About Brianna: Born March 11, 1985. Calumet City resident with a son, Connor. Associate's degree and certified in massage therapy through Kaplan College in Hammond. Employed by Calumet Memorial Park District for seven years. Member of St. Victor Church in Calumet City. Plays volleyball.

Accomplishments: Brianna Rising is a fitness instructor and works the desk at Sandridge Fitness Center for Calumet Memorial Park District. She provides new members with orientation and teaches the proper use of equipment that includes treadmills, elliptical and arc trainers, weight resistance machines and free weights. She walks them through the facility that has a steam room, lap pool and whirlpool along with locker rooms and explains rules and procedures. Rising does blood pressure screening, answers questions about programming and registers attendees for yoga and pilates classes. She also signs up new members and updates member information as needed. A certified massage therapist, Rising does chair massages and full-body relaxation massages for the park district; she schedules these when she is not on the fitness center schedule. Rising grew up participating in park programs. Her mother worked for the park district for 14 years and her father was a volunteer in park programming.

"It's a lot of fun," she said of her job. ‘I meet a lot of different people."

Personal hero: "My dad, Donald Rising (deceased). He never thought twice about helping people. If he was needed he was there. When he passed away it was amazing to see how many people he touched. I want to be more like him."

What I read: "I usually read gossip magazines like People Magazine."

Advice: "The only person who can make your dream come true is you."

How to get involved: For information on Sandridge Fitness Center, call (708) 862-0880.

People might be surprised to know: "I'm very shy."

- SUE BERO, Times Correspondent

To nominate someone for this feature, e-mail slbero@hotmail.com.