Resources:
Sarah Rigg's Feature Article: Youth theatre, fitness studio fill former Michigan Works! building in Ypsi
The Mix Fitness Studios on Facebook
The Mix Fitness Studios on Instagram
Transcription:
Rylee Barnsdale: You're listening to 89 one WEMU. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. After moving into the new Washtenaw American Job Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan Works! Southeast's former building at 332 Harriet Street in Ypsi was left mostly vacant for several months. The building is the home of the Ypsi-based theater company, Professional Youth Theater of Michigan, and a second location for Depot Town's The Mix Fitness Studio. Sarah Kreiner, founder and owner of The Mix is here with me today to talk about the new location and what the new space may allow the studio to do in the future. Hi, Sarah! Thanks for being here!
Sarah Kreiner: Hi, Rylee! Thank you!
Rylee Barnsdale: So, I'd love to start with just the basics with you here. What is The Mix? What is setting you guys apart from a place like a gym with a monthly membership? What's so special about The Mix?
Sarah Kreiner: So, at The Mix, we really want there to be a variety of fun ways to workout. So, and in my mind, when we started The Mix, I think some people get in their head a workout has to be a specific thing, but there's so many ways to move your body and finding what feels good to you is one of the best things. And we are different than like a regular monthly membership gym or somewhere where you go in and you do the free weights or the machines on your own, because we really want you to feel like you're a member of the community. You're in the group. We also really want you to come. So, I think a big joke that that my husband and I have is a lot of those gyms, you pay your membership fees, but you don't ever come because you're either not enjoying it or you don't know what to do.
Rylee Barnsdale: Right.
Sarah Kreiner: We want to help you figure out what's your perfect mix. And I think that's really big to have someone who's kind of got your back, someone who's helping hold you accountable because everything is pulling us away usually from doing our workouts. But we want to help reel you back in, find the things that are fun, find the things that work with your schedule, and so on.
Rylee Barnsdale: Before opening up this second location on Harriet Street, what were the kinds of services that The Mix was offering that kind of followed that philosophy?
Sarah Kreiner: Yeah, we have strength training classes. We have yoga classes. We have dance classes. One of my favorites is our trampoline classes. You might have heard it called rebounding, but it's mini-trampolines and it's really good, low-impact cardio. And it's it's great for all different levels. We have a variety of different classes, and we like to mix those with some other things. So, a lot of times you'll see like a bounce in Pilates class or a bounce in strength training class. You're kind of getting the heart rate up, but also getting some of the strength training--the strength building--benefits from the other types.
Rylee Barnsdale: And now that this new location is open, you had this grand opening back in June. What has been "mixed up," so to speak, at The Mix since that opening.
Sarah Kreiner: So, on Harriet Street, we really just expanded being able to have more times offered because, kind of like back to what I said before, about life is busy. Everything is pulling us away. So, one thing is finding a time that's convenient. So, we've been able to add a lot more times, specifically for our strength training classes, which have been our most popular classes. So, more times, we can fit a few more people in. And we've also added massage, which is something that we haven't offered before. So now, we have two massage therapists that work out of the Harriet Street location. And our members have been loving it--it's really convenient. You can schedule it after a class or after a personal training session and kind of get that recovery piece.
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, talking with founder of Ypsi's The Mix Fitness Studio, Sarah Kreiner. Sarah, what leads someone to putting all of their passions into a fitness studio, like the Mix? You know, is fitness something that has always been of great interest to you?
Sarah Kreiner: No. Honestly, it wasn't. I was never in sports as a kid. I was very uncoordinated. And I tried out for teams, actually, and didn't make them, so I really lost my interest in it. I started smoking, drinking, things like that. And when I quit smoking, I started running. And running was something I really didn't ever think I was going to do. But through running and building up to running a marathon. I actually signed up for a marathon as a motivator to stay off cigarettes to keep myself from smoking. I started learning more about my body, and it led to a passion I had no idea that I had. So, I was really interested. And why was I feeling so terrible? Why was I feeling so good? What kind of nutrition things could I do to make me feel better? What was going on with recovery? How could I strength train to make me feel better? And I realized that I didn't know how bad I felt until I felt much better. And I think that's kind of a big thing. From there, I decided, "Well, I want to help other people realize this and help them realize that they can do it." And then, I started personal training, and it was going really well. And honestly, through that and through The Mix, I've talked to so many people who have had a similar experience. They didn't know that it could feel so good. They didn't know that they were maybe doing things in a way that wasn't safe for their body or just wasn't a good match. And the benefits and the praise that we get has really motivated me to keep going, because I do think that, just like I'm not going to fix my car, I have no idea what to do with a car. I just want to drop it off and kind of let it be done. You can't drop off your body unfortunately.
Rylee Barnsdale: Unfortunately, yeah.
Sarah Kreiner: But you can come to us, and we can kind of help you figure out what works for you. Because I think, sometimes, we try things, and they don't work. But at The Mix, we have enough of a variety that we can usually find a good routine for just about anybody.
Rylee Barnsdale: Speaking from my personal experience, getting into the routine can be pretty challenging. There's a lot of different moving parts to figuring out what works for you. Can you share any other of those challenges that you hope to tackle and remove from the fitness journey process with The Mix?
Sarah Kreiner: Yeah, I think a lot of people are looking for something that's fun. And I think that a big piece is sometimes things like, for example, for some people, strength training is not fun, right? It's hard. It's not exciting. But doing it with a group of people, with music, with a fun instructor, that kind of helps bring the fun factor to it. You know, for some people, running is not fun for them, but they know that they need to be working on their cardiovascular fitness. And so, we offer things like dance and mini trampolines, so that you can get your heart rate up. You can work on your your heart health, your lung health, your endurance, your stamina, but in a way that's more fun. I think another one is that people will tell me a lot, "I've been doing these videos on YouTube," or "I've been going toto the gym and using the machines and the weights, but it doesn't feel good." Maybe I'm not seeing any progress. And I think having someone who we think we spend a lot of time on programming for our strength training classes, and we have a lot of knowledge on helping people who may need variations that they're not being offered when they're either by themselves or they're just following along with a recorded video. So, I think doing it in a safe way, because someone's there to say, "Oh, this doesn't feel good," or "Your form doesn't look exactly right, do X, Y, and Z." And seeing that client or seeing that person be like, "Oh wow! This feels so much better!" Variations are a good thing. That kind of stuff is really important.
Rylee Barnsdale: So, you are not just the founder/owner. You are also one of several trainers that The Mix has. Was that always part of your vision when you opened up the business, or did that kind of just come naturally with wanting to help people?
Sarah Kreiner: [00:07:30] I think it came naturally. I love teaching. I love being with people. I love working out. So, sitting still is not something that I can do for very long. So, I need to be moving. I definitely have decreased my load, as far as classes and personal training clients because of how much I need to be hands on the other side of things being the business owner. Honestly, my vision has kind of been coming piece by piece. So, I can't say that, like, in 2016 when we opened, I had this really clear vision of where we're at today because I knew I wanted to keep helping people, but it's kind of been one of those things where we've been, like, "We're really successful here. Let's keep going. This is really working, and I'm happy. Let's take the next step!" My husband will say I should do even less of the training side, but I feel like I always want to have some sort of a hand in it.
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm talking with Sarah Kreiner, owner of Ypsi's The Mix Fitness Studio. Was there anything else about the Harriet Street location specifically that was particularly exciting for you when you were looking to expand?
Sarah Kreiner: So, we've learned a lot about how to set up the space, doing it a couple times now because our first studio was in Ann Arbor. And then, we opened the place at Cross Street. So, I think redesigning has been huge. So, we totally redesigned the group fitness room at Harriet Street based on what we've seen work and not work. So, that's been really fun to see. It makes a better environment for the instructors. It makes a better environment for the people in class because they can face towards each other. And there's more interaction between clients, which is really fun. We also have a bigger space for our personal training clients, which has been really great to have just a little bit more room or maybe add some other equipment or just more space for freedom. And the Harriet Street location was really great because of the huge parking lot. That's really nice to have parking and not have anybody have to worry about street parking and its proximity to 94, which has brought some people who are doing online classes with us are now coming in person just because it's a little bit closer and more convenient. But I also think we've seen some some new people who didn't think about coming because they either hadn't seen us or just thought it was a little bit too far. So, I think the location is huge as well. I guess one other thing is that Beal Properties actually was really helpful in designing the space. So, we have showers now. So, there was a lot of places that we looked at where the landlord or the owner wasn't interested in helping us. And we don't have a whole ton of money to invest. So, the fact that Beal was able to help us so much with the buildout was a really big piece. So great it looks!
Rylee Barnsdale: And definitely connecting more with the Ypsi community as well as the Ypsi business community with Beal.
Sarah Kreiner: Yeah.
Rylee Barnsdale: It sounds like there's a lot more connections being made, which is, I mean, a great thing when you're talking about fitness.
Sarah Kreiner: Oh yeah! For sure!
Rylee Barnsdale: Well, Sarah, thank you so much for being here today! It is very exciting to see this all come together!
Sarah Kreiner: Yeah! Thank you, Rylee! I really appreciate it!
Rylee Barnsdale: For more information on today's topic and links to the full article, visit our website at wemu.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM, Ypsilanti.
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