Small Business Spotlight: From Corporate America To Small Business Owners
From Corporate America to Small Business Owners | The Barre Code
I am so excited about this interview. The Barre Studio concept has become very popular in the last 5-10 years and as a former dancer, I love it! The Barre Code is a comprehensive program centered around cardio, strength, and restoration that emphasizes positive motivation. They have been featured in Forbes, Women's Health, Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Glamour, BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur and so many more.
Lindsay and Janelle started their careers off in corporate America and decided they weren't happy with what they were doing. They were both on the Michigan State dance team and knew that they wanted to be doing something that empowered women and also incorporated fitness into their business. When Lindsay found Barre Code, she knew it was the perfect fit. She convinced Janelle to move back to Detroit and they opened their first location. Six years later, they have 3 locations in the Metro Detroit area and are very successful! Check out my interview with them below.
From Corporate America to Small Business Owners | Watch the Interview
https://youtu.be/zRHvd8rtv0I
From Corporate America to Small Business Owners | Read the Interview
Give me some background about the franchise you own and what you do.
Lindsay: We are the co owners of The Barre Code Metro Detroit Studios. The Barre Code is a woman's fitness program. We have several different styles of class and we are really proud of that variety. We focus on three pillars of fitness: cardio, strength training and restorative stretch. We want woman to find everything that they need in their fitness journey all in our classes. Our community makes us very unique. While fitness and our classes are the product, we are truly in the business of helping women live healthy and happier lives.
How did you become interested in Franchising?
Lindsay: I was working in corporate sales for a Fortune 200 company and I was feeling like a number. I started to realize I wanted to to something where I had a bigger impact and feel like I was directly connected to what the business was doing. That was when I started to realize that owning a business might be the right path for me. But I was young, just out of college. I was looking for an opportunity where I could be an owner but also provided a framework for me. I started looking into different fitness franchises. When I was introduced to The Barre Code, I immediately fell in love with the brand. We have a mantra that is big and bold at the front o our studios that resonated with me right away. It is about being proud of your body and being proud of it's capabilities. It is about celebrating our differences and not seeing them as flaws.
My best friend, Janelle, I knew was also interested in the fitness space. we both grew up as dancers and actually met on the Michigan State Dance team. I knew she was looking for a career change. I called her and told her about The Barre Code. She signed on, moved home, and the rest is history.
What does a typical day/week/month look like for you?
Janelle: Every day is different, which is both a blessing and a curse. We are both new moms and we have the flexibility to plug things into our day. We don't work a normal 9-5. Sometimes we are up at 4 am and sometimes we are here until 10 and we work weekends. But we can plug personal things into our day. We can go weeks without having a real day off but when you are surrounded by this community it feels fun!
We are able to plug different facets of the business into our day. Some days it's an admin day, some days are more focused on sales or growing the business, or growing our team. But we have the flexibility to do things when we need to and plug personal things in too.
What traits do you need to be successful within The Barre Code System?
Lindsay: It is so hard to just pick one! We wear so many hats because of all the different things we do. So I am going to break the rules and give you two traits if that's ok! Number one is to have the flexibility to do all the things Janelle twas just talking about. You could be talking to a client, connecting with someone for a future event, and plunging a toilet, all within the same hour. So having that flexibility to go with the flow has been really important.
Number two is a serious work ethic. As a business owner, the only person who is going to tell you to get things done is yourself. You have to be incredibly disciplined. we always say that our dance background gave us discipline that we can lean on now. We we say we are going to do something, we are going to do it to the best of our ability.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before you got started?
Janelle: I wish that we had built our database prior. Building those relationships before hand is so important. You never know when you are going to need a lawyer to review a contract or a plumber to come help you. When you are building you staff, you need to have those relationships. A lot of that needs to be done on the front end so you don't feel like you are in a crunch when you really need those people. You will have that trust and relationship already established.
As a small business owner, the only person who is going to tell you to get things done is yourself. You have to be incredibly disciplined.
Why did you pick The Barre Code over other franchises that you looked at?
Lindsay: There were two things that stood out to us. The first one was the variety. At the time, a lot of boutique fitness studios had their one format so you had to have multiple memberships to different studios for each of the classes. We loved the variety that The Barre Code brought to their customers. The second is the connection to community and our mantra. It was radical at the time for the studio to be celebrating women not for the size that they were but to feel strong and capable and worthy no matter where they were in their fitness journey. There are a lot more people in the wellness space who are talking about that now but The Barre Code was one of the only ones who was talking about it at the time.
What are the biggest challenges of ramping up a new franchise unit?
Janelle: We do have 3 locations and we just moved our first location. So we have started a studio 4 different times. The stressors come from things that are out of our hands. As entrepreneurs and women, we tend to be control freaks. During the build out process, a t lot of things can be out of our control. I'd love to say we have been through it all because we have done it 4 different times, we have learned so much in the process but every single time has been different.