Staff Profile: Kristen Uribe - Fitness Director at the Milwaukee Athletic Club

Kristen Uribe (that’s…oo-ree-Beh) is a multi-talented professional with a diverse range of skills and experiences. As the Fitness Director at the MAC, certified yoga instructor, dedicated massage therapist, first-generation Mexican, black belt in Taekwondo, Bachata dancer, amateur aerial artist and flan connoisseur. 

Throughout college at the School of Art Institute in Chicago, she was preparing to have a career in visual art which led her to discover her deep affinity for movement play.  Since joining the MAC last spring, Kristen has played a pivotal role in shaping the fitness and massage experience from the ground up, showcasing her leadership and creative vision. 

Hailing from a vibrant Mexican family, right here in Milwaukee, and as everyone’s social circles began to close during the pandemic, Kristen found solace and inspiration by immersing herself in her family’s heritage by spending more time with her grandmother, learning many cherished recipes and mastering the art of making flan.

“It’s a science and it’s an art, so I played around for a couple of weeks to perfect the recipe, delivering flan to friends to solicit feedback,” she says. 

She can make all styles, but Kristen’s favorite flan has more of a custard-like texture than the more gelatinous types.  The now owner of the East Side restaurant Tauro Cocina was at a mutual friend's birthday party where she had supplied the flan and was so impressed, he asked her to make a few flans a week to sell at the restaurant. A few of her other favorite dishes to cook are Posole, Picadillo and mushroom risotto with salmon. 

While she had little interest in sports as a kid, her father was concerned about safety and enrolled her and her brother in Taekwondo. Kristen (reluctantly) earned her Black Belt at 15. It was only after meeting her fathers demands to achieve excellence that she quit Taekwondo completely, only to realize soon after that she missed everything about it –  the element of being in her body, strength training, movement, play. So years later, she tried Brazilian jiu-jitsu, another martial art that includes more rolling and floor work. 

Growing up, she had always been enamored by dancers and movers and would study people’s performances to try and learn from them.  But it wasn’t until after college that she tried out for a Bachata team and made it. They would practice, compete, and travel around as a team. After three years dancing Bachata at the highest level, Kristen craved a solo activity and discovered aerial arts at Warped Studios.  After a few sessions (admittedly scary ones) she was hooked. “It was like asking, am I able to show up for myself in the same way I showed up for a dance partner,” she says. Kristen was once again inspired by this new challenge to push her body in new ways and has been attending class twice a week for the past year and a half now. 

Since she spends so much of her day helping others relax, I asked her how she winds down. “It depends on what I am lacking. A lot of my days are spent making big decisions so if I need to get out of my head and into my body, I opt for aerial arts or getting into nature,” says Kristen.  “Otherwise, I’ll do breathwork, restorative yoga and or be with friends. I know my body well enough to know when to slow down.” 

Although she already has a lot of responsibilities, Kristen has one more exciting challenge on the horizon.  She will add the title “mother” to her list of identities this spring as she and her partner Blas welcome their first baby.