From Push-Up Milestones to Bathroom Cleanup:
The Ups and Downs of Owning a Fitness Studio
By: Shannon Colavecchio, Owner, Badass Fitness
Owning your own fitness studio is a little bit like raising a family: Your work is never really
done. The days are long, and there are plenty of emotional highs and lows. However, the
gratification of seeing group-fitness students and personal-training clients reach their goals is
kind of like watching your child graduate college or walk down the aisle; suddenly, every earlymorning wakeup or stressful day fades away because of these victorious moments.
My days start at 4:45 in the morning and end after 8:00 at night, so I don’t have much time to
watch TV or read as many books as I would like. There is no “downtime,” really. I often eat my
Paleo meals in plastic containers while on the go from my office day job to my studio classes.
Since opening Badass Fitness in Tallahassee, Florida, in December of 2013, I have changed out
However, I would not trade a single moment of
it for anything else in the world.
While there are negative aspects to owning your own fitness business, the positives far
outweigh them. I consider every day a blessing and an opportunity to help someone get a little
closer to their fitness goals. After years of teaching group fitness in big-box gyms and small
studios, I was finally able to open my own studio thanks to the revenue accumulated from
running about six months of Tabata Bootcamps.