Photo by Erin Bloodgood
Jessica Sunier
Jessica Sunier
The health and fitness industry has been built to serve a certain type of person. “Health looks white. Health looks like straight teeth. Health looks thin … So, health has a look and if you don’t match that look, people judge on outside appearances and they’re going to assume you’re not healthy,” explains Jessica Sunier, Owner and Founder of the gym FitPower LLC. Sunier studied health and worked in various gyms, but she was tired of being in an industry that was focused on appearances and making money. So, in 2011, she started her own gym.
FitPower was founded with one main goal: to help people be strong, no matter their body type. Sunier makes a point to label the gym as LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) friendly, and often says that any body is welcome. In its early days, the gym started with a few personal training clients, but has since developed into a powerlifting, jiu jitsu and judo-focused facility located on Vliet Street.
As the gym grew from a small basement room on 92nd and Bluemound, the space expanded and so did Sunier’s ideas for improving inclusivity. She continues to widen her and her staff’s understanding of what an antiracist, judgment-free space really means. The atmosphere she has built is one that fosters trust, community, and is a place where individuals are recognized for who they are. That is apparent when walking into the space and talking to any of the gym’s members.
Strength in All Body Types
In 2019, FitPower hosted its first Everybody Pulls Deadlift competition, which is a fundraiser for a Milwaukee-based nonprofit and a way for people of all body types to showcase their strength. It has since become an annual event and this year all the proceeds went to Black Space Milwaukee. The event was started, in part, as a response to power lifting federation bans to trans lifters on the platforms. Most mainstream competitions also have a dress code, so women who wear a niqāb, like one of FitPower’s clients, wouldn’t be allowed to compete. At Everybody Pulls, anyone can compete, regardless of how they identify or what they wear. Sunier’s annual competition continues to grow and make ripples in the community.
It’s really the day-to-day things that show how FitPower lives its values, such as their non-men jiu jitsu class, labeled as such to be inclusive of nonbinary folks and a space where Muslim women can remove their head coverings. The gym also modifies its personal training programs for all bodies to fit the needs of individuals, like their clients who are pregnant or in a wheelchair. “It doesn’t matter what body you’re in or how you come through our doors, you’re work is going to be programmed to you so you can hit your goals,” says Sunier. They even offer a three-month grace period for membership dues for any members who are having financial issues—something Sunier has built into her business model.
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When you walk into the small gym nestled in the Washington Heights neighborhood, it feels different than other gyms—it feels like a community, as many of FitPower’s clients refer to it. That’s because of the work Sunier put in over ten years to build a business for people, rather than making money. “You work with people,” says Sunier. “That’s how communities stay close.”
Learn more about FitPower on their website: www.fitpowermke.com.
