Today we’d like to introduce you to Amitis Pourarian.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Amitis. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My family moved to the United States from Iran in 1983 when I was six years old. This was right after the Iranian revolution. My parents started from scratch and rebuilt their lives. I didn’t speak English, so when the bullying started, I luckily didn’t understand the insults (until later). One day a family friend took me to a martial arts class. I fell in love with it as it was not a team sport and I was in control of how good I could become. Since then, I have never stopped training. I became an assistant instructor at the earliest opportunity and didn’t want to stop there either. This was my one constant thing in life that carried me through Jr high, high school, college and even grad school until now. It gave me confidence and made me a true athlete which lead me to win multiple National Championships and ultimately a spot on the United States Taekwondo Team. While I loved martial arts, I pursued a career in Business, Real Estate and Construction. I earned by general contractors license and Real Estate brokers license, B.S. in Business Administration, then a Master’s degree in Construction Management from Stanford University.
While running multi-million dollar projects in my 20’s, I still ran a martial arts club in San Diego. Eventually, I moved back to Northern California and opened a commercial martial arts and fitness center called THE STUDIO Martial Arts & Fitness. Although I was running THE STUDIO part-time, while still working in Real Estate and Construction, THE STUDIO grew to be one of the largest and successful schools in the nation.
Martial arts gave me a lot, especially in the form of confidence & purpose. It turned a shy immigrant girl into a successful business owner and instructor that empowers others. I am now a 7th-degree black belt, highest-ranking female in United World Taekwondo Association and a national speaker. My goal is to give back to my community and change people’s lives everyday for the better, which keeps me in a space of gratitude daily. We enhance our community by helping every person that walks in to get to the best version of themselves. We also contribute by providing free services (self-defense, bully prevention, etc.) and donating services and money to local charities and organizations.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
What people consider challenges and struggles we think are par for the course of running a “people” business. The biggest struggle currently is navigating and operating through a pandemic.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about THE STUDIO Martial Arts & Fitness – what should we know?
We have turned out a multitude of national champions as well as ninja athletes that competed on the show American Ninja Warrior. THE STUDIO boasts ten years of “best of the best” and well as People’s Choice awards for best martial art school, etc. Our studio consists of over 900 martial arts, fitness, and ninja members and yields revenues that rare in our industry. I am the founder of the trademarked programs, BAM (Bad A** Moms, BAD (BAD A** Dads), Wise Warriors, and ACKC (Amitis’ Cardio Kickbox Class).
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The centers that have a culture of support and are willing to accommodate the ever-changing climate in our industry will survive. The rest won’t, and subsequently, there will be less centers in our industry. Quality over quantity will prevail.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 916 258-5425
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/amitispourarian
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/MasterPourarian/
- Other: www.trainatthestudio.com
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