How this entrepreneur created a safe haven for the gym-shy
Photos courtesy of BC Fitness
By QUINN WARD
Ward Media Staff Reporter
BC Fitness Studio in Silverdale offers an alternative to traditional gyms. For gym owner and founder, Brett Clark, his top priority is that his clients feel comfortable and safe.
The private strength training and coaching facility is designed to protect the privacy of clients. Sessions are by appointment only, the outside facing windows are tinted and the outside door stays locked during sessions to prevent onlookers.
In BC Fitness, Clark has created a safe space for individuals who might find the regular gym scene too intimidating to stick with their fitness goals.
Clark and co-operator Lydia Estrada have worked hard to create and maintain a fitness facility that is an exclusive space with an inclusive atmosphere.
Clark and Estrada work with a diverse clientele, ranging from beginners embarking on their fitness journey to individuals returning to exercise, as well as pre- and post-operative orthopedic patients and amputees. Estrada specializes in post-stroke rehabilitation, helping clients rebuild neuromuscular pathways and improve neuroplasticity for greater mobility and independence.
“So we get to do some really, really cool stuff,” he said.
Many of their clients do not want to go to a traditional gym because they do not want to feel judged.
“So that’s what really sets us apart from the gym is that we get to work with a unique group of people that traditionally don’t want to join the gym atmosphere,” he said.
“It really kind of centers around our clients and really the amazing people that they are, and they come here and they feel a certain way,” he said. “You know, they feel like they let themselves go. They feel maybe they’re a broken version of themselves.”
“But I think one of the things that makes it really unique is that when they sit down with Lydia and I, they realize that we’re real people too, and we’re on real journeys, and that we both struggle,” he said. “She and I both struggle with obesity. We both struggle with an eating disorder each.”
“And so they really find that place where they realize that they’re in an environment where people understand them,” he said. “I think that’s really the most important part, is that the bond that we have with our clients is absolutely tremendous. And so we have phenomenal client retention.”
Clark and Estrada work to help their clients gain the attitude and skills to be successful in a traditional gym atmosphere and to create sustainable fitness habits for their clients.
“Everything that we do is all about sustainability, and how can clients sustain that? Because we believe that muscle is the longevity organ,” he said. “We believe that what propels people to be healthy for their lifetime is strength and resistance training, and so that’s what we do here.”
From the emotional side of what they do, Clark and Estrada love to see people gain confidence through their workouts.
Clark especially enjoys the moment he sees clients realize that they can do hard things and are so much more powerful than they previously gave themselves credit for.
“That’s what excites Lydia and I, because we can see that turn on in you, where you fall in love with what it is that you’re doing,” he said. “Strength Training has this tangibility that you can’t get from some of these other modalities, like cardio. Strength training is just your ability to do something complex and be successful at it.”
From the personal trainer side Clark and Estrada love that they can help people with their lifestyle related illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure.
“We can help people get better without medications,” he said.
The concept for a different approach to fitness began with Clark’s own fitness struggles 18 years ago.
“I was 30 years old and I was obese, and I didn’t really know what I was going to do, right? And when you say, I want to get fit, that’s the easiest decision you’re going to make, because everything after that is hard, where are you going to do it? How are you going to do it? You know, am I going to do things correctly,” he said.
After multiple failed attempts to get fit in a gym, Clark decided to become a personal trainer. Not because he thought he would train others, but because knowledge is power and he could then train himself, he reasoned.
“Anyway, I fell in love with fitness,” he said. “I fell in love with getting fit. My fitness journey wasn’t linear, it looked like an EKG, just like all of us, right? But the whole time, I thought, gyms don’t have it right,” he said. “They’re not building environments where people want to work out, especially people like me, who are obese.”
At the time, Clark thought that if he ever had the opportunity to create a gym, it wouldn’t be a gym, it would be a private fitness facility where people could focus on the things that are important to them and have one-on-one time with their trainer. To him that is the most important part, creating an atmosphere where people feel comfortable.
When he was studying to be a personal trainer, one of the things he wanted to understand was why people go to the gym for three weeks and then you never see them again.
“That’s what I really, really wanted to understand, and that’s how I developed the ethos that gyms have it wrong,” he said.
In 2020 gyms were shut down because of the pandemic and Clark saw an opening.
“I thought, I have an opportunity, I can actually open up a private fitness facility and adhere to the COVID standards by keeping people on a one-on-one basis, having the distance that they need to have, and in essence, be able to operate a fitness facility,” he said.
So in March 2021, Clark started BC Fitness Studio essentially as a way to test his theory and learn.
“And what I learned was that I was correct,” he said. “There’s a subset of people that want that private atmosphere.”
Clark had worked in retail management for years but felt like it was time to make a change.
“I was sort of at that halfway point in my life, at 45 years old, and I thought, entrepreneurship has always been this, I wouldn’t say passion, but it was always this curiosity that I had, what would it be like to be an entrepreneur? And I kind of felt like if I didn’t go then I probably wouldn’t go at all,” he said.
“And so that was kind of my leaping off point when I said, you know, I’m 45, I’ve had 25 years in retail management, If I’m going to do something, then you do it now,” he said.
Clark also founded Tech Fit Studios, a data-driven fitness program. There are two Tech Fit Studios at BC Fitness that offer a digital wall-mounted console that combines strength training with digital tracking.
Initially it was aimed at busy professionals and younger individuals. However, the concept proved effective for a wider audience.
One of its standout success stories is a 65 year-old client who had been on and off fitness journeys his entire life, typically lasting about three weeks on any program. However, after joining Tech Fit Studios, he found motivation through its data-driven approach.
The client is not outwardly competitive but inwardly competitive and has thrived on tracking his progress digitally. Now the client has a 67 week streak of working out.
“So the guy that gives up on himself every three weeks, twice a week, he comes in here for 67 straight weeks, and he exercises,” Clark said. “So he loves that aspect of data.”
Over 67 consecutive weeks, he has completed 147 workouts, lifted 1.7 million pounds, and increased his upper body strength by 494%.
“People love the gamification aspect of it,” Clark said. “They love to see their results.”
Another branch of BC Fitness is Kitsap Golf and Performance, which uses analytical data to improve golf swing mechanics and build strength and endurance to play the sport longer.
“So what we do is we work with, again, analytical data to help people improve their golf swings, not in the way of, like putting and chipping, but really getting good swing mechanics to hit the ball farther, but also to play longer, because you’re working people’s bodies better,” he said.
Plans for the future include adding POP Pilates, a meal service in partnership with Spiva Cooking and a possible second location in North Kitsap.
“We’re really excited about expanding,” he said. “We have a large pull from the north side of our community, and we would be really well served if we were able to expand up into the north end of the community of Poulsbo or Bainbridge Island.”
One of Clark’s goals for BC Fitness is to provide resources for all things health and wellness. At least once a month the business hosts free Wednesday Wellness events with an expert presenter for the topic that day. Some of the popular sessions have been about menopause, healthy cooking, and acupuncture.
“So for us, it’s not only about building our community through health and wellness, but also building community members as well and drawing attention to the great work they’re doing,” he said. “And hopefully people appreciate that and then patronize their businesses as well.”
For more information, visit bcfitstudio.com.
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