Ava Everhart, 7, of Jonesboro works out with Total Health owner Rose Hankins.
Rose Hankins was a nurse who wanted to own her own business. Her friend Ashleigh Oleson was employed in the physical therapy field and wanted to lose weight and change her lifestyle.
The two women took a chance this month and opened Jonesboro Total Health, one of several new wellness businesses that have cropped up in Jonesboro in recent years. Jonesboro Total Health is dedicated to providing healthy food choices and exercise programs.
As a nurse, Hankins said, “I got tired of working with people who didn’t want to help themselves … The people we work with now want to improve their health and their lives. We try to make bad food fun.”
The new business owners have ambitions to open Total Health stores in Little Rock, Rogers and southern Missouri in the coming years.
Instead of buying a meal through a traditional drive-through at a fast-food restaurant, Total Health customers can get a quick breakfast, lunch or dinner that is healthy, Hankins said. The meals cost roughly the same as fast-food choices, she said.
“People are shocked by what we’re able to make,” Oleson said.
There are health food stores in Memphis and other large cities that make meals, but those businesses primarily cater to bodybuilders and other athletes. Hankins and Oleson wanted to design food and an exercise plans that can help anyone.
Diet is a key to losing weight and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Novices often think they can join a gym and work out to get healthy, but they are wrong, Hankins said.
“It starts in the kitchen … 80 percent of it is in the kitchen,” she said.
Investing in Health
Total Health joins a growing wellness industry in northeast Arkansas and elsewhere. And the need to sustain a healthier lifestyle among Americans is growing, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC said Americans spend nearly $147 billion a year in health costs related to obesity. And Arkansas ranks first among all states in adults who are overweight and obese.
Two out of every three adult Arkansans are overweight or obese, according to the CDC, and seven of the 10 most overweight states are located in the South.
It’s estimated that Americans will spend billions of dollars in 2016 on gym memberships, diets and other methods to improve their health. Total Health and other Jonesboro area fitness centers are prepared to fill this need.
The Trim Gym, which opened in the early 1970s in Jonesboro, has a robust membership of nearly 1,000 members, General Manager James Bickman told Arkansas Business. To accommodate the growing market, the gym will expand by 50,000-SF this summer, he said.
Almost half that space will be dedicated to a massive weightlifting and cardiovascular workout area, Bickman said. The gym will also offer a new running track, basketball courts, tennis courts and other amenities.
Across town is the St. Bernards Wellness Center. It opened almost four years ago and has experienced steady growth, Director Paul Pickens said, though an exact membership number wasn’t available.
“We’re still pretty new … we’re busting at the seams,” Pickens said.
And Planet Fitness, a national fitness franchise based in Newington, New Hampshire, opened a gym in Jonesboro in December.
Coming Back for More
Total Health was born when Hankins and Oleson, friends since childhood, decided they were a good fit as fitness partners. Both had experience in the health industry.
Hankins, 27, began her work more than a year ago when she was asked by a local gym to start a fitness class. She launched Rose’s Boot Camp, and membership grew.
Soon, Hankins began making and selling healthy food for her clients. The response was so overwhelming that she decided it was time to broaden her brand.
Hankins soon joined with Oleson, 29, who had decided three years to lose weight. Oleson had started a fitness class at a local church, and her clients encouraged her to take it a step further.
Working together at Total Health, the women have made chicken, salmon, cod, lean beef and turkey staples in their meal offerings. The dishes, made daily, are prepackaged and microwavable.
The menu offers healthy alternatives to common fare. For example, Mexican chicken is chock full of ingredients that are bad for you, Hankins said. At Total Health, sour cream and cheese are replaced with more nutritious options, including plain yogurt and spices.
Most patrons are surprised by how similar it tastes, Oleson said. The recipes are created in their off-site kitchen.
“It’s like a science lab,” Oleson said.
Besides the pre-made, ready-to-take-home meals, Total Health offers fitness classes in a gym in the back of the building. Business has been brisk, the owners said.
Starting a new business is scary, but so far it’s been good, Oleson and Hankins said.
“I’ve been shocked by how good our sales have been,” Hankins said. “We have to cook longer and more often than we thought we would. It’s a good problem to have.”
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