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Fitness is personal at trainer's studio

 
Published Aug. 4, 1999|Updated Sept. 29, 2005

When her four daughters were toddlers, Fran Lotito turned her basement in New Jersey into a gym where she taught strength and weight training for women. Now a Seminole resident, she has just opened Personally Yours, a fitness studio in Portobello Square.

The studio, at 13033 131st St., offers personal fitness training as well as adult kick boxing for beginners and intermediates, children's kick boxing and power yoga stretch classes.

No longer toddlers, Mrs. Lotito's daughters, whose ages range from 10 to 17, take an active role in the business _ from teaching beginning kick boxing and children's classes to showing students how to wrap their hands for boxing gloves.

Mrs. Lotito, 37, said she has been involved in fitness since her high school days when she was on the school swim team and did weight training. "I've been in fitness training for 20 years," she said. "I like being strong."

Her goal is to help women of all ages and sizes be fit. "I train for fitness at all levels," she said. "Some of my best students are in their 50s."

Mrs. Lotito, her husband, Louis, and the couple's children moved here nearly two years ago from Mahwah, N.J., after Louis Lotito sold his trucking business.

Opening the studio at Portobello Square took an investment of a little more than $30,000, Mrs. Lotito said. "I already owned the weight and strength training equipment," she said.

The 1,600-square-foot studio is divided in half, one room for personal training, the other for kick boxing and other classes. Personally Yours also carries some fitness apparel and gifts, sport drinks and protein bars.

While the focus of the studio is on women's fitness, Mrs. Lotito said she has coed children's classes and has opened some kick boxing classes to men.

The kick boxing workouts are 45 minutes to an hour and each class is $5. Personal training is $30 for an hourlong session or $75 for a package of three sessions. Three people of comparable fitness levels can have a personal training session for a total of $50, she said.

The studio is open Monday through Saturday, closed Sunday. For hours or information, call the studio at 320-0040.

Seminole Bank worker changes to First Home

Sandra L. Mazzei has joined the new First Home Bank, 9190 Seminole Blvd., as assistant vice president and manager of customer service.

She had worked since 1991 for the former Seminole Bank and for the past five years had been in the bank's Seminole Mall office. More than a dozen of the First Home Bank staffers are former employees of the Seminole bank.

Two real estate agents elected vice presidents

Tom Costello and Keyvan Kohan of RE/MAX Affiliates, 9400 Seminole Blvd., have been elected broker-vice presidents of the company.

The elections were made at a board of directors meeting called by broker-owners Linda and Rick Brown. Both Costello and Kohan worked in residential and commercial real estate.

Costello is a graduate of Xavier University and teaches at Cleveland School in Tampa. Kohan has a degree in mechanical engineering and is a certified builder.

_ Know of a new or unique business in the greater Seminole area? If so, tell us about it. Send items to Seminole Business, Seminole Times, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756 or fax it to 445-4119. We also are interested in promotions, expansions and major new contracts. Photos can be sent, but not all will be used and they cannot be returned.