We were lucky to catch up with Pete Ilieski recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Pete, thanks for joining us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

Running social media can be challenging, especially these days when everyone falls in line with trends. Couple of things that a super important are having a clear vision of the over all look. Make it as organic as possible, informative, fun and as much as about the clients as it is about the studio. Last but not least finding the right people to do the job effectively which involves passion for people, creativity and enjoys that aspect of the job.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

We are originally from Michigan but moved down to League City 14 years ago and quickly planted our roots in the community. This is where we bought our first home, had our two children, built lasting friendships, and made that huge leap to open our own business. Pete works full time in Medical Sales, and I manage a Sales Team at Siemens. Even with our professions and the kids to keep us busy we have always had the desire to open our business.

We have both been active from Pete weightlifting and me running and found ourselves turning to indoor cycling for an amazing low impact sweat! We visited studios in Houston to ride and instantly knew we needed something like this in the Clear Lake Area, but of course with our own spin on it! I think it is very common of fitness studios to be intimidating and scary for people new to fitness to jump in and try. We knew that we would want our Indoor Cycling Studio to be built with a welcoming and community feel! A place where people come for the amazing workout but stay because the people! Our classes are more than just riding a bike, you will find the best music, resistance, weight and speed training and energy that can’t be matched. I promise no at home workout is going to push you more than a room full of riders will and keep you coming back.

This May we approach our 5 Year Anniversary, and we are BEYOND THANKFUL for the community and riders that have continued to support us. When we originally opened Rush Cycle League City, we were part of a franchise but for the last 2 years we have operated as a privately owned studio and have loved the freedom to keep creating an encouraging atmosphere. We have large portion of our staff from instructors to Front Desk, to riders that have been with us since Day 1 They have made Rush Cycle what it is.

We call our staff and riders Rush Family, and we truly believe it. We are the first ones to cheer each other on for accomplishments in and out of the studio, The place that after a tough day or week you feel you can shed some tears as you pedal through them in our dark room. Our Phenomenal instructors relate to our riders because they are just like us, their goal is to not only give you a killer workout but to help get you in the right mindset to attack your life outside our doors.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

For us it is all about client referrals and local business partnerships!! Let me say we have done a lot from health events to spending way too much on social media paid ads and I can hands down say for us, nothing is more impactful from you clients talking, posting, or them bringing new friends! We try to do at least 3 times a year some sort of challenge or giveaway that involves our current rides bringing new friends! And we always try to have one local business in each month to help promote them!

This year we did our local version of the nutcracker market with our 20 different local businesses and shops! It was such an amazing event and loved being able to see how many wonderful local businesses we have!

Any advice for managing a team?

In my Full-Time Corporate Job outside of Rush, I manage a very large team of seasoned professionals and that I believe really has helped me not only manage our staff of 25 at Rush but coach and develop them. The first and foremost lesson in building and KEEPING a strong team is to be PRESENT. Be available to help with issues, standby your values, don’t be afraid to pull up your sleeves and dig in, practice what you preach and don’t be afraid to have the hard conversations we you need more out of them. With any team you have good and bad times, but if your staff truly knows you care for them, they have your back 100%. We try to offer outside work events to bond on a whole new level with not only staff but includes our riders too. These events we call Rush Socials. We hold them at local businesses/restaurants and have turnouts usually over 75 people each time! We meet spouses and friends of our staff and riders and learn more about their life outside the studio walls. It helps with Staff/Client Retention and it’s just such a fun time!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rushcycle.com/league-city/
• Instagram: @rushcycle_leaguecity
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RushCycleLC/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbgsnqGxtBETwyH1sXUYFXw
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rush-cycle-league-city-kemah