How FemFit went from a garage group to 150 members in under two years

Mikilah Speer opened her gym with three young children at home and no business partner. Before she signed anything she did the research, because whatever she picked had to almost double as an administrative assistant.

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A long-time CrossFit athlete and a numbers person, she also wanted accurate business metrics from the first day. FemFit, a female-focused strength and conditioning facility in Redding, CA, opened in 2021.

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She hit 100 members within six months. Less than two years into ownership she was at 150 members with eight coaches, sitting first in local search, and adding three to five thousand dollars of revenue every month.

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The Problem

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A sole owner with no bandwidth to spare

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Speer was about to become a sole business owner and operator, and she was already a mother to three young kids. Anything that added admin work to her week was going to cost her somewhere else.

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Programming that lived in a spreadsheet

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Before FemFit had a building, Speer trained a small group of women out of her garage and sent them their programming in Google Sheets. Looking back, she says it would never have held up for the growth the gym went on to have.

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Opening next door to an established competitor

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FemFit was the newest gym in the area and it shares a wall with an established CrossFit gym. Getting found first by someone searching locally was not a nice-to-have.

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The Solution

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All in from day one

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Plenty of owners start with one PushPress product and add the rest later. Speer went the other way. She opened running Core, Grow and Train together, plus a PushPress-built website designed to rank in local search and a branded app.

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Automated communication that still sounds like her

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Speer uses almost all of the Grow workflows and leans hardest on three: lead nurture, the 100-day new client journey, and trial class. She edits the wording so it matches her gym's voice and reads as if it came from her. She knows it lands because members thank her for the morning text. Some reply with feedback. Some start a conversation about their goals.

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"I can't speak more highly of the automations. The text and email automations have been just such a life-saver for me."

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Check-ins that keep payment details current

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Chasing expired cards is one of the least popular jobs in gym ownership. The check-in system verifies payment methods at the door instead.

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"Because if not, they can't step foot on the floor in a class."

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She gets paid on time, and cash flow stops being a guess.

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Programming delivered through Train

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Train replaced the spreadsheet. Her eight coaches each run different types of programming, and they can sell it and roll it out to clients through the app without routing everything through her.

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A new gym at the top of local search

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Despite being the newest facility in Redding, FemFit is the first gym to show up in a local Google search. Speer credits that placement with a large share of how quickly the membership base filled.

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Result

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Three to five thousand dollars of revenue growth per month

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"Our revenue has been growing consistently, three thousand to five thousand every month. And I definitely attribute that to PushPress. I use all the tools and it has changed my business. It saves me so much time as a sole business owner and mom of three small kids."

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100 members in six months, 150 inside two years

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Growth from a standing start in 2021, supported by eight coaches covering classes, personal training and specialty programs.

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First result in local search

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Ahead of longer-established gyms in the same market.

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Time back to build new revenue

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The hours Speer reclaimed went into launching an online coaching business for prenatal and postpartum clients, built on her BirthFit certification. At the time of writing she was also weighing a cold plunge amenity, with clients booking and paying for sessions through Appointments.

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"I can take care of every nook and cranny of my business even while being on vacation."

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Conclusion

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Her members noticed the software too.

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"People can't speak more highly of PushPress. They just love all the amenities that come with our software."

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Asked what she actually got out of it, Speer does not lead with the membership number.

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"PushPress helps me get my time back so I can grow beyond the walls of Redding."

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Ready to fill your gym without giving up your evenings? Book a demo and see what PushPress Core, Grow and Train can do for your gym.