Our Team
We are a team of passionate professionals specializing in exercise and lifestyle coaching to support you in your journey. Each team member is screened, trained and developed through a standardized process.
Storm Patterson - Co-Owner & Mentor
Storm is the kind of person who walks into the gym and can’t resist the urge to greet or joke around with every soul in the space. He cares about people, is endlessly curious and will be the very first to celebrate your wins. If there is one movement in the gym to describe Storm it’s definitely the bicep curl, because he’s the ultimate pump-up guy.
With a name like Storm, it’s not surprising to hear that he grew up with infinite energy. As a kid, Storm was drawn to sports of all kinds and by high school, he was competing at the national level for sprinting. In university he was on the track and rowing teams when he was first introduced to CrossFit by his soon-to-be roommate, Callum. It was 2012, CrossFit was still on the fringe of popularity and Storm was absolutely taken by it. This novel approach to training offered this already-incredibly-fit human a range of new challenges including gymnastic skills, olympic weightlifting and the kind of intensity any competitor lived for.
Storm and Callum saw an opportunity to share their passion for fitness with the university community, and in 2013 started a not-for-profit student club at Queen’s called CrossFit Tricolour. Laura (Callum’s wife) was the very first member, and the club quickly grew in popularity offering a friendly introduction to CrossFit to anyone who shared an interest in fitness.
In the summer of 2014, Storm and Callum found a space off-campus to house their passion project and CrossFit Queen Street opened its doors. Still in their last year of university, Callum and Storm balanced their studies with nurturing their business, developing their coaching team and sharing their love of fitness with the wider community.
Since 2013 Storm has worked toward developing and refining his coaching skills to help more people experience the magic of physical training. Over the last few years, Storm’s focus has shifted from purely group coaching to working primarily with clients 1-on-1 which has created opportunities to help clients with their specific needs, goals, and ultimately share his love of fitness with individuals who wouldn’t have found the same magic of training in a group class setting.
The knowledge and skills that allow Storm to help his clients resolve long-standing back pain, or recover the ability to tie their own shoes are the same knowledge and skills that support him in his own competitive pursuits as a CrossFit athlete. By focusing on assessing his joint-by-joint mobility, flexibility and strength-balance Storm has been able to train more effectively and perform closer and closer to his greatest potential (more on this, here).
For Storm, the best part of working with clients is seeing the impact on their day-to-day lives.
Callum Owen - Co-Owner & Programmer
Callum is the quieter counterpart to Storm’s big energy. Like a cat-camel, Callum is calm, methodical and always pushing the limits of what’s possible.
In high school Callum was looking for ways to improve his fitness for martial arts when his cousin Tobias introduced him to some bodybuilding movements, and eventually to CrossFit. Fascinated by the feeling and results that came with the methodology, Callum became an early adopter. He saved every article posted on CrossFit.com and taught himself how to snatch in the basement of his family’s home.
Callum loved seeing the physical changes he was making through exercise and wanted to share that with other people. He started training some friends and family members (basically for free), and then continued to get more practice in university by training with workout partners, participating in the Strength & Conditioning program at Queen’s and eventually by running the CrossFit club. Callum began coaching full-time when he and Storm opened the doors to CrossFit Queen Street in 2014.
Callum sees the gym is both a place to push the limits of performance and develop the capacity to do what you love outside of it. This perspective came about early and in response to his own injury. In his late teens, Callum significantly injured his back while lifting, it felt so severe that he questioned whether he’d ever exercise or play sports again. He sought out help from a variety of practitioners and was left with incomplete solutions; certain treatments would help for a short period of time but no approach offered him a clear path back to exercising the way he wanted to.
Unsurprisingly, the kind of person who teaches himself how to olympic lift is the same person curious enough to experiment with the principles of rehab- gradual progression, regaining range of motion and strengthening for resilience. What ultimately helped the most to recover his full abilities was progressive movement and full-body strengthening. Excitingly, Callum returned not only to the level of function and fitness he had prior to injury, but also set the foundation for continued growth. In the months and years following his recovery he lifted many of his lifetime bests.
Fast forward to present day, Callum still loves to experiment with his own training and share the most effective solutions for clients. Callum believes that done properly, training should make your body stronger, more mobile and more resilient to injury all at the same time.
Callum especially loves working with clients who are looking to overcome pain and injury, and want to be put in the driver’s seat of their own health. He finds it fulfilling to equip his clients with the education and tools to not only manage their present injuries but to thrive longterm.
Laura Sawula - Trainer
Laura was sitting in a second-year Statistics class when a certain dynamic duo walked in late. She- along with everyone else on campus- knew one of them to be Storm Patterson but was entirely unfamiliar with his cute, taller friend…
Unlike Callum and Storm, Laura came upon coaching the long way around. As a studious, self-proclaimed bookworm, she explored a few different paths in the realm of human movement before arriving at the version she’s found to be the most fulfilling. After finishing Kinesiology, Laura dabbled in graduate school, first in muscle physiology research and then in physiotherapy. She worked clinically in private practice for a few years before recognizing that the way she wanted to be able to help her clients and the model of care she was working within weren’t always aligned.
Laura is now a full-time coach at Queen Street and uses her formal education, clinical experience and years of training experience to help clients develop the capacity to do more of the things they love. There’s little that fires Laura up more than working with clients who are eager to learn, receptive to coaching and committed to the process.
Outside of the gym, you’ll find Laura and Callum playing trucks and dinosaurs with their two sweet little boys.
If Laura was a movement in the gym, she’d be a tempo back squat, she’s patient, persistent and a fair bit tougher than she might look.
Laura Nixon - Trainer
This Laura also walked into that same Statistics class… only it was 10 years later and as one of the first to arrive, she found the seat with the optimal vantage point and fewest distractions.
Born and raised in Kamloops, BC, Laura grew up playing all kinds of sports, devoting much of her time to soccer, volleyball, basketball and skiing. From a young age she nurtured a love for movement and a deep curiosity about what the human body can do.
Following these passions, Laura moved to Kingston to pursue a BSc Honours in Kinesiology at Queen’s. In the days leading up to her first semester, she walked through the doors of Queen Street Fitness as one of the most mature 18 year olds this university city will ever see. She was looking for continuity in the training practices she had enjoyed so much back home. She’ll tell you that while she initially came for the workouts, she stayed for the holistic approach to training and immensely supportive culture.
She joined our team in 2023 as a friendly front-desk face, going on to complete the coach mentorship program that same year. Laura then came on as a part-time trainer for group classes, before moving into a full-time role on our training team. Besides the Gen Z perspective on any matter of pop culture, Laura brings an unrivalled level of dedication, diligence and excitement to the team.
To say Laura loves to move (without capitalization, bold-type, underlining or excessive exclamation marks) may be a formidable understatement. The way she likes to move has evolved and will continue to evolve over time. 18-year old Laura was keen to explore her maximum athletic potential in CrossFit, 22 year old Laura is still moving heavy things often, and is now finding delight in training with an even higher level of intention. She finds joy in moving her body to support strength and well-being, recognizing that the pursuit of progress is not at odds with genuine enjoyment of the process.
Being able to share her love of movement and expertise in exercise with clients brings Laura great joy. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone more thrilled when they help someone find the variation of a movement that fits just right. She is always helping clients to move in ways that serve them best and feel empowered inside (and outside) the gym. She is thoughtful, kind, and patient. She’s known to drop a pun into most casual conversations and gasp in excitement at good news. She has a tough time keeping her feet on the floor when she’s celebrating someone else’s success.
Outside of coaching, Laura is pursuing a Master’s in Exercise Physiology. She always has a book on the go or a podcast in her ear. Her preferred music spans the gap from upbeat oldies to the mellow offerings of Hozier, see playlist “Laura’s Hozier Because His Voice Is Like A Fireplace Hugging My Soul.”
If Laura was a movement in the gym, she’d be a paused front squat: composed, deliberate, and sneakily strong.