Gidget Migliaccio remembers being 16 years old and looking at posters of bodybuilders in her dingy Zimbabwe gym for inspiration.
“It was all guys. There was no women … It was in a basement, and it was very dark and very grungy, and they thought it was funny to teach me how to drink egg whites,” she said.
Forty years later, Migliaccio has built a physique that is poster-worthy. And she wants to help others do the same.
“I take on a lot of clients that have never ever even stepped into the gym, let alone on a bodybuilding stage, and I’ll take them through the whole process from training, nutrition, supplements,” Migliaccio said.
The 56-year-old bodybuilder recently opened up a storefront in RiNo at 3611 Chestnut Place, formerly the home and art studio of RiNo Art District founder Tracy Weil. RiNo Medspa aims to be a one-stop shop for aesthetics, fitness, recovery and nutritional guidance for both the fitness-obsessed and everyday Denverites.
The first floor is a class space, for things like yoga and posing. The second floor has more of the “spa” component, offering things like botox and facial fillers, laser fat loss and stem cell injections, and infrared and peptide therapy.
“I feel like I’m doing so much stuff,” Migliaccio said.
Her staff of seven includes a medical doctor, two registered nurses and yoga and fitness coaches. Customers pay for a membership for either aesthetics, classes or weight loss programs, or some combination of the three.
Migliaccio is no stranger to starting, growing and selling businesses. She’s run numerous fashion lines, from Africa to London to Vail, where she ran her own ski-clothing brand. She and her husband once owned nightclubs around Denver.
She competed in her first bodybuilding show at 40, and opened up her first med spa at Broadway and Larimer in 2015, which closed during the pandemic and shifted online. Now, she’s back to a brick-and-mortar.
“Essentially, I never really closed, all I did was change the name of the business and move all my clients here,” Migliaccio said.
Her landlord, Bernard Hurley, plans to keep her around for a while. The local developer owns about six acres in the immediate area and plans to develop a mixed-use project called Hurley Place. While construction has yet to begin, he’s aiming to open three of the acres to the public as green space and for rec sports leagues and cultural events.
The cornerstone of Hurley Place will be a 55,000-square-foot “wellness hub.”
“Hopefully, we’re gonna get a bunch of Gidgets who just need a door opened,” Hurley said.
Gidget Migliaccio remembers being 16 years old and looking at posters of bodybuilders in her dingy Zimbabwe gym for inspiration.
“It was all guys. There was no women … It was in a basement, and it was very dark and very grungy, and they thought it was funny to teach me how to drink egg whites,” she said.
Forty years later, Migliaccio has built a physique that is poster-worthy. And she wants to help others do the same.
“I take on a lot of clients that have never ever even stepped into the gym, let alone on a bodybuilding stage, and I’ll take them through the whole process from training, nutrition, supplements,” Migliaccio said.
The 56-year-old bodybuilder recently opened up a storefront in RiNo at 3611 Chestnut Place, formerly the home and art studio of RiNo Art District founder Tracy Weil. RiNo Medspa aims to be a one-stop shop for aesthetics, fitness, recovery and nutritional guidance for both the fitness-obsessed and everyday Denverites.
The first floor is a class space, for things like yoga and posing. The second floor has more of the “spa” component, offering things like botox and facial fillers, laser fat loss and stem cell injections, and infrared and peptide therapy.
“I feel like I’m doing so much stuff,” Migliaccio said.
Her staff of seven includes a medical doctor, two registered nurses and yoga and fitness coaches. Customers pay for a membership for either aesthetics, classes or weight loss programs, or some combination of the three.
Migliaccio is no stranger to starting, growing and selling businesses. She’s run numerous fashion lines, from Africa to London to Vail, where she ran her own ski-clothing brand. She and her husband once owned nightclubs around Denver.
She competed in her first bodybuilding show at 40, and opened up her first med spa at Broadway and Larimer in 2015, which closed during the pandemic and shifted online. Now, she’s back to a brick-and-mortar.
“Essentially, I never really closed, all I did was change the name of the business and move all my clients here,” Migliaccio said.
Her landlord, Bernard Hurley, plans to keep her around for a while. The local developer owns about six acres in the immediate area and plans to develop a mixed-use project called Hurley Place. While construction has yet to begin, he’s aiming to open three of the acres to the public as green space and for rec sports leagues and cultural events.
The cornerstone of Hurley Place will be a 55,000-square-foot “wellness hub.”
“Hopefully, we’re gonna get a bunch of Gidgets who just need a door opened,” Hurley said.
