2020 USHJA Annual Meeting Speaker Biographies

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Vitale Buford is an iPEC-certified executive coach, international speaker, and author. Featured in The New York Times, she is the author of the book, Addicted to Perfect, detailing her 10-year struggle with Adderall and perfectionism. Vitale’s experience includes more than a decade working in marketing and business development for a variety of industries and professional service organizations. She combines her personal experience, professional education and training, and her specialized healing techniques together to create a unique coaching system – one that gets to the root of the issue to bring about lasting and real change. Vitale brings her perfectionism training and concepts to life in a fun and relatable way, empowering teams and companies to transform the way they work, produce, and relate. She loves M&M blizzards, music, and lives in Central Kentucky with her son and their dog. You can learn more about her and how she changes lives at vitalebuford.com.

Presentation: Embracing & Navigating Change: Virtual Masterclass - Tuesday, December 1 at 11 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. EST
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Natalie Gavi, MS, RDN is a nationally recognized nutrition expert who is passionate about the power that food plays in overall health and athletic performance. She received her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Science from The University of Illinois at Chicago. She then went on to complete her clinical rotations and obtained her master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon. As a lifelong equestrian, she combined her two passions and opened her private practice, Gavi Equestrian, where she specializes in working with equestrian athletes. Currently residing in Los Angeles, she works with individuals at both UCLA and in her private practice. In her spare time, you can find her spending time with her OTTB and exploring the beaches and mountains around Los Angeles.

Presentation: Competitive Edge - Saturday, December 5 at 1 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. EST
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Athena Casey is originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She spent over a decade in New York City as an actor, singer, dancer and fitness professional but now calls California her home. She holds certifications through The National Academy of Sports Medicine in Corrective Exercise, Golf Performance Training, Optimum Performance Training for the Pre-Natal Client, Personal Training, Nutrition and Weight Management. Athena is also a certified yoga instructor through Sonic Yoga and a member of The National Yoga Alliance.

Her favorite activities, outside of working with clients and YouniquelyFit team, include spending time with close family and friends; spoiling her furry-baby, Linus; thrifting; musical theater; meditation; listening to podcasts; game nights; and dining out or dining in if her wife, Debbie, who is a personal chef, is cooking!

Presentation: YouniquleyFit - Saturday, December 5 at 4:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. EST
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Dr. Victoria “Torri” Maxwell is a lifelong horsewoman, former competitive equestrian and equine veterinarian whose areas of expertise include sports medicine and lameness, along with a special interest in nutrition and its impact on equine health, healing and performance.

Presentation: Nutrition Matters when Out Performing the Competition - Wednesday, December 2 at 11:00 a.m. -11:45 a.m. EST