Sherry Andersen is showing her exercise
studio equipment to a visitor when she
hears one of her clients is about to leave.
"Hold on, Diane," she calls out. "You've
got to get your hug."
Hugs are part of the package at Fit As A
Fiddle, a women-only exercise studio at
Plumb Lane and Arlington Avenue. Years
ago Andersen read that everyone should get
at least 13 hugs a day, so when she opened
her studio this year, she decided her customers
"my ladies" as she calls them
would get at least one or two of them there.
Obviously this is not a typical gym. Fit
As A Fiddle is as much about fellowship as
fitness.
Andersen and her small staff know all
the members by name. As groups assemble
on the work-out floor, the staff has everyone
introduce themselves. Members can post
business cards and announcements on a bulletin
board by the front door to network.
And together they donate baby gifts regularly
to Casa De Vita, a home for new
unwed mothers and their babies.
"We care about one another.We share
things," says member Arline Bliss, a retired
registered nurse. "If I don't see somebody
there, I think gee, where is she? Maybe I
should call her."
"It's almost like a family," says member
Nancy Stosic. "I really miss it when I don't
have a chance to go."
Small things count.
Andersen, for instance, provides bottles
of water to those who forget to bring their
own. She keeps a pair of reading glasses by a
stretching machine so older members can
read the settings.
So far the approach has worked. The
studio attracted more than 140 members in
the first 12 weeks, all through word-ofmouth.
One woman, for instance, brought
in seven of her friends. Andersen says she is
on track to achieve her goal of 600
members in the first year.
Members range in age from 13
to 82. Most are in their 50s,
60s and 70s, but more collegeage
women have joined recently.
Fit As A Fiddle is part of a
growing niche in the fitness
industry small exercise
gyms for women only. The studio
features 18 express circuit
training stations, including nine
hydraulic weight machines and
nine walking and jogging platforms.
Members move from
station to station at 30- or 40-
second intervals and can get a
good aerobic and weight workout
in about 30 minutes.
The studio also features
health screening, monthly body
composition testing and free
seminars. Bliss recently gave a
presentation at the studio on
emotional triggers for eating.
Another member who is a
nurse gave a seminar on diabetes.
Before she had her two
daughters, now teen-agers,
Andersen worked in sales for
Xerox Corp. Recently she was
associate director of the Incline
Village Crystal Bay Chamber
of Commerce and worked
briefly in real estate.
Last year she realized she
was ready for a new career
challenge. She got the idea for
the business while working out
at another exercise studio,
where she yearned for a more
personal and friendly atmosphere.
She wanted a place
where women of any age, size
and fitness level would feel welcomed
and nurtured.
Launching the business
wasn't easy. "I'm 56, and this is
the first business I've ever started,"
she says. "It was sort of like
giving birth."
Andersen says it took about
nine months to write a business
plan, research and find an
equipment manufacturer,
attend training on how to use
it, find a site, get city planning
commission approval, design
and build the interior and hire
staff.
"I learned more starting this
business than I did in four years
of college."
Andersen says her location
in the new Plumgate shopping
center has been a big asset, as
has been the quality of her
staff. She is also grateful for the
help of about a dozen women
who supported her through the
venture and became her first
members.
She advises women who
want to start businesses or
launch new careers to choose
goals centered around their
passions, narrow and focus their
targets and take the ventures
one step at a time. She also
cautions women to choose
carefully which advice to take.
"You don't want people raining
on your parade." Some of
Andersen's closest, longtime
friends thought she was crazy
for starting the business, while
some of her acquaintances were
her biggest cheerleaders.
Someone else has to leave,
so Andersen breaks away again
to give a hug. If hugs really are
a key to happiness, then
Andersen's business should
make bring her big profits in
joy.
