My uni side hustle turned into a billion dollar business – no landlord wanted us but Madonna was a customer within weeks
11/04/2024 04:53 AM
WHEN she first launched her business venture, no landlord wanted her.
But fast-forward to 2024 and Equinox’s Lavinia Errico has become the queen of wellness, with huge celebrities, such as legendary Madonna, as her clients.
Yearning for an alternative to happy hour after work – a daily routine for many New Yorkers in the 1980s – Lavinia and her brothers decided to start a fitness club they named Equinox.
As a young child, Lavinia, who comes from a large Italian family, often found herself dancing and performing – and very soon her mum took her to an all women’s gym.
”I would have butterflies in my stomach, [I was] so excited to go and I just loved to do the movements that they were doing and the exercising.
”I remember seeing the teacher and thinking ‘I wanna do that’.
”I would go home and I have three younger sisters, so I would put them in the room and say ‘I’m going to teach this exercise class’.”
Soon the at-home impromptu classes for her siblings became dancing classes at college, which Lavinia funded with donations from other fitness lovers.
”I guess you could say I had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit,” said Lavinia whose dad owned delicatessens ”all over New York City”.
This, she explained in an interview with TALA’s Grace Beverly, helped her learn about the transaction of money, being in front of customers and helping clients.
Her mum was ”a career woman” – which during the 1950s’ ”was unheard of”.
After returning back to New York, Lavinia was gobsmacked by the lack of gyms and a general fitness movement – something that was popping off in Los Angeles.
It was at this point she wanted to open up a workout studio with her siblings, Danny and Vito – but they encountered several obstacles.
”The landlords did not want exercise in their beautiful buildings.
”To them, that was not a prestigious tenant,” said Lavinia who, with her dreams shattered, went onto to finding a job in the beauty and perfume industry.
Despite this, her love for working out didn’t disappear and Lavinia would continue working out in underground bodybuilding gyms – where she feared getting ”some kind of skin disease” or getting hit on by blokes.
How much exercise should you do and when?
There are guidelines issued by the NHS and the Government regarding how much exercise people should do each day.
People should be active daily, and avoid sitting for long periods.
The NHS recommends an adults – those aged 19 to 64 – should aim for 150 minutes of "moderate intensity activity" a week.
This works out to 21 minutes a day, or 30 minutes five days a week.
Or, they could do 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week, which could be less than 11 minutes per day or 25 minutes three days a week.
Adults should also aim to do strength exercises twice a week, at least.
Examples of moderate-intensity activities include brisk walking, water aerobics, riding a bike, dancing, doubles tennis, pushing a lawn mower, hiking or rollerblading.
Examples of vigorous activities include running, swimming, riding a bike fast or on hills, walking up the stairs, sports, like football, rugby, netball and hockey, skipping, aerobics, gymnastics or martial arts.
Things like lifting heavy weights, sprinting up hills, spin classes or circuit training are considered very vigorous.
What time should you exercise?
Getting exercise into your day, no matter what time is a good idea.
But you may want to be more selective depending on your goal.
A 2023 US study on 5,285 middle-aged adults showed exercising between 7 and 9 am was the best time if you’re looking to lose weight.
Researchers found that early-bird gym goers had a lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference than those working out later.
A 2022 study led by Prof Paul J Arciero, Skidmore College, New York, found that the optimal time of day to get your kit on might differ according to your gender.
Prof Arciero said women wanting to lose fat around their belly and hips would do better to hit the gym in the morning, but those seeking to gain upper body strength or simply improve their mood might see more results from evening exercise.
The results were the opposite for men.
If you struggle to get to sleep, it’s been found that exercise in the morning may help, but exercise in the evening may help you to stay asleep.
Exercise, generally, can improve sleep quality.
Lavinia brought this up with her brothers who happened to knew a man who had an empty building, a former women’s gym, full of all the necessary equipment.
”The next thing I know, we open up that gym – it wasn’t even called Equinox yet.”
A year or so later, their side hustle ventured even further when the siblings unveiled the first-ever Equinox in 1991, which ultimately ”invented” the wellness and fitness culture in New York.
‘It’s cool, it’s sexy’
Slowly but surely, masses of people were attracted by the ”cool name and the cool look”.
”And because of the location that we were in [the Upper West Side], we had all of the soap opera stars coming.
”Then we had ABC – or one of the big networks. All of them were in there.
”I don’t think we were open for six months and […] we had Madonna, we had Michael Douglas – we just had all these big stars coming in there to work out.
”It’s hot, it’s sexy, it’s great-looking people, we had all the models come in.”
It’s not just the famous faces that attracted people to Equinox – their classes felt ”like you were at a party”.
”You were sweating – but you were alive. You felt so good.
”To watch that transformation of people getting so excited and turned on by getting fit and healthy – for us, that was just magical.”
Never feeling present
Although she was living the "American Dream", Lavinia realised that somewhere along the way she had lost the things that were most important to her – her essential self and identity, and she had also become a parent.
”I had my son on a Monday and the following Monday I had a marketing meeting in my apartment – and I had a C-section.
”And that’s how it was – I had him in 1994 and we sold it right at the of 2000.
”Those years – […] it was hard.
”That’s why I tell people – entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone,” Lavinia said, adding that she never felt present in the moment – even when attending an event at her son’s pre-school.
”I wasn’t there – my mind was somewhere else, thinking about all the stuff that I had to get done.
”And then I was at work feeling guilty that I’m not going to see my son today.”
At the peak of her success, Lavinia sold Equinox for millions and was instantaneously wealthy beyond her needs and dreams.
