In a sun-washed suite above South Street, Cathy Crist is trying to solve a problem she knows intimately: how to persuade women who spent decades caring for everyone else to finally spend time — and money — on themselves.
Crist, founder of G’lean, has recently relocated her women-focused wellness studio to 40 South St., Suite 300, a move she calls “hugely successful” for the roughly 30 members who have followed her through the transition. Two studios allow multiple classes at once. A far-infrared sauna is quickly becoming part of members’ routines. A body-scanning system offers data — and, in Crist’s words, a “raw” look at visceral fat, muscle mass, and other measurements.
Now comes the harder part: bringing new people through the door.
“It is really hard to get new people in here,” Crist said in an interview. “Women of my generation really have trouble putting aside time and money to take care of themselves.”
G’lean’s programming is deliberately wide-ranging, designed for women who want options beyond a single-style gym: strength training, barre, yoga, and Pilates, along with TRX and BOSU workouts. Crist is also introducing Gyrokinesis, with hopes of adding Tai Chi.
But the studio is selling more than exercise. Crist describes G’lean as a comprehensive wellness space that combines movement with recovery tools and accountability systems — and a social structure meant to keep members returning.
Small group classes are capped at eight, she said, which allows coaches to modify workouts and reduce fear of injury — a concern she hears often from women who are over 40, rehabbing surgeries, or easing back into regular movement.
“It’s that mind shift,” she said. “It isn’t about competing with a younger generation. It’s about learning how to maintain and live your next stage of life to the fullest.”
At the center of G’lean’s recovery offerings is a far-infrared sauna that includes red light therapy. The studio also uses SHAPESCALE, a scanning system Crist said provides a three-dimensional image of the body along with detailed composition measurements that can be compared over time.
“It gives everybody probably more information than they want to know,” she said, “with a photorealistic image of themselves.”
Crist said the studio plans to make certain services available to the public as a way to diversify revenue without raising costs for members. She also designed a “flex room” to host wellness practitioners — such as Reiki or meditation providers — who can book the space for private clients.
The studio even has cardio equipment that can be pre-booked, and a filtered hydration machine with still or sparkling options and electrolytes.
Crist chose the name G’lean to emphasize the word “glean” — to gather something bit by bit — and she uses that definition as a way to explain what she wants members to do with their health.
“Making yourself healthy is not an easy task,” she said. “It’s an ongoing task. It requires attention. It requires commitment.”
That philosophy extends to nutrition. G’lean supports what Crist calls a “clean eating” approach aimed at reducing inflammation and encouraging sustainable weight loss without supplements. The studio offers weekly meetings and nutrition guidance, she said, alongside tracking and accountability through SHAPESCALE.
Crist believes many women in the “late baby boomer” cohort grew up in households shaped by convenience foods and demanding schedules, making long-term habits difficult to unwind. She argues that those patterns — plus a cultural expectation to put family first — can create paralysis when it comes to starting a health routine.
“Unwinding those habits that have been with them since they were children is a very, very difficult thing,” she said. “It takes an ‘aha’ moment to realize that nobody is going to take care of their health except themselves.”
She suspects younger generations may embrace her model even more readily as they age. “Your generation is working out all the time,” she told the interviewer, comparing today’s young adults and their food awareness to earlier decades.
G’lean offers a founding membership that Crist says provides unlimited access to classes and studio events for a flat monthly fee. While some prospective customers balk at the price, Crist argues the value becomes clear when members attend multiple times per week.
“It’s an unlimited program,” she said, noting that frequent attendance can bring the per-session cost down sharply.
Crist is also candid about the precarious math of running a small, independent studio. She is not looking for “a million members,” she said, and hopes to cap total membership around 100 to 120 to keep classes accessible and the atmosphere calm. But she needs enough people soon to justify renewing the lease.
“This is not a corporate studio,” she said. “This is a single-owned studio. … I’m not looking to make millions of dollars. I’m looking to keep something that I feel is a community asset open and available.”
Beyond classes, Crist is building programming meant to feel like a community forum. The studio hosts “Conversations in Health,” a speaker series open to the public for a nominal fee. Recent sessions included a physical therapist, a functional medicine coach, and a dietitian discussing bone health and diet strategies for women concerned about osteopenia or osteoporosis.
The goal, Crist said, is to create a place where women can learn, share resources, and feel supported — not judged — as they take on what can feel like daunting lifestyle changes.
When women walk into G’lean, Crist said she wants them to feel “excited” and “welcome,” but especially to feel that they can stop being self-conscious.
“It’s a place where they immediately let go of being self-conscious,” she said. “This is now my group.”
And for the women Crist hopes to reach — those still waiting for the “right” time — her message is simple: there may never be a perfect moment to start, but there is a moment to begin.
“You just got to do it,” she said.
