Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Martz.
Sarah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started Coreology in 2010 when I was 24 years old. Before that, I was a professional dancer and had grown to love fitness for both the physical and mental benefits it gave me.
When I had my daughter, I was looking for a place to work out and took a job managing a fitness studio. I quickly saw a need in the market for a high quality, effective workout but in an environment that made people happy and supportive, compassionate people that made you feel good. It seemed that the culture of fitness at that time was not very inclusive or supportive and was in fact, judgmental and “mean girls”-esque. The few places that were supportive and inclusive had subpar workouts and left more to be desired.
I opened up my first Coreology studio in Palos Verdes, not entirely knowing what I was getting myself into! My daughter was 1.5 years old at the time, and I had no previous business experience! A few years later, I met and married my husband, and we decided to build our own fitness machine, the XFormer®. I had been using machines from another manufacturer, and the quality was poor, the machines were breaking down, and I needed a better solution.
So, we started production on our XFormer® machines, and I signed the lease for my second location in Manhattan Beach. A month or two after signing the lease I became pregnant with my son! Twenty-four hours after my son was born, our machines were finally ready, and my husband spent all night (10 pm until 5 am) installing them at our Manhattan Beach location. I’ll never forget that night!
Now I am about to open my third and fourth studio (Santa Monica and Downtown LA). I have an amazing team of instructors and staff, and I couldn’t be prouder of what Coreology has become.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It most definitely has not been smooth, but then again, I’m a total perfectionist, so I’m sure that is a factor. I started the business as a young, single mother with no business experience and a very limited budget. In the beginning, I could not afford to hire many instructors, so I taught nearly EVERY class on our schedule (and then went home to a 2-year-old). I could not afford to hire a cleaning staff, a web designer, photographer, etc. In fact, I built all of our websites to this day (*side note: I just hired a website team for the first time, and our new site is about to launch soon… this is a huge deal for me).
I also learned along the way that running a small business is NOT easy. It’s a 24/7 kind of job. On top of that, a Fitness Studio is a service industry business. This means, it’s not only a business about numbers (sales, rent, expenses, etc.) but it’s a business about relationships. I’ve had to learn how to manage a team of employees, all with unique personalities and communication styles. I’ve had to learn how to manage the relationship between the business and our clients. I’ve had to learn that no matter how hard I try, I just cannot please everyone (I’m still trying… never give up!).
Another struggle that I encountered that was perhaps most surprising was the lack of support from any other business owners in my industry. It wasn’t until more recently when I gave a talk for a group of women entrepreneurs that I realized not only did I not have any support from other business owners, I actually had the opposite. I found out later that other business owners in the industry would actually go out of their way to discourage people from visiting my business, out of a fear of competition. This has made me realize that women still have a long way to go and a lot to learn in the field of supporting one another.
I now make it a point to reach out and be there for other business owners when they are first starting out. It’s hard to open a new business, and any support you can get goes a really long way. I strongly believe there should be more of that, especially women helping women.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Coreology is incredibly special and not just because it’s mine! We specialize in providing the most effective full-body and functional workouts out there. The field of exercise science is constantly growing and evolving, and unfortunately, a lot of workouts have not grown or evolved with this new knowledge.
At Coreology, I train all of our instructors in-house, and we stay up to date on the newest science and information so we can continue to provide the best workouts and keep our clients safe and injury-free. Not only are the workouts world-class, but I am very proud of how hard our Instructors work and how dedicated they are to always growing and perfecting their skills.
Our Instructors care about our clients and want to provide the very best experience for them. Although this seems rudimentary, it is increasingly uncommon as more and more fitness studios become theatrical in nature and the instructors are turning into performers rather than coaches. I am also incredibly proud of our machines, the XFormer®.
I take pride in knowing that our machines are of the highest quality and designed to not only look stunning but also perform! I enjoy having the ability to look at how my clients are performing certain exercises and what I can add or tweak on the machine to make it even better for them to get the most out of that exercise.
If I had to sum it up in one word, I would say “quality” sets us apart from others. Quality in the equipment, Quality in the instruction, Quality in the integrity of the workout, Quality in the environment and Quality in the customer service.
What were you like growing up?
This is funny, actually. Growing up, I was incredibly shy. I was a dancer from a very young age, and I LIVED to perform. To me, there was no place happier than on stage. The strange part was that as soon as I got off stage, I was shy to a fault. I did not have many friends or much of social life. I was intensely focused on practicing dance – that was my world.
On stage, I had a larger than life personality, and I can remember feeling “invincible” even at a very young age. But offstage, or in intimate settings like an audition, I would be a nervous wreck! Since then, I’ve come out of my shell, and I have much more confidence in myself. The ironic thing is that my daughter is the exact OPPOSITE. She is loud and outgoing and incredibly confident and social.
She can walk right up to a stranger and become best friends with them in a matter of minutes. Sometimes people will take note of her large personality and comment “She is just like you – she has your personality,” and I am always shocked! Little do they know, I was the exact opposite of her. I am both flattered that people think I am like her and proud that she has the self-confidence that I did not have at her age.
Pricing:
- New Clients – Buy 1 class, Get 1 free. $28 for 2 classes
- Unlimited monthly pass $220/month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CoreologyFitness.com
- Phone: 310-541-3600
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coreology/
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