HAPEVILLE, GA.- “Overjoyed and still humbled” are the ways Nick Miller, owner of Move Fitness Complex, and most importantly, a father of two, described receiving this year’s Daddy’s Home extreme makeover. Normally used to makeover homes for single fathers, this year’s award is going towards a Black-owned small business.
Daddy’s Home, a charitable program run by M One Design Group, an Atlanta-based commercial interior design firm, was created to reward a single father with interior renovations and redesigns of their home or business. In the case of Miller, it was his business, Move Fitness Complex in Hapeville.
Miller told The Atlanta Voice that being nominated is taking some time to properly comprehend. Move Fitness Complex was anything but an actual complex until the makeover.
“To be nominated and to receive it is beyond measure,” he said.
The gym, which has been open for three years, is located in a prime location, just feet from the Hapeville Square and around the corner from the Academy Theatre. Miller spoke about the improvements to the space that will help him assist the hundreds of members of the gym in continuing to reach their fitness goals.
“This will give them a fresh space to call home,” Miller said. “The energy is family-oriented here.”
Family and fitness mean a lot to Miller. His daughter, Nickayla, 17, and son Nicholas, 8, are both athletes, and fitness is a family business. Nickayla, a senior, is the cheerleader captain at McDonough High School, while her little brother is a junior all-American track athlete and will be representing the United States in the World Flag Football tournament.
“The culture is big here,” Miller said of the gym, but could have been talking about within his family as well.
The “extreme makeover”, according to Mona Stephen, founder and principal creative director of M One Design Group, took six weeks and included renovations of what were once bays at a car dealership. There is also an addition of a small cafe.
“It has been a challenge, but we’re here and I’m glad that we are able to get to this point,” she said.
A member of the gym after years of going to high-priced franchise gyms, Stephen said attending Move Fitness Complex for the past two years helped her combine working out with community. “I felt like I was at home,” Stephen said of Move Fitness Complex.
When she was thinking about who to nominate for the next Daddy’s House extreme makeover, Miller came to mind.
“We’re just glad that we were able to combine both sides to work it out,” she said.