If you’ve been keeping up with A Shore Thing, you know my original intent was to have a series of small businesses featured up until Small Business Saturday 2019. However, due to some personal events that came up ( that’s a blog post for later), I wasn’t able to complete the series on the timeline I wanted to.
BUT- it’s a new year, 2020, and honestly, every Saturday should be Small Business Saturday. So, that being said, I will be kicking off the 2020 year with a feature on a business that will make you put down that donut, pull out your best workout gear, and get your but moving into the new year. Actually…keep the donut, you probably deserve it.
Let me introduce you to ChicaBoom Fitness. I don’t know if you guys can relate, but new gyms are SCARY. Are there going to be a bunch of intimidating, extremely seasoned fitness junkies judging my every move? How do I do a burpee again? Do these leggings look see through when I squat? Is anyone going to notice if I get off this treadmill after 7 minutes? If I get a trainer are they going to yell at me and make me cry? Are the little white towels they provide for my tears or my sweat?
Well, allow me to tell you that ChicaBoom is breaking the fitness and personal training mold. Since 2015, they started with the good old fashion approach of meeting people where they were at, with in home personal training sessions and meeting clients at the community gyms they were already comfortable and familiar with to train. After much hustling, sweat, and hard work, they remodeled and opened their Apollo Beach location in five weeks. Talk about determined. Located on Flamingo Drive , their gym in Apollo Beach is the sister of their Sarasota location, which is led by Wendy Rojas.
The Apollo Beach team is a dazzling group of the kindest, funniest, and most beautiful (yes, inside and out I know it’s cheesy) group of women. Jessica- the owner, Sparkle, Lina, and they just welcomed Dee to their family. Like a well-perfected recipe that comes together to make something irresistibly delicious, all of these women bring something special and a little bit of their own flavor to this boutique gym.
When asked what their favorite parts of being a trainer at this gym, I can’t tell you how many times they referred to their clients and team as a family. This is a team that thrives on seeing results in their clients, not just numbers and how many heads they have in each class. With a focus on supporting small businesses in the area. ChicaBoom prides themselves on “supporting those that support you”, and stand on the mantra that supporting local is how you build and strengthen your community. Staying true to this, they even carry a local, hand-made activewear brand in their gym- Thandazani Clothing.
As soon as you walk into their gym, you can feel how personalized and intimate it is. Personally, my pre-gym ritual is having a lot of anxiety and mentally going over what machine I am going to first, basically mapping out my workout plan so I can get in and out as fast as I can without anyone noticing. ChicaBoom fitness is different. At this gym, they will notice. They will notice you as a person, not you as another membership and another dollar in their pocket. They will notice your needs physically, if exercises need to be modified, if you need to be challenged more, if you need to be motivated differently. They will celebrate your accomplishments with you and motivate and reassess with you if you’re not where you want to be. Something not common in a world where most people don’t even know their next door neighbor, ChicaBoom fitness notices you, and meets you where you’re at, no matter where that might be.
Whether it’s one-on-one training, group fitness, or nutritional guidance, ChicaBoom offers it all. Plus, your first class is on them! However, I must warn you, proceed with caution- once you get a taste, you’ll be back for more.
Website: https://chicaboomfitness.com
Instagram: @chicaboomfitness
Have a local business you want to see featured? Shoot me an email at mary@shorelinesugars.com
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