Georgia's Genesis Fitness promises new beginning

By JACQUELINE CAIN | Staff Writer
jackie@miltonindependent.com

Julie Quintin is two weeks from realizing her dream.

“It was my goal when we started this to own a business by my 30th birthday,” the 29-year-old said.

Her gym, Genesis Fitness, is expected to open on June 3, and she’ll blow out 30 candles on June 15.

Quintin and her husband, Craig, co-own the fitness center, which will occupy one-third of the former Buyer’s Digest building on Yankee Park Road in Georgia.

Last Friday, crews installed the doors and windows – “which is nice, because we’ll get to see what natural light makes it in,” Quintin said – and will complete the flooring, trim work and bathrooms this week, she said.

The Quintins started searching for a space to house their dream last fall and signed a lease with Montpelier-based Malone Properties for the building in April.

Finding the 3,600-square foot space in her hometown was one element of a “meant-to-be kind of thing,” Quintin said. Through Essex Technical Center, Quintin completed a vocational nursing program during high school. She went to college for physical therapy but dropped out for financial reasons, she said.

That led Quintin to a position managing the now-closed C B Fitness on Main Street in Burlington, the best job she’s had, she said.

“I loved meeting everybody, and I kind of took on writing the handbook,” she said, which introduced her to the business side of running a gym.

After leaving C B, Quintin began work on her personal trainer certification – just for fun – studying for almost a year before the 100-page exam that took two and a half weeks to complete.

“I secretly thought I could skim through it and I would know most of it,” Quintin said, “but it was very technical.”

The exam required Quintin to describe how she’d instruct people on fitness, and she used her family members as trial subjects.

It paid off for both parties: Quintin’s mother and husband both lost 40 pounds, and her brother lost 60. Their results encouraged her and gave her practice for owning Genesis Fitness when training family and friends at home became too exhausting,
she said.

“I had a lot of people saying, ‘It would be great if there were a gym in Georgia; we could meet there,’” Quintin said.

She thought it would be great, too, and – again, just for fun – she looked into getting a business loan.

Though she and Craig have worked hard and spent heartily to get the space, Quintin said it was easier than she expected, especially since Georgia had a limited number of spaces for a gym.

She felt like it was a sign: “Here’s exactly where you should be, and it’s in your price rage,” Quintin said.

Though Georgia’s neighbors, St. Albans and Milton, both have fitness centers, Genesis Fitness could be more convenient for some residents and commuters, Quintin said. She said Genesis Fitness will cater to an older crowd that might be intimidated by bigger gyms frequented by younger athletes.

“When you’re over 40, it’s important to do strength-training to build muscle mass and prevent osteoporosis, and lots of later-life diseases can kick in,” she said.

Genesis will provide not only the equipment but also the knowledge: Each membership comes with access to a one-on-one personal trainer, and the gym will host health-related seminars, open to the public, Quintin said.

“We want to do more than just say, ‘give us your money, get on the equipment.’ We want to teach people how to use the equipment, the importance of doing strength- training and cardio, and beyond that, dietary changes and how to improve
overall health,” she said.

The former Buyers’ Digest building is great for another reason, too: potential
expansion. If things go well, Quintin hopes to add a fitness studio, making more room for exercise classes, she said.

Quintin’s optimism for Genesis Fitness is infectious. Even the gym’s name exudes it.

“It means ‘the beginning.’ That’s appropriate. I want people to feel like they’re starting over,” she said. “A lot of people have tried this kind of thing before, but they didn’t stick with it. I want them to know this is a new beginning. It’s different, and we’re going to do it.”

Genesis Fitness will open at 57 Yankee Park Rd. in Georgia on June 3. In the meantime, find Genesis Fitness on Facebook.