Every Thursday evening, you know the routine. You leave the office and head to the gym for your weekly Zumba class. Zumba may be an entertaining way to distract yourself from the repetition of exercising, but what if this week was extra stressful and you’d rather do yoga instead? Pilates the next? The drop-in fees for these classes can be expensive, but a new gym concept helps individuals with these same problems.
Open Gym Indy is a minority-owned business that sprang into action in September 2015 and helps active individuals and small boutique gyms fulfill their goals through a variety of exercise classes.
The Recorder spoke with founder and owner Jennifer Magley about Open Gym as well as her recent partnership with the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders.
Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper: What is the concept of Open Gym and how did it get started?
Magley: I’m a former professional tennis player, I was a Division I head coach, and I have a very athletic family; my dad played in the NBA. One day, my sister and I thought, “What if we could go to all of the different gyms in the area and use all of them?” but the issue was it can be expensive for the drop-in rate. It could be $25–30 just for one class, so we had this idea that what if you could go to all of these places for one flat fee.
We then looked online and saw it had already been done, but then we thought we could bring our own. Open Gym Indy is a fitness concierge, and we are the first and only of our kind in the state of Indiana. For one fee, you can go to nearly 40 different studios and gyms. We offer more than 400 different classes within central Indiana.
What was it like getting the other gyms on board to partner with Open Gym? What was your pitch to them?
For them, it’s a great opportunity to get new people in their doors so they can share their passion, which is why they started their business in the first place. Right now we’re expanding south, because we have a lot of great partners in Hamilton County, Broad Ripple and other places but not many south. A lot of people like to shop small, but I believe it’s time to sweat small; it’s one of our hashtags. I think that’s very important, because the more you work out in smaller, locally owned gyms, your money is staying in the community and has a huge impact. That’s why we’ve been fortunate that all of our partners are excited, because we’re charging $79 a month as a flat fee, and customers are able to go to unlimited classes at all of our partner gyms. The only stipulation is they can go to no more than four classes within a calendar month at the same gym. On the other hand, if they want to go back more than four times, they probably love it and need to join that gym.
How did you get involved with the Colts cheerleaders?
We were really fortunate in that they contacted us. I was just so excited; they have nearly 220 partners and sponsors, and only a handful of them are local. I’m so grateful to be a part of that.
The cheerleaders are Open Gym members and have access to all of the facilities and fitness clubs. We will have a great presence with the Indianapolis Colts where we will be able to touch and share what we do with their female population and the population at large. That means billboard signage, online, in magazines, in press releases and really being a part of the Colts Cheerleading family by being present at all of their events.
Are there any strategic recruiting efforts to gain new members?
Yes, we’ve been very fortunate to have great partners, and we’ve had positive response from media. We’ve found that good old-fashioned word of mouth is a great tool, along with social media. A lot of times with business they say it’s eight to 10 touches before you impact someone, but I think in fitness it’s more 16 to 20 touches. The company locally that I think has done a great job interacting with the community and getting the word out is Sun King. They operate from the heart. It’s all about philanthropy and the arts. I just really admire what they have accomplished fitness-wise; we would love to proceed as they have.
For more information, visit opengymindy.com.
