Kimberly Morin, owner and founder of Anchor Barre Wellness Studio, has struggled with depression since the age of 15. In December of 2011, she had been married for a year and found herself in a rut where significant weight gain was causing a strain on her life. After finding a Group on in her email one morning, one particular Barre class offered familiarity and sparked her interest as someone who had been a dancer growing up.
“The particular studio I walked into really happened to place are ally big emphasis on using the workout as more of a mental wellness tool with physical benefits being a side effect, instead of the other way around, which really spoke to me.”
After a period of consistently attending Barre classes, Kimberly eventually became an instructor in 2013. An email asking for new instructors one day sparked her interest. She showed up to the audition, assuming they would never take her on. But when she walked into the room, the studio owners became infinitely excited and motivated her to take on the instructor position as a challenge-in-stride.
Kimberly worked as an instructor for several years. When the commute to her previous studio became too much, she noticed an absence of group fitness classes in her local area. After struggling for months to find the right location for her new business and with a prayer and some plastic, Kimberly was able to open up shop.
Kimberly remembers the feeling of being significantly overweight, and walking into her first barre class feeling like she was too big to work out. As a woman balancing a passion project with another full time business (plus family life!) she set out to create for other women exactly what she needed when she began her own journey.
“I want it to act as an anchor for the rest of people’s lives”
Today, Anchor Barre Wellness Studio is focused on creating community beyond classes, and is meant to provide an experience that every woman feels comfortable walking into.
For Kimberly, like any other studio owner, keeping attendance up is important—but not necessarily easy. FitDEGREE has helped Anchor Barre Wellness Studio keep attendance rates up and maintain consistency. At any given moment, Kimberly can open up the platform and track her attendance to ensure numbers are actively growing. fitDEGREE’s social sharing features have been a tool for Kimberly that connects people both inside and outside of the studio, which encourages her members to return consistently.
Additionally, FitDEGREE’s intuitive and easy-to-use features were a home run for Kimberly’s clients and greatly impacted the way community was created at Anchor Barre Wellness Studio.
“I’m in a fairly saturated market. If they can’t book a class easily, they’re gonna go down the street. Easy for me is great, but easy for my clients is better.”
Because fitDEGREE sets users up with a profile page and photo, in addition to allowing them to share classes on social media, FitDEGREE helps class members initiate friendships and build community, by encouraging engagement and familiarity.
Before FitDEGREE, Kimberly’s clients might have been working out next to each other for months but were never able to catch names. Now using the platform, they have the power to connect instantly.
“Our clients have all become friends and wanna make other women feel comfortable. They wanna make other women feel empowered...They’re all super excited they can identify each other! “Prompting more conversation and more action, even while they’re in the studio, and I love seeing that.”
Not only does FitDEGREE help clients of Anchor Barre Wellness studio connect, it makes an impact on Kimberly’s team members as well. Kimberly uses the FitDEGREE platform to keep up with her current team of 10.
There are a lot of costs associated with running a yoga studio—rent, electricity, equipment, cleaning, a team, and the list goes on. (Did we miss any?) While fitDEGREE offers some pretty unique features, what really convinced Kimberly to switch was the price. Other studio management softwares can be 2x to 3x as much, and that can take its toll on a business.(Not to mention the surprise transaction fees you can sometimes get!)
“That kind of savings for a small boutique operation is huge.”
What’s Next for Anchor Barre Wellness Studio?
Kimberly is working hard to see that Anchor Barre Wellness Studio continues to keep up with fitness trends and keep increasing the number of people coming to class. Growing her community even further will allow Kimberly to create the most impact with her mission of teaching people about self-care, self-love, and setting boundaries.
