0:00 Meet Katja: founder of PEAKFIT Studio
Hello, I’m Katia Rap. I’m the founder of PeekFit Studio in Ardennes, and when people walk into the studio, they see the private stations, the sauna, the juice bar, and they assume I have always been a fit person. Well, the real story is a little different. It runs from Berlin to Florida to a diagnosis I never expected, and finally to these mountains. I want to tell you that story actually, because it is the reason the studio exists. And if you are over 40 and quietly wondering whether it’s too late to get strong, I think you will see a little of yourself in it. Berlin

0:45 From Berlin to Naples — 17 years in wellness
to Naples. So I was born in Berlin, Germany, and in 1995, I moved to the United States and ended up in Naples, Florida, which was beautiful. There I built a salon in spa business, and I ran it for 17 years of taking care of people, of learning what it is like to have a business, how to do customer service, and then every detail matters. How the space feels when you walk in, whether someone remembers your name, whether you leave feeling rushed or feeling cared for. I did not know it then, but that was my first education in what would one day become big

1:30 Breast cancer diagnosis at 53
fits. So in 2020, at the age of 53, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The world got very small, very fast. Every conversation was about treatment and statistics, and what happens, it was a hard decision, but I did choose a double mastectomy, and then I made another choice, a very personal one. I decided to put everything I

1:59 Taking control: movement, nutrition, recovery
had into the parts of my health. I could actually control what I ate, how I moved, how I slept, and how I handled stress. I want to be careful here. That was my best decision about my body. If you’re facing a diagnosis, your path belongs to you and your doctors. But for me, those daily choices became the way I rebuilt, rebuilt myself. Rebuilding was not dramatic, it was small, it was daily, it was repetitive, moving my body every single day, day by day, getting stronger one session at a time, paying attention to which foods gave me energy and which ones left me tired and inflamed, learning that sleep and recovery, that was not a luxury anymore. That was essential. I needed to make sure I get enough sleep that my body can recover. And along the way I became

3:04 Becoming a certified trainer and rebuilding strength
an AC certified personal trainer and earned my nutrition certification, because I wanted to understand the why behind everything I was doing. Today I’m cancer free and I’m stronger than I was at 40. And that’s the truth. The reason why I came to Asheville is simple. I

3:21 Why Katja moved to Asheville and built PEAKFIT
moved to Asheville in 2021 because I wanted a life that matched the body that I had worked hard, so hard for to rebuild, actually. And walking and hiking in Florida in that heat didn’t seem possible. So I started looking for a place to trip here. And what I kept finding were crowded gyms with loud music or programs that handled everyone in the same workout. And nothing felt like it was intimate and made for someone like me. So someone over 50 with a history who wanted to get stronger without getting hurt, without feeling intimidated, without feeling out of place. So I built it. In

4:11 Opening the studio — the team and the vision
February 2025, my son and I opened PeekFit Studio. Alex has a degree in exercise science and helped from Florida Atlantic University FAU. And he leads our training team alongside with Franklin Pierce, who is our corrective exercise and mobility specialist, who is absolutely phenomenal and loves working with our client out. And we created the studio that I wish it had existed when I was recovering from cancer. Quiet, private, every person on their own station with the coach who actually knows your history. Training, nutrition, recovery, everything under one roof, because that is what it took for me. And what I believe is that cancer taught me that movement is medicine and food is fuel and recovery is everything. Those three ideas became our 360 approach. I see them to work every week. A woman at 64 who did not trust her balance, and three months later taught us she felt like a new woman. That’s amazing. A member who had not worked out in five years. A member who started at 82 because she wanted to lift her own carry -on back into the overhead bin in an airplane. Absolutely amazing. Now she does. My goal is not just to help

5:46 Who PEAKFIT is for — and your next step
you get stronger. It is to help you stay independent, pain -free, and confident as you age. So we get only one body, right? One life. Let’s make a count. If any part of my story sounds like yours, I would love to meet you. Come see the studio, sit down with Alex, who was by my side the entire journey, by the way. And get an in -body scan so you can know exactly where you are starting. What your starting point is, it is a conversation that you would have, a discovery session, as we call it, not a workout, and there is absolutely no pressure. Go to piqued studio, slash get started. We are at 100 Julian Lane in Arden, just off Long Shore Drive, and just minutes across from building back. I am hoping very much to see you soon. I’m Katja, and we talk again. Bye.