LYNNFIELD — Not that long ago, popular fitness instructor and workout apparel phenomenon Kelly Brabants was pursuing an entirely different career.
The born-and-bred Bostonian grew up in Easton as a competitive dancer, later following her passion for performing to New York, then Los Angeles. As a professional, Brabants worked with some of the biggest choreographers in the business, but after she realized that living paycheck-to-paycheck wasn’t for her, she quit the industry and moved back to Boston to pursue a personal trainer certification.
“I wanted a more stable career, and I always had a business mind. I wanted to do something big, but I didn’t know what it was,” Brabants said.
Now the 29-year-old Brabants, who has twice been named by ClassPass as Boston’s Most Motivating Fitness Instructor, is seeing her success bloom in the form of her sixth pop-up store.
The brand’s 920 MarketStreet location, which opened Sunday, will be at the location for nine months, making it Brabants’ longest-running pop-up ever.
In addition to her popular fitness classes — which combine a high-intensity workout with fun, upbeat music — Brabants has grown a successful side-business selling her unique leggings and other workout-wear.
The brightly colored, textured leggings are a nod to Brabants’ Brazillian roots. It all started with a lime-green pair her mother brought back for her from Brazil.
“I always gravitated towards these leggings that my mom got me. So many girls were asking me (where I got them from) until finally I was like, ‘I need to make my own pants and call them Booty By Brabants’. I wanted to create my perfect pair of leggings that I know will fit,” she said.
She thought the apparel aspect of her brand would remain a strictly online operation, but that changed when she met WS Development CEO Jeremy Sclar.
Sclar first took notice of Brabants when he stumbled across one of her Saturday morning outdoor workouts in the Seaport district in Boston. The sea of 300 girls, nearly all of them wearing Brabants’ vibrantly-colored workout wear, caught his eye.
“After my class he came up to me. He’s such a down-to-Earth guy, he was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans and he said ‘you’re a superstar.’
I had no idea who he was,” Brabants said. “I just gave him a big, sweaty hug, and he said, ‘I want to see you in my office next week. I would love to have you involved in this pop-up thing we’re doing,’ Brabants said.
The only caveat? He wanted the store to be ready to go in seven weeks.
“I was like, I’ve never opened a store before. I don’t have any employees. I just have me and my family,” Brabants said.
She immediately hired her first full-time employee, Hannah Wieckowski, and recruited her family to help.
Not only was the store ready in time for the opening, it was a massive success. A year and a half later, Brabants is continuing her pop-ups in the Boston area.
“It’s a different market, but it’s growing at a pace that’s remarkable. I never imagined in a million years that I could open so many pop-ups in one area and still have it be growing. It’s never even plateaued. Boston is such a great market and I definitely want to have my permanent headquarters here one day,” Brabant said.
