Bath Graduates Kiera Williams (2021 Health and Exercise Science) & Ollie Chick (2019 Engineering Civil) Launched CaliUnity – a business blending calisthenics (a form of strength and conditioning that uses the body’s resistance and gravity to strengthen muscles and improve coordination) with nutritional advice. Since their launch in 2019, they have built a strong following and community in the city, moving to online coaching and sessions delivering in parks in response to Covid-19, and just last year opening their very own studio.
I met Kiera to talk about their achievements that led to becoming a Bath Life finalist and to find out more about their activities:
Can you tell me a bit more about what you have achieved?
For the last five years, we have flourished as a community originating in Bath. We are united under one common purpose: to strengthen and heal our bodies using holistic practices in movement and nutrition. We’re tired of fad diets, yo-yo weight loss and getting injured using weights. We wanted to help as many people as possible, giving away free guides online, free coaching and free meetups across Bath.
We worked out in parks, hosting meetups for hundreds of people looking to get access to expert advice, accountability and community. We hosted workshops in multiple gyms, like Toniq, FLY and TeamBath, specialising in healing injuries, learning new skills but most importantly bringing people together. We engaged in multiple community events, like BathFitFam, in and around Bath, including tournaments, competitions and socials, all whilst representing our home of Bath.
As the word spread, our community grew, so much so that we simply couldn’t handle the volume of people. We needed a home, and in September 2022 we opened the CaliUnity gym. We went from zero members to 140 as of writing this. We help thousands of people all over the world have access to free materials - we believe everyone should have access to how to heal themselves and live a better life.
We repeatedly get results for our clients, healing lifelong injuries, moving them away from life-threatening preventable diseases and changing their lives through weight loss. All through our methods of using bodyweight training (calisthenics), holistic nutritional practices and expert accountability to ensure people achieve the results they set out to achieve. These results are evident in our google reviews - we’re close to having the most 5-star reviews in any gym in Bath, and we’ve not even been open for half a year.
We take on around 14 new members per week, and we are now turning potential members away in order to keep the quality high.
We exist in a complete niche section of the fitness industry. As opposed to most gyms that sign you up, take your money and are never invested in you, we do the complete opposite. Before a member comes in, we get to know them, their goals, and why they booked an appointment. We give them personal video messages and help. We offer them all our resources, tools and expert advice for free - even if they don’t sign up. They come in for a chat, where we get to know them, with one sole purpose in mind - is this person right for the CaliUnity? If we don’t feel the gym is right for them, we don’t sign them up. From there, we assign them to their own accountability coach - who checks in with them weekly, ensures their habits are on track and they are injury-free with personalised home stretching routines.
We host meetups for free for Bath residents to give away as much as possible. We host community events for the CaliUnity. We help people all across the world to take ownership of their health.
Can you tell me a bit about what you are doing for the community and what your CaliUnities values are?
We started out purely to benefit the community. We ran free events in Bath to get as many people into fitness as possible, and we still run these events today. We are dedicated to helping people feel better physically and mentally, whether that’s through losing/gaining weight, healing lifelong injuries or welcoming them to a community where they feel at home.
We give away as much information as possible to help, such as free 6-week challenges, full-body workout guides, nutrition plans, and video courses on healing all kinds of pain, like lower back, knees and shoulders. We strongly feel that information and knowledge should be free, and no-one should have to live in pain because the cost to heal is too high.
We co-run events with BathFitFam. We partner with other gyms like Toniq. We were one of the first members of BathUnlimitedPotential.
We have helped thousands of people in and around Bath to get fitter, but that likely spreads further. We always quote the butterfly effect - if one person changes their life, that has a ripple effect on their social group around them. A mum changes her life, instils healthy habits and heals pain: That ripple effect carries on for generations, onto her kids, her friends and her community. To us, that is beautiful and brings home the fact that we put so much time and effort into every member, genuinely helping them to change, rather than just taking their money and letting them get on with it.
If people reading this want to find out more or to get involved, how can they do so?
Our community welcomes you with open arms: if you're the kind of person that wants to better yourself, dedicate time to your health and wellbeing and blend into a community that will drive you towards your goals whilst having fun along the way, then CaliUnity is for you.
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