Our Team

Mary Obana

Co-Founder & President

Mary Obana is the President of Koko FitClub and co-founded Koko Fitness in 2003. Mary’s career spans more than 25 years, creating and managing widely recognized products and high-profile brands for numerous companies and industries.

Prior to Koko, Mary had her own marketing strategy consulting firm advising CEOs for major clients such as H&R Block. Previously, Mary was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Send.com, Vice President of Marketing and New Business Development for The Keds Corporation, Director of Strategic Planning for The Coca Cola Company's Corporate Marketing Strategy Group in Atlanta, and Director of Worldwide Advertising for Converse, Inc.

Mary started her career in advertising working on leading brands such as American Express, Hershey and Taco Bell for Ogilvy & Mather in New York City and Foote, Cone & Belding in San Francisco. Mary earned her B.A. from Stanford University.

• Age: 47
• Koko Q score: 137
• Favorite Koko program: Kathy Kaehler's Fit and Fabulous After 40
• Why I Koko: "So my body never holds me back from doing anything I want to do."

Michael Wood

CFO (Chief Fitness Officer)

Michael Wood, CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist), is widely recognized as one of the nation's top fitness specialists. Founder of the Sports Performance Group, a fitness consulting company, Michael's honors have included the coveted Boston Magazine "Best of Boston" title for the Personal Training category, and has been named twice consecutively to Men's Journal Top 100 Trainers list (Wenner Publisher). Men's Journal also included Michael on their trainer "Dream Team," comprised of the nine best trainers in the U.S.

His professional experience includes Director of Business Development at Velocity Sports Performance, Fitness Director at New England Sports Academy, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for University of Connecticut’s Division One athletes and Senior Exercise Physiologist at the Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory at the USDA-HNRC on Aging at Tufts University. Michael also consults to Sage Strategies, LLC, a premier management consulting firm specializing in the health, fitness and educational industry.

Michael has taught undergraduate strength and conditioning courses at Boston University and the University of Connecticut where he also attended graduate school. He attended Springfield College on an athletic scholarship before earning a B.S. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston.                                                 

• Age: 50
• Koko Q score: 123
• Favorite Koko program: Total Body Conditioning
• Why I Koko: "So I can feel and (hopefully) look 10 years younger!"

Cristina Batogowski

Director, Franchise Training and Support

Cristina is responsible for the ongoing development and management of day-to-day operations for the Koko FitClub flagship location, owned by Koko Fitness, Inc. She plays an integral role in creating an exceptional member experience through operational excellence. Cristina is also responsible for creating and executing all management, staff and member training programs and curriculum for Koko Academy.

Prior to joining Koko, Cristina was a highly successful Manager of club membership and sales for two of the nation’s premier full-service, super-clubs, The Sports Club/LA and ClubCorp, as well as the Arnold Palmer Golf Management Company. For these companies, Cristina oversaw a wide array of member services, including new staff hiring and training, member sales, renewals, retention and member promotions.

Previously, Cristina was an Account Executive for two of New England’s leading radio stations, helping local and national companies execute successful advertising programs and promotions. Cristina holds a B.A. from Stonehill College.                                                 

• Age: 40
• Koko Q score: 110
• Favorite Koko program: Sculpt and Tone
• Why I Koko: "So I can have my cake and eat it too!"

Lauren Dell’Olio

Director, Marketing and Communications

Lauren brings to Koko FitClub nearly two decades of professional marketing communications experience, executing powerful, customer-focused communications strategies for international super-brands such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Yahoo!, Domino’s Pizza, PepsiCo, Abercrombie & Fitch and Walgreens.

Before joining Koko, Lauren was Director of Marketing and Communications at Fidelity Investments where she managed internal and external e-communications, advertising and online campaigns for their capital markets trading firm. Previously, Lauren was the Director of Marketing for Pinnacle Training Corporation, a Microsoft technical education partner. There, Lauren was accountable for every aspect of marketing, advertising, public relations and communication, helping the company triple revenues and become a gold-level Microsoft partner that launched the highly successful international United Training consortium.

Lauren’s marketing career began at Digitas, a leading strategy, technology and marketing solutions agency. There, she managed direct marketing, retention and loyalty campaigns, and market research for clients such as AT&T and Seagram Americas. Lauren holds a B.A. in Mass Communication and Journalism from Westfield State College.                                                 

• Age: 41
• Koko Q score: 68
• Favorite Koko program: Beach Body
• Why I Koko: "So I can enjoy more time with my baby... without the baby weight!"

Fred LaSelva

Director of Real Estate and Site Development

Fred has extensive experience in real estate site development for leading retailers, large and small.

As Vice President of Real Estate and development for Hills Department Stores, Fred oversaw the opening of more than 200 locations nationwide. In this role, Fred managed all aspects of site acquisition, demographic modeling, lease negotiation and complete construction of stores over 100k square feet.

As President and Founder of Penfield’s, a specialty retailer and business services provider (sold to International Ram Associates in 2007), Fred opened and operated numerous gift shop/business center locations for leading hotels such as the Westin and Sheraton over the course of 12 years. Fred holds a B.A. from Northeastern University.                                                 

• Age: 64
• Koko Q score: 77
• Favorite Koko program: Performance Golf
• Why I Koko: "It gives me the strength I need to stay active - and it's fun!"

Josh Roman

Vice President, Product and Technology

Josh has over 10 years of experience developing user-centric technology platforms in a variety of industries, as well as building the agile, high-performance teams that underpin business success.

Josh was most recently Director/Vanguard Relationship Manager for Upromise Investments. While there, Josh oversaw implementation, operations and technology enhancements for the company's 529 Plans, helping the company grow from start-up to industry giant with over $6B in assets under management in 3 short years.

Prior to Upromise, Josh designed and managed the customer care, transactional and online systems for Send.com as the Director of E-Commerce Applications. He also co-founded a company that created and sold pioneering online sporting goods retailer Sportscape.com.

Josh holds an A.B. from Princeton University.

• Age: 38
• Koko Q score: 83
• Favorite Koko program: Strength and Power
• Why I Koko: "So I can climb mountains with my son.”