By LAURA QUEZADA
News Review staff writer
“If you have a dream, go for it,” says Jacque Nguyen, Owner of the new boutique fitness studio, Jack’d Studio. The studio, with its seven highly qualified instructors, is opening its doors at 1400 North Norma on June 20 with a full array of fitness classes and services. “We offer Body Pump classes, spin classes, yoga classes, a class called R.I.P.P.ED, which is a high intensity interval training class,” she says, “I’m also offering Personal Training Services which are different from the group classes.”
In order to accommodate most people’s needs, there are early morning classes and afternoon classes going until about 7:30pm. The early morning classes are “only 45 minutes so I left enough time for them to go home and change and get ready for their day.” One can find their schedule online on Facebook, Instagram, and on their website: https://www.jackdstudio.com
“I have all of the Les Mills equipment, their bars and weights and steps,” she tells us. “Les Mills is a huge corporation that I just signed a licensing agreement with so I am ab le to teach Body Pump. Les Mills is a huge international company that offers a variety of classes. A few of my instructors are interested in getting certified in other formats. Hopefully we’ll bring those other formats soon.”
As a woman who also works in graphic design, her studio reflects her creative sensibility. “I wanted to go for a much more urban feel, city-like feel. I just wanted to step it up a little bit from what our small town usually
is like. The spin room is all black. The walls are black, ceilings are black, the only thing not black is the floors with LED lights all the way around the room. There are LED lights in the ceiling that change colors and LED lights on every single bike so we can make it kind of like a club experience.” She adds, “I want people to have fun while they are working hard during a spin class.” Knowing that music enhances a workout, “I had a sound system installed by a company in Las Vegas that does the nightclubs.” A notable fact: “Spin is very easy on the joints and probably one of the best cardio workouts you can do.”
When In Shape closed its doors, Jacque’s loyal followers asked her where they would be able to take classes. After several inquiries from students, the dream of her own studio was born. “My followers are also my inspiration to start the studio and it’s not about just making this available to them. I want to make sure that I’m helping people with fitness and showing that fitness can be fun. That’s the point of group fitness: A fun experience while you’re getting a good workout.”
Being in a smaller space assures that the highly trained staff can keep an eye on folks, even if they aren’t in a personal training session. “We’re very close knit; we want to check your form. We want to make sure that you’re getting healthy, getting fit in the proper way.
Every instructor that I have has the proper certifications for the class format that they teach. I assessed them and got to see how they teach the format. They’re all amazing; they’re all different. They all have different styles, which some people tend to like. They’re all very well qualified.”
Perseverance and eyes on the goal kept Jacque on track for opening her studio. COVID didn’t help the process. She signed the lease a year ago and the permitting/inspection process was an endurance test. “Because it’s from the county, the inspections take longer to get out here. Then when they come and inspect they tell me something else needs to be fixed before I can get approval for this and then they come out six weeks later and they say something else needs to be fixed before I can get approval for that.” She did this dance for electrical approval at least eight times.
Jacque had been involved in fitness long before she started teaching ten years ago. During her time at Burroughs High School she was involved in soccer, track, and cross country. She had so many great coaches that there are too many to mention.
When she started teaching, her mother was her biggest supporter and took all of her classes. When her mother lost her battle with cancer Jacque used her inheritance to start Jack’d Studio, a venture her mother would have loved. “If my mother didn’t pass away,” she says as her eyes well with tears, “I know she would have given me the funds to start this. She was my number one supporter so she would have done that.
There are three monthly membership options available on the website,” she tells us. “Each of those memberships offer how many classes you can take within the month, some are more expensive than others depending on how often you want to go. There are also class packs if you don’t want to commit to a membership as well as single drop-in prices also.”
Jacque will periodically offer special promotions. For her opening, “Classes start June 20. However, people can start signing up immediately. Any membership that you purchase has a re-billing cycle. The promotion is: classes start on June 20, but you will not be re-billed until August 1. So essentially you get July and those two free weeks in June.”
