Blog

Meet the Merchant
Owner & Director: Tangerine Curry-Dinnick
Company: Evolve Functional Fitness
Motto: “Find the Love”

Tangerine’s love for education, fitness, and helping people have transcended into Evolve Functional Fitness.

The former teacher made it her mission to create a place where families can come and work out without any excuses, after noticing a startling trend among the youth.

“I wanted to do my little part to give back by creating a space that could help to change this alarming obesity rate that we have here in The Bahamas. Our kids are reportedly number one in the region, and approximately number five in the world. That’s why I’ve made a point to incorporate a program just for home-school kids,” she explained.

“As a teacher by profession, I still wanted to educate, but this time around, the focus would be on fitness. The beauty of functional training, which we offer at Evolve, is that it’s something that everyone can do, from the day you are born until you are 110.”

Tangy says the name Evolve speaks to not only her fitness journey but that of her clients who use the Rosetta Street and Montrose Avenue facility. She tried out a few other names, but that’s the one that stuck.

“I found that you could do a lot with the word as evolution is happening all around us, and it’s something that we all will experience throughout our lifetime. So, I started playing with the logo and seeing that in the word evolve was love, and for me, I’ve always tried to practice kindness and being there for people. I consider myself to be a very giving person, so the name fits me perfectly,” she shared.

“It’s imperative to find love in what you’re doing, especially when it comes to fitness. Let’s be real; fitness isn’t fun. No one enjoys working out, but they do enjoy the way they feel after they work out. In my evolution, I’ve managed to find love in working out. And at Evolve, you can share that love with your family. You can love yourself and the community through wellness.”

Apart from its superior customer service, Tangy believes what sets Evolve apart from other gyms is that they embrace the idea of functional training and that anyone who walks through the door can benefit from their offerings.

“We cater to everyone at Evolve. We’ve got a swimming pool, where we’re teaching an important life skill, how to swim. Unfortunately, it’s a skill that most Bahamians never acquire. Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise. I love swimming, so I had to put it here,” Curry-Dinnick said.

She added that “We cater to therapy patients, by offering band therapy and hydrotherapy classes.
We have clients that are amputees that are stroke survivors. It’s just amazing to see that no matter who walks through our door, we can help them in some way, which I love, and then to see their independence come back is fantastic.”

“We work with six-month-old babies in the pool. An Evolve customer is anyone that walks through our door. If I could help you, I will or try to guide you on where we can help you. It’s all about being able to offer a variety of classes to choose from that anyone can do at any time.”

Tangy says she and her staff pride themselves on making clients feel at home.

“We’re committed to getting to know every single one of my clients because I don’t want anyone feeling judged or uncomfortable while they’re here at Evolve. We want them to succeed. We’ve found that sometimes, just having a conversation shows a person that you care about them. And we care about our community.”

Curry-Dinnick hopes to build on the momentum she started a year and a half ago when she opened Evolve Functional Fitness, providing clients with a one-stop-shop for all their fitness needs.

She is now looking at becoming a cashless facility, which will undoubtedly improve a customer’s experience at Evolve.

“When I built Evolve, it was always my intent to be a cashless facility, but I couldn’t find any options at the time, or if I did, it would’ve cost me an arm and a leg, so it wasn’t worth doing. Currently, many of my clients use their cards or what they’ll do is put cash on their account, and then we take it. No one wants the hassle of bringing their wallet with them to the gym. And I refuse to accept a credit card payment for $1.12.”

“So, when Kanoo approached me with their digital solution, in a scenario like this, a $1.12 purchase would make sense. Everyone has their phone on them, always, even in the gym. So, offering my clients Kanoo works for me. Plus, seeing all of the different places where I could use it was intriguing to me.”

“It’s a fascinating concept, one I know that my customers are going to love. Kanoo and Evolve are truly the perfect fit.”

Life just got easier with Kanoo.