"Find great partners early in your entrepreneurial adventure" with Jessica Yarmey
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Jessica Yarmey is the CEO of KickHouse, a modern kickboxing franchise that inspires members and communities to take their health and kick it up a level. A former college athlete who played Division I soccer at Loyola University in Maryland and ran two marathons in “retirement," Jessica recognizes the value of fitness and its ability to transform lives. As a result, she aspires to bring more health and fitness opportunities to neighborhoods across the nation. She currently leads her company’s franchise development strategy and brand expansion efforts with a goal of opening 200 locations by 2023.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
I was a life-long marketer before I stepped into this role as founder and CEO of KickHouse. From an early age, I knew that a marketing career would perfectly blend my left-brain thinking with my love of art and creativity. My career progressed quickly when I moved into marketing roles in the fitness industry. I was an athlete in college and have always had a passion for fitness, so working in fitness just clicked with me.
As a leader of a fitness concept, I’m overlapping my passion for marketing with my passion for fitness with my passion for people which really makes work not feel as much like work. I believe real career joy lives at that point of overlapping passions. If you’re trying to find your purpose or if you’re trying to add momentum to your career, identify your passions and find a lane that allows you to stack as many of them together as possible.
What inspired you to start your business?
In 2020, when the media focus shifted to the popularity of virtual workouts, I knew there would be unique opportunities in the in-person fitness space. I’ve worked in the fitness industry since 2012, with brick-and-mortar brands like Gold’s Gym, YouFit Health Clubs, and Club Pilates. Working with three different brands, I saw the same amazing ability to impact people’s lives by helping them make real, sustainable changes to their health and wellness. Those years of seeing member results plus my own years of being on teams with amazing coaches have made me a lifelong believer in coach-led fitness.
With over 61% of adults reporting undesired weight loss or weight gain through the pandemic, there has never been a greater need for health and fitness solutions that deliver results. During the pandemic, we had all the virtual tools and at-home workout programming at our fingertips and a majority of adults saw undesired changes in their weight. Delivering results to our members keeps me going through the difficult days.
Where is your business based?
KickHouse has 35 locations across the country. While most of the support team resides in Dallas, TX, we do have team members in Virginia and Colorado. We launched during the pandemic so we’ve been virtual from Day 1, with no corporate office.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
Up until starting KickHouse, I had worked on large global brands with great existing brand awareness so building a brand from scratch was a whole new challenge for me. Since I needed to build awareness quickly, I chose a literal name that would be easy for consumers to comprehend and remember. While the boutique fitness space is crowded with boxing brands, there aren’t many kickboxing brands so I knew I wanted to incorporate “kicking” into our brand name. Lucky for me, the “K Effect” is in full effect with the word “Kick.” The word is also active and could be used in different analogies. The word “House” ties to family, which adds approachability to the concept. I ran the name past a small focus group and then started to secure trademarks and social pages. It is a big, early challenge to find a name that works for your business and is also available as a domain name and on social media.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
KickHouse classes are beloved by our members so we benefit from strong word of mouth as an awareness driver. As a founder, I try to add fuel to that fire by telling our story loudly and as frequently as I can via publications like Fem Founder, podcasts, and social media. Content is a great brand builder, especially when you have a great story to tell. We still have a long way to go toward being a household name in fitness, but I’m proud of the work we’ve done to date.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
The KickHouse launch was right in the middle of the first year of the pandemic, the most challenging time in recent years for fitness brands. Launching during the pandemic had its challenges, not the smallest of which was consumer fear. People didn’t want to be face to face and risk getting sick. Our strategy was to dig into the business and the operation and try to adjust to the new normal. Not only did we need to adjust operations in order to reduce fear and keep people safe, but we needed to educate on the importance of having a healthy immune system and reducing comorbidities. We are still impacted by the pandemic today but consumers are getting smarter about their health which is an important takeaway from the past two years.
Launching during the pandemic was a contrarian move that presented challenges as well as opportunities. From Day 1, we were not limited by the traditional playbooks and were able to think creatively about growth and our processes. We built a culture around being resilient and nimble through the waves of pandemic punches. We know that if we can make it through the pandemic, we will emerge with operational processes and teams that are stronger than ever!
How do you stay focused?
I don’t! I know that’s not an answer that anyone wants to hear but my day-to-day brain is all over the place. I jump around on my to-do list with a disorderly process that would give many people anxiety. But that’s part of my super-power as a CEO. I can jump between tasks as quickly as needed without those moves feeling chaotic.
When I do need to focus on a project, I schedule it for a morning time block and work on it with my email closed and with coffee close by!
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
Fitness is a very competitive space and it is important to differentiate our brand and business from the competition. There are two things that make KickHouse special and that’s the results delivered and the community that’s built in the studios. Everyone has the ability to work out at home, so the experience at KickHouse has to over-deliver on expectations always. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
In January, we launched an NFT collection that would be given away to any new member who joins our KickHouse family. NFT’s are still fairly new and misunderstood so we felt like it was a great opportunity to push a message that was about getting outside your comfort zone and learning something new, whether that be fitness or technology. As a challenger brand, we can’t expect to go head to head with larger competitors and win. We have to be innovative and differentiated. As it turns out, we were the first fitness concept to release an NFT collection and the promotion drove a 53% increase in new membership agreements in the first two weeks of the month.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Find great partners early in your entrepreneurial adventure. Ideally, your partners would be trustworthy connections with complementary skill sets to your own. When you’re building from scratch, you need to cover a lot of ground so the more you can divide and conquer, the more you’ll be able to hold onto your sanity. When you hit obstacles, you will brainstorm and problem solve with your partners. Their perspective will be invaluable in your journey.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
My favorite app by far is Calm. Any entrepreneur knows that when you’re running your own business, your business is running through your mind from sunrise to sunset. The Calm app helps me move my mind off of my work and to prepare for sleep.
Podcasts are audio blogs so I will share my favorite podcasts instead of the blog! As an entrepreneur, I listen to most episodes of How I Built This with Guy Raz. But as someone who loves to learn and grow both personally and professionally, I listen to most episodes of The Science of Success. Podcasts are a great way to digest thoughtful content while multi-tasking through your day!
My favorite book is Thinking Body, Dancing Mind by Jerry Lynch and Chungliang Al Huang. It connects Tao principles to performance in sport and in business. I initially read it in high school as an athlete and I have come back to it repeatedly as a professional. There is so much overlap between what you learn as an athlete and what you need to work through as an entrepreneur. I would recommend any athlete turned entrepreneur to dive into this book.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
Podcasts are my absolute favorite resource. I find it difficult to carve out time to sit and read a complete book, but I can tune into a podcast while I’m on the go and pick up the critical learnings. I love hearing the stories of successful entrepreneurs on How I built This and Remarkable People with Guy Kawasaki. There are great podcasts on any topic that lights your soul on fire. Keep your subscriptions up to date and listen whenever you can, even if it’s while multi-tasking.
Who is your business role model? Why?
It is an amazing time to be a female entrepreneur! There are so many great leaders who are paving the way for the next generation, but I closely follow Whitney Wolf Herd. She started Bumble in 2014 and grew it into an $8 billion dollar brand. In 2021, she took her company public and rang the bell of the New York Stock Exchange with her son on her hip. Representation is important and I’m grateful that I have a number of strong women and mothers smashing glass ceilings and showing me the playbook.
How do you balance work and life?
With my company being a year and a half old, I don’t have the luxury of balance. I’m pushing so hard to get it launched that most things outside of work and my family have been sacrificed. Of course, the goal is to eventually achieve more balance but I’m not there yet. But when life is unbalanced, it’s even more important to be present. Be where you are with full attention.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
To perform at a high level, you have to be able to destress and recover. One of my favorite ways to decompress is to float in my pool. I close my eyes and try to envision all of my stressors sinking in the water below me. If you don’t have a pool, you can try a sensory deprivation tank which is a floating experience in saltwater. Many spas have started offering float therapy as a way to deliver muscle relaxation, improved sleep, and decreased anxiety.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
We are launching a second fitness concept early in 2022. It’s called Pryme Yoga and it’s a yoga practice that evolved to include dance and primal movements. It’s daunting to be launching with so many unknowns still on the horizon, but the goal is to be positioned to ride the rebound of the fitness industry in this new year!
How can our readers connect with you?
