We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alyssa Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alyssa, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I came up for the idea of Spring Bungee Fitness LLC in approximately early 2020. I was first introduced to bungee fitness in December 2019 as a student. The long version of the story is that I remember a long time ago, maybe even in high school, seeing a segment on one of the morning talk shows (TODAY, Good Morning America etc.) and it was for a studio that was featured in New York that had individual trampolines and used bungee bands similar to TRX classes. I loved the idea of the classes. I had grown up a competitive dancer and had never really established a ‘typical’ fitness routine. These classes seemed like a workout without really feeling like a workout. I kind of kept it tucked away in the back of my mind in case I ever ended up in New York. Flash forward to December 2019, I was off work for the holidays and scrolling through Instagram. A bungee studio in Cincinnati popped up as a recommendation. I visited their website and read everything I could about it and booked a class within the next couple days. My mom and I went to a class and the moment I clipped in I knew I wanted to stay involved with bungee in one way or another. I went to classes as much as I could and was on track to be an instructor but then thought how cool it would be to bring bungee fitness closer to home. I hadn’t voiced my idea with anybody at that point basically thinking it would never happen. My mom asked me one day if I would ever be interested in opening my own bungee business and I sort of took that as a sign. This was right before the COVID-19 pandemic took place. I delayed any sort of further exploration because of such an unexpected situation. I started to do some more research of what it takes to open a business and what resources were available. I completed multiple bungee instructor certifications. I started establishing relationships with business coaches, vendors, engineers, contractors etc. I was excited by the idea but couldn’t say I was fully committed just in case. it didn’t work out It’s a huge risk to open a business so I was worried about how everything would work. I didn’t tell anyone in my personal life for a very long time. The more I talked to people about it the more excited I became. I realized what a unique opportunity bungee could be to the community and surrounding area. Bungee was something I loved and enjoyed but it brought such a special opportunity to a variety of people. It provided assistance and support to those who were trying to start a health/wellness routine. Bungee has helped provide low impact workouts for those who have struggled with previous injury or chronic problems. It has created a loving and supporting community of students who cheer each other on and are excited to try something new. The options are endless for the benefits that bungee can bring physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Alyssa Davis and I am the owner, as well as an instructor, of Spring Bungee Fitness LLC. My background includes a Bachelors Degree in Athletic Training and a Masters Degree in Sports Management. I grew up a competitive dancer and initially got into athletic training because, at the time, I thought I wanted to work with performing artists, particularly dancers. My undergraduate career did not have a lot of opportunity to work in the arts at the time. When it came time for senior year and figuring out next steps a graduate assistantship position appeared for an athletic trainer that served the collegiate cheerleading, dance, and beach volleyball teams. I decided to apply as it would give me experience with performing arts in the collegiate setting while getting my Masters.

Spring Bungee Fitness LLC is a studio primarily focused on offering bungee-assisted fitness classes. Bungee fitness classes offer low impact, high energy workouts to be easy on your joints while still providing all the benefits of exercise. These classes use bungee cords that provide assistance and resistance to allow both increases in strength and cardiovascular endurance. The classes are designed to be a a workout without feeling like a workout. We offer different types of classes depending on what type of workout you are looking to complete. We offer cardio focused classes in decreasing levels of difficulty. We also offer Bungee Blast which is more of a bootcamp formatted class. Dumbbells, resistance bands, and booty bands are used to provide cross training into your health and wellness routine.

In my opinion, the combination of bungee fitness class and my background compliment each other extremely well. Bungee can be very-heavily influenced by dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading movements. Background in these are not required but do provide more familiarity than having no prior experience. My previous dance career led to a more seamless transition in my understanding of bungee technique. Athletic Training is a division of Sports Medicine and more direct correlations that are applicable to bungee fitness would be prevention and rehabilitation of injuries. I am able to build my programming on what I know serves as an effective movement and also stop potentially dangerous behavior before any injury occurs.

We work very hard at Spring Bungee Fitness to ensure first and foremost our student’s and instructor’s health and safety. Our routines are constantly changing to not only keep everyone engaged, but also provide a variable workout every time someone comes in. We love always learning and growing along with our students.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

The team at Spring Bungee Fitness LLC is currently pretty small. When forming a team I wanted to make sure everyone felt encouraged, supported, and prepared, just to name a few things. I didn’t want this stereotypical boss/employee relationship and I told them that. I even cringed a little when they called me ‘boss’ one time. There can be such a negative connotation of ‘boss’ and I didn’t want to stifle anyone with that. Something I like to do with my team are check-ins. These check-ins aren’t done on any certain schedule or time frame but I just throw them in every once in a while when I feel like one is needed. I always care about everyone that walks in my studio door instructors, family, friends, students you name it. It is important to me to make sure everyone is the best version of themselves they can be. It is such a common aspect of life if someone asks ‘How are you” to just say “Fine” with no elaboration. During our check-ins I try to leave the conversation as open-ended as possible. This is the opportunity for my team to talk about whatever they want. I think typically they start to talk about things at the studio or classes because they think that’s what I mean but we will move on to any thing that they want to say.

I always ask for any suggestions that they have in regards to anything to do with the business. We all come from different backgrounds and have different levels of expertise so anything that can be contributed is always welcome. I always end the check in with asking if they’re happy and still enjoying being on the team. I want to make sure people are enjoying their time being a part of the team and don’t feel like they’re just stuck with no way out. I think this helps build high morale because everyone has an open floor to get off their chest whatever they need to. No one is ever pressured to say anything but I want the opportunity to be present. We also will go on coffee or dinner dates and we will plan them ahead of time and set a ‘no work’ policy. This way we have a chance to just enjoy each others company as friends and no have to put this standard of what we can/cannot talk about. Running a business is hard and, at times, all encompassing so I know I benefit from taking time to enjoy people in a social setting and not always have to talk about work things.

Another thing I like to do with my team is ask if they know their Myers Briggs or Enneagram personality type. If they don’t I encourage them to take it. I love learning about personality tests, and things like that, and how everyone is wired to work a different way. It is incredibly interesting to learn about but I find it helpful to use with my team of how everyone’s brains work and how we respond to things. This can be used for all aspects of managing a team. The results show me responses to stress, teaching styles, ways they feel appreciated etc. It is an effective tool in encouraging my behaviors as a leader.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I think the best source for new clients have been current and new students. Since bungee is such a unique offering people can be hesitant to try it. Some people are particularly hesitant to try something new by themselves. We have a lot of students how come and at the end of class can give me list of people they know in their lives who could benefit from bungee fitness. We have lots of groups who come who want to look for something fun and different to do together. We do offer private parties and have groups come for bachelor/bachelorette parties, team-bonding experiences, or just fun friends night out. We always stress how bungee has something for everyone and always like to emphasize there are options for everything we do. I think that also is a big contributing factor. Students feel encouraged to come as they are into the space. While of course we do have expectations in terms of regulations for everyones safety there are never expectations about what you’re required to do in class. This lets students have autonomy over how their class will go. We, like most businesses, market using social media, emails etc. so we do gain new students from there as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.springbungeefitness.com
• Instagram: @springbungeefitness
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/springbungeefitness
• Other: TikTok; springbungeefitness

Image Credits
Spring Bungee Fitness LLC