2024 40 Under 40 Honoree: Donal Donovan (34)
"I hope to leave the people that worked with me a lasting connection to their own bodies and the empowerment to know that they can exist."
DONAL DONOVAN | PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA
Donal Donovan
Founder & CEO, Free Will Health and Wellness; Wellness Manager, Persad Center; Program Director, Phoenix Fitness
When Donal Donovan opened Free Will Health and Wellness, the gym operated out of various locations for five years before securing a lease and establishing Pittsburgh’s first trans-owned and operated gym in 2020.
Free Will Health and Wellness is dedicated to muscle activation, gender-affirming personal training, wellness coaching, meditation, resistance training and biomechanics. “I really hope to navigate the challenges that [my clients] have with their bodies,” they say.
Donovan is also the wellness manager at Persad Center and the program director for Phoenix Fitness, Pittsburgh’s first nonprofit gym for the trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming community. Aiming to bridge the gap between physical and mental health, in 2023 Donovan became a Mental Health First Aider, earned a Trauma Informed Weight Lifting certification and graduated from YogaRoots On Location’s Anti-Racist Raja Yoga Teacher Training.
