Couple celebrates 10 years of fitness

AUPACA – A dream was realized ten years ago for a local Waupaca couple when they miraculously won a $5,000 giveaway and they used the money to build a studio to start a new journey in the world of health and wellness.
Aaron Allie opened Upper Room fitness in 2015 along with his wife, Alleigh, specializing in personal training sessions as well as Pilates, group exercising and youth sports conditioning.
Aaron’s interest in exercise began in high school when he lost 50 pounds through things like running, basketball and lifting weights.
In college Aaron studied communications and aspired to work as a radio disc jockey or news and sports anchor for local television.
After graduation he found that the competition for employment was fierce and had trouble getting a job. He landed a sales job at a company out of Neenah, where his manager asked if he would be able to help with the company newsletter featuring fitness topics.

The newsletter, Aaron said, took up most of his time as it was something he enjoyed researching and writing.
Aaron said he quickly learned that office life was not for him, which coincided with losing the job due to funding being pulled for the position he was working in.
Aaron said he looked at losing his job as an opportunity to pursue fitness instead, being able to buy some books and start working towards his personal training certification.
One day, his neighbor knocked on his door and gave him a job advertisement for a personal training position in Oshkosh, something the neighbor knew Aaron had been working towards.
He applied and got the job and worked as a personal trainer in Oshkosh for a number of years. His boss at the time wanted the training sessions to be within the gym but Aaron wanted to take them outdoors for kayaking, hiking and biking.
During his time in Oshkosh he met his wife, Alleigh, who he married in 2010, after which they decided to move to Colorado after someone had suggested it.
Aaron took a few odd jobs around Denver, but found them to be unfulfilling, namely a job selling satellite television to Best Buy customers. He quit after a day.
Aaron said he instead focused on his personal training business, which he dove into by wrapping his truck in an advertisement for personal training, which he did, estimating about 96,000 people were able to see the advertisement everyday in the greater Denver area.
One notable client from Colorado enlisted Aaron to improve his strength to walk his daughter down the aisle as well as complete the daddy-daughter dance her wedding.
“The last workout session before the dance I got the song and went into this other room and I danced with him,” Aaron said.
Alleigh said that Aaron started getting very busy, travelling to clients due to not having any space of their own to have clients come work out, as they started thinking about the long term plan of getting a studio to work in.
They moved back to Waupaca in 2013, after the birth of their first child, AJ, when they both decided they wanted to raise their family in the Midwest.
They landed on Waupaca after looking through and searching for what may be the best option to move to and shortly after moving Aaron started getting clients, due to his truck still being wrapped in his personal training advertisement.
Soon after moving to Waupaca someone suggested they talk to Tim Lencki at Adventure Outfitters in Waupaca, which Lencki said he may have some space for him.
“He said ‘There’s a room upstairs,’” Aaron said. “We had to cut my way up there, because it was boarded off, but it was like I had envisioned the studio, I wanted long and high ceilings.”
Aaron knew immediately he had found his future studio, he then started working at Adventure Outfitters, taking lunch breaks and reading a bible in the space when he could.
Aaron was still travelling for training clients, when he opened his email one morning to find an email from Lowe’s that changed him and Alleigh’s life forever.
Aaron said he called the number in the email to find that the email was real and that his name was drawn for $5,000 worth of gift certificates to Lowe’s. His next call was to Lencki telling him he is ready to start working on the studio.
“I worked and worked and was somehow driven enough to keep going and this is what we got,” Aaron said. “I worked a year and a half painting, sanding floors … I pulled 200 yards of barbed wire out and just kept plugging away.”
Alleigh was not far behind Aaron in his journey, working extremely long and stressful hours led her to burnouts and hospital stays.
Alleigh decided to pursue her personal training certificate as well and join Aaron at the Upper Room, running her first class during Strawberry Fest 2017 made her fall in love with her new career.
Alleigh is focused on using a Pilates Reformer, as well as Barre (low-impact, full-body workout blending ballet, Pilates, and yoga) and personal training sessions.
Aaron and Alleigh have continued to build a health and wellness legacy in the Waupaca area, along with their family that has grown with the addition of Joabie and Lukas, along with AJ.
More information on pricing, personal training or classes can be found by emailing Aaron at aaron@personaltraineraaron.com.