For Katie and Steven Lee, health is everything. From protecting their family’s future to building community locally, health and wellness serve as the foundation for a life well-lived. Based in Hoover, Alabama, the duo has dedicated their businesses to benefiting the longevity of loved ones and locals alike. Through their health food café, Clean Eatz, and training gym, ISI Elite Training, the couple is providing health-conscious options and opportunities for all of Hoover.

The story begins with the search for a solution. “In 2019, Steven and I had just started dating, and we saw my family go through some really hard times with their health,” Katie explains. “It was a really hard time personally watching my family go through such struggles, and a big piece of that was the nutrition for my dad. What he had been eating all of these years could have prevented him from what he was going through.”

Katie sat with this realization over time until a moment of clarity came about when traveling with her husband Steven to an athletic competition. She recalls, “He was a trainer at the time, and there was a Clean Eatz café across the road from where he was competing. … We went in, got a build-your-own bowl, grabbed some grab-and-go meals, and really fell in love with what they offered.”

“We really saw that it could be a solution to what our families needed and what we needed for ourselves. Quarantine happened after that, and it felt like a mission that we needed to be on and something that we should be able to provide for the community,” she recalls.

With a distinct focus on clean ingredients, the café offers something for everyone. Priding themselves on in-house preparation of all fresh and grab-and-go meals, the restaurant removes the worry of what ingredients may be hiding in plain sight. Katie and Steven ensure that all meals are macro-balanced and made with love. Most of their customers take advantage of their weekly meal plans, where meals can be ordered ahead and cooked fresh in time for scheduled pickup.

Above all, the restaurant is a love letter to the local community. “We knew if we needed this so badly, and if it’s an answer to prayers for us, then it could be for others as well.” The nutrition factor is something that Steven realized was critical in his career as a personal trainer. He found that the marriage of proper nutrition and intentional exercise was key for his clients’ success. This is where the couple’s work at ISI Elite Training comes in.

Steven explains, “The name ISI is Iron Sharpens Iron… it is pulled from the Bible, Proverbs 27:17, ‘iron sharpens iron.’ The name of it is what really attracted us in the beginning. That’s what we’re all about is leaning on one another. Who is there to make you better than another person beside you that has the same mindset and same approach of lifting each other up?” Steeped in the same community-centric sentiment, ISI allows the duo to improve the lives of others who are looking to dedicate time to strengthening themselves both physically and mentally.

For Steven, the appeal was simple. “For one, the philosophy and the workout itself are something that I really agreed with and resonated well with me and my background. But two, the tagline is trained for life; therefore, we’re able to enjoy the good things in life. It’s functional movements; therefore, we’re not pushing to get hurt, but we’re pushing to get stronger and better.”

ISI focuses on athletic strength-based training that is high intensity but low impact. Each day brings a new set of movements targeting specific muscle groups, so several different fitness approaches can come together in one session. Steven notes that personal attention is a priority, “The coaches are all there to one, encourage, but two, to help with individual attention. So even though all the members are in the group setting, they’re still getting that specialized one-on-one attention… so we’re able to cater from your very beginner to your most advanced athletes.”

The couple hopes to uplift not only this generation but the next, and to do so with a smile. “We want to do everything as best as we can, no matter what we’re doing. That is our personality.” For Katie and Steven, both businesses serve as the catalyst for cultivating community and allowing others to become their best selves. “If we can bring that connection to anyone in our community, there’s no telling what type of lifelong impact can happen just through the power of community.”