1. What’s the quick origin story of your brand, and what makes your product or positioning genuinely different from other options in your niche?

Scott Capelin: inLIFE Wellness started as a single studio in 2019, and the first franchise opened in 2021. There are currently 62 franchises open with 19 more in the process of opening. Over the last 30 years the fitness industry has evolved from “big box” gyms to the “budget” gyms, to “boutique” studios. Smaller studios are often perceived as less intimidating and provide a safe, warm environment. Reformer Pilates has been around for over 100 years and there has been significant growth over the last 5 years with people wanting to move away from “high intensity, high impact” forms of exercise into a more sustainable lower impact exercise alternative.

inLIFE Wellness has 3 main points of difference which are:
1. Low-cost entry point to open a franchise (It costs $200K to open a studio which is less than half of most competitors). Ongoing operational costs are also very low
2. Other than the Reformer Pilates classes offered in the studios, we have a fresh, fun, unique and innovative range of classes called Fusion Pilates. You can see the full list here: https://www.inlifewellness.com/our-classes
3. Our target market in terms of studio members is women from their mid-30’s to late 60’s. Our internal culture is extremely welcoming and inclusive. It’s a bit like the TV show “Cheers” where everybody knows your name and they are always glad you came.

2. Since launch, what have been the 1-2 real turning points for your brand-specific decisions, pivots, or experiments that noticeably changed your growth or profitability-and what did you learn from them?

Scott Capelin: The original flagship studio was quite large at 350 square metres. The franchise model is 150 square metres and the major benefits are the lower costs to open and operate the smaller version of the business model. Low entry costs and ROI within 2 years have been major reasons for the growth of inLIFE Wellness studio locations. Another decision that proved fruitful is the development of our Fusion Pilates range of classes. This is a strong unique selling point for inLIFE Wellness. You can see the classes in the link in the response to the question above.

3. Which 2-3 channels drive most of your revenue right now (for example SEO, paid social, email, marketplaces, influencers), and what have you learned about making those channels work in your category?

Scott Capelin: Meta Ads are the main driver of growth for a new studio starting out. We do a 16-week pre-opening marketing and sales campaign with an investment of $35,000 with the aim of opening with 200 members which puts each studio in a cashflow positive position from Day 1. When a studio is open and operational we still have good results with Meta ads and we also drive revenue through internal referral promotions and word of mouth referrals. Email campaigns work well for events like Black Friday and New Year promotions.

4. How are you thinking about search in 2026 – Google, AI assistants like ChatGPT, and other discovery platforms? What, if anything, have you changed in your content or site to stay visible as AI search grows?

Scott Capelin: I attended a conference in New Jersey recently and the main topic was franchise marketing in the world of AI. The main thing we have introduced is strong PR campaigns as AI is pulling content and data from multiple sources and the more positive stories we have online the better.

5. What do you do to turn first‑time buyers into repeat customers and advocates? Are there specific experiences, content, or community touches that work especially well for you?

Scott Capelin: Our entry level program is a certification course for $2,490. From there people often go on to open a studio for $200,000. The main driver of this is customer service, a positive experience, follow up, and building rapport and a meaningful relationship with the prospect.

6. If you had to write a short playbook for an ecommerce founder one stage behind you, what would you double down on over the next 12 months – and what would you stop doing entirely?

Scott Capelin: Over the next 12 months I would focus on a Meta marketing campaign featuring success stories and testimonials from happy customers who have used our product or service.