U N D E R
First job : Babysitting .
Formative influences / events : Being the fi rst person in my family to graduate from college ! I am also thankful my parents made me get a job at such a young age , and then keep one throughout college .
Key accomplishments : Being nominated to take part in The Little Gym ’ s Big Hearts board , Reunion Committee , and being voted onto the Executive Advisory Committee most recently .
Biggest current challenge : Getting team members to be more salesoriented .
Next big goal : Reaching 400 students at each location .
First turning point in your career : Opening up The Little Gym of Lafayette . The community really accepted , loved , and supported us . ( They still do !) It gave me the confi dence I needed to take my business , and eventually businesses , to the next level .
Best business decision : Opening up our second location in Covington , La .
Hardest lesson learned : I can ’ t do everything myself , or expect everyone to be perfect . Learning to delegate and not micro-manage really made my life much easier .
Work week : I teach classes Monday and Tuesday mornings in Lafayette and Thursday evenings in Covington . Much of the business side of work is done at
PERSONAL home on Wednesdays and Fridays .
Exercise / workout : Walking 4 miles a day and taking occasional Lagree Fitness classes .
Best advice you ever got : Hire slow , fi re quick . It ’ s important to be mindful of your team and who you bring on .
What ’ s your passion in business ? The outcome . With The Little Gym , it ’ s so rewarding to watch the children grow and learn and to celebrate them .
How do you balance life and work ? I think the biggest key to having a work / life balance is having a great , reliable team in place . When I am not at the gyms , I don ’ t worry any more . I really trust and empower my team .
Guilty pleasure : Binge watching Netfl ix shows . Favorite book : The Bible . Favorite movie : “ The Lion King .”
What do most people not know about you ? I love to go to bed early !
Pet peeve : Bad manners . What did you want to be when you grew up ? My own boss . Last vacation : Seaside , Fla . Person I ’ d most like to have lunch with : Jimmy Fallon . referrals from clients . Instagram has been great because it allows our members to follow us and us to follow them . For example , if a parent posts about a child who made great grades , we send them a congratulatory postcard in the mail . It brings our relationships to another level ,” she says .
And Facebook has been a great advertising tool , she says . “ We see people talking us up on Facebook , and we watch and boost the posts . You can see the results live , so it really makes us feel like our money is being well spent .”
Her best advice to young people who want to own their own Little Gym is , “ Go there , work there , take your kids there . The big advantage is the room to grow . It ’ ll be sad for me when my team members move beyond our franchise , but I ’ m happy for them because they ’ re getting greater opportunities .”
Business philosophy : Love what you do .
Management method or style : Hands-on , but I don ’ t like to micromanage . It ’ s much easier to have people do things for me — something I ’ ve learned over time .
Greatest challenge : To train and retain good people . It ’ s disappointing to train someone , only to have them quit .
How do others describe you ? Organized , persistent , enthusiastic , and goal-oriented .
One thing I ’ m looking to do better : Help my managers and employees grow in their personal lives .
How I give my team room to innovate and experiment : If they have an idea , I love telling them to go for it ! I also like to let them feel like they can ’ t completely fail or mess things up . We all make mistakes and everything is a learning process . “ What ’ s the worst that could happen ?” is something I often say , followed by “ It ’ s all good !”
How close are you to operations ? I am at each location 1 to 2 days per week .
What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor ? Curriculum and our point-of-sale program .
What I need from vendors : Things to make our daily operations more effi cient .
MANAGEMENT
Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy ? How ? We put the majority of our advertising budget toward online marketing .
How is social media affecting your business ? It ’ s really benefi cial . We love the ratings , referrals , and the results from social media marketing . It also allows us to reach out to our families and potential members on a personal level outside of the gym .
How do you hire and fire ? As mentioned earlier , I hire slowly and fi re quickly . You have to make sure you are bringing on dedicated team members who are passionate and willing to put in the time to grow and learn .
How do you train and retain ? The Little Gym International has training systems that are incredibly effi cient . We truly appreciate and value our employees . To retain employees , we work with them to set goals and offer incentives when those goals are reached .
How do you deal with problem employees ? We have a “ See it , say it , move on ” motto . When there is a problem , we address it and then move on with a positive attitude .
Fastest way into my doghouse : Not following through with something , and not being professional and considerate .
38 MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE ISSUE II , 2017