We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Tyrrell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Our mission is to create and maintain a safe space where people can feel a sense of belonging. A place where we can support each other on our best and worst days to become the highest expression of ourselves. Yes, we are a fitness studio who specializes in high intensity cardio, but we are truly so much more than that. Unlike most gyms, we focus on growth from the inside out. Learning to be the person we want others to be and that it’s okay to be bad at something new. Mcycle is “Where Cardio Meets Culture”
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Megan Tyrrell and I started down the indoor cycling path when I lived in sunny Laguna Beach, CA. I can’t say it was love at first ride haha.. It was a process. I was teaching kickboxing at a local gym I was approached by the spin instructor who’s plans were to relocate and needed somebody to step in and teach the spin classes there. I reluctantly said yes. The following year or so I grew more passionate about my craft. and what riding a bike for 45 minutes could do for oneself. I began to study and create “my own” style and format for teaching and training others who wanted to become rhythm style indoor cycling instructors. While managing a small boutique studio named POPcycle I gained enough confidence to shoot for the stars, and leave California to open a studio of my own in my home state, Salt Lake City, Utah. It was quite a long shot being that I didn’t have any cash or assets to make the initial investment into building Mcycle. I had a dream and I was relentless in this pursuit to build a studio like nobody has ever seen. Through many tears, sweat, hard work, sleepless nights, and 127 investors later, my family and I were on the move to Utah. After getting my husband and business partner on board, we achieved this goal together.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
After completing the build-out of our 4,200 sq. ft studio we were ready for anything!!! Anything except a pandemic that is… We were devastated to learn after just 6 short months of opening Mcycle that we were forced to close our doors in effort to stop the spread of Covid 19. With no relief from the government or our landlord we had to make a pivot if we ever wanted to open our doors again. So, we rented out 50 of our brand new bikes and took our classes online. Creating an online platform was never really in our vision because our focus is centered around building community and real personal connections in studio. Our newfound community responded in a big way and we were able to open our doors again after 3 months. It was a slow build back process but we did it. We realized the power of community and just how resilient we can be if we work together and never give up.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
There are several channels of funding that made Mcycle possible. The one I am most proud is the first initial raise. I was searching the web for ideas on how to raise capital for startups without giving up equity. I came across an online crowdfunding platform called Republic (formally known as NextSeed). This platform is not like other crowdfunding platforms and takes on less than 10% of companies who apply to them. Through rigorous interviews and analysis of Mcycle’s business plan, proforma’s, and everything else under the sun, we were accepted. The goal was to raise $150k in 3 months time through this online platform. The deal was that if we weren’t able to raise at LEAST $100k in 90 days, then we don’t get any money at at all and we’re back at ground zero. If I knew you, then I approached you. Asking anyone and everyone to invest in my dream. With literal hours left of our raise we just made it over the $100k mark and finished with 125 investors raising a total of $126k. This was the moment I realized Mcycle was no longer just a dream and we made the move to Salt Lake City. We did raise a lot more money to complete our project but this initial investment was the turning point, and we never looked back.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mcyclestudios.com
- Instagram: mcyclestudios | mob.boss.megs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcyclestudios?refid=17
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-tyrrell-66901a57/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxYRvDkb8ud7gYyo5vvBitA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mcycle-studios-salt-lake-city
Image Credits
Aziah Obcemea