It's a familiar story among those who open their own businesses – they are good at what they do, but they can imagine positive changes in the way they do that work.

Jen Wagner and Sarah Foden have created a partnership and a new boutique wellness studio in Owen Sound to build in just those changes.

Sarah is a certified fitness instructor who had a baby during the pandemic, so it was the right time to consider how to best change the way she did the work she loves.

Jen has worked for years at Hair Body and Soul. She started to look at real estate listings when the building that housed that business was up for sale (it has since been sold but the business is staying put), and in the process found a great space on 6th Street East at 7th Avenue.

Over the past two years, Jen and Sarah learned a lot about staying connected with their clients, and people were telling them they had been driving as far as Sauble Beach for services like theirs. They asked for a wholistic studio here in Owen Sound.

The space itself is bright and welcoming – with a gym on one side and a calm yoga space on the other.

On the fitness side, Sarah offers flexible one-on-one training to meet individual goals - for athletes, body-builders, or those new to a gym. She can accommodate pre-booked groups of two to ten, even if you have different fitness levels.

Jen's yoga is also designed to meet you where you are, including shorter, smaller introductory classes and pre-natal yoga for the second and third trimester. A Saturday morning class - cheekily called Namis'tay and Play - is for kids 4 to 10. Including yoga, games and crafts, this session gives parents a solid three hours to do whatever you do for a morning when your children are happily occupied.

All sessions are pre-booked online and if you're not quite ready for a public space, one-on-one virtual services are still available. You can reach them at [email protected]

Happy Yoga and Fitness has its official grand opening on Friday, April 8 – we'll let you know the details on our social media pages and you can find Happy Yoga and Fitness on Facebook  and  Instagram.

photos and interviews by Madeline Matcheski