Fitness manager takes promotion to 'Owner'

When you enter the Fit 4 Me - Women's Fitness Center you immediately notice that there are no muscle-bound men grunting, or large clunky weights crowding the gym floor. Located in a storefront at 75 Raritan Avenue, this is Highland Park's only all-women's gym. There are smaller weights, a circuit of eight hydraulic machines, and two cardiac trainers.

On a crystal clear October afternoon -- as the leaves along the Avenue hit their peak reds, yellows and oranges -- owner Trisha Grace (everyone calls her Grace) was enjoying a great day. It was her birthday and friends and clients were dropping off balloons, flowers were delivered, and text messages and phone calls were blowing in the door like so many leaves.

As strange as it may sound, Grace never set out to be an entrepreneur nor had the goal to own a gym. "I've always liked my bosses," she admits. "I was literally drafted into action by my own clients."

Since the demise of the former Curves in the same storefront, where she was the manager, Grace has stepped into the breach. She describes a group of that Curves' former clients, who had grown to depend on the all-women gym, approaching the building owner and asked him to have Grace continue to run an all-women's gym in the same space that had housed Curves.

"I had never opened anything in my life, but with everything, there is a reason to start," Grace said. "This is something I have to try, I'm working on faith."

And it's faith that got Grace into this particular predicament.

"I've been working at this spot since February of 2007 and although I am a Christian I have been pulled in by Judaism because of the women I have met," Grace said. "A group of Orthodox women, the ones who convinced me to open my own gym, are the glue that keep Judaism together. The men might pray but the women make sure everything runs smoothly in the home."

It is for these women and others who want to exercise in a warm, female-friendly fitness center that Grace continues to soldier on through tough economic times.

"I want to personalize each routine for each woman who walks in here," Grace said. "I even want to start a Mommy and Me exercise class for mothers who don't have childcare and need to work out."

Grace's clientele range in age from 18 to 80 years of age.

"I don't like gyms in general, but this one has a real cozy feel to it, it's genuine Highland Park," says member Marcia Greenhouse. "You do what you want to do, a lot or a little."

Grace plans to add dance classes, kick-boxing and a piliates class to augment the equipment in the gym. She needs 150 members to stay open. "If you want an all women's gym to stay fit for you," Grace says, "You need to sign up for Fit 4 Me."

She also says, with a laugh, that she requires one more thing since starting her own business. Something she had when she had a boss: "I really need a day off."