BMWK: How did ABC Fitness and Wellness Center come to be about?
Tammy: We are going on four years in July with ABC Fitness (almost five years since we started off mobile). I had been getting Black Enterprise for years since I was probably 17 years old. Even when I went to college, I always knew I wanted my own business, so I majored in Business Management. John is an ex-body builder. Fitness is what we both love to do, so there was no better thing than to open a fitness facility. At the time, we were in a very stressful situation because John was terminated from his job as a manager in the food service industry.
He started out part-time by going to train people at their house. Within bout 4-5 months he had a client that was a neck, back and spine doctor and we were able to rent out some of their space.
BMWK: What makes your facility unique or special compared to the other fitness facilities in the area?
Tammy: ABC stands for Anointed Body of Christ. So how can we provide that excellence of Anointed Body of Christ. So how can we have to present that if you come in here and it’s smelly, stinky, dirty, everything is in disarray, equipment has sweat all over it, etc? That’s where the colors come in as well with royalty and purity in the purple and gold. We put a lot of thought in what it is that we do and why we do it. We want to teach people to live long, healthy lives. We teach them to make lifestyle changes, not just to come in here and keep doing the same thing. We’re teaching you about portions and healthy living, and tools you’ll take with you all your life.
It’s nothing for John to call a client to check in on them to find out why they missed appointments and to make sure everything is ok. He’s gone to funerals of clients before. Whatever it is, we take a very personal interest in our clients.
John: We are family oriented and Christian based for one. We are not your traditional fitness facility. Most of them don’t know you or care to know you personally. For us, we make it very personal and give you that attention. We make sure that this facility stays clean. This 5,000 sq feet is always very clean – it smells good, always neat. When you go to the bigger facilities, they don’t necessarily guarantee that you’ll see changes [in your body/appearance]. When you come here, we’re going to make sure that you see the change. We’re going to hold your foot to the fire.
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