Owner of Kahnawà:ke women's-only gym aims to empower clients, meet growing demand

This story is a collaboration between Concordia University's journalism department, Kahnawake Survival School and CBC Montreal.

Brittany Delisle gave up on maintaining a healthy lifestyle after finding out she was pregnant with her third child.

Unmotivated, she stopped exercising, began overindulging in food and fell into a slump.

But when a gym in her community began offering a stroller fitness group for mothers, Delisle started exercising again and never looked back. 

"Within my first year, I had lost 70 pounds with proper nutrition and exercise," she said. 

That journey sparked a love of health and fitness, and Delisle decided to get her training certification in order to help others.

Six years later, Delisle is the proud owner of a successful private training facility called Mindful Body Fitness — one of the sole women's-only gyms in Kahnawà:ke, the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community, south of Montreal.

The business celebrated its first anniversary in March. But getting to that point was no easy feat. 

For starters, Delisle was hesitant to move into the fitness world as a trainer, even after being certified. 

"I was so nervous and very skeptical," she said. 

She found her footing after agreeing to train a small group of girls.

"Taking them on as clients got me out of my comfort zone and I began to take on more," Delisle said.

Once she built up a clientele, finding adequate space became her next challenge. Delisle didn't have a gym to train in, so in 2019, she began doing outdoor boot camp classes with her few clients and ended up turning her living room into a mini gym. 

After three years of making do, Delisle finally opened her own private training facility in March 2022. 

She chose the name Mindful Body Fitness because she wanted her clients to be mindful of their bodies and to not judge themselves. 

"I wanted my clients to feel empowered, strong and beautiful after each session," she said.

With practically no training spaces exclusively for women in Kahnawà:ke, Delisle sought to fill that gap. 

"I want my clients to feel comfortable and confident to train in a gym," Delisle said, adding women in the community have long been asking for a women's-only gym. 

"It feels great knowing that I've created a safe space for women of all shapes and sizes to come and get a good workout in, relieve some stress and feel confident doing it," she said. 

Delisle's goal is to give women an opportunity to feel better, whether that's helping them get fit or helping them improve their mental health. 

Katsistohkwiio Jacco has been training with Delisle on and off since the summer of 2020.  She says she likes the personal touch offered at the facility. 

"These are personalized workouts, it's based on our goals and what we want to achieve," Jacco said. 

She says Mindful Body Fitness helps her unwind and boosts her confidence. 

"Especially after a really long day of work, I get to come here right away and for me it's a huge way to de-stress and to feel good about myself," she said. 

"To see myself getting stronger, it makes me feel really powerful." 

With new health food businesses and gyms expanding into the community, Delisle encourages anyone thinking about pursuing their fitness goal to jump at the chance.  

And for those who aren't comfortable training in regular gyms, the doors of Mindful Body Fitness are always open, she says. 

"I absolutely love what I do and seeing each of my clients reach their health and fitness goals makes it all worth it."