​Like any great idea, Styles Studios Fitness was basically invented on the back of a bar napkin. Ok not at a bar, but close. 

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Styles Studios Founder Carrie Kepple came up with the concept of building a Club of Studios back in 2017 while living overseas when she spotted a gap in the market.

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At the time, she served on the Board of Directors for the trade association for the health and fitness industry and operated health clubs in New Zealand. Having worked across the US and international markets in club business for over a decade at that point, its fair to say she'd seen a lot. Also privy to consumer research and whitepapers built by the association, she set out to be a student of "what people wanted? And what got in the way of them doing it?" 

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Boutique Studio classes were hot and here to stay, but they cost a lot and you have to drive all over town to get a variety of them. Traditional clubs, on the other hand, offered the variety for cheaper but they were not as cool and desired as boutique experiences. 

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So hence the gap...

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That afternoon, starting in the humble beginnings of an upstairs home office in New Zealand with a simple sheet of whiteboard paper, Styles Studios Fitness was born as The Original Club of Studios. Or 4 and a Floor, as it started before cool things like the recovery lab were added. Four boutique studios like store fronts surrounding a fully loaded gym floor was the vision. The studios based on modality style to allow for future proofing with the programming trends. Never be bored again was the instant tagline followed by our later trademarked All Styles Welcome which has become the ethos of the business and the first thing that greets members and guests.

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Carrie spent hours upon hours every night after working her full time career in the clubs to build the concept and business plan. She set course to move back to the US and hooked up with now business partner Jim Worthington, who quite frankly is a fitness business ninja from the PA. Check out the Newtown Athletic Club (NAC) when you have a google minute.

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She moved home and set course. And after learning ALL the lessons in site selection, leasing, design, build out, systems and software that work together, Carrie and her local team opened the doors to Styles Studios Fitness January 18th 2020.

 

Though being in medium sized B market city, the new club lit the community on fire! They sold over 500 members in the first 8 weeks and were getting national and international recognition in publications and podcasts! The brand was built to scale and had multiple offers to franchise when we were ready. But as unluck would have it, COVID shut the world down March 18th 2020. Change of plans...

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Luckily though, Carrie was familiar with running a business through a natural disaster previously (a story for another time), and she and team handled the situation smoothly and retained almost 100% of their new member base. The business survived the storm, has grown and refined, and just recently celebrated 5 years in business. 

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So here we are, COVID behind us, 5 years of battle scars and standing strong, a shit hot brand, a concept people are scrambling to replicate and all the resources to make our future franchisees successful! It's safe to say, we are ready to grow!

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