How One Woman Built Topeka's Most Personal Gym | Functional Fitness
By INDIA YARBOROUGH | Photos by MELVINA TAYLOR
After navigating the fitness world for 20 years, earning recognition from the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB), Junno Gardenhire has embarked on a new type of fitness journey.
The Topeka native earlier this year opened her own gym, Functional Fitness, at 3526 SE 21st St. Much like the clients it serves, the gym, Junno says, is a work in progress.
She views the facility as being about 50% complete with plans for more equipment, an expansion to eventually offer group classes outside, and the ability to have more trainers run their businesses there. Still, Junno began offering gym memberships.
“We had a lot of people reach out to us, and they were like, ‘Hey, are you going to open yet?’” Junno said. “I was like, ‘No,’ because I didn’t have the equipment that I wanted. Everything just wasn’t set into place.
They were like, ‘I mean, you’ve got enough to get started, to get a good workout in. Do you work out there?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, yeah.’”
That was the spark she needed to invite the public inside.
“I put a message out on Facebook and Instagram and said, ‘If you don’t mind the construction, then I don’t mind you being here’ and sent the link out, and it just went from there,” she said.
Functional Fitness now has the posing room — a popular amenity among bodybuilders and fitness influencers — Junno envisioned. Walls have been painted and the owner’s office is built. The gym received its permits and passed all inspections in early July and held its official ribbon cutting in August.
TRAINER BUILDS BUSINESS WITHIN A BUSINESS
Abreanna “Bre” Parker has followed Junno’s journey closely, having worked with the Functional Fitness owner at a local commercial gym. She owns Mind & Body by Bre, a personal training and wellness business, through which she hopes to inspire others who want to take control of all aspects of their health — from mental wellness to physical fitness.
Bre has been in business for a few months. She officially launched in May, upon completing Omni Circle Group’s Emerge Community Business Academy, and needed space to coach and train clients.
“Junno and I worked together at a different gym a couple years ago,” Bre said. “I trusted her. When I saw that she was building her own gym, I’m like, ‘Oh, let me see what I can do to get in.’”
Bre was encouraged by Junno’s insistence that she could run Mind & Body by Bre however she wanted from her space inside Functional Fitness. Junno has provided valuable mentorship for Bre, in both business and fitness, encouraging her to “trust the process.”
An early adopter among members and one of two trainers operating out of the space, Bre says Junno’s gym is special.
“Hers is completely different from everyone else’s,” Bre said. “She has equipment that is upscale, that Topeka doesn’t even have, so she was definitely thinking outside the box.”
A DREAM YEARS IN THE MAKING
According to Junno, launching Functional Fitness meant fulfilling a vision she’s had for several years. The owner realized she wanted to create a space where people feel safe and comfortable investing in their fitness, no matter where they are in their journey.
Junno’s own journey began about two decades ago.
“I have two sons and a daughter. After I had her, I got really sick,” Junno said. “I was what some people would call skinny, but I wasn’t healthy. My husband has always worked out, so I kind of just got into it by tagging along with him at the gym. I got healthier, and then it was, ‘Well, I could do more.’”
Her husband started competing as a bodybuilder about 10 years ago. She joined him at a couple of his shows and was inspired.
“Seeing women with muscles, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, I love the way that looks,’” Junno said.
She decided to take the leap, began working out harder, dialed in on her nutrition, hired a coach and did “all the things.”
“I’ve been competing for eight years,” she said. “I love being in that community. It was motivating to me.”
She remembers telling her husband, “One day, we’re going to have our own gym.”
As the couple traveled between fitness competitions and for their children’s sports, they visited gyms across the country. Junno began taking notes, jotting down ideas from her favorite stops.
“We called it gym hopping, instead of bar hopping,” she said. “I have this dream book here, and it’s just filled with different equipment over the years that we’ve seen and wanted to have in our gym.”
Around 2020, Junno and her husband put together a five-year plan that would allow them to open their own business. It included Junno securing her IFBB Pro Card and becoming a trainer, because she wanted to open with intention.
WHAT SETS FUNCTIONAL FITNESS APART
Functional Fitness membership is $40 monthly, with no sign-up fee, annual fee or long-term contracts. A day pass to test the space is $15.
“Coming to the gym should be a stress relief, and if you have to worry about how you’re going to pay for your gym membership, that’s a stressor. I don’t want to be part of that stressor,” Junno said.
When Junno’s realtor-turned-client showed her the building the gym is now in, she knew it was the one. In fact, she purchased two adjacent buildings, demolishing a wall to create one cohesive space, with upper-body equipment on one side and lower-body equipment on the other.
The building feels secluded and quiet, she added, and clients have 24/7 key-fob access 365 days a year.
The layout and equipment are very intentional, Junno said. All equipment is hand-picked and designed to last a lifetime.
“When we sat down with different vendors to pick equipment, it was always a package,” she said. “I don’t want a package, because I know in the package you get things no one uses. We wanted to specifically pick things that we knew people would benefit from.”
At the end of the day, Junno said the community of people, not the equipment, is what really sets Functional Fitness apart.
“Everyone who comes in here has the same goal, and that’s to be a better version of themselves — to be stronger, to be healthier,” she said. “We all look different, but we all have the same goal. I love that that brings everyone together.”
