“You can do it” reads the wall at Burn Boot Camp on Albuquerque’s West Side.
Carolotta Park, co-owner of Albuquerque’s first location of the national gym chain, brought Burn Boot Camp to Albuquerque with the hopes of “empowering” members. With her husband, Stephen Park, she opened the first Albuquerque Burn Boot Camp earlier this year at 10131 Coors NW.
And just a few months later, a second Burn Boot Camp is under construction at 8200 Carmel NE. AIC General Contractor is the contractor on both the original and new gyms.
Although she and her husband met in Albuquerque, Park discovered Burn Boot Camp in Atlanta. In 2020, Park started doing more than just working out at the gym; she started working there.
“I kind of wanted to see behind the curtain and see if it was as good as it actually seemed,” Park said. “Once I saw behind the scenes, yeah, it was all it was cracked up to be and more.”
The couple decided to move back to Albuquerque and start their own Rio Rancho franchise in 2021.
“We were really, really excited to bring this product back to New Mexico,” Park said.
Eric McDermott, the franchise owner of the new Burn Boot Camp location, was introduced to the gym by his wife. She started working out there a few years ago.
“Before she could barely lift like, you know, three pound weights and after a few months, she’s lifting eight and then 12,” McDermott said. “The amount of confidence that gave her.”
McDermott was surprised by the intensity of the workout at Burn Boot Camp in Rio Rancho — although McDermott is set to open his own franchise later this year.
McDermott, who splits his time between Albuquerque, where he grew up, and Charlotte, North Carolina, the headquarters of Burn Boot Camp, said he forgot about the adjustment to the altitude in his hometown when he first moved back.
“I was gasping for breath,” McDermott said.
The second gym is three years in the making. The pandemic put construction on hold, and he looked at dozens of locations before settling on the Northeast Albuquerque location.
He planned to open his franchise in January of this year. But the gym is “the project of delays,” McDermott said. He estimates that the gym will be open in October of this year.
Park said that Burn Boot Camp filled a gap in Albuquerque as many gyms and boot camps shut their doors during the pandemic. She’s excited to see more locations come to the city.
“We knew the value that it brought, and we’re excited to see more and more locations come to Albuquerque,” Park said.
McDermott is hoping to open another location in Albuquerque or Santa Fe soon.
Memberships are universal at Burn Boot Camp, meaning members can work out at any of the 185 open franchises around the country.
“It’s a workout, but our product isn’t the workout,” McDermott said. “It’s the confidence.”
