GOLD WINNER
Demetrius Ferguson, Evolve Fitness3667 Strawberry Hill Street, suite 220
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SILVER WINNER
Bangs Carey-Campbell, R Studios2470 Maynard Street
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BRONZE WINNER
Brittany Burke, JUST Cycle5536 Sackville Street, suite 150
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Demetrius Ferguson has taken a long and winding path to training clients at Halifax’s Evolve Fitness—from a childhood playing baseball in the Bahamas, to high school hoops in Connecticut, to doubling up on the football and track and field teams at St. Francis Xavier University. “I love to see people putting in work,” he says, speaking by phone with The Coast. “It keeps my drive going.” Affectionately known to friends and clients alike as “Meech,” Ferguson has quickly built a reputation at Evolve for his dedication and personability. “We have hundreds and hundreds of clients,” says Evolve co-owner Matt Benvie. “And he has managed to develop a personal relationship with all of them.” For Ferguson, whose entrepreneurial drive has also led him to crafting handmade bow ties, his time in the gym is just another part of his mantra to live life doing what you love. “I enjoy getting up every Monday morning, going to work and seeing my clients,” he says. “They make my job a lot easier.”