The Biz Beat: San Jose gym seeded in recovery and family

Tucked away on the second floor of a warehouse in San Jose, the Black Urban Barn gym offers strength training for local high school basketball and softball teams, boxing coaching and high-energy workouts for adults who yearn to burn off calories. Opened in August 2023, it’s the latest manifestation of a fitness training program co-owner Earl Hooks began in a park nearly 12 years ago.

One of San Jose’s only Black-owned gyms has a story of perseverance and success that’s a perfect celebration of Black History Month.

“We were doing push-ups,” Hooks told San José Spotlight. “We’d run a lap, then do some crunches. It was all outdoors with no equipment. It slowly gained traction, and I kept the workouts affordable so people had no excuses to stop.”

The gym’s lobby has the look and feel of a living room. The names of regulars are written on envelopes displayed by the door. Paper and pens are nearby to leave Valentine’s Day notes. The workout area is barely visible from the front desk.

“Gyms can be intimidating,” Kerri Hooks, co-owner of the gym and Earl’s wife, told San José Spotlight. “I want you to feel cozy and comfortable. You don’t think you’re at a gym until you turn the corner and see all the equipment in the back.”

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The Black Urban Barn gym offers strength training for local high school basketball and softball teams, boxing coaching and high-energy workouts for adults who yearn to burn off calories. Read the story at SanJoseSpotlight.com to learn more. #gyms #bayareagym #fitness #weightlifting #strengthtraining #sanjose #siliconvalley

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There is a layer of irony in the domestic atmosphere. The seeds of the gym were sown in 2012 when Kerri hit a breaking point with Earl. She ordered him to stop drinking or leave home.

“I wanted to live a certain life with my kids,” she said. “One with peace and no chaos. I said, ‘You’re not going to have both your family and your drinking.’ And, smart man that he is, he decided he didn’t want the crazy life anymore.”

In 2005, Earl was working full-time as a carpenter when his problems with alcohol began. It started slowly, with an occasional drink, and escalated to drinking heavily every day for seven years.

“I was on the verge of losing everything,” he said. “My marriage, my kids, my respect for myself. I just wanted to get sober. I started slow, trying not to drink for the day. And I built the confidence to try for a whole month.”

His oldest daughter, Frankie Zia, witnessed her father’s struggle and his road to recovery.

“I had always wondered what was in that bottle that was worth risking your family for,” she told San José Spotlight. “But after my mom gave him the ultimatum, I thought, ‘Wait, what’s going on?’ He’s acting normal, and I didn’t see any bottles anywhere.”

Going strong six months later, Earl needed something to fill the void left by his alcohol dependence and began doing a simple five-minute daily exercise routine at home.

“I already lost about 12 pounds just by not drinking and changing my eating habits,” he said. “That gave me that edge and the confidence to say, ‘OK, now I’m sober. If I work a little harder, what else can I do?'”

He started calisthenics and working out in the park until he broke his thumbs, another turning point in his life. Having traded his addiction to alcohol for one for fitness, he said he felt humbled by his injury.

“When I couldn’t use my hands, it opened me to the idea of helping others: training beginners and showing them how to lose weight,” Earl said. “Kerri asked me when I wanted to start. I said, ‘Later.’  She said, ‘We’re starting on Monday.'”

Gathering some of Kerri’s friends at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, Earl taught the routines that had been successful for him. He built a clientele through word of mouth and social media posts and made enough to buy weights and equipment, which he hauled to each session. Then, after 10 years of outdoor coaching, he moved into his current location.

“I would never have taken that leap, but (Kerri) forced my hand. Luckily, we already had a core group committed to the Hooks family and our vision,” Earl said.

Now, with more than 70 clients aged 12 to 74, Earl has outfitted the gym with professional weight machines, a half-basketball court, punching bags and all the niceties of training that would never have fit into his old Ford Expedition. The music is loud, and the energy and enthusiasm of his clients is very real.

Jenna Dougherty, one of the original clients from the park days, said while she misses the outdoor classes, she likes the new opportunities at the indoor facility.

“It gives Earl the chance to come up with more classes,” Dougherty told San José Spotlight. “He’s a very positive coach, very encouraging and supportive, and the fact that I have consistently worked with him has been a really positive thing for me.”

Several classes are adaptations of his boot camp program, a cardio-based group workout that includes strength training with weights and kettlebells, sling bungees and “jump and pump” using trampolines.

“I can modify and adjust any workout,”Earl said, “so that it’ll fit your fitness level, your age or your goals. I encourage people to try things on their own and change whatever they need to. If they’re not having a good day, I want them to do what they feel.”

Hooks thinks the gym’s casual atmosphere makes joining and working out regularly a little easier, particularly for beginners.

“I hope I can change peoples’ minds about the gym experience,” he said. “You’re not around a bunch of people who are in shape and outdoing you in a competition. Our clients are just everyday people who look like you and share their highs and lows with us.”
While Kerri is pleased with the gym’s success, she is even happier to have her husband back.

“The person I married was such a go-getter,” she said. “And now he is once again the outgoing, happy guy he was before. Who he was when he was drinking was someone I did not know. But he’s back and it feels like home.”

Contact Robert Eliason at [email protected].

Editor’s Note: The Biz Beat is a series highlighting local small businesses and restaurants in Silicon Valley. Know a business you’d like to see featured? Let us know at [email protected].