To understand why attorney Camie Drumright has started the new Joy Lab Fitness & Social Club — a combination of a place to work out and have fun social events, too — you need to know her story.
The personal injury lawyer at Morris Laing, where she’s also marketing director, caught her own breast cancer early by detecting a lump that a mammogram couldn’t.
She sought advice and received multiple opinions from a variety of doctors.
“The one thing that all of them told me that was the same is keep exercising.”
Drumright didn’t exactly want to, but she realized they were right, thanks to listening to advice from her own Dr. Mom.
Following surgery, her mother would say things like, “Yep, we’re walking to the end of the block.”
Or, “We’re moving,” she’d demand.
“Every time we’d do it, I felt so much better,” Drumright said.
Throughout her treatment and recovery, she said her Opti-Life membership ended up being crucial as she did an inward dive, slowed down and focused on herself.
After the gym near 21st and Webb Road closed right before Drumright started radiation, she wondered, “How am I going to survive without this?”
Drumright wanted somewhere to address all her needs. Instead, she found it in a piecemeal approach.
She wants to do one better for others by having lots of options available to them, all in one place.
That includes yoga, tai chi, cardio dance, Pilates, sound baths, barre classes and a variety of wellness and social events that are focused on helping people regulate stress, build strength and mobility and find the joy in life wherever they are.
“All of these things that show us how amazing our bodies are,” Drumright said.
While she’s focused on longevity, she said she’s more focused on “living the way we want to live for a long time.”
Drumright said the idea is you don’t have to go to extremes. She said she wants to share how to love your body, stretch it and give it time to recover, whether you’re going through something medically or have other stresses in your life.
“Being social is a really big piece of longevity,” Drumright said.
That’s why she’s offering things like mahjong and margarita parties and classes to make things such as vision boards and bouquets, among other ideas.
“I just want to have that mix . . . of fun social events,” Drumright said.
She’s offering workshops, too, on things like hormones and pelvic-floor workouts.
Her studio is on 21st Street just north of 21st and Woodlawn in the same center as Magnolia Cafe.
“It really is a beautiful space.”
Drumright wants to rent the space for parties and other gatherings.
She’s offering a variety of options for people to join as members or come for a limited number of classes.
There’s been an extensive soft opening for Joy Lab Fitness & Social Club as Drumright experiments with different offerings.
She’s now having a grand opening from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
Drumright emphasized that you don’t have to be going through anything as dramatic as cancer to find support and get something out of seeking some joy.
“I do feel like everyone truly is going through something at some point,” she said.
In addition to having multiple jobs now, Drumright has sons who are in junior high, high school and college, and each is involved in sports, so she’s constantly running from event to event.
“It’s madness,” she said.
Of course, she’s learned lots of coping mechanisms, and she said that’s why she’s started Joy Lab Fitness & Social Club to share what she knows.
“Our bodies are so amazing at what they can do and what they can do for us if we give it the right tools,” Drumright said.
“I just wanted a place where people could learn that, including my boys who watched me go through it.”
The Wichita Eagle
Carrie Rengers has been a reporter for more than three decades, including more than 20 years at The Wichita Eagle. If you have a tip, please e-mail or tweet her or call 316-268-6340.