LOA Fitness for Women is transitioning next week from the ownership of Kathy Powell, who has owned, grown and managed the fitness club for 17 years, to new owner Caroline Mitchell.

A turn of the page or at most the start of a new chapter seems a more apt metaphor than opening a book. Mitchell has worked for Powell at LOA, first for eight months in 2016, and again since August as they now manage the gym together.

They talk about the gym in similar terms, as a gift from God and a means to serve the community.

"The most important thing to me has been helping people," Powell said. "It's been my ministry."

Her faith-based approach can be seen in the Bible verses displayed on the exercise machines and the praise music that plays on the gym's sound system. She says that God first put this business in her lap 17 years ago and that her finding Mitchell to take over now is also "kind of a God thing," as "He led me to her."

Mitchell formally takes ownership with the beginning of 2018. The gym will be closed New Year's Day, so Tuesday, Jan. 2, is her first day in business.

"God has put this in my life," Mitchell said. "I love it here, all of the members. It's just what I what I love to do, and God's put the opportunity in my life to buy it."

Full-service gym

Powell grew the fitness club through two changes of location, each time for more space to accommodate a growing membership. It has also changed names and grown to a full-service gym, "the only full-service ladies-only gym in Statesboro and Bulloch County," she called it. Today, LOA Fitness for Women, filling a 6,000-square-foot area at 1553 Northside Drive East in the Brookster Shopping Center, has more than 500 members.

When she first went to work for the fitness club franchise 19 years ago, it was Ladies Workout Express. LWE was originally in a smaller place, about 1,800 square feet, in University Commons near the mall. The layout consisted of a training circuit with weight machines and aerobics steps and a few cardio machines. Powell purchased the business in 2001 and quickly built up the membership before moving to a 3,200-square-foot building in the Kmart shopping center in 2003.

In January 2011, she moved the club to its current location, upgrading to a full-service gym.

"You have to have showers, you have to have child care and you have to have group fitness classes to be qualified as full-service in the franchise corporation, and you have to have a certain amount of square footage, so I jumped up to 6,000 square feet," Powell said last week.

That move brought about the name change to LOA Fitness for Women. Ladies Workout Express and LOA Fitness for Women both are labels of Lady of America Franchise Corp., but the LOA Fitness brand is reserved for the full-service gyms.

The franchise has also grown from five employees at the second location to 16 now, including group instructors and child care workers, as well as trainers. Childcare, group classes and tanning are free with memberships.

Zumba and yoga classes are the most popular, Powell and Mitchell both say. But the gym also offers other group programs, such as a stability ball, Bodypump and step classes. A new class is planned under the new ownership.

"We're adding line dancing for January, so members should like that," Mitchell said. "They love to dance."

Family priority

Powell, now 59, wanted to retire from the many 13- and 14-hour days she has spent operating the gym and considered various options for passing it along to a new owner. But she didn't want to sell it to someone she didn't know.

"I wanted to retire at 60 just to be with my family more," she said. "I have five grandchildren now, and I don't have a lot of time to spend with them, not to really run the facility like I want it run."

She and her husband, Tim Powell, have a daughter, Christy Stone, and a son, Brian Powell, both of whom have children. Stone also helped build up the gym's business and was manager there for more than 10 years.

Powell said she feels at peace with Mitchell as the buyer "because of her strong faith, her kind heart and her calm and gentle spirit."

A physical therapy technician for two years in a local clinic before she started her fitness center career, Powell says that the gym has a therapeutic role for many women. Besides helping meet physical fitness goals, it helps many overcome stress, anxiety and depression, she said. So she has had a counseling role as well, she said, and members support each other as they feel comfortable in the women-only environment and form lasting friendships.

"It's God's blessing that with the membership growth that I've been able to help others," she said. "I was telling Caroline how it has helped me be able to give to my church and to help the community."

Powell has given to Fostering Bulloch, Safe Haven, the Humane Society, the Boys & Girls Club and many local schools. This is one way, Mitchell said, that Powell has set an example for her.

The new owner

LOA Fitness is open Monday through Saturday but closed Sundays. As the new owner, Mitchell, 27, plans to be there personally five days a week. Her daughter, Jordyn, will soon be 3, and Mitchell wants still to have some time with her.

The gym has two more years under the LOA franchise Powell purchased. After that, Mitchell said, she plans to take it independent, with a new name.

"I'm just extremely excited, ready to see the business grow and ready to make a few changes and just put my spin on things," Mitchell said.

Meanwhile, Powell is not retiring completely, but will continue teaching group fitness classes and doing some personal training sessions at LOA.

Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.