We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Adrienne Farrell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Adrienne below.

Adrienne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

I’m part of the LGBTQIA+ community and it was incredibly important to me that I clearly state our values when it comes to supporting and advocating for our community. We have partnered with Chicago Therapy Collective to be part of their Hire Trans Now initiative and have hired a trans coach. We also have hosted several fundraising events for The Trevor Project, and Brave Space Alliance.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always had an interest in the fitness industry after tearing my ACL in college playing basketball. It took me 8 months to work with athletic trainers and develop the strength, mobility and balance I had prior to the injury. I ended up going into teaching and started personal training during my summers off.

I decided I wanted to go into this field full time and leave teaching so I received my Master’s in Exercise Physiology at UIC. I initially wanted to work with collegiate athletes, however, after starting my own family I realized there was a huge need for individuals with young children.

As a parent I saw that childcare offerings at most gyms was really lacking. Either parents weren’t happy with the quality or gyms didn’t offer it at all.

So I built Brush Park Gym for all families. We are a welcoming and inclusive space that provides a supportive and caring environment for our clients and their children. We provide small group training, childcare for children ages 1 -10 years old, aftercare, and camps. Our facility has a large indoor play space so our Brush Park kids can play with our coaches while their parents or caregivers get a good workout.

We have been open for a year now and I’m most proud of the community we have developed. Most of our clients do not love working out or felt welcomed at previous gyms. I’m so happy that they have found a home at our gym.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

Yes, initially we were only going to offer small group training classes and active play classes for children (childcare). However, as customers inquired about other childcare options we expanded our offerings. First we started offering 1/2 day school’s out day camps and then summer camp. Now we offer full day school’s out day camps, sometimes a week long, aftercare for Pre-k to 4th grade children, and summer camp.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think always leading with being authentic and doing things really well. There were times initially that I felt like we were being pulled to be everything to everyone. I wanted to stay within our lane and slowly roll things out so we could do them really well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brushparkgym.com
• Instagram: @brushparkgym

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