We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nick Klastava a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nick thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you get your first job in the field that you practice in today?

I’ve always wanted to be a running coach and envisioned working at a High School but I could never line it up with my job. So in 2019 an opportunity came up to start working with a couple friends virtually as their running coach. I had no long term goals, no aspirations other than it would be fun to help some friends and see where this takes me. The experience of working with friends and helping them chase and eventually achieve their goals they didn’t think was possible was life changing for me. Seeing them transform along the way and seeing the things I worked with them on show up in their mindset and approach helped me realize the impact you can have as a coach. In Late 2019 I took the big step in my life and joined up with a company to become a running coach and take on more athletes. I started making it a bigger aspiration in my life and set aside time to pursue this goal of helping others and being a professional coach in this space. I took various trainings to learn and grow my skills, I invested more into this job and really started to give it a chance to grow in my life. From where I started in the beginning of just working with a couple friends to where it became a major part of my life where I work with many athletes all over the country to chase their goals, I am so happy I took this leap and gave myself a chance to see how it could work in my life. It could have been easy in the beginning to say I had no time to fit this in, but by taking the risk I added something that has brought so much joy into my life and has helped me to grow in my life as a runner, dad and husband. It even lead to me starting my own podcast about coaching with my friend, where we really talk about it at a human level. I’ve worked with athletes through some of the biggest moments in their lives and to hear that my support helped them through was just the best feeling for a highly empathetic person just trying to figure out how to use his skills to help others in this world.

Nick, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I became a runner based on a dare from a friend back in 1996 having no clue what running really was, and now almost 28 years later running has become the biggest constant in my life. I spent much of this time just as an athlete in the sport but in 2019 I started to pursue my journey to become a running coach and in 2024 it lead to starting my own podcast Between Two Coaches with my good friend Amanda. I became a coach because I always was a very empathetic person who got a lot of joy from helping others and I came from a competitive background in running but I was always able to look at this sport from an everyday runner lens. As a running coach and podcast host in this industry the thing that sets me apart the most is how I am able to see a very addictive sport from a balanced approach. I am able to help runners break away from being defined by the numbers in the sport whether it’s PR’s or training metrics, help runners stop comparing to others and to bring their sport along with their life in a balanced approach while chasing their goals. I reached my peak and full potential as a runner when I started breaking away from the more extreme aspects of endurance sport and I constantly bring my experience to my athletes and podcast listeners so they can see how balancing life and sport can ultimately lead to the more healthy approach.

In a sport where people who constantly train, don’t take time off, and push themselves well past their limits gets glorified as commitment, I work with athletes as a coach and through my podcast to let them know that you can achieve your goals with an approach that fits into your busy life. To help even busy professionals to see that having a supportive coach in your corner who understands your life and helps you balance your training around it is exactly the missing ingredient to allow you to chase your biggest goals.

The thing that makes me the most proud to hear is when runners tell me that they managed to find space in their life to chase their goals and how when they miss a run or a run goes poorly that they can accept that and not spiral. Instead they see it as part of the growth process of being a busy human being who is chasing their athletic pursuits. When I hear runners regardless of what their pace is, treat themselves with the respect they deserve and call themselves athletes it makes me so happy. Finding time and space to chase your goals is an incredible thing and giving yourself an opportunity to put yourself out their and chase something meaningful to you, well that’s the coolest thing and I am so happy to be a tiny part of people’s lives while they chase their potential.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being authentically myself and truly always showing up for my athletes when they need it. Early on I recognized the important of holding yourself to your values and to give athletes what they deserve when they hire you as their coach. Showing up day after day for my athletes through some of the toughest moments of their lives, it helped me to stand out in this market as someone who truly cares about their athletes and I built up my reputation as a supportive and humanistic coach and not someone who is only there for the great results in your athletes lives. To be able to shed my ego and make this truly about my athletes and put them first, has constantly helped others in this market come to me for coaching because it helps them feel loved and supported in a sport that constantly challenges them and has helped many others listen to my podcast where I constantly share all about the coaching side of sport from a supportive and caring approach. Being myself and being true to my skills has always allowed the right athletes who are looking for that vibe to find me and to want to work with me.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My podcast co-host Amanda Katz and I met back in 2023 through a friend and had a brief encounter. I had been following her on social media and had always wanted to pursue starting a podcast but couldn’t find the right co-host but after that meeting I knew Amanda would be the perfect fit. For about 3 months I constantly would attempt to manifest starting a podcast together with her through DM’s on Instagram and other communication methods just mentioning things like, Wow that would be a great topic for a podcast! Eventually in early 2024 we both agreed that we would start the process to launch this podcast together. For the past couple of years I was very nervous to take this step not knowing if I anyone would listen or if I was even someone of enough importance to start a podcast but with Amanda by my side I never felt nervous and knew I had the perfect partner to create something that was missing in the industry. We worked together to really define our idea and get on the same page and the few months we took defining our message and goals really helped us hit the ground running and instantly relate to many people in the industry. We have found great success relating to many athletes and giving them advice related to sport that comes without all the BS that you constantly see on social media in the fitness world. I am so glad I sent those messages to her to try and get this amazing adventure started and so glad to have her as my partner going forward.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @nklastava
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnTV1RHcoOO78IPlzYdjNtw
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coaches/id1741395591
  https://open.spotify.com/show/6v8Mv2OWKo9et9djO3FcXB