Rumford native turns passion into health-conscious business
By Donna M. Perry
Staff Writer

LIVERMORE FALLS – Jodi Richard Cornelio’s hobby has grown into a full-time job.

Cornelio, a Rumford native now of Turner, said keeping healthy and fit has always been her passion.

She started off in the nutrition field at Togus after college and came back home to the area to help family. She spent 20 years working for Mead Paper in Rumford before she lost her job last year to corporate downsizing.

Cornelio had paid her way through college by working 1,000-plus hours a summer at the paper company.

But she had a job to fall back on besides helping her husband, Steve, at their Turner Publishing Co.

The Cornelios had opened a Family Wellness and Fitness Center in Livermore Falls years before.

On Tuesday, the petite woman stood among packages of banana chips, soups, buckwheat flour, spinach and whole-wheat pasta, and blue tortilla chips and other health foods in a new boutique at 4 Union St.

In another section of the shop, body and bath lotions lined a wall along with aromatherapy products and Monet pottery. Another wall holds athletic wear, including a Danskin line for adults and children. And then there is a section offering teas, including black cohosh root tea and green tea.

The boutique is an expansion of the center.

As the energetic woman made her way around the shop, she said she has to focus on “health and fitness.”

“I won’t stock anything that I don’t find a lot of nutrition in,” she said. “I only stock products I believe in.”

Staying in shape and health started as a hobby for the couple but then it blossomed.

“It was a passion of mine and it grew into a full-time business,” she said.

Cornelio is certified to teach in many fitness fields, including personal training, kickboxing, yoga and Pilates. The latter focuses on strengthening the abdominal area and the back and is what gives dancers a sleek look, she said.

Cornelio and her staff of four are all personal trainers and work with people to develop individual programs.

“We work with people who have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, hypertension and asthma,” she said, “and for each one of those conditions there are specific exercises that they should be doing.”

Above the shop, a senior citizens’ fitness class was going on. A woman’s voice could be heard calling out direction through the open hallway door.

The fitness center has 200 members and is divided into rooms, including cycling and cardio vascular circuit.

Cornelio said she decided to open a boutique to satisfy customers’ needs.

“I wanted to give the town more of an offering of clothes and health products,” she said. “I wanted to offer members a little bit extra.”

And she said the third reason was simply selfish.

“I wanted to have Danskin,” she said. “I don’t have time to shop.”

She also noted that since opening six years ago, she has needed to continue to be creative and innovative as competition comes into the area.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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