Meet Dan Hugill | Faith charged formerly incarcerated person in recovery and cofounder and COO of The Bridge.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan Hugill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
The Bridge steps into the community like a seasoned corner coach, helping formerly incarcerated brothers and sisters reintegrate with dignity, purpose, and real support. We saw the need firsthand—through lived experience, through chains broken, and through the understanding that recovery ain’t just a mindset, it’s a full-body transformation. By combining peer mentorship, functional fitness, boxing, martial arts, and wellness education, we give people a space to rebuild strength from the inside out. Movement sparks neurochemistry, discipline builds confidence, and community restores identity—so every session becomes an opportunity for healing, connection, and growth. The Bridge stands in that gap, helping individuals step back into the world not as who they were, but as who they were created to become.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a fitness instructor by trade, but a wellness warrior by calling. God shaped me into a coach who works at the intersection of substance use, mental health, and whole-person healing. I’m a CrossFit Level Two Coach, a USA Olympic Weightlifting Coach, Tai Chi and Qigong certified, and I’ve been a boxing coach for five years. I hold a second-degree black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu, and I’m an adaptive and inclusive trainer, able to meet people exactly where they’re at — whether they’re in recovery, reentry, or rebuilding their lives from the ground up. I’m also a NASM Youth Exercise Specialist, blending discipline, breath, movement, and mindset to help people reclaim their strength from the inside out.
On top of that, I’m a public speaker and storyteller through my brand, Dan Hugill, LLC, sharing messages of redemption, resilience, leadership, and faith with communities, churches, treatment centers, and youth across the state. And as the co-founder of The Bridge, I’ve committed my life to helping justice-involved individuals reintegrate with dignity through fitness, mentorship, and wellness. My profession isn’t just fitness — it’s kingdom work, it’s restoration work, it’s the fight for healing in every dimension of a person’s life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If you came to kick it with me for a week in the Springs, you already know how it’s going down — we’re living in the gym and eating like warriors. Most mornings you’d catch us grinding through some real sessions: cracking leather in the old-school boxing gym with Terry Buterbaugh, sharpening hands and heart the way fighters used to. Then we’d swing by Unbreakable Ministries — because it wouldn’t be a real day without seeing some of my family there — and while we’re at it, we’d get in some hard rounds in their boxing and MMA gym, mixing that old-school grit with fight-ready discipline. After that, we’d roll into GRIT Athletics, one of the hardest-working strength and conditioning gyms in the city, tear up some barbells at CrossFit Tava, and close the circle by honing discipline and internal power at the Seven Star Phoenix Shaolin Kung Fu School. Boxing, MMA, kung fu, conditioning, breathwork — whatever the day calls for, we get after it.
And depending on the week? We might even step behind the walls, heading into a prison to train with the RF2 program, run a class, or pour into the men grinding their way toward freedom — physically, mentally, spiritually. Some of the most powerful workouts of my life didn’t happen in a gym at all, but in rooms behind razor wire where hope hits different.
When we’re not training? We’re eating. Hard.
We’d hit Yellow Mountain Tea House for that grounding tea and soul food, smash some Slice 420 pizza, grab sandwiches bigger than your forearms, and keep the fuel steady with my staples — chicken, rice, and cottage cheese.
Those are some of my favorite spots in the city if we’re hanging out. But honestly? After all that sweat, food, and mission work, my other favorite place is just home — relaxing, recovering, and keeping life simple.
That’s a week with me: faith, fitness, food, brotherhood, purpose, and the kind of work that changes lives — including our own.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
None of this mission, none of this movement, none of this calling would stand the way it does without the warriors God planted around me. My brother and co-founder Matt Clovis has been in the corner with me from day one, building The Bridge punch by punch, prayer by prayer. Much love to Adam Vigil and Kalena Rodriguez from Unbreakable Ministries, because they have had my back in ways words barely capture—showing up, standing firm, and lifting me through seasons most people never see. Shoutout as well to Dominique Knowles; Dr. E from the Sanctuary Church; Nick Wells, Trevor Jones, Taylor Doucet, and the entire RF2 program, whose leadership, discipline, and resilience sharpened me behind the walls and out here in the community. Respect to heavy hitters like Sean Sant, Shaolin Master Tanisha Martin from the Seven Star Phoenix, Roger Cullen, Forrest Mangus from Milestone, Ryan Schenk from Rebels Redemption, Tonni Lea from Tonni Lea Ministries, Ryan Parr from GRIT Athletics, Chris Burns, Kelly Powers, and a special thank-you to Rob Decker, whose strength and support have meant more than words can hold.
At the heart of all of this stand my parents, Doug and Kim Hugill, and my two little warriors, Asher and Bella. These are my anchors, my heartbeat, and my why. These people have fought beside me spiritually, physically, and emotionally. We’ve weathered storms, walked through refining fires, and celebrated victories shoulder to shoulder. Every lesson on leadership, mentorship, humility, kingdom identity, and resilience that I pour into the community is a reflection of what they poured into me. They didn’t just support my journey—they forged the fighter, the servant, and the man I strive to be every day.
And lastly — with all the honor, all the gratitude, and all the love in my heart — Rebecca Talbert. You have shown support like none other. You are a blessing, an answer to prayer, and I absolutely adore you.

Website: TheBridge.life and DanHugill.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_bridge719?igsh=MWw5OHN3ZGJtdmR4NA==

Image Credits
The Bridge, Joe Jang photography, Tracy!!!!, RF2, Unbreakable Ministries, 7 Star Phoenix