Nearly 20 people attended the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for JennEm Fitness on Saturday, January 11, 2025.
Previously known as Small Town Fitness Studio, Brantford residents Jenn Mansour and her partner, Steve Vanzella, officially took over operations of the 2100 sq. ft. Burford gym at the beginning of the year.
Mansour is a certified personal trainer, pre and postnatal fitness coach, fascial posture training specialist and nutrition coach who has been training her clients out of the studio since November 2023,
So when the previous owner, Paul Divito, decided it was time to pass the torch, Mansour said she decided to make the best out of the opportunity.
“The universe works in wonderful ways,” said Mansour. “I was subcontracted to work here as a personal trainer in November of 2023 when this was Small Town Fitness and so when the owner decided that he wasn’t going to run it anymore, he asked me if I wanted to take over, rebrand it and make it my own, that’s exactly I did. This was always my end goal but I really thought it was going to take years to get here so when the opportunity came, I took it.”
Because she had already been working there for a year, Mansour said that she felt prepared to take on the work and make it her own.
“I found it was actually a lot easier and less nerve-wracking because I already kind of knew what worked and what didn’t work so we were able to really implement our own changes,” she said. “It was also nice that I already knew a lot of people because we had built such a good, strong community here and it was actually them that encouraged me to step into this role.”
The co-ed gym itself offers a host of services including one-on-one and semi-private personal training, group fitness classes like high-intensity interval training, strength training, Zumba, arms and abs, and bootcamp, as well as standard gym memberships.
“I think for some people smaller gyms can be a bit intimidating but I would love to have some new faces come in and check out because you don’t really know if a space is or isn’t right for you unless you visit and meet the people there.”
During the grand opening event, both David Bailey, Mayor for the County of Brant, and Will Bouma, MPP for Brantford-Brant, congratulated the mom of two on the big day.
“It’s always nice to see new businesses opening in the County of Brant and in Burford,” said Bailey. “…I hear you already have quite a few members already and that’s wonderful so on behalf of the County of Brant, I wish you all the success in the world.”
Up next, Bouma reminded Mansour that small businesses are the backbone of the economy.
“I know we get all excited when we see big businesses coming into the community, but the reality is, it’s small business owners and entrepreneurs that make up the background of our communities. …Thank you so much for having the courage to do this; years from now when this is a thriving business and you’re thinking about how you can do an expansion, you’re going to think, ‘how on earth did I ever have the courage to do this?’” said Bouma. “You started your business small and this is just the next step. I’m so excited that the community here in Burford has this because obviously, if you have a healthy body you can have a healthy mind and a healthy spirit which leads to a thriving community.”
Before the big ribbon cutting, Mansour took the opportunity to thank her clients, friends and her family for being so supportive and showing up for her.
“Thank you for being here because I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for every single one of you,” she said. “…The people that I’ve met in this community are the whole reason I’m standing here today and I would not have had the courage to do this if it weren’t for all of you.”
Overall, Mansour said that she’s hoping that through this new venture, she will be able to continue to instill a healthy and sustainable relationship with health and wellness in both her current and new clients.
“I am very excited and as busy as I am, it’s going to make things so much easier to offer my clients the best possible service I can,” she said. “I hope this can really be a place where we can break negative stereotypes and just really focus on creating healthy and sustainable lifestyles.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
