About the Founder

Hello! I'm Hayden. I am the founder of Active Mentality and Queers and Allies Fitness. My background in sports began when I was five years old and has continued throughout my life. From t‑ball to state championships to coaching, athletics have always been a passion of mine. Confidence, leadership, discipline, teamwork, and humility are lessons I learned through sport and still carry with me today.

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I'm Maidu and Mexican, and my cultural background shapes everything about how I show up in this work. The values I was raised with, connection, resilience, and collective strength, guide the environments I create and the way I coach.

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Outside of athletics, I have spent more than five years working with youth with autism and in behavioral health. I also spent two years as a social worker. Those experiences gave me a deep grounding in trauma-informed care, identity development, and the kind of trust it takes to do real work with young people. In 2017, I earned a Master's in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University, and that framework became the foundation everything here is built on. In 2017, I graduated from John F. Kennedy University with a Master's in Sport Psychology. This education strengthened my coaching and consulting and helped me create the framework that guides Active Mentality.