Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Pure Fitness owner Erin Holtz works with Becca Brown during a training session Sept. 9 at Pure Fitness’ new location off U.S. 31 in Vestavia Hills.
Just six months after her business went up in flames, Erin Holtz is back to work as a personal trainer at her new location at Pure Fitness in Vestavia.
After signing a lease in March, Holtz spent several weeks building out her original location. She already had begun training her personal clients there, and she was sending out invitations for her grand opening. When she arrived to work the morning of April 18, she arrived to devastating news.
“I could smell the smoke off the interstate,” Holtz said. “My heart sank as I saw police officers in front of the shopping center, and I knew something was wrong. As I got closer, I got more worried.”
Her intuition was correct and Holtz’s fitness studio, along with Ichiban Restaurant, had caught fire, resulting in a total loss due to fire and water damage. After grieving for about a month, Holtz decided it was time to start over.
“It was depressing to watch something I had just built with my own hands be destroyed. I knew God had a plan, and that he would provide something for me bigger and better,” she said.
Holtz thought she was going be able to rebuild with the same landlord, but the offer fell through, so she began looking for other locations.
During the interim, she was able to continue training her clients thanks to some help from other locations in Vestavia, including the party room at Brewster’s Ice Cream, Shades Mountain Baptist Church and Vestavia Bowl.
“I couldn’t grow or have classes, but I could maintain my current clients, and they all stuck with me,” she said.
After an extensive search for locations and a chat with Vestavia Mayor Alberto Zaragoza, things started to fall into place.
“I saw the current location, but it was too big and was too much money,” she said. “I was out of options, so I called the Barber Company (who leases the property), but as soon as I walked in the door, I knew this was it. It was perfect for a gym.”
Holtz signed the new lease in July and completed the build-out in three weeks. Holtz began advertising and marketing and had the grand opening on Sept. 9.
“The new place was a blank slate, and I created pretty much an exact replica of the other location, but this one is twice as big,” she said. “I knew I’d have to move from the other building eventually, and God has provided for sure.”
Since opening, Holtz has added a new employee, in addition to the four personal trainers on staff. She said the client response has been great, and the increased visibility to U.S. 31 has been a plus.
“People know who I am, and because of the incident, my name is out there,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of response from social media and the community itself. The city of Vestavia has been incredible.”
Pure Fitness offers one-on-one personal training, as well as group classes, including boot camps, extreme fit, cardio sculpt, cardio dance and more. Plyoga classes are being added to the schedule, along with power lunch classes. A mom of a 2-year-old, Holtz also focuses on pre-pregnancy and post-pregnancy workouts.
“We are trying to accommodate anyone’s schedule and all fitness types,” she said. “We also provide childcare as part of our packages. There are no membership fees, clients only pay for what they use.”
Holtz said her future plans are to continue being involved in and networking in the community, helping out with fundraisers and events and adding new clients, classes and more staff members.
She said she knew God had a plan for her, and He was a part of this whole process.
“Even though I went through the devastation, he provided this new space. My friends and family helped me financially and physically. That was huge for me,” Holtz said.
