After over 10 years of experience as a personal fitness trainer, Nick Palladino recently opened his own personal training studio in the Carlmont Village Shopping Center, uniting the fitness community. Oct. 13th marked the grand opening of the studio.
Nick Palladino and his wife, Stella Palladino, have been in the personal training business for almost 10 years. Initially, the Palladinos conceptualized a business model mixing babysitting and personal training services. They would go to their client’s homes and Nick Palladino would train with the parents while Stella Palladino would babysit their kids.
However, they ultimately abandoned the babysitting aspect and Nick Palladino focused on helping his clients achieve their fitness in the comfort of their homes. After building up a loyal clientele, the Palladino’s business grew and they hired additional trainers in response to their success.
Due to the success of their business, they wanted to expand it by owning a studio. Their current location at the Carlmont Village Shopping Center wasn’t their initial choice and they took a risk purchasing it. It was more expensive than the other options but it is more spacious and in a busy area.
“The shopping center is a great place for a new business because there is a lot of foot traffic and visibility,” said Luana Tellez, a Carlmont Intro to Business student.
In the months leading up to the studio’s opening, the Palladinos faced unprecedented obstacles. Despite having ordered it months before, Nick Palladino was notified that his equipment’s shipment was delayed in the weeks leading up to the studio’s opening. Fortunately, the equipment was delivered a couple of days before opening, and Nick Palladino worked for days to build it all himself.
“I’m hoping New Year’s resolutions are going to be a major driving factor for people to come in and achieve their fitness goals with our help,” said Aaron Capizzi, a personal trainer at Palladino Studios.
Nick Palladino’s love for fitness began at Carlmont, where he ran for the cross-country team. After high school, he went on to work at 24 Hour Fitness as a fitness instructor. He later left this job when he realized he wanted to focus more on working one-on-one with clients.
His main goal in opening the studio was to create a fitness community.
“I thought that the best way to grow the community was for the trainers to connect and clients to connect with each other. Then, everyone builds a whole community around fitness. It’s hard to do that when you’re meeting all of your clients in separate places, and none of them ever interact with each other,” Nick Palladino said.
In contrast with going to their client’s homes and working with one or two people, the studio provides the Palladinos with the opportunity to work with smaller groups.
“It’s all set up so we can get detailed information and get to know each person doing these small group sessions. So there’s still that personal training aspect because I didn’t want our small group sessions to be a class-type setting with just a few people. I want people to be able to come in, and the trainer knows all their names, and they can make adjustments based on what they already know about the person. For example, if someone comes in with low back pain, you already know how to modify exercises for that person. They don’t even need to come up and tell you, you just know it,” Nick Palladino said.
In the future, they hope to add additional community-building activities, such as monthly foam rolling and mobility classes and group hiking events.
“There’s nothing better that brings people together into a community and bonds people together than doing something really hard together,” Nick Palladino said.
