100 in 100: Day 50- Jon Collette

Jon Collette has been at Prototype almost since the doors opened. He's coached thousands of classes, built out the gym's nutrition program, and helped members go from "I don't know if I belong here" to some of the strongest lifters on the floor. But Jon's own story didn't start in a gym. It started about as far from one as you can get.

The Kid Who Wasn't an Athlete

"I actually didn't really know anything about fitness or working out until I was probably about 18 years old," Jon says. Growing up in Attleboro, Massachusetts, sports weren't really his thing — a little baseball, a little soccer, nothing serious. People are sometimes surprised to hear that the guy coaching their Olympic lifting session wasn't a gymnast or a three-sport athlete as a kid.

That's the honest version. Jon didn't start prioritizing his health until after high school, when he was working a job with a Planet Fitness across the street. He'd go on his lunch break, just to squeeze it in. It wasn't glamorous. It was just consistent — and it was the beginning of everything that came after.

Finding His Way to Prototype

Before Prototype existed, Jon was working with kids in a before-and-after-school program. He'd left school himself after a year and was thinking about going back when, almost by coincidence, I was opening the gym. "That was my first entry," Jon says.

He had years of experience working with kids, but almost none in fitness coaching. What he had going for him was that he was already a member — already putting in the work himself. "If I hadn't already been going to the gym, I don't think I would've had the confidence to come over to Prototype at all," he says. "But once I was, it was, 'what do I have to lose?'"

He started part-time in 2012, learning everything he could from me and Brian along the way — "I asked Brian a million questions" — and went all-in in 2014. He wasn't alone in that stretch, either: while transitioning to full-time at Prototype, Jon worked part-time at Sapporo, the restaurant next door — and Jay and Debbie, who owned it, were part of the support system that helped him get his footing early on.

Coaching kids first, it turns out, was the best training he could have had. "Kids are constantly growing and changing, way more than adults," Jon explains. "You learn people take things in different ways — some are visual, some are tactile, some need to hear it. I learned to coach adults the same way. Everyone's a kid at heart."

The Real Shift Wasn't About Food

Jon eventually went deep on nutrition — paleo challenges, flexible dieting, tracking macros, a rabbit hole that led him to get certified through Precision Nutrition and in sports nutrition. He can talk protein and carbs and calories all day. But that's not what he says actually changed things for people.

"What I really figured out is it's not about the diet. It's about habits — and changing your identity for the better," he says. "I needed to become someone who works out and eats well. And now that's just… who I am."

It's the same thing he sees happen in members every day, and part of why he believes so strongly in what a gym like Prototype offers beyond the workouts. "You've got this massive support system. We're in this bubble of people who all want to get better. You check the box for your physical health and your mental health at the same time — it becomes part of your routine because you're around like-minded people."

Scared to Unstoppable

Ask Jon which member he's proudest of, and he doesn't hesitate: Heather Lacasse. "When she started, she was so afraid to pick up a weight — all she wanted to do was arms and bench press because it felt safer," he says. "Now she's incredibly strong, and she's pretty open to doing anything. She had this epiphany that she's capable of so much more than she thought. Scared to unstoppable."

It's a phrase that could describe half the gym, and honestly, it could describe Jon too.

Fourteen Years of Memories

Ask Jon about his favorite moments and you get a flood of them: the early CrossFit Open days before the gym had proper targets on the rig, just lines taped near the ceiling for wall balls — until one no-rep frustrated him so much he threw the ball straight through the ceiling ("funny to look back on now"). Getting his first muscle-up. Watching a member win a burpee challenge for a pair of shoes and then raffle them off instead, because he didn't think it was fair to keep them. Being there for a member through her cancer treatment and watching the whole community show up for her.

"I have fourteen years of memories, and there's not a bad day in this gym where you're not laughing or having a good time," he says.

Never a Bad Time to Start

If there's one thing Jon wants people to take from his story, it's this: it doesn't matter when you start, only that you do. "I really started later in life," he says. "So whether you're starting at 20 years old and you get to where you want to be by 30, or you're starting at 50 and you haven't worked out a day in your life — there's never a bad time to start. If you're not feeling ready, you'll never feel ready. Just give it a try, and I promise that when you have the support that we have in this community, you're going to be so proud that you stayed."

His advice for anyone, in the gym or out of it, is the same thing he tells members every day: "It's a journey. It didn't take you 30 days to be able to get to where you are now. And if you just think less about the result and more about the process, you will get to where you want to be."

Fourteen years ago, Jon walked into Prototype not really knowing what he was doing, just knowing he had nothing to lose. Fifty days into telling these stories, his is a reminder of what that first step can turn into — for the person taking it, and for everyone they end up coaching along the way.

"It's not about the diet. It's about habits — and changing your identity for the better. I needed to become someone who works out and eats well. And now that's just who I am."

When I sat down to think about who Day 50 should be, Jon was the easy answer. Fifty stories in, almost everyone brings up the community and coaching here at Prototype — and Jon's name comes up in nearly every one of them.

Maya Angelou once said people will never forget how you made them feel, even after they've forgotten what you said or did. That's exactly what Jon has given this community.

I'm in a unique position with Jon — I'm his big brother, but I'm also his boss. I got to watch him grow from the kid he describes in this story into who he is today, and it's nothing short of amazing. None of us do anything entirely on our own; we all get some kind of guidance, help, or mentorship along the way. But you still have to do the work, and you still have to become your own person. Jon has done that. As his brother and his boss, I couldn't be more proud of who he's become and the impact he's had on so many lives.

If this is the first time you're hearing Jon's story, it might surprise you. Ask him about it sometime. And if you're in a rut, or you've got a kid who sounds like the Jon in this story, he's the guy who can help.

This story was developed through a recorded video interview and written interview notes, and shaped with the help of AI writing tools. The facts, quotes, and experiences are Jon's own — AI helped organize and present them in a format worthy of the story he's lived.