Bringing Faith and Fitness together, Meet Berta of BFit

Tell me about B Fit, the faith-based business you are starting?

It’s Berta’s Faith Integrated Training, B Fit for short. I offer in-home personal training, one on one, and small or large group fitness. I want to offer customized fitness experiences adding faith-based as an option. For example, I just did a pilates party by a clients pool along with Christian based yoga. I basically go through all the fitness part of the event first and at the end, I might share a daily devotional or scripture to focus on for the week.

When did you start getting into fitness?

The seed was planted when I started playing volleyball in High School. I have a lot of energy and love to be active. After graduating and moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, a local gym I had been going to offered a weekend training to their members to become instructors for their style of classes. I decided to go for it and that’s where the group fitness aspect started for me, that was about six years ago. I started to teach classes part-time and really found a passion for it. I love helping people and feeding off of their energy in classes.

After the gym closed I decided to continue with my fitness education. I met a friend who teaches Holy Yoga and Revelation Wellness which is a faith-based group fitness certification, so I took that and then got my National Accredited Group Fitness certification too.

What brought you to St. Augustine?

We knew we wanted to live by the water at some point. I was born and raised in Las Vegas Nevada and from there we moved to Las Vegas New Mexico to a mountainous region of Northern New Mexico (the original Las Vegas apparently). I went from a class of 500 to12, needless to say, it was a small town. After I graduated I migrated south to the closest big city Albuquerque, where I eventually met my husband. Two years ago, we had the opportunity to move to St. Augustine through my husband’s company. The timing seemed right and we wanted to do something different. We chose the St. Augustine area because my aunt and uncle lived in Palatka and my husband’s best friend lives in St. Augustine. We ended up buying a home in Green Cove Springs because we wanted a little more property.

Did you get right into fitness when you moved here?

When we left Albuquerque, I had to quit my full-time job with a premier beverage distributor. I knew I didn’t want another desk job, so I decided to just focus on fitness and moving here gave me the opportunity to dive fully into it. I was already Group Fitness certified so I got my Personal Training certification and then found Florida Get Fit. I went there for my personal gym and loved it so I asked if they were hiring and it turned out they needed someone. I’m now certified in Yoga, Pilates, Kickboxing, Spin, Foam Rolling, and Barre.

How’s it going?

Great! I’m very busy teaching group classes and one on one personal training sessions. Florida Get Fit is a joy to work for, they allowed me to start a Barre Fusion class which is a melody of Barre, yoga, and pilates and that’s going really well. I also started substituting with Altro and the YMCA in Fleming Island and I sub for Now and Zen Studio here in St. Augustine when needed.

Do you have a favorite workout that you like doing?

For me, my personal favorite is lifting weights and doing yoga. I need to have those two things in my life. Yoga is my prayer time too, I need that balance.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?

My husband and I love being active and going to the beach. We are still exploring the area since we’ve only been here for two years and have enjoyed the winery when they have live music, fishing on a friends boat, and playing volleyball.

What are your goals for the business?

I have my logo done and I’m in the process of working on my website and social media. I’m starting small because I still work at Florida Get Fit and have a following there, which I love, so I am not planning to give that up anytime soon, so I’m just working on getting the word out. I’m networking and meeting more people and plan to do some events for the community.