Numbers are familiar territory for Michelle (Moran) O’Connor ’96, MST ’03. She began her career in public accounting and later opened a tax practice. Today, the figures she tracks include body mass index and heart rate.

The alumna’s own love of working out inspired her to open Fit Revolution fitness studio in 2012. “I just woke up one day and said, ‘I want to try that.’”

So began the sweat and hard work. O’Connor earned certifications in spinning, muscle conditioning and as a personal trainer, working in various gyms. She rented a small space (800 square feet lovingly called her “closet”) and purchased 20 spinning bikes.

“At the time, there were mostly big box gyms,” she recalls. “I always liked the concept of being able to take a class, because it challenges you more than just being on a treadmill or elliptical.”

The business model has pay-by-class or monthly membership options. Her supporters include Bentley friends, five of whom settled in the same town of North Reading, Mass. After six months, the gym expanded to a 4,000-square-foot space.

“A lot of gyms fail, but I know the numbers in regard to running my facility,” she says of the business background she gained at Bentley. “I don’t need to outsource functions like accounting and marketing.”

What drives her through 12-hour days as business owner, fitness instructor, wife and mom?

“I’m motivating people and making a difference in their lives,” says O’Connor, whose husband is fellow alumnus George ’96.

The life-changing stories she describes are compelling: someone who no longer needs blood pressure medicine; another person who lost 100 pounds in one year. “That means more to me than