THUNDER BAY — Natalie Lehto, the owner of Within You, a local lifestyle and fitness studio, was named one of Canada’s top trainers after being nominated last fall.
Lehto said she still feels very lost for words about how she feels about winning the award.
“It was a little bit surreal and to be honest, at the beginning, I very much hesitated with the information. I wasn’t really sure if this was real or legit,” said Lehto.
Over the months, she said she received emails asking questions to narrow down the finalist and it wasn’t until January the editor and author of Impact Magazine called her to tell her she had won.
“I honestly remember just bawling and crying and being so taken aback that this was even a possibility for me,” said Lehto.
Lehto’s studio offers group classes, pilates, strength, stretch and outdoor and indoor boot camps. As a trainer, she also does one-on-one training and group sports-specific dryland training.
“I’ve worked with hockey teams, ski teams, curlers, a lot of soccer players, so it’s a little bit of a mixed bag from private training to group training to overall classes for anybody of any ability and any age,” said Lehto.
As a Francophone, she also offers training in speaking French and works with private clients seeking a French-speaking trainer.
“I definitely love working and being able to utilize my French within the studio as well,” said Lehto.
In her heart, she explained that she feels this recognition and award may boost her ability to provide all of these different services.
“I hope that if I keep the focus of being there for my clients and continuing to focus on what I do as a passion that these opportunities will continue to arise and I just have to trust in that as long as I keep putting the work behind it,” said Lehto.
She added that she feels humbled by winning this award and proud of the accomplishments that she has done, but it’s within and because of her community.
“I feel like this is this award is not just mine. It’s definitely the Within You’s community,” said Lehto.
“And over the years, I have loved being able to create this space, this safe space for any ability, any age, to be able to all come together and work on our own lifestyle and fitness goals without being in a competitive, judgmental environment and really just working on our own strengths and abilities.”
Lehto said she feels really proud that this is where the Within You community has led them and loves that.
Mary Nucci, a regular client for Lehto’s boot camp, was at one of her classes last week, where everybody was congratulating Lehto on her award.
“She’s just an inspiration, right, and she works hard and she’s very, very passionate about the work that she does,” said Nucci.
She said it’s great to see someone has acknowledged her at a higher level for her achievements, accomplishments and passion for training women and people in general.
“It’s very, very evident that she’s very deserving of this award based on what she does in our community. How she’s helped not only me, but many people in this community become stronger, become fitter, help them with their self-esteem (and) help them with their confidence,” said Nucci.
She said her scope of work has also really broadened and impacted so many people in the community.
Nucci joined Lehto’s classes after seeing one of her classes while walking at Hillcrest Park and being impressed with the range of ages. She said it was always about seeing everybody succeed and do well.
While her classes were very challenging and difficult at the beginning, with Lehto’s support, she said, over time, her endurance and understanding of the workouts and the techniques became much better.
“She was always there, not only supporting me but supporting everyone else in the class,” said Nucci.
