Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Iwanicki. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I named the studio Collective Studios because of the meaning of the word ‘Collective’. By definition, Collective means done by people acting as a group or belonging or relating to all members of the group.

The idea and name came to me in a dream. In this dream, the studio was bustling with class goers, filtering in and out of packed group fitness classes held in an impeccably designed space that sparked creativity and delighted the senses. But, what was most palatable about this dream was the energy that this place held. It was a place that made you buzz with inspiration, uplifted you with joy and made you feel empowered to achieve your wildest dreams. It was a place that was created not from just the singular energy of the class goers or the instructors or the studio owner. It was a place that existed solely on the collective energy of all these individuals coming together to create something magical.

It’s this idea of ‘the collective’ that drives our business and decision making. It’s the collective participation, energy and efforts of every single person who interacts with our business – from our employees, clients, and partners to even our lender, general contractor and more,- that weaves together to create The Collective Studios, an energy and entity of its own.

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

I’m Ashley Iwanicki, and I’m the Founder of Collective Studios, New Hampshire’s first and only Megaformer™ studio and leading destination for movement, wellness and community.

Our brand leans on experiences centered around these three pillars to guide our clients towards holistic health. Our approach is focused on treating every person who walks through our doors as whole and unique. While movement is the foundation of what we do, we believe that physical wellbeing is oftentimes just the entry point into what ultimately unravels into a much larger and more meaningful journey of self development and connection both to yourself and the world around you. Of course, we have clients who come to the studio just for an indoor cycling class or for some down time in yoga, but for most people who are in our community the realizations and discoveries they make in the time they spend with us hold so much more weight in their lives than just a workout.

Our studio offers a wide variety of classes ranging from high to low intensity and everything in between. Our classes are focused into three categories: yoga, fitness and cycling.

Our yoga formats include FLOW, our studio’s signature athletic approach to vinyasa yoga, in addition to RESTORE, our restorative yoga class and RELEASE, our yin yoga class.

Within our fitness formats, we have TONE, a beat based pilates and barre hybrid class, SCULPT, a class that pairs yoga with strength and cardio, BURN, our strength training class and SWEAT, a celebratory dance cardio class.

CYCLE a 45-minute, beat based indoor cycling class is our newest and one of our most popular formats.

In addition to our classes, we also offer meditation events, sound baths, and a variety of workshops on topics such as nutrition, mental health, self care and more.

In everything we do, we try to be thoughtful and deliberate on how we are creating programming to support every aspect of wellness for our community. We’re a space that inspires greater health, genuine human connection and empowered, personal growth through a collective dedication to sweat and joy. The Collective Studios is redefining fitness by creating transformative experiences to help our clients live well and be well.

Together, we sweat.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for us is without a doubt Instagram and word of mouth. With the rise of video content, Instagram poses such an incredible opportunity for visual storytelling. With very minimal budgets, we’re able to create content that inspires, reassures and connects with both potential or new clients, as well as existing ones. We use our Instagram account to not only give a glimpse into the experience at TCS, but to also showcase the thoughts and narratives of our community.

We also rely heavily on word of mouth to grow our community. While word of mouth advertising can be challenging to tap into, we’ve seen success in this avenue by guiding our focus to delivering a luxurious and hospitable experience at the studio. In every interaction with our business, not a detail is missed. It’s delightful and effortless for our clients. The experience is so overwhelmingly positive and impactful through and through, that our community can’t help but share about it with their family, friends and co-workers.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

My greatest piece of advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to constantly ask yourself as the founder/CEO, “how can I make my team’s experience working here easier and better?”

At TCS, Our people are the heartbeat and soul of our business. Ever since our conception, one of the main goals of The Collective Studios has been and remains to create a workplace that allows our staff to feel part of a community, to be empowered for personal growth and to feel supported, cared for and seen by their employer. We strive to continuously raise the bar of what it means to be an employer, and we extend the same values and experiences we create for our clients to our employees. We are committed to creating a dynamic, inclusive workplace that is fun, challenging and encourages employees to unapologetically explore their full potential.

In doing so, we’ve been able to create a team and culture that is founded on trust and loyalty. As a result, our team performs with an extremely high level of efficiency and success, allowing our business to scale rapidly and with ease. Happy people work better – it’s that simple.

Contact Info:

• Website: thecollective-studios.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thecollective_studios
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecollectivestudios
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thecollective_studios
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/collective-studios-londonderry
• Other: instagram.com/ashleymarandhealth

Image Credits
Raellen Photography https://www.raeellenphotography.com/ Ridgelight Studio https://www.ridgelightstudio.com/