Geneva High School alum starts own online, at-home fitness studio from Hawaii

When the pandemic forced gyms to close in 2020, Isabella Medina, who was working at a Geneva fitness club, was forced to teach her exercise classes online.

But as restrictions began to ease and fitness centers reopened, Medina, 25, saw that many people still wanted the flexibility of being able to work out at home.

So she created House of Bells, an online, at-home fitness studio that launched earlier this month.

“Two of my fellow instructors and I started doing our own classes on Zoom, and when the gyms reopened we found that people really like having the flexibility of not leaving their house to work out,” she said.

A 2014 graduate of Geneva High School, Medina knew years ago that she wanted to live somewhere warm, and packed up and moved to Hawaii during the pandemic, before launching her online studio.

“I am just a firm believer that fitness is for all, I think that it is hard to get people into fitness if they think it is impossible,” she said. “My goal is to always keep things high energy and fun at all times.”

Medina has been a certified group fitness instructor for more than three years. She teaches seven classes a week which range from 30 minutes to an hour, and says a pair of dumbbells is all that is needed.

“It is $24.95 a month, and if they can’t make the live [class] due to time differences, work or kids, all the videos get uploaded to my on-demand workout library where people have access to it 24/7,” she said.

Growing up running track and cross country, Medina says she struggled to stay motivated after she graduated from college, until she found the at-home workouts.

“I don’t have to be in the gym for three hours to see results, and for me it wasn’t about changing who I was I just wanted to change how I was moving my body,” she said.

Medina said her favorite part about working in the fitness industry is seeing people gain more confidence.

“Whether it’s with their workouts, or confidence in clothing they wouldn’t wear before, confidence the members gain – both mentally and physically – is very cool to watch. I hope to change the game in the fitness industry with these workouts.”

For more information or how to subscribe to House of Bells, visit https://app.arketa.co/houseofbells. Medina offers discounted memberships for students, teachers, nurses, first responders and military members.