Photo by Collin Richie
Hometown: Zachary
Age: 48
Family: Married to husband, Lance, with four children: Jake, Kylie, William and Ben
Profession: Clinical exercise physiologist, Fitness Design for Women / Councilwoman, City of Zachary
Years with Company: 14 / 4
Laura O’Brien has made her 8,000-square-foot boutique fitness center much more than a gym.
For residents of Zachary, it has been a place to do laundry in the middle of a hurricane. It’s also the site of Fit Girl, an after-school care program where girls learn about healthy eating and exercising habits. But for O’Brien, Fitness Design for Women is a vision of a healthier tomorrow.
“I want it to be an outlet for women where we can get healthy and be well,” she says. “I want to empower women to get out and be their best.”
Fitness has always played a key role in O’Brien’s life. She ran in high school, cheered at Louisiana College and worked at a hospital specializing in women’s wellness while attending Louisiana Tech University, where she earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology.
After a stint teaching fitness in Belfast, Northern Ireland, O’Brien returned to her roots in Louisiana, working for Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge. Though she relished her time there, she says the drive from Zachary to Baton Rouge became more of a hassle once she started having kids.
“I said, you know what? We can do this same thing in Zachary,” says O’Brien, who also serves on the Zachary City Council—the first female on the council since 1970.
Since opening its doors in 2005, that “same thing”—which would later become Fitness Design for Women—has grown from two clients to 400 members. Originally a 1,000-square-foot facility, the gym is now at its third location in a space eight times its original size.
O’Brien says she is most proud of Fit Girl, a program within the gym that teaches 13-to-16-year-old girls how to live healthier lifestyles. The program partners with First Student, Zachary’s bus driver service, to provide direct transportation from school to the gym.
Realizing most of the participants will be home alone most of the day while their parents are working, O’Brien teaches the girls how to prepare three simple and healthy breakfasts, snacks and dinners. She also encourages them to move, showing them how to use the gym machines, letting them play sports and coaching them through at least 30 minutes of cardio every day.
In 2009, Idea Fitness Journal recognized Fit Girl as its Innovative Program of the Year.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get those girls for 10 hours a week and try to make a difference,” O’Brien says. “We have nine months to do it, and the ones who it makes a difference for are the ones who make it worth it.”
Teenage girls aren’t the only ones who benefit from O’Brien’s work, though. After the August 2016 flood, she opened her gym as a makeshift refuge center, where people could charge their phones and laptops, get their laundry done and drop off their kids to play.
As a fundraiser for the city, she hosted a “Biggest Loser” competition. She also uses her position to raise money for many organizations, particularly those involving women with cancer, modeling for the Bra Fashion Show for Woman’s Hospital and twice representing the Big Wigs for Susan G. Komen.
O’Brien says she hopes her business helps make Zachary a great home for her four children and show her members how to view fitness in a positive light.
“Life isn’t just about work—it’s about playing and doing,” she says.
Milestones
2005: Opens Fitness Design for Women
2009: Fit Girl earns Innovative Program of the Year by IDEA Fitness magazine
2010: Doubles facility space by moving into 7,900-square-foot space
2014: Earns Small Business of the Year by Zachary Chamber of Commerce
2014: Elected to the Zachary City Council
2016: Chosen as Zachary’s first female Mayor Pro Tempore
2017: Chosen for the inaugural Women in Business Award by Zachary Chamber of Commerce
2018: Opens a new addition to wellness center, Audubon Crossfit
Q&A
Biggest inspiration
My grandmother, we called her Momma Dot. She lived in a corporate world when it wasn’t cool and still rose to the top with her perseverance and determination.
Hardest lesson learned
The only ship that sinks is a partner-“ship.”
Necessary workplace changes
More respect. Women are sometimes seen below men in knowledge and decision-making skills. Women have changed the world and I would like to see that trend continue, but it can’t if we aren’t given more opportunities to prove our worthiness and credibility in the workplace.
Meet the other 9 members of this year’s Influential Women in Business class
