Introducing Shelley Montemurro, founder of Little Sweat Shop - Canada's #1 Martial Arts Gym in 2019

"Little Sweatshop is a family focused fitness centre. My husband and I have three children under 4 years old and realized, because we have both been athletes and trainers/coaches most of our lives, that there is a lack of accommodation for people with children in our fitness world. There are places you can take your kids while you workout, but then our children only know that we work out, they don't see us working out. I felt it was important to build that healthy correlation between family, fun and fitness. So we created the Little Sweatshop. A place where families can come to get an amazing workout and are encouraged to bring their children. There are activity centres, sports and games, and clean comfortable areas for the kids. We will be offering classes for kids as well, alongside our adult classes to keep everyone busy and active. Our focus is really to make healthy living such an important and fun foundation for every family, leading to more healthy lives for the future. We also have a full kitchen (for snacks, bottles, potlucks) and a living area for people to feel like they can spend time just being part of the community as well. There are places for wee babies to nap while their moms get a workout in and a huge enclosed yard with activities for the kids as well. We hope to grow and build this business to be able to accommodate more families, in a bigger facility in the future."

This was written, of course, prior to the pandemic arising. Shelley and her team at LSS have made the adjustments necessary to still facilitate a fun, active and safe environment following safety protocol around Covid-19 guidelines.