WILLIAMSBURG — Bdefined Fitness in New Town celebrated its 20th anniversary Monday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce.
Members of the chamber and local dignitaries joined owner Bridgit Kin-Charlton and her staff to celebrate the anniversary, and Del. Amanda Batten presented a commendation from the Virginia House of Delegates.
Batten reminisced about working in the old SunTrust building, Bdefined’s first home, and noticing the business’s clients.
“I remember walking in in the morning, and I would see these people struggling through the parking lot — some sort of indescribable exercise that I did not understand at the time,” she said. “Thank you for just being a presence in our community for a long time. We’re so excited about your success.”
James City County Board of Supervisors Chair Jim Icenhour remarked at the growth of New Town in the last 20 years, commenting he and Kin-Charlton remembered when New Town was just a field.
“I’m just fascinated by the concept that she’s been here for 20 years,” he said. “I am so pleased to have you in New Town and have a thriving, successful business. This is my pleasure, because this is my district and it is really the urban heart of the county.”
Kin-Charlton thanked her staff, many of whom have been with with her for years, for making it more than a business. She also thanked her long-time clients, some of whom have been with her since day one.
“I don’t know what I would do without the team. The team is our product. They are the ones working with our clients, day in and day out. Changing lives, making an impact in clients’ lives, not just in the studio, but outside the studio, personally as well, going through all of their life events with them, and just really going above and beyond. I will say it’s the best team ever. It’s not just personal training. We wear many hats, and we get very attached to our clients. They are family. We call them our fitness family.”
She also singled out her husband, Ralph, a professor at Hampton University, as a big part of the studio’s success.
“He’s really the business behind the business. I just love what I do, and he really helped establish the business plan and really encouraged me and said, ‘You can do this,’ even though I had no idea what I was doing back then,” she said. “I was just saying if I knew then what I know now, who knows if I would have even opened a company. But Ralph is a huge supporter of the business side of the business.”
The ceremony was followed by a reception inside the studio.
Read more about Bdefined Fitness here and WYDaily’s Ten Questions with Bridgit Kin-Charlton here.
