Ep. 65: Pilates Addiction

1 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I think what's exciting is just building the 2 - > brand and building the company from the ground up. 3 - > I know, you know, where we want to go and what this looks like 4 - > at a thousand-unit operation. 5 - > So it's really fun getting to know all of my early 6 - > franchisees, and I refer to them as my pioneers and helping 7 - > them, you know, launch their very first locations. 8 - > And many are not previous franchisees.

9 - > They're definitely not Pilates instructors. 10 - > And so it's helping new and first-time franchisees and 11 - > business owners realize their dreams and take a leap of faith 12 - > and you know bet on themselves. 13 - > That for me is really fun, and that's what gets me up and going 14 - > every day. 15 - > Brian Sheehan: Welcome back to Retail Intel, the podcast where 16 - > we uncover the stories behind the most innovative and 17 - > fastest-growing brands shaping the retail landscape.

18 - > I'm Brian Cheehan, and today we're diving into the world of 19 - > fitness and wellness with someone who's redefining what a 20 - > Pilates experience can be. 21 - > Joining me is Sarah Luna, CEO of Pilates Addiction, a brand 22 - > that's still early in its journey, but already making 23 - > waves in the boutique fitness space. 24 - > Sarah's background uniquely positions her to lead this 25 - > concept into rapid expansion. 26 - > And today we'll explore what it takes to build a brand from the 27 - > ground up, the challenges of scaling, and the trends shaping 28 - > experiential retail and boutique fitness.

29 - > Yeah, thanks for joining us. 30 - > And before we talk about Pilates addiction, which I'm 31 - > very excited to learn more about, I was hoping we could 32 - > start with your background and kind of your journey. 33 - > You've had a really impressive career in the fitness industry, 34 - > and so just hoping to hear more about the experiences that shape 35 - > your approach to leading a brand like this. 36 - > Sarah Luna: Oh, thank you.

37 - > Um, I've worn all the different hats that are related to any 38 - > any role within Boutique Fitness, um, from instructor to 39 - > master trainer to studio manager, and then of course on 40 - > the franchise or side, running sales as a national sales 41 - > director for Club Pilates in the early days, and then jumping to 42 - > a brand president for Pierbar, and then jumping to a public 43 - > company president for Exponential Fitness. 44 - > Um, and now I'm back in what I would say is my favorite role, 45 - > which is CEO of Pilates Addiction.

46 - > Ultimately, it just keeps showing up and getting more 47 - > responsibility and different responsibility. 48 - > And I've loved kind of this, you know, meandering journey 49 - > that I've taken in learning all the different roles and 50 - > positions of the industry. 51 - > Brian Sheehan: For anybody that's not familiar with Pilates 52 - > or Pilates addiction, how do you explain it? 53 - > How do you explain the workout kind of briefly?

54 - > Sarah Luna: The workout is a high-intensity Pilates 55 - > experience. 56 - > And what we do is we really focus on full-body experience 57 - > where the instructor or the educator choreographs the class 58 - > and they pick out their own music, and then there's 59 - > lighting, you know, schemes and themes that go with each of the 60 - > individual class formats. 61 - > But we've got a core class, so that's kind of our bread and 62 - > butter class. 63 - > Um, and then we have a stretch class called our RX class or 64 - > mobility RX.

65 - > And then we have a max class, and that's gonna be like an 66 - > amped up, you know, a higher, higher intensity, more 67 - > cardiovascular sort of experience. 68 - > And we're working on um an even harder class that'll launch, 69 - > you know, in a little in a couple of weeks as well. 70 - > Um but really the experience is about incorporating full-body 71 - > moves across each of the apparatus that are provided on 72 - > the machine and doing it in a way that is uplifting and 73 - > energizing and you know, doesn't bring a person kind of down or 74 - > depress them, um, and is definitely not in an environment 75 - > where we're saying, no, or you can't or don't do that, but 76 - > rather, you know, challenging people and teaching to the 77 - > highest level of student in the class and then giving people 78 - > modifications or alternative moves so that they can, you 79 - > know, level up their own game, but show up every day and do the 80 - > best that they can with their body and and how they're 81 - > feeling.

82 - > Brian Sheehan: What inspired you to take on the CEO role at 83 - > Pilates Addiction? 84 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I think um, you know, we found a really 85 - > great concept and had uh an idea for a concept, um, which was 86 - > really to target an emerging demographic of Pilates 87 - > consumers. 88 - > Um, what we're seeing is that the younger, younger consumers 89 - > are looking for a place where they can consolidate 90 - > entertainment, community, fitness, wellness dollars, and 91 - > shifting their wallet share in those different areas into uh 92 - > certain experiences.

93 - > So uh we're seeing, you know, alcohol sales are down, fitness 94 - > and wellness um sales and and dollars are up. 95 - > And so there was an opportunity to come in and you know capture 96 - > the market and be one of the early and first movers to help 97 - > this younger generation, you know, be introduced to Pilates 98 - > and have a really great experience in studio uh for new 99 - > Pilates concept. 100 - > Brian Sheehan: And it sounds like Pilates Addiction is still 101 - > in its early growth stages, I guess, but you guys are building 102 - > this to scale, correct?

103 - > Sarah Luna: Yes. 104 - > Yeah. 105 - > Brian Sheehan: And what are some of the most important things 106 - > you're focusing on now to set it up so that it it can grow 107 - > quickly? 108 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I mean, we're franchise concept at the end of 109 - > the day.

110 - > So really it's about selecting the best franchisees in each 111 - > individual market as we go out and scale. 112 - > Um so we have a very robust process on selecting those 113 - > operators and making sure that they're going to be good, you 114 - > know, stewards of the brand and at the end of the day, good, you 115 - > know, executors of all the standard operating procedures 116 - > and providing the best customer experience. 117 - > And then we look at you know implementing communication and 118 - > technology platforms so that as we have operators teaching their 119 - > employees and their staff, that each of the staff members, 120 - > again, is able to embody the politics method in ways and 121 - > bring the best experience at the local level.

122 - > So right now we're hyper-focused on finding the 123 - > best real estate, building out those locations, um, securing 124 - > our supply chain and all the inventory and equipment that 125 - > we'll need, and making sure that we're prepared to launch 126 - > between 100 and 150 locations this year in 2026. 127 - > Brian Sheehan: That's really exciting. 128 - > And you mentioned real estate. 129 - > Let's talk about that for a second.

130 - > What site criteria do you prioritize? 131 - > What kind of spaces are you looking for? 132 - > Who do you want to be near? 133 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I mean, really, we're looking for um, 134 - > you know, 1,500 to 1,700 square feet.

135 - > That would be our ideal footprint in a grocery anchored 136 - > location with great cotenancy with, you know, walk by traffic. 137 - > At the end of the day, we want to make sure that we're along 138 - > the commute or in the commute of um of our members so that they 139 - > are you know able to work out on a very regular basis and that 140 - > they're not going out of their way to come and enjoy our 141 - > experience. 142 - > So we look for areas with great walk by traffic and cotenancy 143 - > like nail salons, even mailboxes, grocery stores, as I 144 - > mentioned, um, but other you know, mixed use tenants that 145 - > will help drive you know walk by traffic.

146 - > Brian Sheehan: What is it specifically about a grocer that 147 - > works well with fitness concept? 148 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, um, you know, I think with fitness where 149 - > people are coming into the center two to three times a 150 - > week, um, it makes it most efficient for for them and they 151 - > become you know more regular when they're able to couple it 152 - > with you know different errands that they're doing and hit one 153 - > center and you know get two or three of their errands completed 154 - > and done.

155 - > So we like that and we like the visibility that we get by being 156 - > in high traffic centers as well. 157 - > Um so there's a lot of kind of upside um by being in those 158 - > types of you know commercial centers at the end of the day. 159 - > Brian Sheehan: Pilates addiction is setting a new you call a 160 - > gold standard in Pilates, and I'm curious what you mean by 161 - > that. 162 - > But then also, how did you think about this when you were 163 - > thinking about creating the brand?

164 - > Sarah Luna: Well, the slogan came from the machine, the 165 - > Wonder Former that we've now renamed the Aurum. 166 - > Um and Aurum is Latin for gold. 167 - > And uh we've re-we've dipped our machine into gold, which has 168 - > never been done before. 169 - > Um, and really, you know, this is kind of like a Swiss Army 170 - > knife of machines in that it includes a jump board, a chair, 171 - > a reformer, and a ballet bar.

172 - > Um and so I like to think of it as almost like the Rolls-Royce 173 - > of machines that you've you've maybe done Pilates before or 174 - > even mega former Pilates before, but um haven't tried you know, 175 - > Wonderformer in the machine until you've come to a Pilates 176 - > addiction. 177 - > It's exclusive to our brand and experience, and and really um 178 - > what a consumer gets is an efficient, highly efficient 179 - > workout at the end of the day. 180 - > So there's very little downtime as they um work out on the 181 - > machine because the machine is all-encompassing.

182 - > So they can move from the reformer to the chair to the 183 - > ballet bar and the jump board, you know, very easily, and 184 - > they're not spending their workout time configuring or 185 - > setting up, you know, the machine at the end of the day. 186 - > And then the footprint that we're able to go out and find, 187 - > you know, from a real estate standpoint is highly efficient 188 - > and economical because we don't have anything affixed to the 189 - > floors or the walls.

190 - > Um, so we're able to go into spaces with, you know, two or 191 - > three different layouts that allow for, you know, optimal 192 - > member experience and workout, but we're able to be very 193 - > flexible in terms of how we lay out the spaces. 194 - > Brian Sheehan: You talked a little bit at the start about 195 - > the type of person that, you know, like your core customer. 196 - > And I guess I'm curious what trends in health and wellness 197 - > influenced the strategy behind the creation of Pilates 198 - > addiction.

199 - > Sarah Luna: I mean, boutique fitness continues to grow at you 200 - > know, double-digit kegers over the next couple of years. 201 - > And within that, Pilates is expected to be one of the 202 - > fastest growing fitness concepts. 203 - > And we've seen great tailwinds from um COVID with Pilates, and 204 - > there's no slowing down with the demand in the Pilates space. 205 - > But the fastest growing cohort of consumers within um Pilates 206 - > is you know, your millennials and Gen Z ultimately.

207 - > And they're really first on the scene, or new on the scene 208 - > rather, for Pilates. 209 - > Um, and they maybe became familiar with Pilates with you 210 - > know an older, older sibling or even a mom or dad that went to 211 - > Club Pilates and some of the you know uh original and older kind 212 - > of studio Pilates concepts. 213 - > And now we're seeing that the demographic, you know, want want 214 - > to go to a place that's Instagrammable, it's cool, it's 215 - > got a vibe, and feels like a nightclub, but is a fitness 216 - > experience at the end of the day.

217 - > So a lot of our design is influenced by European 218 - > aesthetics, and we found kind of up and coming aesthetics that 219 - > would be appealing to both men and female consumers, and 220 - > something that would feel very modern, timeless, and just 221 - > cutting edge at the end of the day. 222 - > So everything from the lighting to the gold machines to the 223 - > wood paneling and the metallic paneling that we've designed, 224 - > um, just make the entire experience feel you know 225 - > high-end for the Pilates consumers coming in.

226 - > Brian Sheehan: Oh, that sounds exciting. 227 - > Given your background and how much experience you have, I'm 228 - > curious about sort of where you see experiential retail boutique 229 - > fitness heading in the future, three to five years out, maybe 230 - > even 10 years out. 231 - > How does it change? 232 - > How does it continue to evolve?

233 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I think um, you know, people are just going 234 - > to continue to crave um experiences and community and 235 - > efficiency at the end of the day. 236 - > You know, I think life is just gonna continue to get busy and 237 - > busier, you know, um, and people are going to look for a place 238 - > where they can still have human connection, but be efficient 239 - > with their workout, be efficient with how they get to their 240 - > workout. 241 - > You know, we talked about the placement of um Boutique Fitness 242 - > and the sites.

243 - > Um they're gonna be looking for something that, you know, kind 244 - > of checks a lot of different boxes, and then of course is 245 - > efficient with their resources at the end of the day. 246 - > So, you know, with our concept, we offer four different class 247 - > formats. 248 - > We're launching a fifth um, you know, coming soon this year, 249 - > and we're we look to, you know, really be that one-stop shop 250 - > provider in the Pilates space for anybody who's looking for, 251 - > you know, a relevant uh, you know, Pilates experience at the 252 - > end of the day.

253 - > So we touched on it being the gold standard and really um, you 254 - > know, our thought process is taking kind of the best of 255 - > studio Pilates and the best of, you know, call it Legree or 256 - > Megaformer um experiences and coming with this new and third 257 - > pillar of a reinvented way of experiencing Pilates with a 258 - > higher intensity. 259 - > So, you know, we're excited about what we've developed and 260 - > we've had really great feedback from our customers so far.

261 - > Brian Sheehan: What's some advice that you give to uh your 262 - > franchisees and others who are interested in boutique fitness? 263 - > Sarah Luna: I mean, I think it's just general to um running a 264 - > business is making sure that you've got the right people 265 - > tasked for the right jobs. 266 - > Um, you know, sometimes we'll have franchisees come in and 267 - > say, I'm going to get certified to teach and I'm gonna be the 268 - > general manager, and you know, they want to buy it off more 269 - > that they can chew.

270 - > And really, you know, we want the business owners to be just 271 - > that, the business owners and the strategists and those that 272 - > are kind of pushing on the business and they're working on 273 - > the business and not in the business, and that they're 274 - > hiring the appropriate staff member for the different roles 275 - > that are within the business. 276 - > So, you know, whether they're buying a plies addiction or 277 - > they're, you know, setting up their own mom and pop plies 278 - > experience or an alternative business, it's really about 279 - > hiring the best talent that you can for the different roles 280 - > within the business and leveraging, you know, people and 281 - > resources, you know, appropriately.

282 - > Brian Sheehan: And then thinking about how you envision growing 283 - > the brand moving forward, what's maybe a big misconception about 284 - > how you go about scaling, you know, any kind of experiential 285 - > retail brand, but specifically a boutique fitness business? 286 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I think there's um a concern on the 287 - > labor, you know, that that people think that, you know, 288 - > finding Pilates instructors or finding highly trained fitness 289 - > um instructors are is something that's very hard.

290 - > Um but at the end of the day, I think labor is just always 291 - > going to be the most challenging piece of of any business, 292 - > right? 293 - > And then it's about finding and training and grooming that 294 - > labor so that they are a great fit, you know, within the four 295 - > walls. 296 - > And any good business leader is able to retain their labor uh 297 - > for years and years, right? 298 - > So it's it's really about being a good business leader at the 299 - > end of the day and being able to retain not only your customers, 300 - > but also your staff members.

301 - > And if there's a good, you know, work culture and 302 - > environment, then really it's about you know retaining people 303 - > for three, five, even ten years, you know, within their within 304 - > their given communities at the end of the day. 305 - > So um for us, it's important that we have our own, you know, 306 - > training program and university. 307 - > So we really control our labor pool at the end of the day. 308 - > And we go out and we select really great talent and then we 309 - > put them through the training program and help franchisees 310 - > open their doors.

311 - > And they're not looking for, you know, tens upon tens of um 312 - > of you know instructors, but they're really looking for 313 - > anywhere between three and five instructors to get them up and 314 - > going. 315 - > So it's a small handful of people that can help launch, you 316 - > know, a studio at the end of the day. 317 - > Brian Sheehan: You mentioned, you know, selecting the best 318 - > franchisees kind of a couple of times. 319 - > And I'm curious if you could talk about the criteria or some 320 - > of the things that jump out at you in someone's background or 321 - > personality or combination of those that, you know, sort of 322 - > jump off the page at you as like, hey, this person really 323 - > has a great chance to be successful with you know 324 - > operating and running and growing this business.

325 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, and there's a handful of different 326 - > characteristics and traits that we look at. 327 - > You know, obviously financial you know, wherewithal is very 328 - > important. 329 - > We want to make sure that they can actually secure financing if 330 - > they need to do that, um, assign leases if they need to do 331 - > that. 332 - > So, you know, we look for minimum requirements in terms of 333 - > assets and cash on hand.

334 - > But um, more importantly, I would say is that they've got 335 - > you know good leadership qualities. 336 - > Maybe they've learned they've led a team before or they've 337 - > managed a team before. 338 - > Um, and there's someone that you know we feel will will be 339 - > successful in the space and you know, running their own business 340 - > and approaching kind of the people side of the business in 341 - > an appropriate manner. 342 - > And we go through a lot of different evaluation points, and 343 - > one of the last ones is going to dinner with all of the 344 - > candidates.

345 - > Um, and that's really, you know, do we like to, you know, 346 - > share chips in guacabole with them and have a drink? 347 - > And, you know, what is the conversation like? 348 - > And what are the questions that they're asking? 349 - > And kind of where's their headspace and how are they 350 - > thinking about the business?

351 - > We can learn a lot about the candidates and um and sometimes 352 - > we part ways after that dinner because we feel like if we if we 353 - > don't want to do business with them, then it's going to be 354 - > challenging for them to do business, you know, with others, 355 - > um, and and maybe they won't be a good reflection of the 356 - > business at the end of the day. 357 - > So um so it's really everything under the sun from you know, 358 - > how do they represent themselves um over two-day, you know, 359 - > interaction?

360 - > Um, how do they follow the process as they're going through 361 - > due diligence, which is a you know, several month process, to, 362 - > you know, dinner and then financials at the end of the 363 - > day. 364 - > Brian Sheehan: It's such a simple thing, you know, breaking 365 - > bread with someone, but what a great I mean, you're the first 366 - > person I've heard talk about that as part of the matchmaking 367 - > or evaluation process. 368 - > And it just seems like such a great uh way to find a fit, you 369 - > know, as part of your process.

370 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, we enjoy it. 371 - > And it is informal, you know. 372 - > So it's um that it's fun just to take everyone out for dinner 373 - > and get to know, you know, their hobbies, their likes, their 374 - > families. 375 - > Last night, in fact, we had dinner um with a group that's 376 - > here today, and we got into a heavy discussion about AI and 377 - > you know, all things technology.

378 - > So, you know, you never really know where the conversation's 379 - > going to take you, but you can learn a lot about, you know, um, 380 - > a person through various conversations like that. 381 - > Brian Sheehan: Boy, I'd love to come back to that if we have 382 - > time to talk about AI. 383 - > I'm curious if you see it impacting your business in any 384 - > way. 385 - > But I I did want to ask you, what's what's something that 386 - > surprises people about Pilates addiction?

387 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I think um there's a couple of things, but 388 - > uh the first one is just how um economical the space is and how 389 - > efficient the space is. 390 - > Um it looks bigger and it feels bigger than than it actually 391 - > is. 392 - > And our first um demo site was in West Hollywood in a 1,500 393 - > square foot box. 394 - > Um, and because of the aesthetics and the design, it 395 - > feels like a much bigger space.

396 - > Um and then I think just how challenging the workout actually 397 - > is. 398 - > Uh we get people who have done Pilates before or they're 399 - > fitness enthusiasts and they they come to a class and you 400 - > know really start to feel new muscles or think about their 401 - > Pilates workout in a very different way. 402 - > Um, and that's because of the way that the equipment you know 403 - > lends itself to various choreography and moves and um 404 - > and just class flow at the end of the day.

405 - > Brian Sheehan: Sarah, maybe the last question for you what's 406 - > your favorite part of leading Pilates addiction at this stage? 407 - > Sarah Luna: Yeah, I think what's exciting is just building the 408 - > brand and building the company from this from the ground up. 409 - > Um, I know you know where we want to go and what this looks 410 - > like at a thousand-unit operation. 411 - > So it's really fun getting to know all of my early 412 - > franchisees, and I refer to them as my pioneers and helping 413 - > helping them launch their very first locations.

414 - > And many are not previous franchisees, they're definitely 415 - > not Pilates instructors. 416 - > And so it's it's helping new and first-time franchisees and 417 - > business owners realize their dreams and take a take a leap of 418 - > faith and you know, bet on themselves. 419 - > And I love the journey of you know new business owners and all 420 - > the learnings that they go through and the growth that they 421 - > go through and and seeing and witnessing the aha moments.

422 - > So that for me is really fun, and and that's what gets me up 423 - > and going every day. 424 - > Brian Sheehan: That's incredible. 425 - > Sarah, thank you so much for sharing your journey and 426 - > insights. 427 - > For anyone who wants to learn more about Pilates Addiction, 428 - > where should they go?

429 - > Sarah Luna: Um, they can visit my Pilates Addiction um on 430 - > Instagram, and then of course Pilatesaddiction.com. 431 - > Brian Sheehan: Thanks again, Sarah. 432 - > Sarah Luna: Thank you.

433 - > Have a great day. 434 - > Brian Sheehan: If you enjoyed this episode of Retail Intel and 435 - > want to learn more about innovative and fast growing 436 - > brands like Pilates Addiction, be sure to subscribe, share it 437 - > with someone who's passionate about retail innovation, and 438 - > follow us for more conversations with the leaders shaping the 439 - > future of retail. 440 - > Until next time, I'm Brian Sheehan, and this is Retail 441 - > Intel.