We were lucky to catch up with Brenna Backe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brenna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

It’s a Saturday and there are 3 space heaters keeping the pipes in my studio from freezing. I don’t normally come in on Saturdays as I try to keep a Monday through Friday work schedule as best as a small business owner can. However, since it was -15 degrees out, I thought I would pop into the studio for an indoor workout.

I walked into a 51 degree studio with no working heat. The unit would turn on, but no heat came out of those vents. So, I ran to the local hardware store, dropped $300 on space heaters, and ran back to the studio.

I remember sitting in the middle of the workout floor questioning my decision to open my own place. Annoyed at the time the actual PLACE was taking when all I wanted to do was help people. Annoyed that I couldn’t walk into a gym and workout on a Saturday morning like a normal person. Annoyed that my Saturday was hi-jacked by the cold temperatures and an aging HVAC system. Annoyed I had to spend $300 and not on a new barbell.

I think any business owner has these days. Days where you feel you are just getting run over and you start to question yourself. But, when I think about it, I can’t imagine having a regular job. I have worked for myself my whole life. I enjoy helping people with my training, but I also enjoy helping my employees reach their potential. I love seeing collaboration and appreciation between my team and I enjoy the harmony that buzzes around the studio when things are moving along smooth. I like being in charge of my own destiny and decisions. I enjoy not answering to someone else. I enjoy and appreciate that I can go after my dreams and desires and not simply work to achieve someone else’s.

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

I always knew I needed to something that helped people. I felt that if you were not working to put good back in the world, you were wasting your time. As a college kid, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but I get faint at the sight of blood. So, I explored the physical therapy arena, but I ended up working in a clinic where the practitioners did not have the time to really work and get to know people. So, while I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next, I took my degree in Exercise Science and started training people.

Coming from a physical therapy background, I saw the large gap between the rehab world and the fitness world. I also saw that a lot of gyms and group classes were inaccessible to people who were not already in shape. The fitness and gym scene at that time was aggressive, intimidating, and non-welcoming.

So, I opened my first gym in January of 2008 in NJ. Even in the middle of a recession, our little studio was a success. In 2010, I sold off my share of that first gym when we decided to move to Boulder and in 2012 I opened Koa Fit.

Koa Fit has always been a welcoming place for people to move, get strong, and learn. We work with people who want to learn about their bodies. It is not merely about losing weight or “exercising”. It is about learning how and why your body responds to different inputs, becoming aware of movement patterns and understanding how to generate power and strength in a safe way. No matter where you are in your movement – recovery from surgery, never lifted before, first time in a gym in 10 years, pro skier, college athlete, hiker, biker, you name it – we can teach you about YOU. It is what we do best. We use movement as a way to explore a person’s potential, not just physically but mentally as well. People completely underestimate what they are capable of and we get to show them everyday that they are unstoppable.

I am most proud of the group I get to work with. A lot of people in the fitness industry are in it for ego. My group has always been in it because they love working with and helping people.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

2020 was the middle of my 7th year of business. It is right when a small business starts to hit its stride and you start to see a return on all the initial investments you made over the first 5 years. It should have been the time that I could start to pull back some hours, let the operation and protocols organize the day-to-day stuff, but instead we got shut down.

Not only were we completely shutdown for 6 weeks, once we are allowed to re-open, the restrictions initially only allowed for 1 person at time in the studio. As things started to open up, customers were not flocking back in to the studio. They were still scared to be around others. My staff fled and for 8 months, every penny I made only went to paying the overhead of my business.

I had to make a decision to shut down or keep going.

Luckily, my lease terminated in October of that year. Allowing me to get out from under an enormous monthly payment. I reached out to some other studios that may be hurting to see if I could rent some temporary space and found a small studio within a larger boutique fitness gym that we could see clients 1 at a time. I put 1/2 of Koa Fit’s stuff in storage and moved the few items I could into the small studio space.

Moving out of the space stopped the bleeding, but I basically had to build the business back up from the start. I kept only 1 other trainer and myself and worked to build up our clientele through the pandemic.

In the summer of 2021, the studio moved again to its more permanent home. Out of storage came our bigger equipment, shelving, and our street sign. We settled in and had made it through. A lot of businesses crumbled during the pandemic. You were only making it through if you really wanted it. Koa Fit has still not fully recovered 4 years later, but continues to grow every day.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Koa Fit was started with about $4,000 and a 0% APR for 18 months credit card with an $11,000 limit that was paid off before the 18 months were up.

Duct tape and dreams fueled the little studio. It was in the black within 2 months.

The setbacks of a shoestring budget are that you aim low on some things. For instance, Koa Fit has moved 3 times in 12 years and has occupied 4 different spaces. 2 of these moves were due to COVID. But with little start up cash, Koa Fit grew out of a garage that was only accessed by an alley instead of having cash flow that could have provided a larger built out space from the get-go.

But it is fun to build this way. To watch an idea grow into a tangible business. To not worry about investors but only focus on what you can accomplish.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.koafitusa.com
• Instagram: @koa_fit @brennabacke
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KOAFitness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennabacke/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfdWYiApEFeBjpoYVBoguNg

Image Credits
Joshua South – Sidewalk Productions