KYM Gym celebrates first anniversary

One year after opening KYM (Keep Yourself Moving) Gym in St Andrew, founder Kandi King is looking beyond the changes to the facility to what she considers its most meaningful achievement: creating a space where people feel comfortable, motivated and welcome.

Since opening on October 1, 2025, the gym has added new equipment and fitness offerings, including Pilates, upgraded its facilities and expanded its team. It has also introduced an app to make membership management and class bookings more convenient. But for King, the first year has been about more than improving the space.

“Of course, I’m proud of the physical transformation because so much has gone into it, and, when I look around, the KYM you see today is very different from where we started,” King shared. “But what means even more to me is the feedback I get from people about how they feel when they’re here. People tell me they feel comfortable, they feel motivated, they feel seen, and they feel like they belong. That’s when I know we’re building what I set out to build.”

However, operating the gym while renovating an older building has brought its share of challenges. King has had to manage ongoing infrastructure and maintenance issues while overseeing the gym, expanding her team, and keeping disruptions to members’ training to a minimum.

“There are things behind the scenes that people will probably never know we had to deal with,” she said. “An older building comes with surprises, and managing the physical space has probably been one of the most challenging parts of this first year. But every challenge has pushed us to find a solution, make another improvement and keep moving forward. I think that persistence is actually very KYM.”

One of the additions to the gym’s offerings has been Pilates, broadening its focus beyond strength and conditioning and giving members another way to train at the facility.

KYM has also benefited from partnerships with brands that support its development. Wisynco, through WATA, sponsored a large-scale vinyl wall installation that forms part of the gym’s updated look.

Beyond the facility itself, King has focused on creating an environment where members can build relationships with their trainers and feel part of the gym community. This is also reflected in KYM’s social media content, which showcases the everyday life at the gym.

“You can make a space beautiful, but that doesn’t automatically make people want to be there,” she said. “The people are what give KYM its energy. Our members, our trainers and our team. I’m proud of the space we’ve created, but I’m even prouder that people genuinely enjoy being here.”

As KYM enters its second year, King plans to build on the foundation established at its Kensington Crescent location while exploring opportunities to expand the brand. Plans include developing its lifestyle offering through merchandise, with a longer-term vision of bringing KYM to more people and places. King is keeping further details of the expansion under wraps for now.

“One year in, I don’t feel like we’ve arrived,” she said. “I feel like we’ve proven what KYM can be. There’s still so much I want to improve, introduce and build. Year one was about creating the foundation. Now I’m excited to see how far we can take it.”

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com