When Diana Rangel became a mother at 20, the life she had known began to feel increasingly distant.
She stopped going out with friends, struggled with the changes to her body and found herself unsure where she fit into the life she was creating.
“I didn’t know who I was,” she told the Flyer during a recent interview. “I would look at my body in the mirror and be like, ‘This is not me.’”
Exercise gave her a reason to get out of the house, and working out with friends brought companionship back into her days. It was then she discovered her passion for personal training and helping other women find some of the confidence she was regaining herself.
“When I started working out with my friends, I loved seeing their progress and how good they felt about themselves,” Rangel recalled. “I remembered how much I had needed that feeling, and becoming a personal trainer gave me a way to help (other women) find it, too.”
Finding third places in Tulsa
This story is part of the Tulsa Flyer’s series on third places around the Tulsa metro — spaces and groups where people are creating community outside of home and work. Help us write more stories on the third places that already exist and where they should be by filling out the form below.
In 2022, Rangel gave that sense of possibility a home of its own, opening The Peach Pit, an all-women’s gym in Broken Arrow at 1109 E. Houston St. Today, she estimates it has between 300 and 400 members, with 24-hour access, personal training, boot camps and Pilates.
Inside, baby pink weights and walls dotted with hearts and positive affirmations brighten a black interior, while children play within earshot of their mothers. A children’s area stocked with toys allows members to bring their children at no extra charge.
“It’s hard for a woman to go into a gym, especially giving your kid to a daycare for an hour,” Rangel said. “Here they can trust (and relax) knowing their kids are right in the same room.”
Making room for children is part of Rangel’s effort to give their mothers a place to return to, with familiar faces and friendships that make getting out of the house something to look forward to. She often makes the first introduction herself, pairing women during classes to give them an opening to connect with each other.
“I want women to feel like they can pour into each other’s cups, then go home and feel they are fulfilled,” she said. “Yes, this is a gym, but what’s most important (to me) is that women have a community they feel supported by.”
The connections made at The Peach Pit are growing beyond the gym. Rangel has begun hosting Pilates pop-ups with live music and local vendors. Following strong interest in a July gathering, she is bringing the next event, Pilates with Parranda, to Rancho Los Mendoza at 5755 S. 258th E. Ave. Oct. 24.
The afternoon begins at noon with an hour of Pilates accompanied by a live tamborazo band, followed by shopping, a mobile bar and more live music until 3 p.m.
“I love what I do and it’s been going so well — it doesn’t feel like it’s work,” Rangel said. “It just feels like I’m here, you know, having fun with the girls.”
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