W O M E N ’ S H I ST O RY
KILLEEN DAILY HERALD | SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2024
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Cove woman turns love of physical fitness into a thriving business helping others BY JOHN CLARK HERALD CORRESPONDENT
KEMPNER — Years ago, when longtime Copperas Cove school teacher Trish Stoddard lived in California, she was overweight, out of shape, and none too happy about it. Today, the mother of five and grandmother of five is not only a picture of physical fitness, she is a personal trainer, group instructor, and owner of Sweat at Cove Fitness in Copperas Cove, a family-owned facility with around 1,000 members that includes treadmills, free weights, ellipticals, state-of-theart machines, two group fitness studios, an indoor cycling studio, tanning beds, saunas, jacuzzis and a juice bar. When she bought the business three years ago, it was literally a dream come true. “My dream has always been to own a gym — always,” said Stoddard, an educator for 27 years who finished her career teaching physics and coaching the swim team at Copperas Cove HighSchool and took over the gym in 2021. Born in Reno, Nevada, Trish graduated from high school in El Dorado Hills, California in 1985. After getting married, having a couple of children, gaining weight and finding it difficult to lose, she joined a gym, started a nutrition counseling program, and participated in step aerobics. “I had kind of an ‘aha mo-
COURTESY PHOTO | TONNIA PHELPS
Trish Stoddard, a longtime Copperas Cove school teacher and now owner of the Sweat at Cove Fitness gym, teaches 19 group fitness classes a week.
ment,’” Trish said, “and decided I needed to do something.” She was making progress when the U.S. Army assigned
her now ex-husband to Fort Hood (Fort Cavazos) and they moved to Central Texas. As soon as she arrived, she started looking for a gym and found Ace Athletics, which was located in the Town Square shopping center and later moved to its new location and renamed Sweat at Cove Fitness. As determined as she was to get in shape, like a lot of people, she struggled sometimes. “I must admit, I was on a rollercoaster back then,” Trish said. “You know, life gets in the way and so you stop going to the gym. Then you start back; then you stop; then you start again. Then, the girl at Ace Athletics asked me did I want to teach a step aerobics class. I was, like, ‘I don’t know how to teach step aerobics.’ “She said she would teach me, and once I started teaching classes, it was like, ‘I don’t feel like going to the gym but I have to because I have to teach my class.’ That helped keep me more motivated and more consistent. “One class turned into five, which turned into 19 classes a week (she currently teaches).” Finding success in the quest for physical fitness takes two primary things, Trish says: consistency and patience. “A lot of people know they want to get fit,” she said. “They just have to take that first step and get here. That is why our sign-up room has a sign on the door that says, ‘The First Step.’
Sometimes people say, ‘I’m not sure if I want to sign up today,’ and I’m like, ‘Look, you’ve taken the first step. You got here. Obviously, you want to get fit, so what’s holding you back?’ “Once you get here, consistency is the key. You don’t have to work out 10 hours a day or do a thousand burpees or anything crazy. Do a little bit every day and you get stronger and more fit. You’ll feel better and that will motivate you to do more, and eventually you’ll get to where you want to be. “A lot of people want to get results right away. They join the gym and they’re consistent for a month or two and then they give up because they’re not getting the results they want. I ask them, “How long did it take you to gain weight?’ “They might say something like, ’Nine years.’ “OK, well, you’ve got to give yourself some time to take it off.” Some say the hardest part about getting in shape is simply showing up. One way to find — and keep — that motivation is to figure out one’s “why.” What is the underlying reason for wanting to start an exercise program? “A lot of people are motivated by the aesthetics of physical fitness — they want to look good — but as you get older, you start to realize it’s really about your health,” Trish said. “It’s when you go to the doctor and get your blood work and everything looks
good. It’s when I want to go with my grandkids to San Antonio and run up and down the River Walk and not be out of breath. If the kids want to go hiking, you don’t want to be, like, ‘Oh, I can’t do that.’ “Everybody is motivated by different reasons. I’ve learned over time that some people come to the gym to work hard. They want to work out; they want to sweat. Some people come to the gym because they need a break from their kids, or they want to socialize with their friends. “It doesn’t matter what brings you in, as long as you show up and move your body. That’s the key.” After so many years in the fitness industry, making the transition from employee to owner has been fairly smooth but not without the occasional bump in the road, Stoddard says. It has been a lot of work, but she loves it and the support and encouragement she gets from her husband of 19 years, Jeff, is a big part of helping her realize her dream. “He supports me in every way,” Trish said. “I also couldn’t do it without my great staff. “I’ve been working at this gym for 25 years now. I went from an instructor to group fitness manager to general manager and now owner. I always thought, ‘If I ran this place, I would do it this way or that way. Now, I get to do it that way.’ “I really do hope I’ve made improvements and made it better.”