Fitness studio owner emphasizes fellowship, too

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.