Studios can sometimes give members something a little different than the larger, full-service fitness facilities. Josefin Persson Kennedy, the president of Balans Studio in Gainesville, Va., has pushed employees and members to shoot for an active healthy lifestyle, as opposed to chasing numbers on a scale.
This may seem odd, considering the majority of people that engage in personal training are attempting to lose weight. However, modern science has shown that people need to be active and eat healthy over a lifetime — not just long enough to lose 10 pounds.
Balans Studio’s purpose is to engage members when they can exercise and make fitness something that fits their lives. “We wanted to create and design a studio that is visually pleasing and a space that will evoke a warm and calming feeling since most of our clients live very hectic lives and sit in traffic more than they would like to on a daily basis,” explained Persson Kennedy.
The class sizes are small, with around 10 to 15 members in a class. “Our mission is to communicate the importance of healthy living,” Persson Kennedy said. “I communicate to all the teachers the importance of feeling good and staying healthy, not to chase a goal on the scale.”
To keep members engaged, Persson Kennedy has spent time developing packages that work with the members’ schedules. “I believe that it is the care for the individual by the studio,” she said. “With our approach to offer different ways to purchase packages, from walk-in, to class cards, to monthly, six months and yearly memberships, our clients feel they can be in charge of how they would like to structure their purchase so it fits their lifestyle and wallet.”
Persson Kennedy became interested in owning her own fitness studio after becoming a yoga instructor. “Since the area is growing and has not been exposed to any yoga studios close by, I was inspired to introduce this great tradition and a focus on wellness,” she said. “After some consideration we decided to offer a more well-rounded studio with Spin, TRX and Zumba.” Recently, the studio has implemented The Groove Method, alongside yoga and nutrition workshops.
The studio has kept a very earth conscious and yoga-style feel. “We are a green studio with a heartbeat for community outreach,” she said. “We reach out to the people that feel the typical gym is not what they are looking for at this time. And, we give you the freedom to only pay when you are visiting the studio.
“Seeing how our daily lives are filled with too much stress and competition, I wanted to offer a place with a different heartbeat. It is definitely a work in progress. The reward of seeing how clients take to the studio and the benefits that they are seeing health-wise and mood-wise is priceless.” -CS
By Tyler Montgomery
