NICK HICKS
CO-OWNER & DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE
Being a south Florida native and multi-sport athlete, Nick discovered his love for training from a series of three ACL injuries that left him in what seemed like an eternal state of knee rehabilitation. Though his football career was cut short, his training career was born. Researching and learning about injury prevention and rehabilitation methods led to examining speed and agility techniques. This is when curiosity turned into passion.
After earning a degree in Exercise Science from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois in 2011, he worked at numerous sports performance-training facilities in the Chicago Land area. Wanting to come back home to South Florida, he jumped at the opportunity to be the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens and Director of Sports Performance with Athletes Edge. After a two-year stint, he wanted more.
That is when he opened up Elevate Training & Fitness. After 2 1/2 years, Nick decided to sell his share of the company and open up something new. Something different. This is when the idea of PER4ORM was born. The team has since then trained over 600 High School athletes, 300 Youth Athletes, and 30 Professional Athletes in just a short 3 1/2 year period. Our goal is to prepare our athletes to be the strongest, fastest and most efficient they can possibly be by way of cutting edge training techniques that are very safe and effective.
To contact Nick directly, please email him at:
nick@per4ormsports.com
ZAC CARDONE
CO-OWNER & DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING
Zac Cardone is a south Florida native who has been involved in the training and sports performance industry for 15+ years. However, his passion for the industry began long before that. Zac was involved in athletics from the time he could walk, playing just about every sport that was offered. By high school his focus shifted towards football and wrestling, and he had much success with both.
Zac attended Florida International University, where he went on to earn his degree in Sports Fitness. He chose to do his internship at a sports performance company called 'Athletes Edge', where Nick Hicks was the Director of Sports Performance. This is where Zac really started to flourish as a sports performance coach. When Nick opened up Elevate Training & Fitness, Zac joined the team and has been the company's largest asset since. His versatility, creativity and passion separate him from the rest. Zac is now a Co-Owner of PER4ORM with Nick and also plays the role as our Director of Programming. He creates all of our resistance training regiments, conducts 1-on-1 and small group sessions, off-site team training and created our combine prep resistance training programming.
To contact Zac directly, please email him at:
zac@per4ormsports.com
TALYN WASHINGTON
PERFORMANCE COACH
Growing up in south Florida, Talyn was always active playing every sport possible. In high school he chose to focus on track and basketball. In 2010, Talyn won a state title in the 400 meter dash in track & field and realized his potential, so he decided to pursue it in college.
He attended Nova Southeastern University where he received his Bachelors Degree in Exercise & Sport Science. While at Nova, he became a two time All-American in track and field. . One summer he decided to do speed training at a facility in North Miami called Athletes Edge, located on the campus of St. Thomas University. His trainer then was Nick Hicks. This is where Talyn developed a passion with sports performance training. Wanting to pursue a career in the Sports Performance Industry, Talyn decided to take an internship at Elevate Training & Fitness, and learned under Nick. Talyn excelled within the program and was in charge of developing and implementing a speed and agility regiment for the Flanagan JV Football team. After graduating, he found himself doing personal training at 24 Hour Fitness, but it wasn't the job Talyn was looking for.
As PER4ORM came to existence, we were in need of qualified trainers that understood the philosophies and shared the same passion and creativity as us, so we contacted Talyn and brought him on board. He has since been with us and is our leading speed coach, creates and implements our group programs and is our linear speed 'guru' for our Pro Day/Combine Prep atheltes.
To contact Talyn directly, please email him at:
talyn@per4ormsports.com
KELSEY WILLIAMS
PERFORMANCE COACH
Originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Kelsey grew up being physically active and participating in athletics starting at a young age. Playing competitive soccer for over 9 years, she decided to put the game to rest and move down to South Florida to further her education. She would go on to achieve a Bachelors of Science in Sports and Fitness at Florida International University. Upon finishing her education, Kelsey interned with Nick Hicks and Zac Cardone (owners of PER4ORM) and then began working for them in 2015. She now trains ‘one on one’ fitness and sports performance sessions, youth development and large group sessions within the gym.
Kelsey Is NCSF Personal Training certified and has a certification in AFPA Nutrition and Wellness.
To contact Kelsey directly, please email her at:
kelsey@per4ormsports.com
DARRYL WILLIAMS
PERFORMANCE COACH
Darryl is a south Florida native who started playing sports at the age of four. He played baseball, basketball, threw shot-put and excelled in football. His father had an illustrious 10 year career in the NFL, playing Safety for the Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks. He attended the prestigious St. Thomas Aquinas and played Linebacker. He got the opportunity to play at the next level at Northern Michigan University. He was named team captain and awarded to multiple all conferences selections.
During the off-season, Darryl would train with us here at PER4ORM to prepare for his upcoming season. He always had a knack for training and decided to participate in an internship with to become a sports performance trainer. After his internship, he went back to school and graduated with a BA in Health and Fitness Management. When he moved back home, he was instantly hired to be a Sports Performance Coach at PER4ORM.
“Darryl was just what we were looking for.” Says Co-Owner Nick Hicks. “We were getting busier and we knew that Darryl was our guy, so we jumped at the opportunity to bring him on board. He’s done an incredible job for us ever since.”
To contact Darryl directly, please email him at :
darryl@per4ormsports.com
SEBASTIAN ALVAREZ
PERFORMANCE COACH
Growing up in South Florida, Sebastian loved playing soccer, and started when he was 4 years old. However, in High School Sebastian played multiple sports, including varsity soccer, football and volleyball.
Sebastian decided to attend school locally to help support his family financially by working and attending Florida Atlantic University. This is where he studied Exercise Science. Right after college, Sebastian started interning with a facility assigned by FAU in Boca, training tennis players. After gathering as much knowledge and experience as he could from them, he contacted Nick Hicks and sought out yet another internship with PER4ORM. This is where he fell in love with not only the internship program, but also the culture they had created. It wasn’t a facility. To him, it was a family. After 6 months, Sebastian was hired and is now in charge of youth Sports Development, as well as Social Media Marketing.
To contact Sebastian directly, please email him at:
sebastian@per4ormsports.com
WALTER JACKSON
PERFORMANCE COACH
Walter was Born and raised in south FL, and played football, baseball & ran track. He began training with Nick and Zac at the age of 13 at Elevate. Walt attended St. Thomas Aquinas high school, but ultimately graduated from Flanagan high school. He earned a college football scholarship to Lindenwood Belleville University, where he still holds school records for most touchdowns in a single season as a WR & most touchdowns and yards in a single game as a WR. During his off seasons, he would always come back to where it started and train at PER4ORM. He then transferred to Northern Michigan University to continue his football career. When his football career was over, he transferred to FIU to finish his degree. While attending FIU, he started his internship with us. Once internship was done, and Walt had graduated, we brought him on full time. He knows trains every aspect of our facility. From ASP to SPG, 1on1 and Team Groups, Walt does it all.
to contact Walt directly, please email him at:
Walt@per4ormsports.com
JADEN GRANIZO
PERFORMANCE COACH
Jaden is a South Florida native who, like many other kids growing up, had an affinity for playing multiple sports. He loved playing basketball in his spare time as a kid but also picked up soccer and fell in love with weight-lifting and training later during high school.
After graduating high school, Jaden decided to pursue a degree in exercise science at Nova Southeastern University. During his senior year at NSU, Jaden was granted the opportunity to conduct research under one of his professors and work in tandem as a trainer with the basketball, soccer, and cross-country teams. He also took this time to seek out an internship with an athletic training facility of his choice, which is where he contacted Nick Hicks and began as an intern with PER4ORM. Jaden quickly fell in love with the facility and the culture PER4ORM had created among its clients. After 5 months as an intern and shortly after graduating from NSU, Jaden was hired full-time as a sports performance coach.
To contact Jon directly, please email him at:
jaden@per4ormsports.com
JON WASHINGTON
PERFORMANCE COACH
Jonathon was born & raised in south Florida, and grew up playing competitive sports such as football and track, where he was a nationally ranked AAU 13yr old 200/400m. Jon was also one of the very first clients at Elevate, the facility Nick had opened before PER4ORM. He attended high school at St. Thomas Aquinas & Cardinal Gibbons. He graduated in 2015, and earned a scholarship to play football at Northern Michigan University. Ultimately, Jon found a home at FAMU in 2018, where he studied communications. Once my athletic career was over, he found himself still working out and staying in shape, which lead him to contact Nick to see if there was an internship opportunity available, which there was. Jon excelled during his internship and found himself a spot on the team. Jon will be attending FIU this summer and fall 2023/Spring 2024 to get my degree in exercise science and kinesiology! “I’m glad to be apart of a family oriented team that helps others become the best version of them self physically and mentally! It’s honestly saved my life & I’m glad to grow and be with this team.”
To contact Jon directly, please email him at: