Tell us about MyStrongCircle. What is the company's mission?
MyStrongCircle is a multi-fitness studio membership platform that launched this year in Chicago. With so many options to exercise at home and at brick and mortar gyms and studios, we wanted to help people create a personalized fitness routine that “eliminates the noise” and is easy to stick with. With the “noise” being both the abundance of options and having to juggle multiple memberships, class packages and apps. On MyStrongCircle you pick your favorite gyms and studios and can book as many classes as you’d like from just one (our) app. Not only are we simplifying the fitness experience, we are making it more personal, hence the name “MyStrongCircle”. Your membership bundle is chosen by you, and gives you a stronger connection to the studios you visit. This not only helps you get the benefits of the workouts you do, but has so many mental health benefits by forming deeper bonds with the instructors and fellow fitness enthusiasts.
How has your background influenced you to create an online fitness focused platform?
Both my professional experience and personal fitness journey have influenced MyStrongCirce. Before I started building MyStrongCircle, I was a finance executive at one of the largest fitness companies, so I know the industry very well. Two weeks after I left my corporate job I had my first product idea. Being an analytical mind, before I started building and testing, I did a lot of market research, interviewed both fitness studio owners & members, and did surveys. All the signs were pointing towards a different need for both studios and members - bundled memberships to multiple studios that offer unlimited classes. I had my eureka moment when I realized that this is exactly how I wanted to exercise. Growing up, I was rejected from most sports teams at school and as a result, decided that exercise just wasn't for me. It took years to overcome the intimidation of working out in front of other people but eventually I found a supportive community in a yoga studio and was immediately hooked. I gained more confidence and started going to cycling & strength training classes at different studios. I loved all of those workouts and studios, but buying three memberships didn’t make financial sense. I would go through periods of doing one or the other, always feeling like I could be getting more from my fitness routine. This experience is a big part of the reason I am building MyStrongCircle - to give people the option to do all their favorite workouts as many times as they want for a reasonable cost.
What was one of the most challenging aspects of launching MyStrongCircle?
Being a first-time, solo, non-technical, immigrant, female founder I overcome a multitude a challenges on a daily basis. However, a huge hurdle we faced was launching our platform two weeks before the Covid-19 Pandemic started. Navigating this black-swan event while I was pregnant and then a new mom was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I'm happy to be able to say that this is behind us and our re-launch is going great. We are currently in the process of adding more studio partners and the feedback from our first paying members has been extremely positive. Because of Covid, the fitness industry went through big swings and changes, but the need for what we do with MyStrongCircle is still there.
What is one piece of advice, either from a mentor or elsewhere, that has helped you in your career?
I wouldn’t call it advice, but I remember vividly when I was a kid that my grandfather, who I am named after, told me that I am very adaptable and can thrive anywhere. Always keeping this in mind has helped me to have a positive attitude and remember that life has its ebbs and flows, but I can always find happiness with hard work, dedication and appreciation for what I am experiencing right in this moment.
What do the next 5 years look like for MyStrongCircle?
I am so excited for what is in front of us. Next year we want to grow and learn as much as possible from the Chicago market and start the foundation for national and international expansion. Adding new fitness and wellness complementing products to our bundles is also in our plans. We want to aggregate all the ways people are working out in one app and membership. Lastly, we have such an innovative marketplace approach that can be applied to other verticals which are currently lacking this innovation.
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