The Spark This Day story

Spark This Day was founded by burnt out professionals.
Together, we aim to co-create a world where burnout is the exception, not the norm.
CEO & Founder, Gabby Lubin, taught the first Spark class on March 16, 2020 as Washington, D.C. headed into lockdown. 50 wonderful humans moved through a HIIT workout that finished with a mindful moment. Together, a spark was ignited and spark by gabby was born.
Gabby began to innovate; she incorporated mindfulness, fitness, and social justice
into a digital platform.
From March 2020 - August 2021, Spark served stressed out humans through mindful fitness.
From September 2021 - April 2022, Spark partnered with schools to support educator wellness.
Now, Spark is entering a new chapter.
Spark This Day curates at-the-ready monthly resources for employee wellness because we envision a world where wellness is a human right.
meet the spark team

CEO & Founder, Instructor
Gabby Lubin
(she/her)
Gabby Lubin, Ed.M. is the CEO & Founder of spark by gabby. She started her career in education but left because she burned out and wanted to know why. After a career in fitness and earning her Master's from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Gabby decided to solve this systemic problem of teacher burnout by creating a digital mindful fitness platform for educators in 2020.
Now, Gabby leads the spark community in transforming both individuals and systems.
Gabby teaches spin.

COO, Instructor
Jenna Zaffino
(she/her)
Jenna offers education for your brain, body and being through Pilates classes, rebounding and mindfulness practices. This balanced trifecta helps people access mindset shifts, physical resiliency and empowered individuality in their practices. A self-proclaimed "techy-nerd," Jenna loves helping people be more consistent through the convenience of online classes. She is excited to work with the spark community to help bring a weekly breath of relief to educators as well as contribute to Sweat For Justice initiatives. In addition to teaching classes, Jenna also serves as a professional educator for Pilates Teachers, hosting support programs, coaching and her wildly popular podcast, Pilates Unfiltered™ When she's not teaching and coaching from her private studio in Chicago's North Center, she engages in "movement mischief" with her husband Josh, 7 yr old son Jaxon, rescue dog Flashlight and over 100 houseplants and counting.
Jenna teaches on-demand nourish and empower content.

Director of Marketing
Katie Kelley
(she/her)
Katie is a freelance digital marketer and photographer living in Woolwich, Maine. She graduated from UMass Amherst with a BA in Communications and received her Masters from SNHU in 2018 in Communications with a concentration in New Media Marketing. She loves using social media as a tool to help small businesses connect with like-minded people who will always show up for them. She was drawn to spark because of spark's mission to be community-driven and put wellness and mindfulness at the forefront of all strategies. Katie is so excited to see spark grow and watch this community thrive.

Director of School Partnerships, Instructor
Sonya Soloway
(she/her)
Sonya is a lifelong athlete—and collegiate rugby player— who believes in the need to individualize your practice every day, meeting your body wherever it's at. Born and raised in the heart of Washington, D.C., and a former early childhood educator, she finds immense joy in building relationships, whether it's in her work supporting community-driven school transformation, on that mat, or off. Knowing that success is not about doing it alone, she sees education & fitness as a way to build a community to move that one inch further.
She is a trained cycle teacher and brings those big moves, high RPMs, and energy to the mat for our core & more class. Focusing on whole-body health, her classes will always be a mix of throwbacks (lover of all things 90s) and current hits, with the occasional D.C. flair.
Sonya teaches strength core & more and LIIT cardio.

Director of Ambassador Programming, Instructor
Amelia Sargent
(she/her)
Amelia is a multi-passionate entrepreneur and wellness professional. As a lifelong performer, competitive dancer and athlete, she has committed herself to pursuing dance alongside startup endeavors. Amelia worked across various functions with Chicago-based tech startup Narrative Science and has since grown into roles in sales, accounting and client experience at other Chicago firms, all while dancing professionally with the Chicago Bulls. She now dances commercially for TV and film while running her dance fitness and entertainment company helping dance teams and brides. She leads with an infectiously positive attitude, and will make a positive difference in your life.
Amelia teaches dance cardio.

Instructor
Amy Woogmaster
(she/her)
Amy is a group fitness instructor who has taught spin and HIIT for the last several years in the Boston area. She has been teaching in the Public Schools of Brookline since 2012 and after teaching 5th grade for many years, she changed roles and is currently a literacy specialist for students in middle school. When she is not in the classroom, she is often out on the road running or biking. Growing up, Amy was a volleyball player and a swimmer, and when she was a first year teacher, she fell in love with running and is working to complete marathons across the country. Amy designs classes and workouts to make you feel challenged physically and empowered mentally - pushing you to trust your body and be proud of your own strength.
Amy teaches LIIT.

Instructor
Carolyn O'Connor
(she/her)
Carolyn is passionate about teaching in the classroom and on her mat. She teaches third grade in Massachusetts and is currently working on getting her Masters in Reading. Carolyn’s love for yoga truly began in 2012 after a back surgery that left her in a lot of pain with limited mobility. Seeking out answers, she found that yoga not only began to physically heal her pain, but her mat provided a calm and noncompetitive place that could be unrolled and ready to go anywhere.
In her classes, members celebrate the uniqueness of each pose and how it will work best for their bodies. She believes that this time is set aside for you to take care of you. Together, you will explore breathing techniques, modifications, and letting go of energy that no longer serves you.
Carolyn teaches nourish yoga and set/finish the week.

Instructor
Kit Bihun
(she/her)
Kit is a writer, designer and movement instructor currently based in Central PA. She earned her B.A. in Visual Art & Theater from George Mason University and her M.A. in Design Studies from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. She practiced Pilates for over fifteen years before transitioning to teaching full time in 2015. Kit is focused on facilitating exercise classes that support active lifestyles.
Kit teaches nourish core & more and strength core & more.

Instructor
Mindy Learnard
(she/her)
Mindy is a cycling instructor, mother, wife, teacher, & musician. She recently relocated with her family to Illinois after living in NYC for the last 16 years. She brings the NYC cycling boutique vibe to her online classes, so turn down the lights & turn up the music! A daughter of two retired public high school teachers, Mindy is also a music educator. She is a former Professor of Voice at NYU and has a post-Master's in Vocal Pedagogy. She currently teaches piano and voice at her home and online studio and is a substitute teacher at a local public high school. She is excited to bring her love of cycling to the spark fam.
Mindy teaches spin.

Video Library Intern
Ana Alvarez
(she/her)
Ana is currently a senior at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. She is studying Communications and Public Relations while trying to enjoy her senior year with friends. When Ana isn’t studying she is known to be cooking, working out or watching MasterChef Junior. She has always been into fitness because she grew up playing soccer competitively for about 10 years. When getting this internship she was so excited to be working with people who love fitness and giving teachers access to the classes was even better because her mom is a kindergarten teacher too. Ana is very excited to be working with spark by gabby and can’t wait to work more on the communications intern role!

Strategic Analyst Intern
Michael Schwartz
(he/him)
Michael is a sophomore at the University of Maryland, College Park. Initially working in a summer team consulting program with spark, Michael loved the intimacy and empowerment that spark provided for both its clients and employees, and was very excited to come back and work as a spark intern when offered the chance. Outside of studying, Michael loves running, lifting weights, and playing basketball with friends. Michael has long used fitness as a way to improve his mind and body, and is excited to be a part of the spark team to help provide the same experience to others.