We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christa Chase a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
We opened Lagree Luxe Golden Triangle about three years ago. Covid hit just six months after we opened our doors. It was an incredible journey trying to figure out how we were going to pay all of our expenses without being allowed to operate. After a few months passed, the regulations changed and we were allowed to run small group classes of four people. We worked incredibly hard to help people stay safe and motivated to work out! In the process of this, one of our competitors, Pilates Evolution, was thinking about selling their studios. We decided it was a perfect time to take a risk and grow our single studio! In December of 2020, we purchased their Cherry Creek and Central Park Lagree studio locations! It was a risky move while still in Covid and not knowing if we were going to have to shut our doors again. We feel very fortunate that with a lot of hard work, and some luck on our side, we now have three successful studios with a wonderful community!
Christa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Before I opened our first studio, I worked in architecture for 15 years! After having my second son, a lightbulb went off that my architecture job was not going to work long term with the future I wanted with my children. I wanted to create my own hours and have flexibility to pick them up from daycare and kiss them goodnight before bedtime!
I knew from experience of living in California, New York, and London, that Denver was lacking in the boutique fitness world. I had visited lots of Pilates, yoga, and Lagree studios in Colorado and still felt like they were all missing something. They were missing the community, the branding, and the unique feeling you get when leaving a class and feeling stronger for the day! I made it my mission to create the best Lagree studios in Denver with a welcoming atmosphere, talented instructors, and clients that love to work hard. I quit my day job and would say I am much happier that I get to be a mom and still have a career path I love!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients, hands down, is word of mouth! It sounds obvious, but we have tried several different marketing companies and nothing works as extreme as word of mouth. With an amazing product and friendly instructors, it makes sense why people want to share! We often run referral programs, which tends to encourage our existing clients to share and they get a little bonus. It is a win-win situation!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Lagree is such a unique niche of fitness. It isn’t Pilates, it isn’t a HITT class, it truly is its own magic in the fitness world. You will hear high intensity Pilates, because that is the quickest way for people to understand our workout, however, expert Lagree clients all know it is very unique and not Pilates. The results are faster than any other workout out there and combine strength training, core, balance, and cardio all in one 45 minute class! We started to build our reputation as soon as clients realized how uniquely fast the results come from just a few classes. Obviously, building a community with knowledgeable instructors, and an environment where everyone feels like they belong, helped us build our reputation as a workout everyone wants to share with their friends as well!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lagreeluxe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lagreeluxe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lagreeluxestudio/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lagreeluxe/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX0G44vaSEU
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lagree-luxe-golden-triangle-denver
- Other: We have an app Lagree Luxe where you can find newbie deals for two weeks unlimited for $65
Image Credits
Lisa Haefner IG: lisahaefnerphoto