Franchise Spirits Helps Reinvent The "Mommy Track"
Posted on: 18/08/2006
More women choose business ownership to gain control, flexibility, family time.
When Kristen Horler was single, she worked two jobs – as a pastry chef and as a fitness instructor at a health club. When she married and had her first child, she suddenly wanted a life where going to work didn’t mean she had to leave her baby with someone else.
She saw an opportunity to use her fitness certification to help new moms reclaim their pre-pregnancy bodies, without the need for babysitters or fitness club memberships. In 2001, she launched Baby Boot Camp®, a mom-and-baby exercise program developed specifically to address post-partum fitness challenges. What started as Horler and three friends doing cardio drills with their babies in jogging strollers is now a rapidly expanding stroller-fitness program with franchise locations across the U.S., Australia and Canada.
Horler represents a growing trend among educated, professional women: Tired of the elusive promise of workplace flexibility and rushing home in time to eat take-out and put the kids to bed, women are discovering that they have had enough of the ever-lengthening workday that leaves little time for life outside of the office. They’re leaving the corporate world in search of a work-life seesaw that they have more control over, and one that tips in favour of family.
It’s no coincidence that, at the same time, small business ownership is on the rise; women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms. For women who want to start a business but want the security and support of a proven business model, many see franchise ownership as a smart, safe – and flexible – way to succeed.
Opportunities like the one Horler offers with Baby Boot Camp epitomize the family-oriented career track. The company’s tag line: “Bring Your Baby. Get Fit.” Many are also financially accessible (read: you won’t throw your 401(k) into it to get started) and easy to manage, using a Web-based business dashboard. Franchisees have 24/7 access to a business infrastructure that automates the business of running the franchise: Membership tracking, financial postings, access to marketing and PR support and the ability to connect with other franchisees.
“I was going to start my own stroller fitness company and while I was researching, I found Baby Boot Camp,” says Jennifer Beckley. She became a certified trainer after her two children were born. “I was overweight and I couldn’t find a trainer who understood post-partum fitness, so I became a trainer myself, thinking I’d help other moms.” Beckley opened her Baby Boot Camp franchise in
Albuquerque in April, 2005. “I had only five clients show up the first day. I thought, ‘what am I doing?’” Beckley didn’t need to worry. The number of women nearly doubled with each class she held and as her business started turning a profit a few months later, she opened a second franchise to accommodate the demand. Within weeks, both franchises had waiting lists, so she opened a third location. Her fourth Baby Boot Camp franchise opens in July. Beckley now employs trainers to lead classes, which frees her up to manage and promote the business.
The infrastructure Baby Boot Camp provides was a big attraction to Beckley. “I never saw myself as a business person, so the base of support reminds me that I’m not alone,” she says. “I can count on the corporate office for guidance, and there’s this network of other franchise owners out there – we give each other a lot of advice.”
Nobody is more surprised than Horler about the path her life has taken and the success of her company. “I never thought this is what I’d be doing with my life; that I’d start a stroller fitness class that turned me into a business owner and the CEO of an international company,” she says. “I was just a mom who didn’t want to put my baby in day care while I went to work, but in the process of solving my dilemma, I created this career not only for myself, but for a lot of other women out there who are looking for the same thing.”
Baby Boot Camp follows the guidelines set by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ACOG) and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Kristen Horler, a Certified Personal Trainer and mother of two, launched Baby Boot Camp in 2001 after she could not find a fitness program that addressed the physical and logistical challenges of being an active mom. Since that time, the company has expanded the program through licensing. Now more than 300 locations in 23 states feature Baby Boot Camp classes.
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