Aussie fitness stars expand million-dollar gym empire

Celebrity trainer Jono Castano has revealed his next big move following the success of his Sydney gym with ex-partner Amy Castano.

Aussie celebrity trainer Jono Castano and his ex-partner Amy Castano have navigated their way through a break-up to remain good friends and continue to grow their million-dollar fitness empire.

The duo, who decided to go their separate ways over a year ago, co-founded Acero Gym in Kensington during the pandemic.

Despite challenges both personally and professionally at the time, their commitment and passion for their brand has seen it go from strength-to strength.

Rita Ora, Sir Richard Branson, Aussie athlete Candice Warner, Kim Kardashian’s hair stylist Chris Appleton and most notably, Rebel Wilson are just some of the celebrity clients Jono has trained.

Amy and Jono Castano have expanded their Acero brand.

While he looks after all-things training and fitness, Amy manages the entire Acero brand, everything from marketing, finances and social media.

And with the brand’s success exploding over the years, both Jono, 31, and Amy, 33, decided it was time to open a second gym, collaborating with the luxurious Fullerton Hotel in Sydney’s CBD.

In a first of its kind, the duo have opened a second gym, partnering with The Fullerton Hotel in Sydney’s CBD.

Hotel guests will have access to the 24-hour gym fitted with cardio and weights equipment – and also the gym’s 20 trainers for one-on-one personal training sessions.

It wasn’t in their plans to open inside a hotel, but when the opportunity presented itself the duo saw great potential in pivoting from what they had in mind.

“[Opening another gym] has been in the works for a long time and when The Fullerton said they had a space, we were like ‘that’s a perfect location for Acero in the city’,” Amy told news.com.au.

The pair, who have been in discussions with Fullerton since February, described it as a great next move to grow the Acero portfolio.

“It’s huge for the brand,” Amy said. “The demographic at our current location in Kensington is residential, whereas our new city location will capture a whole new demographic in the corporate field.”

Jono and Amy Castano (now separated) co-founded Acero almost three years ago and continue to run their fitness empire together.

While most hotels have their own gyms, Jono explained the venture is a first of its kind in the country whereby an already established gym partners with a hotel.

He likened it to the famous New York gym Dogpound which recently joined forces with the iconic beachside hotel, W South Beach.

Known to attract the likes of Taylor Swift, Tom Holland and Adriana Lima, Dogpound has developed a cult following in NYC and West Hollywood since its debut in 2015.

Jono said opening a second gym gives the brand a lot more visibility and shows “we are serious, with location three and four on the horizon”.

Jono and Amy at the launch of their new gym at The Fullerton Hotel.

The new Acero gym will be open 24 hours with cardio, free weights, treadmills and strength training equipment.

Guests of the hotel will also have access to the gym’s trainers, while Acero clients who train at Kensington will also be able to use their one-on-one packs at the new city gym.

Acero doesn’t work on a membership basis, instead clients buy personal training packs with access to any of the gym’s 20 trainers who specialise in areas such as strength and conditioning, boxing, pilates and recovery.

“The reason why we do it like this (packs) is not only can we ensure you get results, but so clients get invested in the brand and see the value of it,” Jono added.

“We have created a community that people want to be part of and I think that’s what’s driven our success.”

In the last year alone, the gym has made more than $1 million in profit, excluding merchandise and other endorsements affiliated with the brand.

Jono with his model girlfriend Simone Holtznagel (L) and Amy with her partner, footballer Aaron Evans.

And it’s because of this the brand has been able to expand, having also recently launched a fitness and wellbeing app called Acero Drip in collaboration with AFL star Dustin Martin.

The coaches include Jono himself, Chad Hurst, Alyna Rost and Lou West to professional athletes Shai Bolton, Andrew Nabbout, and Dzhabar Askerov.

Since going their separate ways, Jono and Amy have both moved on romantically.

Jono is expecting his first child, a little girl, with model girlfriend Simone Holtznagel in March next year, while Amy is dating Australian professional football player Aaron Evans.

“There was an initial hurdle of figuring out our relationship within a work dynamic, but we have definitely figured that out now and just want to move forward,” Amy previously told news.com.au.

Jono, who will be releasing his first book — It Starts Now — in February next year, will open up about his break-up with Amy including the ups and downs of their separation, early struggles in building the Acero brand and how the pair went onto forge a successful business.