By SHANNON GOLDEN • For The Observer

LA GRANDE — Peak Lifestyle Studio, with its fitness spaces, upstairs salon and massage therapy studio, has found another niche — one that aims to fuel its members as well as the community.

The downtown La Grande studio’s newest feature, Kona’s Corner, is a small cafe tucked into a corner that was once used for retail. Among the many available beverages include locally sourced coffee and a range of protein shakes and flavor options — and even vegan offerings.

“Protein is a really important macronutrient and really crucial for building muscle and helping the body recover after workouts,” owner and instructor Colleen McIntosh said. “That’s really what we want to introduce more people to.”

The studio — one of the newer mainstays on Adams Avenue — opened its doors in September 2019.

McIntosh said she’s always intended for the space to be more than just a studio, but a place to bring the La Grande community together.

“I knew that, yes, group fitness was going to be important, but that we’d have more to offer the women in our community,” she said.

The newest addition to Peak’s offerings is not simply a place to recharge, it’s also a loving nod to the studio’s late four-legged mascot — Kona.

A lifelong bond

McIntosh was a veterinary technician for more than 12 years before opening Peak Lifestyle Studio. Her passion for animals extended into her own home, with her Rottweiler, Labrador retriever and German shepherd mix named Kona.

“She was my ride or die, she was there every step of the way, every job, every hardship,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh said that as Peak Lifestyle Studio took shape, Kona was there throughout the process. Once construction was completed on the studio, Kona joined McIntosh at the studio every day, greeting members and sitting in on classes — she even had her own yoga mat.

“She was just my total emotional support, that you don’t really realize you have until it’s gone,” McIntosh said.

Kona passed suddenly in February 2020, and her presence is still missed — by McIntosh, her family and Peak’s members alike. Julie Dick, a longtime member and former colleague of McIntosh’s, remembers Kona’s welcoming and friendly demeanor, from her “wise eyes” to her comforting presence.

“When I heard that she had lost her, it just broke my heart, because she was a really special dog,” Dick said.

So when McIntosh began brainstorming names for the studio’s new coffee and protein shop, honoring Kona felt like a perfect fit.

Ascending to Peak

A La Grande native, McIntosh didn’t expect to live in her hometown again after moving to Colorado for veterinary school. But when a family member fell ill, she and her husband returned once more to Eastern Oregon.

Upon returning to La Grande she poured herself into work, taking on jobs in Idaho, Eastern Oregon and even San Diego. She spent many of her weeks commuting by plane.

“I wasn’t enjoying it because I wasn’t doing anything,” she said. “I wasn’t putting myself into the community and I wasn’t trying to get to know people.”

McIntosh’s sister gave her a push, asserting that she needed to reconnect with the La Grande community. With several years of part-time fitness instruction under her belt, McIntosh turned to a source of connection she knew well — fitness and movement.

She kept her eye out for a space in town for almost a year, finally nabbing the 1118 Adams Avenue location in 2018. She admitted the building’s initial state needed quite a bit of work, but she and her husband got started immediately on revamping the space.

“We put up a few walls and we just made the space fit us,” she said.

In just over three years, the studio has garnered almost 200 members ranging in age from college students and new moms to recent empty nesters and longtime La Grande residents.

Turbulent beginnings

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, just a few months after the studio opened, McIntosh said the team had to think quickly to accommodate for changing safety regulations. They purchased recording equipment and were hosting classes online by the end of March. McIntosh started building up a library of recorded classes for people to access whenever they wanted to.

During warmer months, the studio hosted classes in parks. Although member and instructor numbers dropped during the pandemic, the team worked to provide quality services for those who stuck around. McIntosh and her husband also worked through other setbacks in the studio — the building’s awning falling off, heating and cooling issues and plumbing issues.

“Life slowed down a little bit,” she said. “But for us, we just sped up to make it work.”

Continued connection

Despite the challenges along the way, the studio continues to grow. The all-female instructor team teaches a slew of weekly and daily classes, such as indoor cycling, HIIT sessions, kickboxing and yoga.

“I feel like the more we can put ourselves out there to get more people to move, that’s what matters,” McIntosh said.

Eventually, McIntosh hopes to have another studio space, so that one can be designated for high-intensity fitness and the other for yoga and meditation wellness practice. She hopes more people will continue to find connection and movement through Peak Lifestyle Studio.

“It’s a very positive, uplifting atmosphere,” Dick said. “It’s really apparent that they want you to love yourself and they want you to take care of your body.”

Kona’s Corner is one of the many ways McIntosh is striving to connect with and provide for the community.

“I thrive on people coming into class, greeting them, seeing how they’re doing and checking them in and giving them their coffee and saying goodbye,” she said. “Peak is my reprieve from all the chaos.”