By Halie LeSavage
Local entrepreneur Carla Hall owns and manages two businesses, Gulf Coast Equities and Frontline Fitness. Unlike other local entrepreneurs, Hall’s dedication to a personal mission for wellness led her to this business path—and later, to involvement in local charities.
Hall had been working in real estate title insurance for over 10 years when her decision to lose weight inspired an interest in fitness advocacy. “In my mid-thirties I was overweight at 235 pounds, unhealthy, depressed and suffered two herniated discs in my back,” Hall said. “I had to heal myself.”
After losing 95 lbs. through a medical weight loss program and exercise, Hall took her dedication to a new level by purchasing Frontline Fitness. “When the gym that I was going to threatened to close, I just couldn’t let that happen,” Hall said. “With the help of a friend, we bought the gym.”
Since taking over Frontline Fitness, Hall has combined her love of healthy living with her heart for charity to develop an annual Mixed Martial Arts Against Bullying event alongside regular classes. “This is a rally to raise funds and awareness for anti-bullying campaigns. We focus on teaching self defense, ways to stop bullying, ways to help victims and how to talk about bullying,” Hall said.
Hall also organizes an annual coat drive for Metropolitan Ministries, an easy but effective form of giving she suggests that every workplace undertake. Hall admits that all of the good she encourages through her work doesn’t come without difficulty: “time management is the biggest challenge—thankfully I have a team in place to help me.”
Despite her involvement in so many different areas, Hall has one goal that motivates all of her work: inspiring others. “There is not a day that goes by that someone does not share with me that I inspire or motivate them, and that is the best feeling in the world. How we feel is more important than how we look, and how I make people feel is the most important thing to me.”
More information can be found online at the Gulf Coast Equities Title Facebook page, or at the Frontline Fitness website, getfrontlinefit.com. Frontline Fitness is located at 8267 Causeway Blvd. in Tampa, and Gulf Coast Equities Title is located at 710 Oakfield Dr. Ste. 202 in Brandon.
