Brandy K. Cruthird is the founder and owner of Body By Brandy Fitness Studio in Boston, Massachusetts. A former marketing representative for Reebok, Intl., she is also a certified aerobic instructor with over 10 years experience in the fitness industry.

Brandy has been on a 10 year mission to make the community she loves a healthier one. A native of Dorchester who grew up in Orchard Park projects, she parlayed her athleticism into a Division I basketball scholarship to James Madison University in Virginia.

After graduating, Brandy joined Reebok International in Canton, MA as a marketing representative. Her concern about health issues and the lack of facilities addressing them led her to open Body By Brandy in 1996. In March 2006 Brandy launched Body By Brandy 4 Kidz, a non-profit program designed to help combat childhood obesity. The first kids’ gym in the community, Body By Brandy 4 Kidz owes its initiation to the generous support of its partners, the Children’s Hospital of Boston, Good Sport, United Way of Boston, and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Brandy has been featured in Essence Magazine, the Boston Globe, and Heart & Soul Magazine. She has also amassed numerous awards for her leadership including the 2002 Harvard School of Public Health “Rebecca Lee Award” and the 2006 Boston Center for Community and Justice “Voices of Inclusion-Innovator Award.” Ford Motors also recognized her accomplishments as a pioneer with the 2006 Fusion “Life in Drive Award”. Body By Brandy Fitness Center was voted “The Best of the New 2005” by the Boston Globe, and received the Boston Business Journal Top 40 under 40 “Up & Coming Award”.

Amidst these extraordinary accomplishments, Brandy was most notably featured on NBC Nightly News “Making A Difference” for creating the first kids gym in the country that accepts prescriptions from participating health care providers for obese kids, enabling them to work out at Body By Brand 4 Kidz at no cost through the “Fitness in the City” program.

Recently, Jake Steinfeld, founder of ExerciseTV, named Brandy Cruthird the winner of the network’s inaugural nationwide contest for “America’s Next Fitness Star”. As the contest winner, Brandy will receive a one-year paid contract with ExerciseTV that includes appearing in an original fitness series on the network, premiering this summer.