Hello Summer!
A short work week so let’s jump in!
I had a chance to catch up with my friend and former colleague, Helaine Knapp, CEO & Founder, CITYROW to discuss the ups and downs of running a successful fitness business.
Highlights of our conversation are found below.
CITYROW programming is built around an indoor water rower coupled with strength training which can be done in one of their studios or at home via their connected rower.
Helaine and I worked together 12+ years ago at Buddy Media where we worked with the likes of Dan Reich & Jeff Ragovin (both past guests and both investors & advisors to CITYROW). It was also around this time that Helaine began to explore whether building a fitness business around a gym rower ‘had legs.’ It was Helaine’s discovery, based partially upon her own fitness-related injury, to find a workout that was both low-impact to the body and high-intensity. Time after time she kept coming back to the rower.
“And then, you know, I had this idea, I was like, ‘I wonder if I can make rowing like sexy and cool, mainstream, right?’ It’s this unsung hero, but it really needs a makeover. And so I quickly realized, ‘what if I pair it with strength training work?’ To me, that should be perfect. Cardio, strength, it’s a HIIT [high intensity interval training] class.” - Helaine Knapp, CEO & Founder, CITYROW
If self-awareness is a startup founder’s superpower then Helaine has it in spades!
“If you’ve like ever listened to me or seen any of my writing, like self-awareness really is everything because it’s one thing to be able to say everything that you’re good at, but it’s even more powerful to acknowlege the area that you’re not good at, because that means you can solve for it.”
While Helaine continues to lead her team and grow the business — omnichannel, connected fitness is here to stay — she still finds time to give back, mentor, invest, and coach early-stage founders.
“And I think at this point, I want to be the person that I was always looking for as an early stage founder. I want to be the person that young founder can come to and be vulnerable. You know, it’s really hard to be vulnerable whether it’s an investor. Doesn’t matter how close you are to them.”
Helaine doesn’t mince words when it comes to running a fast-growing fitness business, COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding. The trials and tribulations predated 2020 and continue to persist to the present day. Again tapping into her self-awareness bona fides, Helaine has made sure to capture the lessons and experiences she’s witnessed to perhaps inspire and provide perspective to other entrepreneurs. ‘Making Waves’ her book set to release in 2024! (Set your P&T Knitware reminders!)
“I know I keep coming back to this analogy of being a quarterback, but you really, when I look back and I think about all the moments and you know, the voice of this book is that I really wanna add a new voice to the startup world that talk about the underbelly. I wanna talk about what it really takes. I wanna talk about not just rainbows and butterflies. I want this to be a book that gives you real insight into what happens and what happened to me.”
So much to digest and so much to learn from this full conversation!
To watch the full conversation — Worthy for Thirty YouTube Channel
To learn more about CITYROW — CITYROW.com
Want to purchase a CITYROW connected rower for your home?
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