665: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker, Jennifer Maanavi of Physique 57, and Jack Thomas of The Fit Guide
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Release Date: 06/19/2025
669: The First 90 Days - How to Set Every New Hire Up for Success with Caroline and Matt
The Business of Boutique Fitness
A thoughtful onboarding process is worth your investment of time and effort. Although you’re temporarily doing more work while also increasing your payroll, it’s ultimately a long-term gain. Get the essential ingredients with Coaches Caroline Plambeck and Matt Hanton in Episode 669: The First 90 Days: How to Set Up Every New Hire for Success. Stoke anticipation: generate good vibes with a personal note or small gift before day 1 Lay the foundation: review job description, KPIs, goals, mission, vision and values Cultivate connection: do meet & greets, assign a...
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668: The Secrets to a High-Performing Team
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Your people can make or break your studio. Building a standout team is critical to protect your business. And that doesn’t just happen automatically, y’all. Make sure you’re firing on all cylinders in Episode 668: The Secrets to a High-Performing Team with Coaches Caroline Plambeck and Matt Hanton. Prioritize prep: draft an org chart and job descriptions with specific KPIs Recruit selectively: hire for culture and train for skill – you can’t force fit Train to retain: templatize a comprehensive onboarding process Touch base: create agendas for...
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667: How Tariffs & Trade Can Impact Your Studio
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Y’all, the noise about tariffs in recent months has stirred questions and anxiety among the fitness industry (and many industries, frankly) about the effects on their business. Crediting Liz Clark’s and Mike Goscinski’s talk at the Health & Fitness Association’s Fly-In & Advocacy Summit, let’s dive into Episode 667: How Tariffs & Trade Can Impact Your Studio. Universal uncertainty: legislative, studio and consumer unknowns Lucky strike: service-based industries have an advantage Building up: construction costs jump due to...
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666: The Big Picture with Lise, Garrett, & Debra
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Y'all, Two industry powerhouses I'm absolutely fascinated by – Garrett Marshall and Debra Strougo! Garrett's been shaping our space for 22 years and just launched something that could change everything, while Debra brings her incredible insight from years of working with operators. Together they're solving the biggest challenge in fitness: how do we maintain our position of influence when 90% of our members are on their smartphones buying wellness products we don't offer? Tune in to our conversation with these two industry legends: Episode 666: The Big Picture with Garrett Marshall &...
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665: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker, Jennifer Maanavi of Physique 57, and Jack Thomas of The Fit Guide
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Y'all, Two industry leaders I'm absolutely fascinated by – Jennifer Maanavi, founder of Physique 57 (one of the best barre brands in the world), and Jack Thomas, creator of The Fit Guide (the gold standard for fitness excellence, like the Michelin Star guide for our industry). They're both revolutionizing how we think about hospitality in boutique fitness! Tune in to our new series of conversations with amazing industry leaders: Episode 661: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker, Jennifer Maanavi of Physique 57, and Jack Thomas of The Fit Guide. ● Building boutique from scratch: Jennifer...
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664: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker and Jason Moore of Spren
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Y’all, combining our high-touch approach with personalized client data is gold. Cue this fascinating conversation with software engineer, trainer and data nerd Jason Moore. Episode 666: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker and Jason Moore of Spren left me with a feast of food for thought regarding what’s possible in our industry. Measurement & motivation: tracking progress through meaningful personal data Body image: capturing body comp, RMR and HRV with your phone’s camera Expanding access: adding value with on-brand, personalized, 24/7 AI...
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663: The Pilates Explosion - Global Growth with STOTT Pilates' Beth Gibbs-Bartel
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Y'all, when you've been in this industry as long as I have, you can feel the big shifts coming. But even I wasn't prepared for the Pilates explosion we're witnessing right now. It's unlike anything we've seen before, and if you're not paying attention, you're missing the boat on the biggest opportunity in boutique fitness. Tune in to our new series of conversations with amazing industry leaders: Episode 663: The Pilates Explosion - Global Growth with STOTT Pilates' Beth Gibbs-Bartel. ● Education empire: STOTT Pilates has trained 80,000+ instructors across 100 countries with unmatched...
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662: Building Premium Fitness Empire - Lessons from Third Space London
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Y'all, For boutique fitness studio owners, scaling from a single location to a multi-club empire while maintaining premium standards seems impossible. But what if you could learn from someone who's done exactly that? Meet Rob Beal, Fitness Director at Third Space, who's helped grow them from 4 to 13 premium clubs across London and built the highest-valued fitness concept per square foot worldwide. Tune in to our new series of conversations with amazing industry leaders: Episode 662: Building Premium Fitness Empire - Lessons from Third Space London. ● Own your IP: keeping all training,...
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661: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker and Chris Farnsworth of LiveMetta
The Business of Boutique Fitness
One brand I’m so excited to watch is LiveMetta – currently 11 yoga and Pilates studios (along with one spa) in Southern California. They’re truly bringing something different to our space! Tune in to our new series of conversations with amazing industry leaders: Episode 661: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker and Chris Farnsworth of Live Metta. Mission critical: embodying loving kindness as a foundation and culture Competition killer: thoughtfully expanding to fully own select markets Golden Rule: prioritizing relationships, ensuring support, paying well ...
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660: Attracting & Retaining Female Clients in Your Studio
The Business of Boutique Fitness
Y’all may assume that because 77% of boutique fitness studio members are women, marketing to females is a no-brainer. They’re showing up anyway, right? Wrong. To grow, you must keep tweaking your outreach to this demographic. Learn how with Coach Rachel Prairie in Episode 660: Attracting & Retaining Female Clients in Your Studio. Get close up: know your client avatar’s age, interests, hobbies and more Give them something to talk about: capitalize on word-of-mouth referrals Create touch points: cultivate community with events, programs and...
info_outlineY'all,
Two industry leaders I'm absolutely fascinated by – Jennifer Maanavi, founder of Physique 57 (one of the best barre brands in the world), and Jack Thomas, creator of The Fit Guide (the gold standard for fitness excellence, like the Michelin Star guide for our industry). They're both revolutionizing how we think about hospitality in boutique fitness!
Tune in to our new series of conversations with amazing industry leaders: Episode 661: The Big Picture with Lise Kuecker, Jennifer Maanavi of Physique 57, and Jack Thomas of The Fit Guide.
● Building boutique from scratch: Jennifer started Physique 57 in 2005 when boutique studios didn't exist - told architects she wanted it to feel "like coming to my house to work out"
● Hospitality over amenities: Their most successful studio had wear and tear but sold the most memberships because of warm feeling and community - proves it's about connection, not expensive finishes
● Two types of training: What to teach (mechanics for safety) vs. how to teach (hospitality that brings people back) - "you can tell people to do 10 jumping jacks one way, or another way"
● Sales as service: Reframing sales from pushy to helpful - like a washing machine store, clients need guidance to find what's right for them, not to be left to figure it out alone
● The Fit Guide standards: 250 metrics evaluating every element of the member journey - only 90%+ scores earn five stars, representing the top 1-2% of the industry
● Modality gaps revealed: Yoga scored lowest across all seven cities (guru mentality putting teacher at center), while barre scored highest (natural teaching opportunities)
● Gratitude mindset: "We're just so grateful that you're here" - understanding everything clients go through just to show up for class creates servant leadership culture
Check out how both Physique 57 and The Fit Guide are elevating standards across our industry. The opportunities are massive when we focus on hospitality - and Jennifer's right, "the hero of the story is the client."
Catch you there, Lise
PS: Join 2,000+ studio owners who've decided to take control of their studio business and build their freedom empire. Subscribe HERE and join the party!