At Studio Pilates, our franchise network is a highly valued part of our community, which is why we always make it our mission to provide ongoing training, education and support to help all our franchises level up their businesses. One of the ways in which we do this is through our annual Global Studio Pilates Franchise Conference, which gives our franchisees the opportunity to connect and engage with their industry peers, learn from specialized professionals and celebrate the successes of both big business wins and individualized studio performance with awards and dinners.
In what was the first conference since 2019, we were thrilled to reunite at long last at the breathtaking Crystalbrook Resort in Byron Bay, for two days of fun, inspiring speakers, panel discussions and so much more (so.much.food). This year's theme was ‘Level Up’, and each session, presentation and guest speaker, was designed to help franchisees level up all areas of their business from leadership and coaching, right through to marketing and sales.
Kicking off the conference with a bang was John Eales, one of the most respected figures both in sport and in business. A true inspirational leader in both his words and his actions, John delivered an invaluable keynote speech about the importance of coaching, composure and culture within a business and shared some personal stories including those of failure, which helped shape the leader he is today.
With over 50% of our current studio owners, already owning more than one studio (with many already onto their 3rd and soon to be 4th) our Director of Franchising John L Scott, presented a session on how to take your territory to the next level, with an exciting new financial offering, that will assist multi-site acquisition, for those wanting to open more studios.
As the saying goes, don’t sit back and wait for opportunities to come to you, get up and make them happen, and the same concept applies to marketing. Studio Pilates Marketing Manager Jane Murray presented the do’s and don’ts of good marketing, as well as shared a case study of some of the best examples of local area marketing activity, which generated big results.
Talk then turned to leadership when our fearless leader, Studio Pilates Co-founder and CEO Jade Winter facilitated a Q&A discussion with Ben Connell, Director of Regional Talent and Organizational Development at Google. Ben provided a timely reminder that leadership is an action, not a position and shared some examples of successful retention strategies, leadership mistakes and tips for inspiring employees towards a goal.
Day 1 officially ended with a delicious dinner and custom spicy lychee martinis at The Loft Restaurant, giving everyone the chance to catch up with each other and let their hair down after such a long time spent apart.
Day two was also serendipitously World Pilates Day, and what better way to celebrate our favorite day of the year than with a sunrise beach Pilates class, taught by none other than our Studio Pilates co-founder and CEO Jade Winter.
With the endorphins flowing from the morning workout, spirits were high as the third and final guest speaker Cherie Canning took to the stage with her ‘Leveling Up Your Leadership’ presentation. With over 15 years of coaching and development experience and the founder of Luminate Leadership, not only did this invaluable session provide tips on how to coach through conversation, but this information was then applied in a practical setting, when she gave everyone the opportunity to try their hand putting into practice what they had just learned.
After lunch our Finance Manager Kelly-Lee Rogers and High Performance Manager Daniel Jackson delivered a compelling presentation, helping franchisees understand where to focus to get the biggest bang for your buck by highlighting the different KPI’s and KPD within the business, before revealing a brand new program - a dashboard designed to give studios high level performance data, including lead conversions, revenue and visitation.
The rest of the day saw a 20th anniversary Studio Pilates Trivia game, a panel discussion with some of our multi-site franchisees who were so generous with both their time and insights shared and closed with the man of the hour, our Studio Pilates co-founder and CEO Jade Winter, who shared his strategic vision for the future of the business.
And like all good things that must come to an end, the conference concluded with a cocktail party, where awards for the highest performing studios were presented, and many bottles of champagne were consumed.
For more information on franchising opportunities with Studio Pilates International, please contact John L Scott, Franchising Director joinus@studiopilates.com.