Back in 1999 (2 years after I bought BL), Little Deb found her way to BL. Truth is, I had taken Little Deb’s class at Total Workout, which was right across from the original BL on M-59. I knew she was an awesome instructor (who they referred to as The Terminator) but she was hesitant to come work at BL because the previous owner of BL and Total Workout had been partners and split. She associated me with that previous owner since I purchased it from her, but I kept hounding Deb to come in and just give us a try, and one day she walked through the door to take a class. She immediately realized that the vibe at this new and improved BL was very different than she remembered and she was all in, and has been ever since. That was back in 1999…and 23 years later she is still teaching 4-5 classes a week and never disappoints on kicking all of our asses!! You will often hear her say…”I don’t know what I would’ve done without my BL family.” Deb we feel the same about you!!
Other things you may or may not know about Deb is she has been managing the Detroit Gun Club for 45 years...if you think she is a bad ass at BL you should see her in action at the Gun Club. Yet, despite her exterior toughness, she is truly one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met. She is the mother of one and has 3 grandchildren and she actually became a grandma at the ripe old age of 42. Deb we are so glad you said yes and we so appreciate you and your many years of loyalty to BL!!
The second teacher we are highlighting this week is Micaela. One thing I didn’t know about Micaela is that she played soccer in high school…then when she went off to college at Wayne State she decided she needed to find a new way to workout. That’s when she found her way to BL in 2015 and in her words, “fell in love with group fitness.” Micaela started at BL teaching Zumba in 2019 and then later that same year, after going through Tanci’s Turn Up Certification program, decided her real love was Turn Up. Micaela also went through BL’s Yoga Teacher Training program in 2019/2020 and is currently setting up a date to do a feedback to be added to BL’s yoga sub list. So all this good stuff aside, I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you the extreme sorrow Micaela has endured these past couple years. You see, Micaela married the love of her life in October of 2021 only to lose him to cancer 7 months later. In fact, the 1 year anniversary of his passing was just a few weeks ago. Micaela, BL is honored to be a part of your journey and a part of your healing. We lift you up and applaud your resiliency. Thank you for inspiring us all and for continuing to make us sweat, laugh and even twerk (oh boy) in every one of your Turn Up classes. There’s always a reason to dance, and I know Josh would be so happy to see the extreme joy on your face as you dance your way through this next chapter of your life.
