Who’s That Gal: Elise Caira, Founder/Owner of Sweat Fixx

Name: Elisa Caira
Pronouns: She/Her
Age: 31
Occupation: Founder/Owner, Sweat Fixx
Currently living in: North Reading MA
Hometown: Wakefield, MA
Currently reading: Nothing! I have an 8-week old, so all my free time goes to him currently.
Favorite workout: Sweat Fixx, I love the combination of strength training and low impact cardio on the rower.
I never leave home without: My phone and my gallon jug of water!

Let’s start with the basics. You are both an author and a business coach. What made you want to become an entrepreneur? 

From an early age I always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve always liked creating things and being my own boss. The idea of being able to make something that is your own and control your own destiny has always been appealing to me. My corporate accounting job before was mindless pointless tasks. I wanted to be able to do something that made an impact!

Your education and background is in Accounting. Can you tell our audience what made you pursue a significant career change to Health and Wellness?

 I went to Bentley University on a full college scholarship to play basketball. During my time at Bentley, I tore both my ACLs, and that’s when I really learned the importance of strength training and everything that went into getting my body back to where it needed to be. After college, I got a job in Auditing at KPMG but was just so interested in fitness. Around my 60+hour work weeks, I would do everything I could to be involved with fitness. I tried so many different studios in the area, I got certifications, I taught bootcamps. I learned to really fall in love with the community that fitness studios could bring and the high quality of classes that they delivered.

Can you tell our audience more about Sweat Fixx and the workouts they can expect there? Why is Rowing seemingly the backbone of your classes?

 Sweat Fixx is a low-impact high-intensity rowing and strength studio where no matter your age, sex, fitness level etc, you can walk through those doors lift heavy, row hard, and leave feeling like a boss.  You can expect all different people and levels in our classes but everyone is having fun and pushing their edge. Rowing is our secret sauce because not only is it a great cardio hitting over 84% of your muscles but it’s a machine that EVERYONE can do and its low impact. There’s no damage to your joints. You get to jump on the machine and compete against yourself in a fun way. We have introduced a way of working out on a water rower that has never been done before involving movements from other areas of fitness like bicep curls and core pikes. We say it’s “rowing reinvented”!

You offer a Karma Fixx class, which is geared towards giving back to the community. Can you tell us about the local and national organizations Sweat Fixx gives back to?

 Karma Fixx is a huge part of Sweat Fixx. We hold monthly classes that are free to members, but you can donate whatever you want to take the class. All funds go directly to the cause we are raising money for. Instructors teach for free, and it’s just a great way for our whole community to give back.

 To date we have given to over 25+ different organizations, raising over $20,000. Some of our biggest Karma Fixx causes were raising money for Pancreatic Cancer, which is the cancer my mother passed away from and PKD which is a disease I currently have. But we have had numerous awesome ones, we look for causes that impact the people in our communities and focus on those.

With so many new fitness programs entering the market, what makes Sweat Fixx stand out?

 It is a low-impact high-intensity workout that everyone can do. Also, it uses the water rower in a way that’s never been done before. The combination of rowing and strength gives you a total body workout in a way you can’t get anywhere else.

Any insights or words of encouragement for someone thinking about a substantial career change and/or starting their own business?

 Start now! You never know when you will get that opportunity to make the jump so do as much work as you can now. Research, network, put yourself out there. That way when the time comes you are ready to go and take that chance!

What are the biggest challenges and biggest rewards of what you do?

 The biggest challenges are growing but staying true to who we are and continuing to hire the right people. As you start to scale and hire more and more people, it becomes more challenging to continue to find the right people. It’s tempting to hire quickly but it’s important to slow down and get the people who align with your mission.

The biggest reward is seeing the community we have built and being able to connect with them every day. Sweat Fixx is more than just a workout it’s a support system, it’s a place you can walk into and leave feeling more confident in all aspects of your life.

How do you balance your career and your personal life? 

 Well 8 weeks ago I had a baby so balance these days has become a little more challenging. I just try to stay very organized and efficient so I’m not wasting time. Especially now, as I want to spend as much time with my little guy as I can, it’s important for me to time block and multitask when needed.

What’s next for Sweat Fixx? What’s next for you personally? 

 We want to continue to grow Sweat Fixx. I believe this is a workout that can benefit so many people so we would love to see it continue to expand past the current 5 studios.

Personally, I love creating small businesses and watching them grow. I just invested in and now co-own a cash-based physical therapy studio called FIXXED that specializes in quick & efficient methods to getting people feeling their best. Going through the process of opening FIXXED with my partner Ariel (she is also a Sweat Fixx instructor), I realized how much I love helping people make the jump. I’m going to continue to pursue that by consulting for people who want to start their own business and also invest in small businesses that I really believe in. If you have an idea and want some help, please let me know!

If you could give our audience one ‘pro’ tip about maintaining or advocating for their own health and wellness, what would it be?

It’s all about consistent effort. It’s not working out 3 hours a day until you burn out. It’s about maybe carving out 30 minutes a day but staying consistent with it. Find workouts you like so it’s fun and not a chore. After you’ve done that, make it a priority and put it as part of your daily routine!

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Julia Blanchard is a content contributor for JUGs by night, by day she works a Senior Technical Program Manager at HERE Technologies. You can follow her @jcblanchard6 on Instagram.

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