A Mission to Change Lives

Morningside resident Stephanie Commings is on a mission to empower women to feel good about themselves inside and out.

Commings, owner of on N. Highland Avenue in Morningside, decided to open the women’s only fitness center last year after a tough battle with depression and stress from family issues.

“I took comfort in other things — food, not exercise… I just got in a rut,” Commings said.

The gym, which focuses on individual training needs of the clients and also offers Pilates reformer, officially opened in January and has more than 20 clients to date.

After a month-long trip to Hilton Head Health Institute in South Carolina where she was able to begin the healing process and starting feeling like the strong woman she knew herself as, she decided to open a fitness center in her neighborhood to help other women feel good about themselves.

She got the idea from a friend she met on the trip, but created her own company geared toward creating a private atmosphere for personal training and Pilates where women can feel comfortable.

“I want to help people change their lives,” she said. “I hope this will change mine.”

Commings hired Adrienne Hixon, certified personal trainer, to run the fitness center, train the clients and keep the environment positive.

She works one-on-one with the clients, pushes them to work hard and talks them through their workout.

“I like just spilling my knowledge on people, “ Hixon, 29, said. “I love what I do and helping out all the women I can.”

Jordan Chadwell, a Virginia-Highland resident that joined One Woman’s Fitness earlier this month, said she enjoys the “small, clean, new and friendly” atmosphere of the gym.

Chadwell, 31, owns Meringue Boutique, a boutique across the street.

She said she has joined gyms before, but never seemed to use them.

“I thought this would make me come because someone is waiting for me to get here,” Chadwell said. “It’s not a big huge gym where you’re overwhelmed and intimidated.”

Commings said the clients range in age and athletic ability, and most women enjoy the private, positive nature of the fitness studio. She said running the business has been rewarding thus far and she is enjoying meeting so many incredible women.

As more people sign up, she’s decided to cap the number of members at 100 to keep the personal nature of the studio.

“I want to know everybody’s name that comes in here,” she said.

For more information about One Woman’s Fitness, visit their website.