Amanda Phillips, MS, RD, CSSD is Exos’ Chief Performance Innovation Officer and a 22-year veteran of the human performance industry.
With a background that blends nutrition, exercise physiology, and psychology, she has shaped Exos’ evolution from professional athlete training to corporate wellness. Today, she leads Exos’ Performance Innovation team, steering the company’s long-term strategy and ensuring it stays on the leading edge of human performance.
One thing Amanda’s extensive experience has taught her: All performance begins with well-being. Whether she’s coaching elite athletes, guiding executives, or raising her daughter, her philosophy is simple: Leading and supporting others starts with investing in yourself so you can show up at your best.
Team Exos: Thanks for sitting down with us today, Amanda. Let’s start at the beginning: What first drew you into the world of human performance?
Amanda Phillips: So I was a gymnast growing up, and that experience shaped me in a lot of ways. I worked with a sports psychologist to manage nerves standing on a four-inch beam, which sparked my fascination with how our minds and bodies intersect.
At the same time, I was drawn to nutrition: how our bodies work at a cellular level, how biochemistry drives every moment of performance. That curiosity pulled me toward pre-med studies with a focus on nutrition. Then, I became part of one of the first master’s programs to integrate exercise physiology and nutrition at Florida State.
It seems obvious now, but that combination of the two disciplines was really groundbreaking at the time.
Team Exos: So once you had that foundation, what pulled you toward coaching and ultimately Exos?
Amanda: After I got my master’s, I became a strength and conditioning intern at Exos back when the company was still called Athletes’ Performance. What hooked me was the philosophy of coaching the human in front of us.
Biology and psychology were never separate silos for me. They were both about helping people understand what was happening in their bodies and how to harness it. It plays a huge role, whether it’s for a gymnastics routine or a boardroom presentation.
Team Exos: You’ve since played a big role in Exos’ growth and expansion. What were some of the pivotal moments?
Amanda: Early on, I worked with special forces operators, researching how their bodies were responding hormonally to extreme stress. They were some of the fittest people on the planet, but the data revealed they were running on fumes. Overtraining, endocrine disruption, and tough injuries were real risks for them. That work gave rise to our “humans over hardware” initiative, a perspective that still drives Exos today.
From there, we began exploring how to bring these insights beyond people doing intense physical activity for a living. A major turning point came when we began exploring corporate wellness, starting with pilot programs at one huge tech company and a full-scale research study with another.
Those projects showed that our methods could translate directly into corporate wellness, creating impact and outcomes that just hadn’t been seen in the corporate space. We were able to show how a systematic and integrated approach to performance could not only impact health outcomes, but could also impact performance at work. That’s when we really began to find our opportunity in workplace performance.
Team Exos: And today, your role focuses on innovation. What are you most excited about right now?
Amanda: The last four or five years have been about building strategic arcs that are now maturing. One is our work with high-performing women: developing programs that reflect the realities of hormonal cycles, perimenopause, and performance across life stages.
Another is our focus on the future of work, asking what load management looks like in the corporate world. Just like athletes adapt through the right balance of stress and recovery, organizations need to think about how employees adapt and grow stronger. And then, translate that newfound capacity to higher levels of performance in the workplace.
I’m also excited about how data-driven coaching and AI are evolving. We’re codifying our coaching models into tools that help practitioners be even more precise with individuals. But AI isn’t replacing coaches. It’s freeing them. Instead of spending half their time crunching data and writing programs, coaches can spend more time doing what only humans can do: motivate and guide people toward the version of themselves they aspire to be.
Team Exos: There really are a ton of exciting things on the horizon. What’s your vision for the future of work?
Amanda: Look at how far professional sports have come. Twenty years ago, athletes didn’t have dietitians, psychologists, or recovery specialists. Now, systems to optimize an athlete’s mindset, nutrition, movement and recovery are fully integrated into an athlete’s day. It’s not something extra that they do; it’s a part of who they are as an athlete. That’s the model I’d like to see in the workplace.
Well-being practices shouldn’t be “extra.” They should be woven into the day — how you move, how you fuel, how you downregulate. That way, people can actually perform at their best.
Team Exos: You’ve had a long and varied career. What philosophies have guided you?
Amanda: For me, it hasn’t been about climbing vertically, it’s been about broadening my experiences. Every time I’ve been open to something that expanded my range and made me feel uncomfortable at first — a new skill, a new experience, a new population, a new environment — the next level revealed itself. That, and being disciplined with my energy.
As a working mom, I know time is precious. I can’t be everything to everyone. I have to make sure what I take on aligns with our strategy at Exos and my own personal values.
I genuinely love my work, but motherhood forced me to bring a bit more life perspective to my work. Every moment matters, and time isn’t forever. To be at my best, I have to invest in my own biology and psychology — whether that’s mountain biking, strength training, or just making sure I get morning sunlight. As our Chief People Officer Greg Hill says, it’s about finding flexibility within the framework.
Team Exos: Looking ahead, what excites you most about the industry?
Amanda: The lines between sport, workplace, and longevity are blurring. That’s exciting, because it means more people can benefit from what we’ve learned in elite performance. Exos is in a unique position to help shape that future, and I’m more energized about our industry now than I’ve ever been.
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About the Expert
Stefan Underwood, MS, CSCS, is Exos’ Senior Vice President of Methodology and a recognized authority on human performance. He holds a BSc in Exercise Science and a MS in Organizational Psychology. With 20 years of coaching elite athletes, Special Operations Forces, and Fortune 500 leaders, he helps turn human potential into peak organizational results. Stefan leads Exos’ multidisciplinary Performance Innovation Team and teaches cutting-edge methods worldwide through Exos Education.
