We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Ames and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, how does your business help the community?
Burn Boot Camp’s mission is to ignite global health transformation by empowering women to maximize the quality of their lives. We seek to build confidence, happiness and disciplines that transcend fitness into a community of mentally, emotionally and physically strong families. We vow to educate, influence and inspire every life we touch with knowledge in our heads, love in our hearts, strength in our bodies and passion in our souls.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Allison and I started as members of a Burn Boot Camp in Charlotte, NC and fell in love with the supportive community on day one. That is truly what sets Burn apart from other boutique-style fitness centers. Our trainers took the time to know our name, provide modifications for our current fitness levels, and challenge us to push beyond any limits we had set for ourselves. I felt challenged and supported every workout, and always left the gym feeling proud. We saw how Burn empowered women and moms specifically to focus on themselves, and helped us all build strong bodies and minds so we could show up powerful in all aspects of life.

We decided to open our own location in Oceanside, CA so we could make an impact on others the way Burn had impacted us. We wanted to show Southern California how special Burn is, and build a diverse, strong, community of women. We finally got our doors open in March of 2020, and were shut down 2 weeks later due to COVID. We were determined to keep our dream alive, and moved our workouts (& basically all of our equipment) outdoors, where we rallied together in movement.

Having our business close after 2 years of trying to get open after only 2 weeks was one of the hardest things we have had to overcome. It felt like we were constantly battling to stay afloat. But we knew we had to do everything in our power to keep our dream alive. Burn Boot Camp is about growth, and helping people celebrate their bodies in any shape or form. We strive to be a gym that facilitates badass women cheering on other badass women. Burn teaches us how to take up more space in the world as confident humans, instead of focusing on the number on the scale.

We are so proud to say that we survived 2020, and went on to purchase another location in Poway in 2021!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego has so much to offer for visitors! Aside from the beach, a few of my favorite places to take friends/family who have never been here before are the San Diego Zoo & Safari Park, Torrey Pines hiking trails, Old Town (food & margs at Casa De Reyes), and riding bikes along Mission Bay! I currently live in Carlsbad Village, so favorite eating & drinking spots include the Naked Cafe for brunch, Pronto’s for a delicious, simple lunch, and Campfire or Wrench & Rodent for dinner. You also can’t miss a cinnamon roll & coffee from The Goods. Best drink spots are Pure Project for craft beer, or Frankie’s for a cocktail!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We dedicate our shoutout to Lindsay Bushnell. Her gym in Charlotte, NC is the reason we fell in love with the brand and its mission.

Website: www.burnbootcamp.com/poway-ca

Instagram: burnbootcamppowayca

Facebook: Burn Boot Camp Poway CA

Image Credits
@emmaakphotographs @cherylpolkphotography

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.