We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rikki Heiken a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rikki, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Passion and Perseverance . Owning a business is all about perseverance. Keep going when the going gets tough, adapt, adjust, proceed. It is not always unicorns and rainbows, that’s why its so important to love what you do. If you are passionate about your mission, you will be ok when things get hard. You will persevere. The passion is what drives you to keep going, to adjust if you need to and make it even better. I truly believe that if you are passionate about what you do, you will always persevere and in the end that is what will make you successful.

Rikki, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sweat Studio is home to Miami’s hottest workout. With heat as the foundation for every workout at Sweat Studio, the Sweat Studio workout is a strategically designed fitness method featuring concepts curated to work the entire body using intervals of low impact, high intensity, fat burning cardio with muscle sculpting techniques created to strengthen and tone. The element of a heated studio ensures a good sweat to maximize your calorie and fat burn while helping to detox the body. Sweat Studio is committed to providing a fun, challenging-yet-safe, body-positive space driven by great music and positive energy. The Sweat Studio experience is offered both digitally and in our flagship Miami fitness studio. Sweat Studio offers four core class concepts designed to complement each other for a total fitness experience.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Imagine being told you have 15 days to find a new location for your business. We had just come through the other side of navigating the unchartered territories of a pandemic. The struggles faced during the covid-19 pandemic were rough and we had to come up with ways to continue. However, most recently we were faced with the biggest struggle I’ve faced as a business owner. The landlord of the shopping center where my studio was located called me in for a meeting. Thus far, our tenant/landlord relationship had been seamless. In the meeting, I was informed that I had 15 days to vacate the premises as they were demolishing the shopping center for redevelopment. As you can imagine, finding a commercial space isn’t easy, especially in these times. However the passion I have for my mission is what kept me going. I knew I would find a way. My support system was there to cheer me on throughout the process. We found a place and quickly transformed it in just 7 days. Working long days and nights to get the space to where I wanted it to be, we persevered. In the end, we have a bigger and better location for Sweat Studio. I truly believe everything happens for a reason.

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

Consistency. I am always consistent with my purpose. I have the same mission I had when I first started Sweat Studio. At Sweat Studio, we believe a workout should be equal parts fun, challenging, and effective. Fitness is the celebration of our body’s ability to move and keep us going. We believe in challenging our bodies to strengthen ourselves physically and emotionally rather than as a form of punishment. We encourage all Sweat Studio clients to mindfully choose the workout that is best suited to their interests and abilities, while also encouraging them to step out of the box and try something new. We believe in your body being the guide for your workout, helping you modify your movements based on your current level of ability.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SweatStudioMiami.com
• Instagram: @sweatstudio_miami
• Facebook: Sweat Studio

Image Credits
Tommy Chang