SPOTLIGHT: Anne Tierney '03, M.S. '04

	In her new job, Anne Tierney ’03, M.S. ’04 stretches out professional athletes and corporate executives.

If you were looking for Anne Tierney ’03, M.S. ‘04 this time last year, her cubicle at Standard & Poor’s Corporate Value Consulting Practice in New York City was a safe bet.
She was averaging 70 hours per week in the eight months she worked there until a job with infinitely more flexibility came her way.
While completing her masters in economics at Lehigh in 2004, Tierney— a record-setting Lehigh women’s basketball player as an undergraduate—worked out one day with Bob Cooley, the author of The Genius of Flexibility who has counted Olympic and pro athletes among his clients, and his top trainer Steve Sierra.
“I’ve never been though a workout as strenuous as that,” Tierney says.
Tierney went to work at Standard & Poor’s in the summer of 2004, after earning her master’s degree. The following March, she received a phone call from Sierra with an offer that she couldn’t refuse. Cooley and Sierra needed someone to help them stretch out two-time NBA all-star Allan Houston, whose recurring knee problems had put his pro career on hold.
“They asked for my help with Allan Houston that weekend,” Tierney recalls. “I jumped at the chance.”
Before Tierney knew it, she was spending all of her weekends working with Cooley and Sierra. By the end of April, she had a decision to make—stay at Standard & Poor’s or work for Cooley full-time. Standard & Poor’s allowed Tierney a six-month leave of absence so that she could be sure about her decision.
In the end, Tierney joined Meridian Flexibility, Cooley’s fitness firm. At first glance, it seems like the oddest career change since Arnold Schwarzenegger went from action film star to California governor, but Tierney is extremely happy working as an elite trainer for a growing company whose clients include former NBA players like Houston and Charlie Ward, L.A. Dodgers outfielder Jayson Werth, Today show weatherman Al Roker, and executives of major corporations.
“I love this job. It satisfies my need to be active while also allowing me to use my Lehigh education to perform important business-side duties for Meridian Flexibility,” Tierney says.
As she did in the classroom and on the hardwood at Lehigh (where she scored a school-record 1,807 points), Tierney is already flashing star quality. Tierney stars in Cooley’s latest video The Genius of Flexibility 1.0 and even appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America last Labor Day.
“Look out Denise Austin and Richard Simmons, here I come,” Tierney jokes.
--Bill Doherty
Lehigh Alumni Bulletin Online
January 2006