Twelve years ago, Darrell Jack opened a small fitness facility called Fast Forward Fitness; driven by his love for athletics, he understood how fitness could help people take on the challenges of everyday life. According to him, getting fit requires a deep dive into one’s mindset and the day-to-day concerns that affect one’s psyche. “If we don’t have the mentality, the physicality doesn’t matter,” he says. Years later, that approach to fitness led him to his work with Parkinson’s clients. In addition to personal training and group classes, Jack now offers regular kickboxing classes for those with Parkinson’s disease that teach improved mobility, agility, and other functions.
Jessica Sunier Redefines Fitness to be Inclusive
The health and fitness industry has been built to serve a certain type of person. “Health looks white. Health looks like straight teeth. Health looks thin… So, health has a look and if you don’t match that look, people judge on outside appearances and they’re going to assume you’re not healthy,” explains Jessica Sunier, Owner and Founder of the gym FitPower LLC. Sunier studied health and worked in various gyms, but she was tired of being in an industry that was focused on appearances and making money. So, in 2011, she started her own gym.
Flying Squirrel Pilates
Jaime Hayden is an outgoing and engaging pilates instructor that runs a small studio in the Third Ward called Flying Squirrel Pilates. Jaime is a busy woman, teaching a wide variety of classes along with running the business on her own. She first became certified in pilates 12 years ago while working a surprising mix of other jobs. Originally from Houston Texas, Jaime moved to Milwaukee to be closer to family. She started her business seven years ago out of her home with a little support from her dad and it has been growing ever since. She now has bragging rights for winning the best Milwaukee pilates studio in 2013, 2014 and 2016 according to Milwaukee A List.
When describing her path of how she got here, Jaime described her love of athletics and history as a softball player and gymnast. Later in life, she had two knee surgeries and consequently found pilates. She quickly fell in love with the new sport and pursued the idea as a career. Pilates was "designed to make your body feel good doing everything else you do," she explains. "It is meant to strengthen your core and keep your vertebrae decompressed."
Jaime sees pilates not just as a sport, but as a healing practice. She began telling me about her very first client, Terri, who has taken her classes in every location she's taught for 7 years now. The two met at the occupational therapy clinic where Jamie was working at the time. Terri has severe rheumatoid arthritis and used to have a very limited range of motion, but has been taking Jaime's classes twice a week ever since she started the business. Now Terri "can do planks better than anyone. What it's done for her rheumatoid arthritis is amazing," says Jaime with a proud smile on her face.
If you talk to Jaime for more than 30 seconds, you can tell that she is passionate about her business and her clients. "My clients are amazing, they've become super good friends," she mentions and adds that she would much rather be doing this than anything else. So talk to her yourself or better yet, take a pilates class.
You can view her website at http://fspilates.wixsite.com/flyingsquirrel.