I have sat through more franchise pitch decks than I can count, and nearly all of them describe the same version of Pilates: the modality you turn to when you cannot do the hard thing, or the one you do after the hard thing already hurt you. BODYBAR Pilates is the rare operator I have covered that rejected that positioning outright, and if you run a studio, the results are worth your attention.
Studios leaned into the gentle positioning for decades because it worked, and an entire category grew up around being the soft landing. BODYBAR Pilates went the other direction, and the results are worth an operator’s attention. The brand has now opened 93 locations across 25 states with plans to open 24 more locations before year’s end.
The line they use to describe themselves gives away the strategy. The shake is shared, the names are real, and tomorrow you will feel muscles you forgot you had. Nothing about that is gentle. It is a promise of difficulty delivered inside a promise of belonging, and getting both of those into one sentence is harder than it looks.
Kamille McCollum, owner and president of BODYBAR Pilates, explains: “In 2012, I had the unique opportunity to take an athletic Pilates class before many people. I was training for a marathon, so I was in great shape, and I quickly realized how effective Reformer Pilates was in building strength without impact.
Then, I visited other Reformer Pilates studios and realized there was a huge opportunity to serve a population who loves high-intensity but also wants the benefits of Pilates. I knew the population would love our signature Performance | Athletic Reformer class. As I opened my first BODYBAR location, my instructors and I made sure even our lower-intensity classes were still challenging and pushing clients to find their inner athlete.”
The Repositioning Underneath the Growth
BODYBAR describes its method as blending the precision of Reformer Pilates with a more athletic, hands-on approach, so members are not just moving but building. That distinction sounds like marketing until you sit with what it actually changes.
It changes who walks in. A studio positioned as gentle attracts people who believe they need gentle, which is a smaller and more fragile market than most operators want to admit. A studio positioned around strength, stability, and endurance without high-impact strain attracts the deconditioned beginner and the athlete looking for cross-training, and those two people can occupy the same reformer without either feeling out of place.
It also changes retention math. Someone doing Pilates as rehabilitation leaves when the rehabilitation is finished. Someone doing Pilates as strength training has no natural end date.
That is the quiet business insight buried in a positioning decision, and it applies well beyond Pilates. Plenty of operators have built a facility around what a client is recovering from rather than what they are building toward, and it caps them without ever seeing why.
Solving for the Door
The other thing BODYBAR does well is unglamorous, and most operators underinvest in it badly.
They treat first-visit anxiety as an operational problem with an operational solution. Their first-timer guide says plainly that walking into a new reformer class can feel intimidating and that you are not the only one who feels it. Then it removes every unknown a nervous person might be carrying. Reserve your spot. Arrive ten to fifteen minutes early for a quick intro. Bring comfortable clothes, water, and grip socks. Here is what the class will be like. Here is what to do afterward.
None of that is sophisticated. All of it is the difference between a trial member who returns and one who does not.
Reformer Pilates carries a particular version of this barrier, because the equipment is genuinely unfamiliar to a newcomer in a way a dumbbell is not. A person who has never seen a reformer does not know how to get on it, and the fear of looking foolish in front of a room keeps a measurable number of interested people from ever booking. BODYBAR built the answer into the operation instead of leaving it to whichever instructor happened to be at the desk.
Every operator should be able to name what their own version of that barrier is. Most cannot.
What the Owners Are Actually Buying
The franchise numbers tell a story on their own. There are more owners than studios, which points to a development pipeline of signed agreements ahead of open doors and to ownership groups holding multiple units. For a brand at this stage, that ratio usually reflects owners who opened one location and then committed to another.
What draws those owners is worth understanding, because it is not only the unit economics.
“As someone who always wanted to own my own business, I am in love with BODYBAR. Not only does BODYBAR provide an opportunity to workout, but it also has a true sense of community, allowing everyone to meet new friends and feel like they can fit in.”
— Ashley Van Emmerik, BODYBAR Utah Owner
Read that again as an operator rather than as a member. She is describing the product and the reason she bought it in the same breath. In her mind, the community is not a benefit sitting alongside the workout. It is the thing she is selling.
That alignment matters more than franchise brochures suggest. An owner who believes in the room will run the room differently, and members feel the difference within a visit or two.
“At BODYBAR Pilates, we look for owners who love health, wellness, and people, and who are coachable. Owning your own business is not always easy, and there is a lot of work to do. We’ve spent years building playbooks that work, and the owners who win are the ones who trust those documents and hold their staff accountable. The ones that struggle typically are trying to reinvent something we’ve already solved.”
— Kamille McCollum, Owner and President, BODYBAR Pilates
The Consistency Problem Every Multi-Unit Operator Faces
Growing across over 30 states creates the problem that eventually humbles every expanding brand: the experience has to feel the same in Utah as it does anywhere else.
BODYBAR’s stated approach addresses this in three pieces. Form-forward coaching with clear cues, smart progressions, and options that meet a member where they are. Athletic programming built for strength, stability, and endurance without high-impact strain. And consistency in the class formats themselves, familiar enough that a member can master them while varied enough to keep progressing.
That third piece is the one operators tend to get wrong in both directions. Change the formats constantly and members never build competence, which is the actual source of confidence and the reason they stay. Never change anything and they get bored and drift. The narrow band between those two failures is where retention lives, and finding it is a programming decision most studios make by accident.
“As we grow, we are constantly being innovative with our training and support. The workout is one of the things I am most passionate about, so I am always working closely with our Fitness Department. We have produced an instructor app that allows instructors to build their class plans within the framework of the BODYBAR Method. Our HQ support team focuses on supporting our owners, and we have a team member at every new location that opens.”
— Kamille McCollum
What an Operator Can Take From This
You do not need to be in Pilates for any of this to be useful.
Look at how your facility is positioned and ask whether you are selling what a client is escaping or what they are building. The first has a natural expiration date and the second does not. Then look honestly at the moment a nervous first-timer walks through your door and count how many unknowns you have left sitting in front of them.
BODYBAR grew to 100 studios by taking a category everyone had agreed was gentle and deciding it could be hard, then making sure nobody felt stupid walking into it. Those two moves are not specific to reformers. They are available to almost any operator willing to look at their own positioning with the same honesty.
Related: The Hiring Signal Most Operators Miss Until It Is Too Late
FitHire — Browse Studio Operations and Instructor Roles
The studios setting the standard in boutique fitness are the ones investing in instruction quality and member experience at every location. FitHire by Coach360 connects instructors and operations professionals with the brands building something worth joining.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is BODYBAR Pilates?
BODYBAR Pilates is a modern Reformer Pilates studio and boutique fitness brand built around strength, form, and community. Its small-group reformer classes are led by specially trained instructors and designed to accommodate every fitness level, including complete beginners. The brand’s method blends the precision of Reformer Pilates with a more athletic, hands-on approach, focusing on strength, stability, and endurance without high-impact strain. By the end of the year, BODYBAR will operate 93 studios across 25 states with 113 franchise owners.
How is BODYBAR different from traditional Pilates studios?
The primary difference is positioning. Where much of the Pilates category has historically been marketed as a gentle or restorative option, BODYBAR frames its classes as athletic and strength-building. That shift changes both who the studio attracts and how long members stay: strength training has no natural end point the way recovery-oriented Pilates does. The programming emphasizes form-forward coaching, progressive challenges, and class formats consistent enough for members to master while varied enough to keep them progressing.
What should operators learn from BODYBAR’s approach to first-time visitors?
BODYBAR treats first-visit anxiety as an operational problem rather than a personal one. Its teams recognize that walking into a new reformer class can feel intimidating, then eliminate the unknowns by specifying what to expect before, during, and after class, what to bring, and how to choose a first class. Reformer Pilates carries a heightened version of this barrier because the equipment is unfamiliar to newcomers. Any operator can apply the same principle by identifying their own facility’s intimidation barrier and building the answer into the operation rather than leaving it to whoever is at the front desk.
What does BODYBAR franchise ownership involve?
BODYBAR supports franchise owners from the first conversation through opening day and beyond. The brand currently has 127 franchise owners across 204 territories, a ratio that reflects both signed development agreements ahead of openings and existing owners expanding into additional units. Owners frequently cite the community aspect of the brand alongside the business opportunity, which matters operationally, since an owner who believes in the studio culture tends to run the room differently than one who views it purely as a transaction.
Jessica H. Maurer covers Club & Studio operations for Coach360News.
About Jessica H. Maurer
Jessica is a recognized fitness business consultant and strategist focusing on transforming businesses from overwhelmed to organized. Her international presentations, workshops, certifications, and consultations underscore her commitment to helping fitness professionals and businesses realize their full potential. When Jessica takes the stage, she’s sharing fresh ideas and inspiration that spark positive change. Jessica’s international presentations and consultations are about growth, career transformation, overall wellness, and making fitness a joyful journey. Her expertise spans education, program and instructor development, and brand evolution, making her a key player in elevating the industry. Jessica also played a pivotal role in developing the Mental Well-being Association’s certification for Fitness Professionals., always striving to bring a holistic approach to wellness that’s as uplifting as it is effective.
Jessica has presented at prestigious events like IDEA World, Fitnessfest ACSM Health & Fitness Summit, SCW Mania, AsiaFit, and more. She has worked with brands such as FIT4MOM, SFR, BOSU, Lebert Fitness, Savvier Fitness, SCW Fitness, FitSteps, canfitpro, IDEA, and VIBES music. She also has written content for the IDEA Fitness Journal, canfitpro Magazine, Mental Well-being Association, FIT4MOM, Motherly, and more.
