In Episode 18 of the *Gym Marketing Made Simple* podcast, Blake Ruff and Sherman Merricks dive into one of the most important topics for boutique gym owners: Breaking Barriers: Women Gym Owners in a Male-Dominated Industry. If you're a gym owner looking to grow your business, this episode is packed with actionable insights you can implement immediately.
What This Episode Covers
Welcome to another engaging episode of Gym Marketing Made Simple! In today's episode, Mikilah Spear shares her inspiring journey as a gym owner in California, showcasing her remarkable success achieved through innovative marketing strategies.
Mikilah's story begins with a personal need she identified during her pregnancy – a lack of support and tailored fitness programs for expecting mothers. Fueled by her own experience, she took the initiative to start a mommy fit class, which eventually evolved into a thriving business despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the founder of a women's gym, Mikilah recounts her journey of expansion from a modest 1700 square feet to an impressive 3500 square feet. Along the way, she diversified her services beyond prenatal and postpartum training to include specialized programs for perimenopause and menopause.
However, Mikilah's ambitions extend beyond the confines of her current client base. With a keen awareness of the untapped potential in her local community, she aims to connect with an additional 100,000 potential clients. Her drive to empower women and broaden her business's reach is palpable, yet she acknowledges the need to increase awareness of her services.
00:01 Fitness and pregnancy with a new gym owner.
3:30 Starting a women's gym and expanding reach.
9:52 Paid marketing strategies for a fitness business.
16:25 Marketing strategies and client success stories.
19:55 Marketing strategies for gym owners.
24:02 Growing a gym through free intro classes and hiring challenges.
28:20 Growing a women's gym through franchising and marketing
Tune in to the Gym Marketing Made Simple podcast to discover Mikilah's insights into effective marketing strategies and learn how to elevate your gym's visibility and reach.
Key Takeaways for Gym Owners
1. Your gym is only as strong as your team. Invest in hiring, training, and retaining great coaches and staff.
2. Systems beat hustle every time. Build repeatable processes so your business runs without you being in every conversation.
3. Culture is a growth strategy. A strong gym culture attracts members, retains them longer, and generates referrals.
4. Delegate to grow. The CEO seat requires you to work ON the business, not just IN it.
How to Apply This to Your Gym
Take an honest look at where you're spending your time. If you're still coaching every class, handling every sales call, and managing every marketing campaign, you've built a job — not a business. Identify the one role you can delegate first and start building the systems to hand it off.
Invest in your team's development. Weekly training sessions, clear SOPs, and regular feedback create a team that can run the business without you being in every room.
The LASSO Framework Approach
At LASSO, we've helped 500+ boutique fitness gyms implement these exact strategies. We provide mentorship from gym owners who've already scaled past $100K/month — giving you the playbooks, SOPs, and accountability to grow. Our clients typically add 5-10 new members per month and see meaningful revenue growth within 60-90 days.
Listen to the Full Episode
This blog post covers the highlights, but the full conversation goes much deeper. [Listen to Episode 18 on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gym-marketing-made-simple/id1667 simp) or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ready to implement these strategies in your gym? [Take the free Growth Diagnostic Quiz](https://quiz.lassoframework.com/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=blog_article&utm_campaign=podcast_ep_18) and find out exactly what's holding your gym back.