Meet Ericka Sommer of Project Rise Fitness in University Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ericka Sommer.

Ericka, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started my career in corporate HR. I was fascinated by people – their motivations, why they make decisions (or don’t) and being supportive to people’s goals. I have worked for Fortune 50 companies and small family-owned Asset Management companies – and people are people. It wasn’t until corporate America drove me into insomnia, outrageous levels of work stress, and feelings of not being able to unplug that I started to focus on my health.

I grew up in the Midwest, there’s not much to eat there other than Subway, Taco Bell and a Little Caesars $5 Hot N’ Ready. I found fitness as an avenue to regain control of my life outside of work. When I decided in 2014 to move to Colorado, I met my now-husband 5 months later. He had just started his own gym and I went with a friend to workout. It started small, but I wanted to help him. He needed organization, guidance and help with people management. I slowly started taking over aspects of the business and here we are five years later and I’m running the company! A life of trust and continuous failures & improvements has allowed me to quit my corporate career in early 2019 and build a business dedicated to helping people navigate their path of wellness and wholeness. My path to where I am now is certainly not linear – and that is the message I try to communicate daily with wellness as well.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth is a mindset! There have certainly been detours along the way – things have not always happened WHEN I wanted them to, and I have been fortunate enough to have a resilient mindset (& husband & team) that we all brace for impact together. There are a lot of sleazy fitness things out there. There are businesses trying to capitalize on you spending $30/month but NEVER showing up to what you pay for. A lot of our strategies as a business are about making money – I have mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay just like any other business owner – and having company values that align with our personal values make being a business a lot easier.

We have messed up (definitely!), but in the end we always have been able to course-correct and our community knows we are good people. Being a small business is HARD. People sometimes think we’re like 24-hour fitness or these other massive big-box gyms that have billions of dollars. I wanted to create a professionalism like these companies but with a home-grown feel. Being an entrepreneur isn’t about having a perfect track record – it’s about creating something that has immense value to every person you encounter, and that’s what we have at Rise. Our community makes the detours worthwhile.

Please tell us about Project Rise Fitness.
Project Rise Fitness is a wellness company focused mainly on group classes as well as personal training & nutrition. We believe in long-term, sustainable health and we teach that through application of our four pillars: fitness, nutrition, accountability & community. We specialize in long-term sustainable change and application of information. There is SO much information out in the world & internet & social media – some of it good, some of it wrong. How do you know who to listen to?!? It’s SO hard to be a consumer these days.

We make wellness fun and we make it last. We have four pillars in our foundation of long-term change: Fitness, Nutrition, Accountability & Community. These four things must all be addressed in order for the change to stick. I am most proud of our inclusivity and our community. The results of our people speak for themselves & it’s easily the accomplishment I smile about every day and night. Our community is amazing.

What were you like growing up?
I was very shy until middle of high school, but I was always very athletic. I played basketball and softball at the collegiate level. I was a social butterfly through college and into early adulthood and would go where the wind blew me. I lived in four states in three years and finally settled down in Colorado in 2014. The sunshine got me! I grew up in a very accomplishment-oriented house. My mother is very successful and had a very particular path, “drawn up for me”. I was an only child of a single mother, so that explains my wild imagination of what’s possible.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2115 S. Birch St.
  Denver, CO 80222
• Website: www.projectrisefitness.com
• Phone: 720-509-9847
• Email: ericka@projectrisefitness.com
• Instagram: @projectrisefitness
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/project-rise-fitness-denver?osq=project+rise+fitness

Image Credit:
Houseman Studios
Meril Shane Photography
Veteran Move Media

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