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

Hi Kacia, thanks for joining 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?

I have had both, and being a business owner is fulfilling to me in a way I can’t compare. You definitely have to be a person who wakes up and says, “I get to do this today,” instead of “I have to do this today,” because discipline is a key pillar in running a business and I also believe that this distinct wording really shifts your mindset, which is everything. You don’t get to clock out and leave work behind and an OOO email response doesn’t exist, at least not for me. Truthfully, though, I have never had the thought that I wish I had a regular job – I thrive in this space where I get to problem-solve, challenge myself, and continuously find ways to do better, be better, for myself, my business and my team. It can be extremely stressful and it’s so important to find support and balance (as much as we romanticize the hustle it’s also the business owner’s responsibility to make sure their leadership is sustainable!) and that’s what I’m still working on. But I’m where I’m meant to be!

Kacia, 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?

I have always been an active person, so a regular workout routine has been part of my lifestyle for as long as I can remember. Pure Barre is a franchise, and almost as soon as I had started my own membership in Arizona, my home at the time, I was hooked. I was so impressed with how quickly it made a difference to my body and mind – especially as I was amidst a very challenging finance career at a midsize corporation. While Pure Barre became the most important part of my fitness and wellness (I took hundreds of classes!), I was growing in my career and seeing success that put me on the Executive Leadership Team of the Corporation I worked for. I found a huge passion for driving results, building teams, negotiations and everything to do with the business. On a trip to Miami, I realized that Pure Barre was missing from the popular urban areas, and I knew I’d be the one to do it. I reached out to the Franchisor almost immediately, flew to their offices in Irvine, California, met with the stakeholders, and we decided it was a fit. There was a lot of analysis involved, but this was the most serendipitous part of the journey. In a city with Pilates and yoga galore, Miami would finally have the best in barre!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Most importantly, it’s that the workout is effective and that the community is so empowering, for everybody. You don’t always find these two things together! You can take a barre class and know that it was intense – like body shaking, feeling muscles you have never targeted and can’t-sustain-a-thought hard – but to see and feel results is another thing. And you DO. I have seen Pure Barre make every possible body type better, and stronger. Our slogan is Lift, Tone, Burn for a reason and for something so challenging and effective, the best part is that everybody can do it. Pure Barre is low-impact so it’s safe on your joints and our instructors are highly trained & certified with Pure Barre specifically to be able to correct form and offer modifications. We also offer four formats so you can literally get a well-rounded routine all at the barre (Classic Pure Barre – my favorite, Empower (HIIT, cardio & barre), Align (think yoga & barre), and Define (strength training at the barre). I mean, all of this and the friendships formed constantly in-studio between clients, instructors, the sales team, everyone! It’s just different.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

We do! Most of our clients are on recurring memberships, so that’s our base and what keeps the studio going. The love between us & these clients is definitely mutual and we’re so grateful for them! We also have clients who purchase class packs over memberships and we get a solid amount of bookings with ClassPass so that works out really well for us too. In-studio we sell retail (we have Pure Barre branded stuff as well as Alo, Beyond Yoga, lulu, Bala weights) and refreshments. Honestly the hero in this arena is definitely sticky socks! They’re needed for every class and we get new styles often so that’s become quite a healthy addiction for the clients and team alike.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.purebarre.com/location/miami-midtown-fl
• Instagram: @purebarremiami, @kaciaalene
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PureBarreMiami/
• Linkedin: Kacia Kitchukova