July 15, 2025 • 32 mins
What makes Katie Sweet with Energy Fitness Studio a good neighbor?
The path to wellness isn't always straight—sometimes it requires taking an unexpected left turn. For Katie Sweet, founder of Energy Fitness Studio, that left turn was both literal and metaphorical. After being told she was infertile at age 12, Katie discovered the transformative power of holistic nutrition when simple dietary changes led to her first pregnancy. Now a mother of four, she's created a sanctuary where physical fitness meets spiritual healing.
Energy Fitness Studio emerged from divine inspiration rather than a business plan. When frustration with her clothing boutique search led Katie to an empty storefront after an intuitive detour, she immediately knew this space would become something entirely different. Within days, she and her husband Trenton had signed a lease and begun their journey into the wellness industry—despite having no formal background in studio management.
What sets Energy apart is its three-dimensional approach to wellness. Beyond offering multiple styles of yoga, barre, Pilates, and kettlebell training, the studio provides ice plunges, sauna events, and sound bowl healing—all designed to address not just physical fitness, but emotional and spiritual wellbeing. As Katie explains, "You can eat really well, you can work out all the time, but if you're not in touch with who you are, does any of it matter?"
Their first year brought tremendous financial struggle—dropping from a comfortable income to barely making ends meet while supporting four children. Yet this hardship proved transformative, teaching Katie to see people as energy rather than circumstances: "We all have our thing and we're all going through our own stuff... You're not what you're going through, you're who you are in your heart."
Now world record holders for most kettlebell swings in an hour, Katie and Trenton continue expanding their vision while staying true to their core philosophy. Whether you're seeking physical transformation, nutritional guidance, or spiritual connection, Energy Fitness Studio offers a place where healing happens on multiple levels.
Ready to experience wellness that treats your body as a temple rather than a gym? Visit energyfitnessstudios.com and discover why Katie's parting wisdom resonates so deeply: "Just trust your dreams."
To learn more about Energy Fitness Studio go to:
https://www.energyfitnessstudios.com/
Energy Fitness Studio
(724) 809-5630
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Layla Carter.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a fitnessstudio?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Katie Sweet, with Energy FitnessStudio.
Katie, how's it going?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Good.
Thank you for having me on,Layla.
I'm excited to chat.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Awesome.
Yeah, I'm excited to have you.
We're so excited to learn allabout you and your business, so
tell us a little bit about yourcompany.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
So Energy Fitness Studio is now, I think, like two
years old.
We have been just over twoyears old, have been in a actual
location like a brick andmortar location just outside of
the South Hills of Pittsburgh.
So we are considered Washington, but we're right off of 79.
And right by like Tinkeroutlets and stuff.
(01:05):
But so the reason why we gotinto the fitness industry was my
husband and I have been hugeholistic health advocates for
probably a decade now.
Yeah, I got certified when Iwas 21.
And I'm actually going to be 31this weekend, so it is a baby in
the making and we decided thatwe really just wanted to pursue
(01:29):
our dreams and passions and gofull head and full steam ahead
as a married couple, mom and dad, on a business called Energy
Fitness Studio.
So we offer multiple styles ofyoga, multiple styles of bar.
We now offer mat Pilates.
We offer kettlebell customtraining.
We also are personal trainersand health and wellness coaches
(01:51):
and holistic nutritionists.
I am, and at the gym we do iceplunges, we do mobile sauna
events I do.
I coach privately for holisticnutrition for people, different
levels of things they're lookingto receive inside their bodies
or maybe a disease that they'reexperiencing and how they can
cure that with food or herbalmedicine, and energy
(02:15):
encapsulates all of that.
So it is our baby that housesall of those things and all
those dreams in once.
Baby that houses all of thosethings and all those dreams in
once and we just really wantedto bring it to the community and
really wanted to bring what wefound healed us to other people.
And so energy was born and weare so excited to have it and be
(02:37):
able to have a space for it.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
That's amazing.
Well, first off, happy earlybirthday to you.
That's exciting.
That's amazing.
Well, first off, happy earlybirthday to you.
That's exciting.
So you have such a deepbackground in health and
wellness.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
What initially sparked your interest to get
into this business.
So that actually is a greatquestion.
A lot of people don't know,unless they ask me that.
So I've never had a backgroundin health and wellness actually
at all until I was about 20years old is when I started
getting into it.
And the reason why is myhusband and I got married pretty
early, but I found out I wasinfertile as a I don't know I
(03:21):
was probably like 12 and a halfbecause I didn't get my cycle.
And then I wasn't getting mycycle, so I just kept.
They kept like hoping, you know,like you would grow into it,
maybe she's a late bloomer, allthis stuff, and so then
eventually I did get my cycle,but I was much later in life and
then, well, teenagehood, andthen when I did, it was only
(03:45):
like once a year.
So I was regulating at all, Iwas not.
So they just marked out that Iwas not going to have children.
They were like, yeah,absolutely I don't.
I'm sorry, but she'd not growout of it, and they wanted to
prescribe a couple things.
But my mom really just had fullfaith that my body would figure
it out.
Now it did figure it out andgot four beautiful, healthy
children and had I had fourincredible pregnancies, carried
(04:09):
very well, you know like.
But that took like like whatI'm going to explain.
So, trenton also, when westarted dating that's my husband
and we really like three monthsinto dating and he told me
about he also probably couldn'thave children and the reason why
he couldn't have children wasbecause he was born with a
hernia and the hernia affected,um, his man parts down there, uh
(04:31):
, so to speak, where you knowthe sperm is um, because they
was undetected for like twoyears.
So he would, they didn't findout about and so he was like two
years old so they were like, oh, you, probably, you know low
chances.
So we were both bonded overthat and we were like, well, we
want a family and we eventuallywant to have children, maybe
we'll adopt or something alongthe lines.
I don't know.
We just really didn't thinkmuch about it until after we got
(04:54):
married and then we tried forlike two years, almost three
years, like absolutely nothing.
But we kind of knew that wasgoing to be something.
And so I remember being 21because we were actually getting
ready to go to Nashville and um, like, go have fun in Nashville
.
But I remember right thatOctober I was like went and saw
(05:15):
the OB and I was like, hey, whatcan I do?
Like you know, it's been awhile and I remember her looking
at me like I was crazy at thistime because I was so young.
So she's like, honey, you'vegot like the rest of your life
Like she didn't want to, youknow.
She's like calm down, I'm like,but it's been like three years
I'm not having kids and she'slike what I can do.
(05:35):
And I explained my whole storyand of course, they have charts
too that have logged this andshe was going to put me on
something to help regulate mycycle, things like that, because
I was still struggling thenwith cycle and horrible cramps
and like laid up in bed, likewhen I did get it.
And actually I don't know if Iknow a lot of this is related to
(05:56):
health and wellness on what youconsume.
But my sisters also strugglewith similar things.
So I think it could bedefinitely triggered by eating
habits in our genes, because mysisters do struggle with
different things with this.
But I decided not to fill thosescripts just because I guess I
decided not to.
(06:16):
I there was no real reason andthen I decided to clean up my
diet with what I thought to do,which at that time I thought
would be like raw cauliflowerand like hummus which is so
funny what we think at thebeginning because we're like, oh
, this is the best thing I know,and to stop drinking beer and
(06:37):
to maybe skip the appetizer,like that's just all I knew.
So I started there and cleanedup as much as I could and then
two months later I found out Iwas pregnant with our first
daughter, and that was insane.
I took a test.
I remember shaking, I remembercrying, I remember calling my
(06:59):
husband down the stairs becausewe just so didn't.
I mean, we were told like, likemost our lives, we weren't
going to have children and mostpeople find out as an adult if
they are infertile.
We found out, as you know,young, I mean children, really
like 12, um, and him like asmall, small child like his mom.
The doctor told him like a two,you know, like.
(07:20):
So it's.
It's pretty crazy, um, to liveyour life like that and then
just clean up basics.
So when I found out I waspregnant, I decided I want to
have the healthiest pregnancy Ican have, like, because if it
took me this long of time to getpregnant and then also we both
found out so young we wereinfertile.
I was like I just want to havea healthy baby.
(07:41):
So then I signed up for acourse as a holistic
nutritionist.
It took me like two years toget through it and at the time I
was a hairstylist.
So I would like be so pregnant,like doing hair all day and
then like I would do my courseat night.
But I was so committed tochanging the trajectory of our
life and I wanted to have morechildren after her.
(08:03):
So that's where it started wasour love for each other and
wanting to have a family.
And just like I don't know, tobe honest, god led because I
have zero background prior to 20years old in health and
wellness.
Like my mother and father aregreat and they raised us very
great, and then we always hadhome cooked meals and things
(08:24):
like that.
But it definitely wasn't likelike I survived on like toaster
strudels and my father's lunchcakes as a teenager.
Like it was not.
It was not a um thing.
It was not a thing like I wasdefinitely like a fast food
junkie as a teenager.
Like I worked at McDonald's forseveral years.
So it was um, but at the timewhen I got certified holistic
(08:46):
nutrition and I thought I waspregnant, I also decided to stop
with pop altogether and fastfood altogether.
I just was like, okay, it'sdone.
So I actually have not had popor fast food besides like a
Starbucks coffee which is like ablack coffee and like a decade.
So it's, it's really was Godled?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Oh that's amazing.
What an amazing story of hopeand I know so many women can
relate to that.
You know that story ofinfertility and just struggling
and, you know, trying to getyour health together and do all
that you can to make it happen.
And I think it's beautiful thatnow you've kind of made your
life purpose into helping peoplewho are maybe dealing with some
(09:34):
of those same struggles thatyou had overcame.
So I think that's so honorableand I love that you're doing
that now with your life and thatyou can help other people in
that same position.
So what are some myths or maybemisconceptions in the industry
that you overcome.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I think it's a very diverse question.
I did not find fitness in myjourney until like postpartum,
because I so desired to feellike myself and my skin again
and that that's like a wholething, right, like with women
with postpartum.
I've never dealt with severepostpartum like some women do
(10:23):
deal with.
I've dealt with like anxietyand, of course, identity issues
and things like that, which ishard.
But that's when I found fitness.
Was this just wanting to feelgood in my body again and feel
like alive and like myself, andso I found fitness that way.
But my husband, trenton, is anex minor league football player,
(10:45):
so he was always into fitnessbut I never was.
I was always like, yeah,whatever, I'll eat good, but I'm
not working out.
You can eat really well, butyou also need to move your body
(11:07):
for yourself, right?
Like just to feel goodenergetically, just to get the
fascia moving, just to geteverything and vice versa.
I think the other misconceptionthat you can have a okay-ish
diet and work out and be healthyit's just you're not going to
get the gains you want andyou're not going to see the
results you want and then you'regoing to be out of breath, feel
breath, feel like you're gonnapass out.
I've been there in thoseclasses and you're like what is
going on with my body?
(11:28):
Um, the body I feel like we'velearned through this is like I
go back to the temple all thetime, like I think a lot of
people use that as like tattoosand things like that.
I've really realized this isour place of worship and this is
where we meditate, this iswhere we find solidness with our
soul.
And so what really?
(11:48):
I feel like the roundabout,what that was was like how would
you treat your church right,like would you go into your
church just throwing trasheverywhere and consuming trash
and like I don't know, like onsocial media or different things
like that, but you would neverdo that in your church.
Why would you do that?
That inside your body?
And I think just the old schoolthought of that was tattoos and
(12:09):
things like that.
And I think a lot of us havechanged our mind on that.
But I now realize that theserving of yourself and whatever
you believe in happens here, soyou need to take care of it,
and when you take care of itfull heartedly, you can start to
see how both intertwine.
And I call it the soul, thethird, the soul.
(12:30):
Like because you can eat reallywell, you can eat organic, eat
grass fed and finish.
You know the whole.
Get up, you can work out allthe time, but if you also are
not in touch with who you are,then does any of it matter?
Like so there's like the threeaspects there.
You know what I mean.
Like I've been there too.
(12:51):
You're like you're eating theprime diet, you look great in
the mirror, you feel good,you're working out all the time,
but like when you get quietwith yourself, or like you avoid
yourself ever being quiet andyou just fill your schedule
because you just cannot handlethe unprocessed emotions you
have.
So at energy we do a lot of.
That's the name of energy isits own thing, but we do a lot
(13:15):
of different things.
Like we offer sound bowls atour gym.
We offer different types ofhealing through the gym.
Like the reason why we offerice plunges is for the soul's
healing process.
Same with sauna.
It's like, yeah, they're greatfor fitness benefits.
We can rattle off a million ofthem, but really what it's about
is the aura Really what it'sabout.
(13:38):
Is the aura really what it'sabout is detoxing the energy
body.
Is is like letting go of somebaggage.
Um, so that's like the wholeconcept of energy in its full
name, which I never even knew wewere really gonna open up.
Like I know you previouslybecause I owned that, uh, katie
Mays previously, which was aclothing bout and it was like
pop-up style online, and KatieMays came to a halt after I was
(14:01):
looking for a space for brickand mortar.
Nothing was coming through.
It was so hard and I was soagitated and so I had a dream
one night about a space.
And I remember waking up and Iwas like driving somewhere and I
was coming home and then I Iremembered that dream and I was
like so agitated because I hadbeen looking at spots for the
(14:24):
boutique for like felt likeyears and just nothing was
happening.
And, um, I was at a red lightand I was like like, okay, I, I
vividly, very vividly, is whatled me into spirituality, like
at the beginning, hearing in myhead, obviously, but like felt
(14:44):
like through my ears, if you gostraight and if you turn left,
like then you're accepting likea new path.
And I remember just feeling likethis feeling of like if you go
straight, you can't, you can'tkeep blaming me.
So like I turned left and Ilike remember cutting off some
cars and like turning left andbeing like pretty much like f
(15:06):
you in my head, just likebecause I was so agitated, like
when that stuff comes in and youfeel so repetitive and
redundant.
And so I turned left, I pulledup and there was a Howard Hannah
spot and I remember justlooking up to the sky and being
like Howard Hannah's alreadyhere, like why did you lead me
this direction?
And then I went further downand then I pulled in the front
(15:28):
and I remember just hearing,like this is it?
And it was an empty space andit was energy studio, energy
space, sweet 1060.
And I was.
I was like, okay, so what am Igonna put here?
Because, again, I didn't evenhave a vision of energy, I
didn't have a vision of a yogastudio.
I had no idea at this point.
I thought this was for myboutique.
So I'm like so blindsided ofGod's plan, so like I'm just
(15:50):
sitting there and I'm like, okay, cool, but you know, for the
boutique, like you know, kind ofjust poking at it, and I just
heard yoga studio and then I waslike, oh, that would be kind of
cool.
And um, then I was like, well,what would I call the yoga
studio?
And then I, immediately beforeI even finished the sentence,
heard energy.
(16:10):
And I was like, oh, that's acool name, I like it.
And I remember texting Trent.
I'm in the parking lot, I takea screen, a picture of the front
of the studio, the suite.
You know, there's nothing inthere, like nothing.
It's gravel floors, there's nowalls.
And I was like I said, hey,babe, what do you think about
opening a yoga studio?
(16:31):
He's like okay, cool when.
And studio?
He's like okay cool when it'swhen he texts back.
And he was so down.
Like he was so down and, like Isaid, it was just there was not
even a talk about this previousum at all and it was just a
really big part of our lives,but it was a hidden part of our
lives for so long.
So I and then energy was born.
(16:52):
Like when I came home thatnight I said, hey, I think I'm
gonna call him.
And he was like you haven't yet.
And I was like no, I haven't.
Like I thought this should betalked about more or something.
And so I called and got inthere next day and signed a
lease that day, like it was soon, and I'm telling you I tried
this with other things that feltlike they were just like nails
(17:15):
on a chalkboard or like draggingin mud and they just didn't
work, even as and this just likeflowed so well, almost scary.
You almost want to hit a breakwhen it flows that well, because
you're like whoa, like we're,we're like moving and right and
sometimes redirection.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
that is, you know, and I love your husband's like
unparalleled support for you.
That's amazing and you know,whenever you're trying and
trying and it's not what isreally intended for you,
sometimes it feels like you'rejust throwing darts at a target
and it's not hitting and it'sfrustrating.
But who are your targetcustomers?
(17:57):
How do you attract people toyour business that you want to
serve?
Speaker 3 (18:04):
So our original target and it's really funny you
use that analogy because thatis was our analogy the whole
first year.
We were open because we werelike had no background in this.
You know, looking it's reallywild, yeah, like I owned two
previous businesses, but itwasn't like this.
It was a completely differentindustry I have no real
(18:26):
background in having they alsoweren't brick and mortar?
Also completely different.
So we didn't know our targetmarket.
We knew we wanted to helpeveryone and anyone and we
thought that could be the best.
And yes, yes, that is the best,but it also isn't, at the same
time, trying to be everybody'sshoe.
So what you could do is likeoffer exactly who you are and
(18:47):
what you are and be very upfrontwith it.
And I also had a background inlike wanting to people, please,
absolutely everybody, andeverybody loved me, um, and so
that I could help everybody,because that's just really what
I want to do is help everyoneand be custom to them, to how I
can help them.
Um, but I realized quickly whenwe needed a target market, we
(19:08):
were just we literally have saida million times it feels like
we have this.
Yeah, just throwing darts,we're just blindly throwing
darts, and it's scary becauseyou lose a lot of money that way
, a lot of time that way andthen.
But you have to do it that wayto figure out.
At least we did what we wantedand I couldn't, wouldn't change
(19:31):
it now, but now we know what wewant and who we want to target.
We want to target everybody andI want everybody to feel
welcome to my space from allwalks, and so that's a huge
thing, for energy is like you'rea body, your soul, you're a
human being.
I'm here to help you if youaccept me, like I'm gonna accept
you, just like, if you acceptme, um, helping you.
(19:55):
But now our target market.
Yeah, like I want to help you,I don't care who you are.
I just want to help you, um, butour target market now is
definitely probably age range,uh, anywhere from like teens.
We work a lot with teens, uh,younger people in their 20s and
30s and 40s, but we also PTpeople that are older than that,
(20:18):
that need a little bit moretargeted, a little less high
intensity of a class, but stillwant to work on their health and
wellness.
Now, when it comes to myholistic nutrition programming,
I've only worked with women sofar I guess that's my calling
and women of all ages.
Recently I've had a lot ofmother-daughter duos, which is
really cool to work with becauseI think you get a
(20:40):
multi-generation.
So you're working with mama andthen she's on a different
nutrition plan, obviouslydifferent age, different wants,
different needs, and thendaughter, who's her right Like?
This is just like it almostfeels like some weird quantum
world thing when you're workingwith a mother and daughter
because they're like I don'tknow.
(21:01):
It's just so cool becauseyou're playing with their
genetics, their lineage, theirlines, so you're like getting to
see also their relationship.
But and then daughter, what herwants needs are which are
normally like daughters arenormally like to be really
active, maybe to work on herphysique, maybe something like
that or a dis-ease that she has.
Mama is usually prettydifferent, maybe menopausal,
(21:23):
post-menopausal, pre-menopausalso she's looking to feel alive
and energetically good insideher body in that time of life
too.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So it's fun yeah, yeah, I love how you target
market would be.
Sorry.
I love how you have a differentway of kind of addressing these
different kind of subsets ofpeople within your market.
You know, and it sounds likeyou offer really like a tailored
solution to every person thatwalks through your door, and I
(21:55):
think that seeing someone asenergy is like almost the best
way to see that.
You know, I think that thatmindset I mean, that can bring
about world peace right.
If everyone saw someone, notfor their culture or their skin
color, but just as a human and,you know, a source of energy and
(22:15):
someone that you can relate toin that way, I think that's,
that's beautiful.
And I think that you also havea lot to contribute to the
people that walk through yourdoor.
And I wanted to know, you know,have you ever thought about
doing your own podcast?
Because it seems like you havea lot to say and you're very
informative about the way thatyou're addressing people.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yeah, we do have a podcast.
Trenton is mostly the runner ofour podcast.
It's called the Energy FitnessStudio Podcast.
We are in the I don't know wetalk about renaming it all the
time to a different name, but westarted it.
People that would join energyto like hear us on their phone,
(23:01):
also for things that we knew, sothat they could just be
insightful on their own healthand wellness.
It's a free avenue and we couldjust spill our guts on there of
all the things we've learnedand just like tell people about
it because that's helped us.
But yeah, trenton mostly runsour podcast, the energy fitness
podcast.
I think we're, like I said, hemostly runs it.
He's more like hey, kate, comeon here and talk to me with this
(23:23):
guest.
So he schedules it out and doesall that, does the editing,
does that whole thing, the micsetup and everything.
But yeah, we're thinking aboutrenaming it.
I think we're at episodes like130 or something like that.
I'm not sure you'd have to goon there and follow us, I don't
know.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Awesome, yeah.
So what else outside of work doyou do for fun?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
We love to be active.
Obviously I love to do newthings and to create.
So I am really big on writingthing, coloring, drawing.
I love, you know like, doingdifferent things, experiencing
different things.
Different food.
I love to cook, make differentfoods, make them look pretty
smoothies.
(24:12):
We'd love to travel and try new.
Pretty much my hobby is try newthings and create yeah, I love
that.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I love that.
I love that you're a creator.
You can definitely tell whensomeone's more of a creator or
consumer, and I definitely getthat vibe from you.
So let's switch gears.
Can you describe maybe ahardship or life challenge that
you overcame and how it made youstronger within your business?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Absolutely.
We're still going through it alittle bit.
I think each point of ourbusiness is a new level, just
like parenthood.
I could relate to that a lot.
But our first year was anextreme struggle.
It was extreme.
Trenton left.
Like I said, we went in thisfull heartedly, so Trenton left.
Like I said, we went in thisfull-heartedly, so Trenton left
his day job.
I sold everything from myprevious business to own an open
(25:05):
energy.
We were full-hearted onlyhaving our income come from
energy the first six months andthis is a brand new baby
business and we have four kidsand a house and a mortgage,
things like that.
So this was really insane to do.
My mom tried to talk me out ofit.
My father tried to talk me outof it.
My father tried to talk me outof it, out of their blessings
and insights, and we struggledhard financially to do that.
(25:29):
And if it wasn't for, like youknow, to be completely honest,
just so if somebody else islistening to this and is in that
struggle we went from anextremely healthy three figure,
you know, year coming in fromboth of us, to like I don't know
(25:50):
, like two grand a month.
So it was like very hard.
But in that struggle we had tofind and ask for help.
We had to ask for help from,you know, my mom, maybe dropping
off groceries to make sure weate, and we were just like we're
eating beans and rice, like onthe dream of pushing this
forward If she dropped off someextra stuff for the kids or,
(26:13):
like you know, bought them likea new toy or something.
Because we really couldn't goanywhere, because we every
expense was, you know, for the,the business, and it was for our
home.
We really locked down on it andum really wanted to press it
forward.
During that time there was a lotof darkness in a way, like I.
I also found out during thattime, um, that I was pregnant
(26:34):
with our fourth child.
What a blessing.
But I remember calling my mom,bawling my eyes out because I
hadn't.
I had nothing.
You know, like I just opened abusiness.
This is like my dream this is.
It took a lot of finances to doit and we were so gung ho that
it was just gonna make a lot ofmoney off the beginning of the
bat.
Again, I'm so glad we werenaive because it helped us, but
(26:57):
it really was traumatic to bethat naive.
It helped us, but it really wastraumatic to be that naive.
So, um, I remember calling mymom, crying, because I was like
I don't know how I'm gonna feedthe baby, like I don't know.
Like you know, we're we'restruggling, um, and I ignored
everyone that told me not to letTrenton, you know, quit his job
, for me not to sell my business, you know to not.
(27:17):
But we were.
We were so committed to helpingpeople and to following the
route that God had planned forus that it was so unwavering, um
, during that time, and I justkept praying that you know, like
the, the finances would come,the ideas would come, the
(27:38):
resources would come, thepodcast, and that's why I'm so
big on offering free things likepodcasts and things like that,
even though it takes a littlebit of our time, so what?
But, like, those were the onlythings we could access that year
were free podcasts, free onlinelearning.
How can I get to the next level?
Like, how can I feed my family,how can I get out there, what
(27:58):
I'm doing to other people, sothat I can pay myself something
like I just want to serve, serve, serve, but I also need to live
.
So, like I, that first year isjust, that was something, that
was something to be thrown intothe fire like that.
But I thank God we were,because I am so humbled now to
(28:21):
see people.
When you mentioned seeing peopleas energy, I didn't see people
like that fully before Becausegrowing up we weren't
financially great.
Now my parents do phenomenal,but growing up we weren't.
So I forgot about that.
And Trent and I met meetingTrent, meeting Trent and stuff.
We've always been reallyfinancially well.
(28:44):
And so that year to struggle sohardcore, to be, like you know,
like your mom, droppinggroceries off I remember crying
so many times like God, what didI do?
Was this like a demon that sentme this dream?
Like, what did I do?
Like all these times, you know,to my family and blamed myself,
but it was just such a passionthat the light always came
(29:07):
through and every time there wasa purchase of a new membership
or a purchase of a new packageor we would literally like jump
up and down and start cryingbecause, like, you could go
grocery shopping, you could keepthe power on, you could pay
your mortgage, you could like,and you know.
So it was but so humblingBecause at the end of that year,
(29:29):
going through all that, I justsaw people as people.
We all have our thing and we'reall going through our own stuff
and I really just I care aboutthe stuff you're going through,
but I don't see you as thethings you're going through,
because that's not who you are.
You're not what you're goingthrough, you're like who you are
(29:51):
in your heart.
So and I see that and and if Ihad not gone through that, I
don't think I could see peoplelike that.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Well, and you're proof that you know God rewards
the faithful, and sometimes it'sin the valleys that he tells
you about your mountaintops tocome.
You know, and I just got chills, you know, thinking about that,
and you know I think that's soimportant that people hear that
and they really internalize thatwhenever you're going through a
(30:21):
tough time, you know.
So, katie, please tell ourlisteners one thing that they
should remember about EnergyStudio.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Oh, one thing you shouldn't remember about Energy
Studio, of anything else I'vetold you, would be to just trust
your dreams.
That's all, just trust, justknow, just trust your dreams,
that's all just trust, just know, just trust.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I love that, that's it how can our listeners learn
more about energy studio?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
so you can find out about energy.
We have an instagram and afacebook, obviously.
Um, we I think we have a tiktok, but we're not active on it.
And then the website it'senergy fitness studios with an s
at the endcom.
We do that because we plan onhaving future energies.
And then we also have our emailand you could reach out there.
(31:15):
You can reach at my phonenumbers on there.
Um, we are located in wash,washington pa.
I always call wash pa um andour trust is online.
Our booking system, absolutelyeverything you would want to
know about us is either oninstagram or on our website, so
you could check that out.
Um, our instagram is energyunderscore fitness underscore
studio and our logo is a big eand it's orange and blue.
(31:38):
That's our vibe um, to bringthe energy.
And yeah, we actually just wonthe world record too for the
most kettlebell swings in onehour.
So energy is the world recordholder in washington pa.
We just beat out italy.
We had a team of 12 people, 11that were women, my husband was
one and we swung 10% or more ofour body weight, for energy
(32:02):
fitness studio holds the worldrecord and we're getting ready
to be in the observer reporterand stuff, but it's really cool.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
That's amazing.
Well, katie, I reallyappreciate your time today and
having you as a guest on here,and we wish your business the
best moving forward.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnppittsburghcom.
That's gnppittsburghcom, orcall 412-561-9956.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Layla Carter.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a fitnessstudio?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Katie Sweet, with Energy FitnessStudio.
Katie, how's it going?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Good.
Thank you for having me on,Layla.
I'm excited to chat.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Awesome.
Yeah, I'm excited to have you.
We're so excited to learn allabout you and your business, so
tell us a little bit about yourcompany.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
So Energy Fitness Studio is now, I think, like two
years old.
We have been just over twoyears old, have been in a actual
location like a brick andmortar location just outside of
the South Hills of Pittsburgh.
So we are considered Washington, but we're right off of 79.
And right by like Tinkeroutlets and stuff.
(01:05):
But so the reason why we gotinto the fitness industry was my
husband and I have been hugeholistic health advocates for
probably a decade now.
Yeah, I got certified when Iwas 21.
And I'm actually going to be 31this weekend, so it is a baby in
the making and we decided thatwe really just wanted to pursue
(01:29):
our dreams and passions and gofull head and full steam ahead
as a married couple, mom and dad, on a business called Energy
Fitness Studio.
So we offer multiple styles ofyoga, multiple styles of bar.
We now offer mat Pilates.
We offer kettlebell customtraining.
We also are personal trainersand health and wellness coaches
(01:51):
and holistic nutritionists.
I am, and at the gym we do iceplunges, we do mobile sauna
events I do.
I coach privately for holisticnutrition for people, different
levels of things they're lookingto receive inside their bodies
or maybe a disease that they'reexperiencing and how they can
cure that with food or herbalmedicine, and energy
(02:15):
encapsulates all of that.
So it is our baby that housesall of those things and all
those dreams in once.
Baby that houses all of thosethings and all those dreams in
once and we just really wantedto bring it to the community and
really wanted to bring what wefound healed us to other people.
And so energy was born and weare so excited to have it and be
(02:37):
able to have a space for it.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
That's amazing.
Well, first off, happy earlybirthday to you.
That's exciting.
That's amazing.
Well, first off, happy earlybirthday to you.
That's exciting.
So you have such a deepbackground in health and
wellness.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
What initially sparked your interest to get
into this business.
So that actually is a greatquestion.
A lot of people don't know,unless they ask me that.
So I've never had a backgroundin health and wellness actually
at all until I was about 20years old is when I started
getting into it.
And the reason why is myhusband and I got married pretty
early, but I found out I wasinfertile as a I don't know I
(03:21):
was probably like 12 and a halfbecause I didn't get my cycle.
And then I wasn't getting mycycle, so I just kept.
They kept like hoping, you know,like you would grow into it,
maybe she's a late bloomer, allthis stuff, and so then
eventually I did get my cycle,but I was much later in life and
then, well, teenagehood, andthen when I did, it was only
(03:45):
like once a year.
So I was regulating at all, Iwas not.
So they just marked out that Iwas not going to have children.
They were like, yeah,absolutely I don't.
I'm sorry, but she'd not growout of it, and they wanted to
prescribe a couple things.
But my mom really just had fullfaith that my body would figure
it out.
Now it did figure it out andgot four beautiful, healthy
children and had I had fourincredible pregnancies, carried
(04:09):
very well, you know like.
But that took like like whatI'm going to explain.
So, trenton also, when westarted dating that's my husband
and we really like three monthsinto dating and he told me
about he also probably couldn'thave children and the reason why
he couldn't have children wasbecause he was born with a
hernia and the hernia affected,um, his man parts down there, uh
(04:31):
, so to speak, where you knowthe sperm is um, because they
was undetected for like twoyears.
So he would, they didn't findout about and so he was like two
years old so they were like, oh, you, probably, you know low
chances.
So we were both bonded overthat and we were like, well, we
want a family and we eventuallywant to have children, maybe
we'll adopt or something alongthe lines.
I don't know.
We just really didn't thinkmuch about it until after we got
(04:54):
married and then we tried forlike two years, almost three
years, like absolutely nothing.
But we kind of knew that wasgoing to be something.
And so I remember being 21because we were actually getting
ready to go to Nashville and um, like, go have fun in Nashville
.
But I remember right thatOctober I was like went and saw
(05:15):
the OB and I was like, hey, whatcan I do?
Like you know, it's been awhile and I remember her looking
at me like I was crazy at thistime because I was so young.
So she's like, honey, you'vegot like the rest of your life
Like she didn't want to, youknow.
She's like calm down, I'm like,but it's been like three years
I'm not having kids and she'slike what I can do.
(05:35):
And I explained my whole storyand of course, they have charts
too that have logged this andshe was going to put me on
something to help regulate mycycle, things like that, because
I was still struggling thenwith cycle and horrible cramps
and like laid up in bed, likewhen I did get it.
And actually I don't know if Iknow a lot of this is related to
(05:56):
health and wellness on what youconsume.
But my sisters also strugglewith similar things.
So I think it could bedefinitely triggered by eating
habits in our genes, because mysisters do struggle with
different things with this.
But I decided not to fill thosescripts just because I guess I
decided not to.
(06:16):
I there was no real reason andthen I decided to clean up my
diet with what I thought to do,which at that time I thought
would be like raw cauliflowerand like hummus which is so
funny what we think at thebeginning because we're like, oh
, this is the best thing I know,and to stop drinking beer and
(06:37):
to maybe skip the appetizer,like that's just all I knew.
So I started there and cleanedup as much as I could and then
two months later I found out Iwas pregnant with our first
daughter, and that was insane.
I took a test.
I remember shaking, I remembercrying, I remember calling my
(06:59):
husband down the stairs becausewe just so didn't.
I mean, we were told like, likemost our lives, we weren't
going to have children and mostpeople find out as an adult if
they are infertile.
We found out, as you know,young, I mean children, really
like 12, um, and him like asmall, small child like his mom.
The doctor told him like a two,you know, like.
(07:20):
So it's.
It's pretty crazy, um, to liveyour life like that and then
just clean up basics.
So when I found out I waspregnant, I decided I want to
have the healthiest pregnancy Ican have, like, because if it
took me this long of time to getpregnant and then also we both
found out so young we wereinfertile.
I was like I just want to havea healthy baby.
(07:41):
So then I signed up for acourse as a holistic
nutritionist.
It took me like two years toget through it and at the time I
was a hairstylist.
So I would like be so pregnant,like doing hair all day and
then like I would do my courseat night.
But I was so committed tochanging the trajectory of our
life and I wanted to have morechildren after her.
(08:03):
So that's where it started wasour love for each other and
wanting to have a family.
And just like I don't know, tobe honest, god led because I
have zero background prior to 20years old in health and
wellness.
Like my mother and father aregreat and they raised us very
great, and then we always hadhome cooked meals and things
(08:24):
like that.
But it definitely wasn't likelike I survived on like toaster
strudels and my father's lunchcakes as a teenager.
Like it was not.
It was not a um thing.
It was not a thing like I wasdefinitely like a fast food
junkie as a teenager.
Like I worked at McDonald's forseveral years.
So it was um, but at the timewhen I got certified holistic
(08:46):
nutrition and I thought I waspregnant, I also decided to stop
with pop altogether and fastfood altogether.
I just was like, okay, it'sdone.
So I actually have not had popor fast food besides like a
Starbucks coffee which is like ablack coffee and like a decade.
So it's, it's really was Godled?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Oh that's amazing.
What an amazing story of hopeand I know so many women can
relate to that.
You know that story ofinfertility and just struggling
and, you know, trying to getyour health together and do all
that you can to make it happen.
And I think it's beautiful thatnow you've kind of made your
life purpose into helping peoplewho are maybe dealing with some
(09:34):
of those same struggles thatyou had overcame.
So I think that's so honorableand I love that you're doing
that now with your life and thatyou can help other people in
that same position.
So what are some myths or maybemisconceptions in the industry
that you overcome.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I think it's a very diverse question.
I did not find fitness in myjourney until like postpartum,
because I so desired to feellike myself and my skin again
and that that's like a wholething, right, like with women
with postpartum.
I've never dealt with severepostpartum like some women do
(10:23):
deal with.
I've dealt with like anxietyand, of course, identity issues
and things like that, which ishard.
But that's when I found fitness.
Was this just wanting to feelgood in my body again and feel
like alive and like myself, andso I found fitness that way.
But my husband, trenton, is anex minor league football player,
(10:45):
so he was always into fitnessbut I never was.
I was always like, yeah,whatever, I'll eat good, but I'm
not working out.
You can eat really well, butyou also need to move your body
(11:07):
for yourself, right?
Like just to feel goodenergetically, just to get the
fascia moving, just to geteverything and vice versa.
I think the other misconceptionthat you can have a okay-ish
diet and work out and be healthyit's just you're not going to
get the gains you want andyou're not going to see the
results you want and then you'regoing to be out of breath, feel
breath, feel like you're gonnapass out.
I've been there in thoseclasses and you're like what is
going on with my body?
(11:28):
Um, the body I feel like we'velearned through this is like I
go back to the temple all thetime, like I think a lot of
people use that as like tattoosand things like that.
I've really realized this isour place of worship and this is
where we meditate, this iswhere we find solidness with our
soul.
And so what really?
(11:48):
I feel like the roundabout,what that was was like how would
you treat your church right,like would you go into your
church just throwing trasheverywhere and consuming trash
and like I don't know, like onsocial media or different things
like that, but you would neverdo that in your church.
Why would you do that?
That inside your body?
And I think just the old schoolthought of that was tattoos and
(12:09):
things like that.
And I think a lot of us havechanged our mind on that.
But I now realize that theserving of yourself and whatever
you believe in happens here, soyou need to take care of it,
and when you take care of itfull heartedly, you can start to
see how both intertwine.
And I call it the soul, thethird, the soul.
(12:30):
Like because you can eat reallywell, you can eat organic, eat
grass fed and finish.
You know the whole.
Get up, you can work out allthe time, but if you also are
not in touch with who you are,then does any of it matter?
Like so there's like the threeaspects there.
You know what I mean.
Like I've been there too.
(12:51):
You're like you're eating theprime diet, you look great in
the mirror, you feel good,you're working out all the time,
but like when you get quietwith yourself, or like you avoid
yourself ever being quiet andyou just fill your schedule
because you just cannot handlethe unprocessed emotions you
have.
So at energy we do a lot of.
That's the name of energy isits own thing, but we do a lot
(13:15):
of different things.
Like we offer sound bowls atour gym.
We offer different types ofhealing through the gym.
Like the reason why we offerice plunges is for the soul's
healing process.
Same with sauna.
It's like, yeah, they're greatfor fitness benefits.
We can rattle off a million ofthem, but really what it's about
is the aura Really what it'sabout.
(13:38):
Is the aura really what it'sabout is detoxing the energy
body.
Is is like letting go of somebaggage.
Um, so that's like the wholeconcept of energy in its full
name, which I never even knew wewere really gonna open up.
Like I know you previouslybecause I owned that, uh, katie
Mays previously, which was aclothing bout and it was like
pop-up style online, and KatieMays came to a halt after I was
(14:01):
looking for a space for brickand mortar.
Nothing was coming through.
It was so hard and I was soagitated and so I had a dream
one night about a space.
And I remember waking up and Iwas like driving somewhere and I
was coming home and then I Iremembered that dream and I was
like so agitated because I hadbeen looking at spots for the
(14:24):
boutique for like felt likeyears and just nothing was
happening.
And, um, I was at a red lightand I was like like, okay, I, I
vividly, very vividly, is whatled me into spirituality, like
at the beginning, hearing in myhead, obviously, but like felt
(14:44):
like through my ears, if you gostraight and if you turn left,
like then you're accepting likea new path.
And I remember just feeling likethis feeling of like if you go
straight, you can't, you can'tkeep blaming me.
So like I turned left and Ilike remember cutting off some
cars and like turning left andbeing like pretty much like f
(15:06):
you in my head, just likebecause I was so agitated, like
when that stuff comes in and youfeel so repetitive and
redundant.
And so I turned left, I pulledup and there was a Howard Hannah
spot and I remember justlooking up to the sky and being
like Howard Hannah's alreadyhere, like why did you lead me
this direction?
And then I went further downand then I pulled in the front
(15:28):
and I remember just hearing,like this is it?
And it was an empty space andit was energy studio, energy
space, sweet 1060.
And I was.
I was like, okay, so what am Igonna put here?
Because, again, I didn't evenhave a vision of energy, I
didn't have a vision of a yogastudio.
I had no idea at this point.
I thought this was for myboutique.
So I'm like so blindsided ofGod's plan, so like I'm just
(15:50):
sitting there and I'm like, okay, cool, but you know, for the
boutique, like you know, kind ofjust poking at it, and I just
heard yoga studio and then I waslike, oh, that would be kind of
cool.
And um, then I was like, well,what would I call the yoga
studio?
And then I, immediately beforeI even finished the sentence,
heard energy.
(16:10):
And I was like, oh, that's acool name, I like it.
And I remember texting Trent.
I'm in the parking lot, I takea screen, a picture of the front
of the studio, the suite.
You know, there's nothing inthere, like nothing.
It's gravel floors, there's nowalls.
And I was like I said, hey,babe, what do you think about
opening a yoga studio?
(16:31):
He's like okay, cool when.
And studio?
He's like okay cool when it'swhen he texts back.
And he was so down.
Like he was so down and, like Isaid, it was just there was not
even a talk about this previousum at all and it was just a
really big part of our lives,but it was a hidden part of our
lives for so long.
So I and then energy was born.
(16:52):
Like when I came home thatnight I said, hey, I think I'm
gonna call him.
And he was like you haven't yet.
And I was like no, I haven't.
Like I thought this should betalked about more or something.
And so I called and got inthere next day and signed a
lease that day, like it was soon, and I'm telling you I tried
this with other things that feltlike they were just like nails
(17:15):
on a chalkboard or like draggingin mud and they just didn't
work, even as and this just likeflowed so well, almost scary.
You almost want to hit a breakwhen it flows that well, because
you're like whoa, like we're,we're like moving and right and
sometimes redirection.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
that is, you know, and I love your husband's like
unparalleled support for you.
That's amazing and you know,whenever you're trying and
trying and it's not what isreally intended for you,
sometimes it feels like you'rejust throwing darts at a target
and it's not hitting and it'sfrustrating.
But who are your targetcustomers?
(17:57):
How do you attract people toyour business that you want to
serve?
Speaker 3 (18:04):
So our original target and it's really funny you
use that analogy because thatis was our analogy the whole
first year.
We were open because we werelike had no background in this.
You know, looking it's reallywild, yeah, like I owned two
previous businesses, but itwasn't like this.
It was a completely differentindustry I have no real
(18:26):
background in having they alsoweren't brick and mortar?
Also completely different.
So we didn't know our targetmarket.
We knew we wanted to helpeveryone and anyone and we
thought that could be the best.
And yes, yes, that is the best,but it also isn't, at the same
time, trying to be everybody'sshoe.
So what you could do is likeoffer exactly who you are and
(18:47):
what you are and be very upfrontwith it.
And I also had a background inlike wanting to people, please,
absolutely everybody, andeverybody loved me, um, and so
that I could help everybody,because that's just really what
I want to do is help everyoneand be custom to them, to how I
can help them.
Um, but I realized quickly whenwe needed a target market, we
(19:08):
were just we literally have saida million times it feels like
we have this.
Yeah, just throwing darts,we're just blindly throwing
darts, and it's scary becauseyou lose a lot of money that way
, a lot of time that way andthen.
But you have to do it that wayto figure out.
At least we did what we wantedand I couldn't, wouldn't change
(19:31):
it now, but now we know what wewant and who we want to target.
We want to target everybody andI want everybody to feel
welcome to my space from allwalks, and so that's a huge
thing, for energy is like you'rea body, your soul, you're a
human being.
I'm here to help you if youaccept me, like I'm gonna accept
you, just like, if you acceptme, um, helping you.
(19:55):
But now our target market.
Yeah, like I want to help you,I don't care who you are.
I just want to help you, um, butour target market now is
definitely probably age range,uh, anywhere from like teens.
We work a lot with teens, uh,younger people in their 20s and
30s and 40s, but we also PTpeople that are older than that,
(20:18):
that need a little bit moretargeted, a little less high
intensity of a class, but stillwant to work on their health and
wellness.
Now, when it comes to myholistic nutrition programming,
I've only worked with women sofar I guess that's my calling
and women of all ages.
Recently I've had a lot ofmother-daughter duos, which is
really cool to work with becauseI think you get a
(20:40):
multi-generation.
So you're working with mama andthen she's on a different
nutrition plan, obviouslydifferent age, different wants,
different needs, and thendaughter, who's her right Like?
This is just like it almostfeels like some weird quantum
world thing when you're workingwith a mother and daughter
because they're like I don'tknow.
(21:01):
It's just so cool becauseyou're playing with their
genetics, their lineage, theirlines, so you're like getting to
see also their relationship.
But and then daughter, what herwants needs are which are
normally like daughters arenormally like to be really
active, maybe to work on herphysique, maybe something like
that or a dis-ease that she has.
Mama is usually prettydifferent, maybe menopausal,
(21:23):
post-menopausal, pre-menopausalso she's looking to feel alive
and energetically good insideher body in that time of life
too.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So it's fun yeah, yeah, I love how you target
market would be.
Sorry.
I love how you have a differentway of kind of addressing these
different kind of subsets ofpeople within your market.
You know, and it sounds likeyou offer really like a tailored
solution to every person thatwalks through your door, and I
(21:55):
think that seeing someone asenergy is like almost the best
way to see that.
You know, I think that thatmindset I mean, that can bring
about world peace right.
If everyone saw someone, notfor their culture or their skin
color, but just as a human and,you know, a source of energy and
(22:15):
someone that you can relate toin that way, I think that's,
that's beautiful.
And I think that you also havea lot to contribute to the
people that walk through yourdoor.
And I wanted to know, you know,have you ever thought about
doing your own podcast?
Because it seems like you havea lot to say and you're very
informative about the way thatyou're addressing people.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yeah, we do have a podcast.
Trenton is mostly the runner ofour podcast.
It's called the Energy FitnessStudio Podcast.
We are in the I don't know wetalk about renaming it all the
time to a different name, but westarted it.
People that would join energyto like hear us on their phone,
(23:01):
also for things that we knew, sothat they could just be
insightful on their own healthand wellness.
It's a free avenue and we couldjust spill our guts on there of
all the things we've learnedand just like tell people about
it because that's helped us.
But yeah, trenton mostly runsour podcast, the energy fitness
podcast.
I think we're, like I said, hemostly runs it.
He's more like hey, kate, comeon here and talk to me with this
(23:23):
guest.
So he schedules it out and doesall that, does the editing,
does that whole thing, the micsetup and everything.
But yeah, we're thinking aboutrenaming it.
I think we're at episodes like130 or something like that.
I'm not sure you'd have to goon there and follow us, I don't
know.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Awesome, yeah.
So what else outside of work doyou do for fun?
Speaker 3 (23:51):
We love to be active.
Obviously I love to do newthings and to create.
So I am really big on writingthing, coloring, drawing.
I love, you know like, doingdifferent things, experiencing
different things.
Different food.
I love to cook, make differentfoods, make them look pretty
smoothies.
(24:12):
We'd love to travel and try new.
Pretty much my hobby is try newthings and create yeah, I love
that.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I love that.
I love that you're a creator.
You can definitely tell whensomeone's more of a creator or
consumer, and I definitely getthat vibe from you.
So let's switch gears.
Can you describe maybe ahardship or life challenge that
you overcame and how it made youstronger within your business?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Absolutely.
We're still going through it alittle bit.
I think each point of ourbusiness is a new level, just
like parenthood.
I could relate to that a lot.
But our first year was anextreme struggle.
It was extreme.
Trenton left.
Like I said, we went in thisfull heartedly, so Trenton left.
Like I said, we went in thisfull-heartedly, so Trenton left
his day job.
I sold everything from myprevious business to own an open
(25:05):
energy.
We were full-hearted onlyhaving our income come from
energy the first six months andthis is a brand new baby
business and we have four kidsand a house and a mortgage,
things like that.
So this was really insane to do.
My mom tried to talk me out ofit.
My father tried to talk me outof it.
My father tried to talk me outof it, out of their blessings
and insights, and we struggledhard financially to do that.
(25:29):
And if it wasn't for, like youknow, to be completely honest,
just so if somebody else islistening to this and is in that
struggle we went from anextremely healthy three figure,
you know, year coming in fromboth of us, to like I don't know
(25:50):
, like two grand a month.
So it was like very hard.
But in that struggle we had tofind and ask for help.
We had to ask for help from,you know, my mom, maybe dropping
off groceries to make sure weate, and we were just like we're
eating beans and rice, like onthe dream of pushing this
forward If she dropped off someextra stuff for the kids or,
(26:13):
like you know, bought them likea new toy or something.
Because we really couldn't goanywhere, because we every
expense was, you know, for the,the business, and it was for our
home.
We really locked down on it andum really wanted to press it
forward.
During that time there was a lotof darkness in a way, like I.
I also found out during thattime, um, that I was pregnant
(26:34):
with our fourth child.
What a blessing.
But I remember calling my mom,bawling my eyes out because I
hadn't.
I had nothing.
You know, like I just opened abusiness.
This is like my dream this is.
It took a lot of finances to doit and we were so gung ho that
it was just gonna make a lot ofmoney off the beginning of the
bat.
Again, I'm so glad we werenaive because it helped us, but
(26:57):
it really was traumatic to bethat naive.
It helped us, but it really wastraumatic to be that naive.
So, um, I remember calling mymom, crying, because I was like
I don't know how I'm gonna feedthe baby, like I don't know.
Like you know, we're we'restruggling, um, and I ignored
everyone that told me not to letTrenton, you know, quit his job
, for me not to sell my business, you know to not.
(27:17):
But we were.
We were so committed to helpingpeople and to following the
route that God had planned forus that it was so unwavering, um
, during that time, and I justkept praying that you know, like
the, the finances would come,the ideas would come, the
(27:38):
resources would come, thepodcast, and that's why I'm so
big on offering free things likepodcasts and things like that,
even though it takes a littlebit of our time, so what?
But, like, those were the onlythings we could access that year
were free podcasts, free onlinelearning.
How can I get to the next level?
Like, how can I feed my family,how can I get out there, what
(27:58):
I'm doing to other people, sothat I can pay myself something
like I just want to serve, serve, serve, but I also need to live
.
So, like I, that first year isjust, that was something, that
was something to be thrown intothe fire like that.
But I thank God we were,because I am so humbled now to
(28:21):
see people.
When you mentioned seeing peopleas energy, I didn't see people
like that fully before Becausegrowing up we weren't
financially great.
Now my parents do phenomenal,but growing up we weren't.
So I forgot about that.
And Trent and I met meetingTrent, meeting Trent and stuff.
We've always been reallyfinancially well.
(28:44):
And so that year to struggle sohardcore, to be, like you know,
like your mom, droppinggroceries off I remember crying
so many times like God, what didI do?
Was this like a demon that sentme this dream?
Like, what did I do?
Like all these times, you know,to my family and blamed myself,
but it was just such a passionthat the light always came
(29:07):
through and every time there wasa purchase of a new membership
or a purchase of a new packageor we would literally like jump
up and down and start cryingbecause, like, you could go
grocery shopping, you could keepthe power on, you could pay
your mortgage, you could like,and you know.
So it was but so humblingBecause at the end of that year,
(29:29):
going through all that, I justsaw people as people.
We all have our thing and we'reall going through our own stuff
and I really just I care aboutthe stuff you're going through,
but I don't see you as thethings you're going through,
because that's not who you are.
You're not what you're goingthrough, you're like who you are
(29:51):
in your heart.
So and I see that and and if Ihad not gone through that, I
don't think I could see peoplelike that.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Well, and you're proof that you know God rewards
the faithful, and sometimes it'sin the valleys that he tells
you about your mountaintops tocome.
You know, and I just got chills, you know, thinking about that,
and you know I think that's soimportant that people hear that
and they really internalize thatwhenever you're going through a
(30:21):
tough time, you know.
So, katie, please tell ourlisteners one thing that they
should remember about EnergyStudio.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Oh, one thing you shouldn't remember about Energy
Studio, of anything else I'vetold you, would be to just trust
your dreams.
That's all, just trust, justknow, just trust your dreams,
that's all just trust, just know, just trust.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I love that, that's it how can our listeners learn
more about energy studio?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
so you can find out about energy.
We have an instagram and afacebook, obviously.
Um, we I think we have a tiktok, but we're not active on it.
And then the website it'senergy fitness studios with an s
at the endcom.
We do that because we plan onhaving future energies.
And then we also have our emailand you could reach out there.
(31:15):
You can reach at my phonenumbers on there.
Um, we are located in wash,washington pa.
I always call wash pa um andour trust is online.
Our booking system, absolutelyeverything you would want to
know about us is either oninstagram or on our website, so
you could check that out.
Um, our instagram is energyunderscore fitness underscore
studio and our logo is a big eand it's orange and blue.
(31:38):
That's our vibe um, to bringthe energy.
And yeah, we actually just wonthe world record too for the
most kettlebell swings in onehour.
So energy is the world recordholder in washington pa.
We just beat out italy.
We had a team of 12 people, 11that were women, my husband was
one and we swung 10% or more ofour body weight, for energy
(32:02):
fitness studio holds the worldrecord and we're getting ready
to be in the observer reporterand stuff, but it's really cool.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
That's amazing.
Well, katie, I reallyappreciate your time today and
having you as a guest on here,and we wish your business the
best moving forward.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnppittsburghcom.
That's gnppittsburghcom, orcall 412-561-9956.
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