Female Voice Among the Masculinity in Functional Fitness
Revel Strength & Fitness is the Sole Women-owned Function Fitness Gym in Tulsa, OK
To be an entrepreneur and a business-owner is a challenge and a feat in itself. Being the sole owner and operator of a business AND a woman is another thing altogether. Christina Merlo runs the only woman-owned functional fitness gym in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Christina runs Revel Strength and Fitness, a brick and mortar gym located on Route 66 in Tulsa, and has done so since it’s opening in August 2016. Among her offerings is also an online program (Revel Fit Co.) which she started in response to Covid-19 in 2020. Revel Fit Co. is an online community of programming and support for those who can’t get into a regular gym, and instead have to workout at home/on their own. Her programming has multiple tracks and options for all walks of life and levels of fitness, which is probably why she claims Revel Fit Co. is “fitness anywhere for anyone”. On top of that, she is launching her new Revel 360 program, a full-service nutrition, health, lifestyle, and workout initiative. In honor of National Women’s Day, we wanted to take a moment and celebrate Christina and all that she has accomplished in her career.
Christina opened Revel Strength in 2016, and as she approaches her 5-year anniversary, we asked her what it is like running a gym on her own.
“Some days it is definitely difficult. The days are long and there are no vacations. I get up every day at 4:25 am and work well into the evening. Whether I’m at the gym coaching until after 7:00 pm, working on programming for Revel Fit Co. or sending emails to my nutrition clients, I am always on and going full speed. I have learned to survive on very little sleep.” she laughs.
We asked what drove her to open Revel in 2016?
“My passion is coaching. I don’t like to stand on the sidelines and clap for my clients. I want to be there helping tweak their form on weightlifting so they don’t get hurt, or help push them to get their very first pull-up. I think any coach can agree that we like to see the daily victories, but for me it’s more than that. It’s a part of me intrinsically. I am a coach 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I can’t turn it off. It comes as naturally to me as breathing and I feel like it is my mission in life to pass my knowledge on to others to help them lead a healthy life. I’ve definitely made a shift in the last few years from my competitive CrossFit days to coaching from a different place and perspective. I am not going to be the one to yell at a new member for not getting down far enough in their squat because that is the industry “standard”. Instead I am going to work with them one on one to make sure they understand the importance of their mechanics and help them work through their own personal range of motion. It’s part of my coaching style to see each client as their own individual person on their own unique journey and when they choose me to be their guide, well, thats the best part.”
Seeing her passion for fitness and health is apparent when you look closely at Revel, but we wanted to dive a bit deeper and know what she would tell other women like her.
“Wow. I don’t think you have enough time in the day for me to tell you all of the advice I have for other women,” she laughs. “I think there are two things that I would tell other women when they are thinking about going for their dreams. The first thing I would say is that they CAN do it on their own. They don’t need anyone else in their life to be successful or to achieve their dreams. They are just as smart, capable and bad ass as everyone else in that room. They may have to work 10 times harder but I’ll be damned if it isn’t worth it to stand on your own two feet and look at what you built all by yourself and be proud. Secondly that failure isn’t a stopping point, it is a launching pad. I’ve failed more times than I can count and sure, I let it get me down and I was devastated by it for a good while, but out of that failure always brought bigger and better things. Without that failure I wouldn’t have gotten to the point I am now and gained all of the experience to be successful. Don’t let failure stop you, let it feed that drive and passion. Women are strong beyond measure and I hope every little girl growing up lets that fire to be successful in whatever she chooses.”
As we celebrate all of the women-owned businesses today and every day make sure to support local and use this story and stories like these to remind you that you are powerful beyond belief. Your identity isn’t tied to whether or not you can be successful. And just like Christina, anything is possible when you work hard for it and never give up.