DALLAS — Welcome to The Sweatshop, a non-conventional gym offering a lot more than just a workout.

But it didn’t start off that way.

“This whole fitness journey really started just with us personally. We were a young couple. We had our first child and he was born severely premature and after 28 days in the hospital, he was really sick, and we were told you have to decide when to turn off life support,” says Marketing Director, Denise Castillo-Corona.

The loss of their son caused Joshua and Denise to spiral into depression and one side effect was — weight gain.

But Joshua wasn’t going to let that get the better of him.

“I started working out and getting into fitness to avoid depression and kind of cope with everything that was going on,” says Owner and Head Trainer, Joshua Corona. “And one day, I was just sitting at work and I texted Denise and I told her, ‘I think I’m going to quit my job.’ And she was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And I said, ‘I can really make this work.'”

And he did.

Opening up shop in Oak Cliff going with the name The Sweatshop, his workout studio focuses more on the mind and lifestyle than counting calories.

“We think that mental health and physical health go hand in hand. You cannot outwork what’s going on inside on the outside and a lot of people try to do that.”

“When you come here this is your time to focus on yourself. This is your time to disconnect away from everybody. So when you come here to The Sweatshop, really be here.”

After the birth of their second son and the continued success as a business owner, it’s clear to see, motivation certainly lives there.