with them. During training sessions, you really do become a therapist almost. People are there to work and to blow off steam most of the time; their everyday life kind of gets intertwined. Fitness allows you to vent. That physical movement also allows your mind to move and flow more clearly and it just turns out, I’m always the one right there with them working through it. I like to think I’m a rather easy going guy and I can talk about a lot of things, but mostly in these sessions I am listening and that is so important when you are building a meaningful relationship. I’d be lying if I said they didn’t do the same for me too! My clients give me advice too when I need it. They’re like my family. I’m not from here, so all of the connections I have built are really important to me and I take a lot of pride in it. They are authentic relationships I value. I think that’s what transcends and what has led to these meaningful bonds that other trainers don’t typically build.
MM: Let’s talk about ONEFIT. We know you have been working in this brand for over 2 years. Can you tell us the original idea, and how did it evolve into being on the NEOU platform?
SK: ONEFIT’s concept continues to evolve and I’m proud of that. It originated as an on-demand service providing trainers to clients anywhere in NYC – think UBER, but for fitness. We’ve since incorporated full wellness programming and team guidance into the platform, but at its core it remains a way to deliver fitness to anyone, anywhere (in NYC), at any time. The goal is to make fitness and wellness a priority in your life and the best way to do that is to find a way to make it as convenient as possible, but that also will ensure delivered results. From training sessions to nutrition, ONEFIT allows you to book and schedule wellness services 100% on your clock with a team dedicated to helping you achieve your goals. Because of its functionality and “on-demand” core, NEOU made total sense to me. I loved that the brand refers to itself as “the Netflix of fitness.” It was easy to incorporate the ONEFIT brand into NEOU production and would give me the ability to reach people outside of NYC that I could not.
MM: You must work a hectic schedule to meet the needs of your online classes, private clients, and your own time in the gym. Are you always fighting for balance in your life away from the gym?
SK: Yes. 100%. It’s a hustle and I am constantly working to find balance within. My life away from the gym used to not exist, but I’ve worked hard over the last year to really find a way to honor the balance of it all. There are things that have changed for me. I realized life is so much more and happiness can be found in a lot of other places outside the gym. I value my loved ones and quality time with them is so important. I’ve worked really hard to try and make this a priority. Though it can be tough, I try to remind myself when I need to: take a vacation, spend meaningful time with people I love, relax… breathe. It’s made me a more organized professional and overall, a happier, calmer person.
MM: How does it feel to be an American Citizen?
SK: It feels amazing. This has been a dream of mine. I came here with this dream, and the first time I got to travel with my American passport, it really made me proud. It’s something that is hard to explain without sounding cheesy in a way, but I feel like I have constantly been chasing the American dream and when I became a Citizen it was just another way to validate I am doing this. Super proud.
MM: When you were growing up, what American Athletes, Celebrities, or Personalities did you admire and why?
SK: Dwayne “the rock” Johnson, Vin Diesel, AND Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was easy to admire them given my interest in body building and all of their weight lifting expertise. I aspired to be like them physically, but also I loved how motivating and disciplined they all were. To me, they were truly successful people who were determined and motivated and strong. They embody everything I love about the fitness industry – that what you learn in the gym transcends. That success you find in the gym, and how you achieve it, can be applied to all aspects of life and can cultivate and further grow your successes in life OUTSIDE the gym. I think each are rooted in self-discipline and built such a strong foundation that carried their achievements in many various directions. So cool and really admirable.
MM: You have spent nearly your entire life in sport and fitness/health & wellness. What are the 3 things you have learned in your personal journey thus far?
1. Discipline.
2. To work outside of your comfort zone – push your limits and challenge yourself to be uncomfortable. It’s where the growth is at.
3. Rest and balance are essential. Your body AND mind need rest days.
MM: Words to live by?
SK: Be your authentic self, always – own your brand and who you are. Don’t alter who you are at your core to fit a mold that isn’t you. Break it and build a new one.
