Hello and welcome to BizWeek. Continuing the health streak from last weak, this week I interviewed a Ms. Laura who owns a mobile studio. I bet you are all curious to find out what it is.
Jiya: What is the concept of a mobile studio?
Ms. Laura: We started five years ago, and we started because we had a lot of parents who wanted to workout, but their children - well actually it started with my child that’s where I got the idea, because the children were not doing well in the gym’s child care room, so they were really upset because I was leaving and that’s where the concept started. What if we let our kids play alongside us while we workout. Five years ago we started just as a kid friendly environment, so we didn’t include the children in the workout, but they were maybe playing in a playground or in a field, and then we were working out. It ended up being a great idea because what happened was the kids started to become friends, and so they where looking forward to go to these workout classes because while the adults were working out they could play with their friends. It ended up being a win-win for everybody, and then from there we had some moms asking if they could do some early morning workouts before work, so then we started having classes that were just ladies in the mornings. The concept really is we didn’t invest in a studio we just used the community to workout.
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Jiya: What days are you open and what times are you open in the days?
Ms. Laura: Our schedule is really just what our women have asked for, so we have classes Monday through Saturday and we have early morning classes as early as 5:00 am. Then we have mid-day which is more like 9:30 in the morning and then we have some evening classes at 6:30. We have basically the early morning classes which really appeal to the women who workout before work. The evening classes typically appeal to the people who want to come at night without their kids or maybe the one who work all day, and then the 9:30 classes is where a lot of the kids will show up. It’s a lot of women who maybe have preschoolers or toddlers at home, but that seems to be a good time. We have some people that don’t have kids at all that just like to workout at 9:30. Then, We’re doing most of our classes online right now because of COVID. We’re also streaming, so people can either workout in a socially distanced environment, or the instructors are also zooming the workouts so people can do it from home if they’re more comfortable.
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Jiya: So you’re online or do you have a certain location?
Ms. Laura: We’re both. We either meet in a church parking lot doing the workout, but the instructor will be zooming the workout as well for anyone who’s at home. We’re trying to make it work for everybody.
Jiya: That’s really creative! How has Corona Virus affect your business?
Ms. Laura: I would say it’s been a real challenging season for gyms in general. We had to get really creative, really quickly because our women still wanted to workout. We were not zooming live workouts very often. We had done it a couple times, but now because of the corona virus we really had to make our schedule and accommodate people who did not want to workout. We had to offer virtual sessions. Financially there’s been definitely some struggles because we took three months off when the pandemic really hit, from March to May where we were offering all of our classes virtually because some people couldn’t go out. Our instructors taught for free, and we did not charge any memberships. Some of our ladies continued to pay as a donation, and we did take donations. We had a monthly fee and we turned them all off. Our instructors taught for free or for very reduced rates, so that way we could keep our rate down, and maintain quality. Starting back in May on the Memorial weekend we were able to turn our memberships back on, but we did take a March to Memorial Day off where we weren’t receiving income. A lot of People donated though, our community is amazing, and they did donate, so we were able to make it through that period.
Jiya: Wow, you have a great community.
Ms. Laura: We really do!
Jiya: Are those the main changes?
Mr. Laura: Yes, the main changes are that we’ve made is moving things online.
Jiya: What’s the name of your business?
Ms. Laura: It’s Powerfull Fitness.
Jiya: Why did you decide to name your business that?
Ms. Laura: We ended up with the “full” at the end of Powerfull spelled full because we wanted it to be more than just exercise we wanted women to feel full of support. We wanted to offer them not just exercise, but social support through the community. The mental health benefits of exercise, and the mental health benefits of being in a group of supported women that’s “full” of Powerfull. We’re not just Powerfull because we work out, but we’re Powerfull because we’re full of support.
Jiya: What was your inspiration to open a mobile studio?
Ms. Laura: Truthfully, it was not all my radar screen to open a mobile studio because I was a teacher prior to Powerfull Fitness, but what inspired me was just being in this space as a mother. I had a three and five year old at the time. We had just moved to Virginia, so what inspired me was needing support and the current situation we were up against just wasn’t working. It always works for some people and that’s amazing. We always want to support whatever works for any woman. Our motto doesn’t always work for people, but my children were not doing well going into child care rooms, so I just wanted to find a way to support other women who may be in the same situation as I was. I just want to support pregnant women, women working full time, women with kids, and even women with no kids at all. It’s become more of a how can we support other women no matter what stage they’re in.
Jiya: What kind of classes do you have?
Ms. Laura: We have lots. We have kickboxing, boot camp, Pilates, yoga, barre, strength training, and cardio dance which is a popular one.
Jiya: Any kids classes?
Ms. Laura: Not kids specifically right now. We have done them in the past, but right now we don’t have anything that’s the kids common workout. Kids are coming especially prior to COVID and playing and having fun, but they weren’t specific kids classes. However, I will say that because of COVID we’re looking right now to see how we could offer some of that because the kids are missing sports and P.E, so that’s something in the process that we are trying to figure out how we can support family’s who want to get their kids active right now, but I am open for suggestions.
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