BUILDING A FITNESS BRAND WITH AMY KING FROM CORE+
Ever sat on the train, headed for work, and daydreamed about owning your own ‘thing’? Maybe it’s a hugely successful company, with 50 staff working under you, or maybe it’s a slow-paced farm in the south of France, where you grow and sell your own produce. They’re wildly different, but one thing is the same: it’s yours.
Plenty of people want to leap out and start a business, but it’s often the unknown that stops them from taking the jump. Not Amy King - she is founder of CORE+, a new-ish fitness destination that combines all the best parts of yoga, Pilates and group fitness to create classes you can’t get anywhere else.
After attending her first yoga class in 2002, she fell in love, and went on to complete her Bikram Yoga training in the States, before training in anatomy, Pilates and other forms of yoga. With a passion for bringing together the benefits of physical movement and mental benefits of yoga and meditation, she developed the idea for CORE+. Not quite one year on, there are a bunch of studios across Melbourne, and plenty more to come worldwide.
Hey, Amy! CORE+ is a one-of-a-kind fitness destination. How did the idea come about?
I loved the way yoga combined the physical movement and mindfulness to regenerate the body. With a passion for fitness and wanting to share it with others, my mission was to help everyone become healthier, stronger versions of themselves through our classes at CORE+.
How does it differ from other studios and gyms?
We’re a fusion fitness brand built around classes that combine the best elements of several new and established practices to create challenging, invigorating and innovative results-based fitness experiences for you to stretch, strengthen and sweat!
Our fusion style of classes is what makes us different to other forms of training. We use traditional Pilates and yoga principles, but our high-intensity group fitness classes and reformer workouts add a mix of interval training and resistance weight work to strengthen your core and tone the whole body.
And, many of our mat classes are also done in 30-32°C heat to spice things up a bit!
CORE+ is just as much about the mind as it is the body. How do you bring the two together in your classes?
In each class, we stretch, we strengthen, we tone and most of all, we sweat. The best part is that we do it together as a group. As a group you clear your mind, set your intentions, empower yourself and come and achieve your goals with a supportive community of like-minded people.
It’s one thing to build one studio, but opening a franchise is quite another. Was this a vision you always had in mind?
It really started with my wanting to share it with others. It’s hard to open multiple locations and show clients and teachers your love, so we set out to find like-minded passionate studio partners to help us achieve our growth.
You’ve got an amazing vision. What do you hope to achieve?
True strength comes from really knowing, understanding and respecting yourself. We believe taking a little time to connect with your body and mind helps create a better version of ourselves. We enable people to work from the inside out, creating fitter, healthier, more balanced versions of ourselves.
As a busy mum and business owner, how do you maintain a happy and healthy life?
I love a routine and part of that is having enough of the things in life that matter the most: kids, husband, family, exercise, work, rest, play!
Which personality traits do you think have helped you in business and health?
Passion! Truly passionate people are engaged. We’re lucky to have a team of passionate individuals that are helping us get to where we want.
So, what’s next for CORE+?
We’re excited about growing CORE+ not only locally, but globally. With the ninth studio signed-on and not quite one year into the franchising, there are busy times ahead, but we’re with the right team and on the right path!