Currently in his 26th year of professional coaching, Stuart McMillan is CEO and Short Sprints Coach at ALTIS. Stuart has worked with professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports with a focus on power and speed development, and he has personally coached move than 70 Olympians at nine Olympic Games, winning over 30 Olympic medals. He has worked as part of national governing bodies in six countries and has been part of and/or led integrated support teams in the United States, Canada, and the UK. Stuart has also accrued the unique experience of coaching at three home Olympic Games, working with American athletes in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Games, Canadians in 2010 at Vancouver-Whistler, and British athletes in 2012 at the London Olympics. Most recently, he coached British sprinter Jodie Williams to a sixth-place finish in the 400m at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Nate Huffstutter: All the years of groundwork that go into building a successful high-performance business can also lead to a sense of “stuckness” for coaches who may want a change of geography but can’t imagine starting over—what were the moments that crystalized for you and your partners that moving ALTIS from Phoenix to Atlanta was the right course of action and a doable thing? And what have been the most unanticipated challenges you’ve had to overcome during this process?
Stuart McMillan: First, none of us really see this as starting over—as so much of our business is remote or virtual anyway, and the pandemic had reduced our on-site athlete population to a point where it didn’t significantly affect the athletes as a whole. Of course, not all the athletes made the move to Atlanta with us, but as a company, we just felt that this was a move we had to make for the best of the group.
We had an amazing time in Phoenix and met some wonderful people. Our partnership with EXOS over the last eight years is a big reason why we have been able to grow ALTIS to where it is today. I can’t thank Mark Verstegen and his team enough—and I will forever be indebted to them.
The motivation for the move was the fact that we didn’t feel like we were able to continue growing in Phoenix. To be honest, the last couple of years just felt a little stale for all of us. Of course, I’m sure the pandemic had a lot to do with that.