Foreword
David Minton - Director, The Leisure Database Company
For those of you who haven’t heard Emma speak, this book is a must. She writes like she speaks: a machine gun of ideas, passion and wisdom. On stage and on the page, Emma has only one speed and that’s super-fast. So, this book is a godsend for those who need more time to absorb this creative badass genius.
The book is a timely reminder of how the boutique sector developed, its growth and innovation, along with its healthy disruptive influence on the legacy fitness sector. Emma points out how boutiques are taking advantage of the experience economy, the hyper-personalization and the social media that have all become part of our daily lives.
Sectors like retail, accommodation, food and drink have all established small, hip boutique offerings, and class-based studios have joined that value-added movement. Studios quickly discovered that people are prepared to pay a premium to have more choice, convenience and a compelling experience. Major cities like LA, NYC and London are all enjoying a ‘fitainment’ moment like never before, and all examples in this book are right up to date.
How refreshing to have snippets of the sector history from someone who was living it at the time. Emma knows many of the personalities who have created the original concepts and she has experienced what makes the ‘yearn to return’ work week after week. She has also been involved in developing brands and concepts that have grown into some of the best international names.
Building a Badass Boutique distills all of this into a 10-touch journey, where Emma sums up each chapter with hot tips, case studies, exercises, resources and the now famous badass bullets. To this, she also adds a very useful ‘Boutique Barometer’, which all current and new operators need to answer, honestly.
In amongst the OMFG, and at times what feels like hyper-ventilation, Emma takes a deep breath, slows down and reminds us that fitness is an investment – and that, in an aging society, the older we become the more we will want to invest in our health. The sector, after all, contributes to health and happiness in a ‘world that has gone slightly mad’, which sounds like an English understatement from this resident of California, home to so many of the boutique studio concepts.
Pointing out that ‘good will scale, bad will fail’, Emma’s 10-touch journey comes from the heart, experience and in-depth knowledge. For those already operating boutique studios or fitness sites, Building a Badass Boutique is a must-read, with insights and insider knowledge jumping out from every page. For those planning or dreaming of opening a studio, it’s the essential benchmark.