Ossining New Business Spotlight: Anytime Fitness

OSSINING, NY — Every local business has a story worth sharing with the community. And that's the belief behind this series — to shine a spotlight on our local businesses, and to learn a little about the new ones. Meet Andre DeSa of Anytime Fitness Ossining.

BUSINESS: Anytime Fitness Ossining

OWNER: Andre DeSa

ADDRESS: Arcadian Shopping Center 218 S. Highland Avenue Ossining, NY 10562

PHONE: (914) 487-8033

QUESTION: What business are you in?

ANSWER: The business name is Anytime Fitness. It is a franchise with 5,000+ locations worldwide. Once you become a member at one you gain 24/7 access to every single location with a key fob that opens the Anytime doors. I initially wanted to open a gym in Ossining because there wasn’t any.

Therefore any type of gym would suffice, and I even was debating opening a private named gym. With fear of logistics and creating a brand that was not known I then decided on a franchise for peace of mind.

The franchise heavily encourages local outreach and running the business with a lot of community involvement. Which further justified my decision as they allow owners to mold and program their franchise location to the community and demographic in which it operates. Essentially it is a very local business that operates under a franchise brand.

Q: When did you open?

A: Opening Ossining’s first fitness facility was a process that took 30 months start to finish. We officially opened on Sept. 11, 2019 which means we will be 6 months old on March 11.

Q: Why start a business in this town?

A: Starting a business in Ossining was something I had been dreaming of because I was born and raised in Ossining by Portuguese immigrants. The dynamic of the community and the VIBE in our community is phenomenal. I am trilingual, therefore helping different races and cultures that are in our community is what motivates me. We are here to serve ANYONE and EVERYONE who is looking to achieve better health. Being able to service the very community I grew up in is very rewarding as I am able to see familiar faces or make some a connection somewhere with every single person who walks in.

Q: What has been your greatest challenge?

A: Greatest challenge so far is learning how to lead my staff. Being a young entrepreneur is not easy, especially when you come from previous jobs where you tend to be at the bottom of the chain of management or command. Being very humble and cautious in this position along with being younger than most people I am working with causes a lot of stress and insecurities. Which is something I need to work on being better at.

Q: How are you giving back to the community?

A: We have started to give back to the community by sponsoring a little league baseball team, making a 6-month membership donation to Ossining Matters, and recently we even donated a membership to the Ossining children’s center which is currently being built. Overall we just have intentions of being a wonderful and positive asset to the Ossining community. We strive to have our members walk out of our facility a little healthier and happier than when they came in!