GRACE GILES | OWNER OF F45 TRAINING BOERUM HILL

Episode Summary

In this episode, Mike sits down with Grace Giles, owner of F45 Boerum Hill in Brooklyn, one of the top-performing studios in the network.

Grace breaks down how she transformed historically slow months—like December and summer—into some of her highest revenue periods.

Instead of accepting seasonality as a limitation, she learned to use data and trends to predict dips, plan promotions, and strategically time price increases to smooth out revenue and even create new peaks.

A big part of her success comes from understanding that growth isn’t random—it’s predictable. By comparing performance year-over-year (not month-to-month), she gained clarity on when to push sales, when to run offers, and when to optimize pricing.

She also shares how integrating Hyrox into her gym created a powerful secondary ecosystem—boosting engagement, retention, and even creating a new revenue stream.

Another standout concept is her shift from doing everything herself to leveraging others. By tapping into a network of high-performing gym owners, she accelerated her growth by learning from people already excelling in specific areas.

This episode is all about turning unpredictability into systems—and using data, community, and smart timing to scale consistently.

Key Takeaways

• Compare performance year-over-year, not month-to-month

• Slow months can become peak months with the right strategy

• Plan promotions and pricing around predictable seasonal dips

• Price increases should be timed strategically—not randomly

• Build systems that repeat every year for predictable growth

• Hyrox (or similar) can create new revenue and engagement streams

• Community is a major driver of retention and experience

• Recurring revenue is the foundation—but extra streams can scale growth

• Leverage other experts instead of figuring everything out alone

• High performers don’t guess—they follow trends and data

Timestamps

00:00 Inside one of the top F45 studios
02:30 The class experience and culture
06:00 Introducing Hyrox and member benefits
10:00 Turning Hyrox into a revenue stream
14:30 Understanding business through numbers
18:00 Why year-over-year tracking matters
22:00 Identifying seasonal dips
26:00 Timing promotions and price increases
30:30 Turning slow months into peak revenue
35:00 ClassPass and additional revenue streams
40:00 Leveraging community and external expertise
45:00 Final lessons on scaling a gym

Show Notes

Grace’s biggest shift came from one realization:

Seasonality isn’t the problem—lack of planning is.

Like most gym owners, she used to experience predictable dips throughout the year. But instead of reacting to them, she started studying trends across multiple years and building systems around them.

Her strategy includes:

1. Year-Over-Year Analysis
Rather than comparing month-to-month fluctuations, she compares each month to the same month in previous years. This reveals true performance trends and removes misleading data.

2. Strategic Promotions & Pricing
She aligns sales, promotions, and price increases with known slow periods—turning dips into opportunities instead of losses.

3. Predictable Systems
Instead of constantly reinventing strategies, she repeats what works—creating consistency and stability in revenue.

On top of that, Grace introduced Hyrox into her gym, building a sub-community that drives both engagement and additional revenue. What started as a small initiative evolved into a structured program with its own pricing and positioning.

She also embraced additional revenue streams like class packs and third-party platforms—but only after building a strong core community first.

Perhaps the most powerful shift was her mindset:

She stopped trying to figure everything out alone.

By leveraging other high-performing gym owners, she gained access to proven systems, templates, and strategies—allowing her to scale faster without unnecessary trial and error.

The result?

A gym that not only survives slow months—but thrives in them.