No landlord wanted my extra income, but Madonna became a customer within weeks
WHEN she first launched her business, no landlords wanted her.
But fast forward to 2024, Lavinia Errico of Equinox has become the queen of wellness, with major celebrities, such as the legendary Madonna, as her clients.
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Longing for an alternative to after-work happy hour – a daily routine for many New Yorkers in the 1980s – Lavinia and her brothers decided to start a fitness club they called Equinox.
As a young child, Lavinia, who comes from a large Italian family, was often dancing and performing – and soon her mother took her to an all-female gym.
”I would have butterflies in my stomach, [I was] so excited to go and I just loved doing the moves they did and the exercises.
“I remember seeing the teacher and thinking, ‘I want to 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 impromptu classes at home for her siblings became dance classes at college, which Lavinia funded with donations from other fitness enthusiasts.
“You could say I had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit,” said Lavinia, whose father owned delicatessens “all over New York City.”
This, she explained in an interview with TALA’s Grace Beverly, has helped her learn more about the transaction of money, being in front of clients and helping clients.
Her mother was “a career woman” – which was “unheard of” in the 1950s.
After returning to New York, Lavinia was stunned by the lack of gyms and a general fitness movement – something that was emerging in Los Angeles.
At that time, she wanted to open a training studio with her siblings, Danny and Vito, but they encountered several obstacles.
”The landlords did not want any movement in their beautiful buildings.
“For them, that wasn’t a prestigious tenant,” says Lavinia, who, after her dreams fell apart, took a job in the beauty and perfume industry.
Despite this, her love for exercise did not disappear and Lavinia continued to train in underground bodybuilding gyms – where she feared getting ‘some kind of skin disease’ or being hit by men.
How much exercise should you do and when?
There are guidelines issued by the NHS and government on how much exercise people should do every day.
People should be active every day and avoid sitting for long periods of time.
The NHS recommends that adults – aged between 19 and 64 – should aim for 150 minutes of ‘moderate intensity activity’ per week.
This equates to 21 minutes per day, or 30 minutes five days per week.
Or they can do 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week, which can be less than 11 minutes per day or 25 minutes three days per week.
Adults should also aim to do strength exercises at least twice a week.
Examples of moderate-intensity activities include brisk walking, water aerobics, cycling, dancing, doubles tennis, pushing a lawn mower, walking or skating.
Examples of vigorous activities include running, swimming, cycling fast or up hills, climbing stairs, sports such as football, rugby, korfball and hockey, jumping rope, 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?
It’s a good idea to get exercise into your day, no matter what time.
But you may want to be more selective depending on your goal.
A 2023 American study of 5,285 middle-aged adults found that exercising between 7 and 9 a.m. was the best time if you want to lose weight.
Researchers found that people who hit the gym early had a lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference than those who worked out later.
A 2022 study led by Prof. Paul J. Arciero, Skidmore College, New York, found that the optimal time of day to put on your gear may differ depending on your gender.
Professor Arciero said women who want to lose fat around their stomach and hips would be better off hitting the gym in the morning, but those who want to strengthen their upper body or simply improve their mood may see more results from evening exercises.
In men, the results were reversed.
If you have trouble falling asleep, it has been found that exercise in the morning can help, but exercise in the evening can help you stay asleep.
Exercise can generally improve sleep quality.
Lavinia brought this up with her brothers who happened to know a man who had an empty building, a former women’s gym, full of all the necessary equipment.
“Next thing I know, we’re opening that gym, which wasn’t even called Equinox yet.”
About a year later, their sideline ventured even further when the siblings unveiled the very first Equinox in 1991, which ultimately “invented” New York’s wellness and fitness culture.
‘It’s cool, it’s sexy’
Slowly but surely, a lot of people were attracted by the ”cool name and the cool look”.
”And because of the location where we were [the Upper West Side]all the soap stars came.
”Then we had ABC – or one of the big networks. They were all there.
”I don’t think we were open for six months […] we had Madonna, we had Michael Douglas – we just had all these big stars coming to train there.
“It’s hot, it’s sexy, they’re great people, we got all the models in.”
It’s not just the famous faces that drew people to Equinox; their classes felt like being at a party.
”You sweated, but you lived. You felt so good.
”To see that transformation of people becoming so excited and excited about getting fit and healthy – for us it was just magical.”
You never feel present
Although she was living the American Dream, Lavinia realized that somewhere along the way she had lost the things that mattered most 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 it in 1994 and we sold it in the early 2000s.
”Those years – […] it was difficult.
“That’s why I tell people: entrepreneurship is not for everyone,” Lavinia said, adding that she never felt present in the moment — even when she attended an event at her son’s preschool.
”I wasn’t there; my mind was elsewhere, thinking about all the things I had to do.
“And then I sat at work feeling guilty because I wouldn’t see my son today.”
At the height of her success, Lavinia sold Equinox for millions and was immediately richer than she needed or could dream of.
