Minnesotan To Meet: Fitness Instructor Katie Lewin

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- So many of us dream about one day winning big on the lottery. Two years ago Katie Lewin did just that, winning $100,000 in the Minnesota Millionaire Raffle.

"When I graduated from college aside from the fear of, 'What the heck am I going to do with my life?', I also had that fear of 'what the heck am I going to do to stay active in my life,'" Lewin said.

For the former college athlete, a job in the corporate world seemed like the right choice, but it was a struggle to step away from the soccer field.

Her sister convinced her that group fitness was the perfect replacement for the team game she was missing

"Around that time my sister invited me to go to  a group fitness class -- it was a cardio kick boxing class," she said. "I don't think I could laugh for four days without my abs hurting after that."

After that she was hooked on group fitness.

"It peaked my interest there, but I didn't really know how to turn it into a career at that point," she said. "The turning point for me was really the birth of my first son."

That was a game changer. While her husband pursued his acting career in Los Angeles, she started waiting tables and got her certification as a personal trainer.

"It actually wasn't long after that my husband and I decided to open our very first spinning studio in L.A." Lewin said.

After about five years her family had had enough of the California sun and moved back to Minnesota to raise their growing family. In 2009, they purchased The Shed Fitness Studio in Minneapolis

"We actually had to borrow money from my parents to get the business off the ground," Lewin said.

Soon her spin class studio saw ever increasing numbers.

"We were shifting equipment around, moving bikes and squeezing every last person into every square inch of space that we had," she said.

Just in time, that's when Lewin struck gold winning $100,000 while playing the Minnesota Millionaire Raffle.

"It really couldn't have come at a better time because our business was at a crossroads. We had outgrown our space," said Lewin. "That first call I made was to my parents to tell them we'd be paying them back the money."

Two years later those earnings have changed her future. The expansion allowed her to double her class space and offerings.