Today we’d like to introduce you to Meghan McAlpine and Melissa Gibbons.
Meghan and Melissa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up, sports and fitness were such a big part of our family lifestyle. Everyone was always at some sort of practice, out on a run, or we were out on an adventure as a family. I grew up playing competitive soccer, and it was always a huge part of my life. I played soccer in college, and after college, I moved back to Houston and got a full-time job.
Until I joined the workplace, I never really appreciated what being involved in so many activities did for me as I became an adult, nor did I realize what effect the lack of activities can have on you. In the corporate environment I was in, I saw first hand what its like when you don’t make the time for yourself to workout or release the stress or get that “runners high” from endorphins, did I realize how many people really burden the effects of that. That is what initially inspired me to be a part of something that would leave a positive effect on other peoples lives.
At the time, I was on ClassPass going to, on average, 25 different workout classes a month! I traveled a lot, so I would even be going to studios in different cities. Every studio I went in I would imagine what I would do if I opened a studio, what I liked, and what I didn’t like and how the environment would bring people who were working towards a similar goal together. Whenever my husband and I were visiting my parents in The Woodlands, I would drag my mom along to new workout classes with me. I finally brought her to what my favorite workout at the time was, which was lagree fitness. After her first class, like most everyone, she was almost deflated at how challenging it initially felt. It works muscles you aren’t used to and requires a lot of core engagement, but she was hooked. She was motivated to go back and get better, and before I knew it, she was going to class more times a week than I was!
After two years of traveling a bunch, being away from my husband and dogs too much, letting someone else dictate how much money I was paid, what projects I got to work on, or how much time I had off, I realized I really wanted to do it, to open a fitness studio and be involved in an environment that helped people be the best possible version of themselves. That summer (June 2017) we were on a family vacation, and I told my mom I was looking into opening a studio and researching it, and she said: “well I will open it with you!”
When my mom tells the story, she says I called her two weeks later and had the location locked in, and license ready to go! I want to say it was more like a couple of months though. Regardless, I was motivated to make it happen. We opened in February 2018!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
So far it has been a pretty smooth road. I almost feel guilty like I have to talk about some setback or rough turn we have taken, but I have an amazing group of people surrounding me that enjoy helping the business succeed. Everyone involved, my family members, my husband, and our instructors are such great people and have been amazing to work with. Everyone works hard, and I feel like that shows! Right off the bat, the community was excited about our opening, and we have met so many great new people that have provided great insight along the way!
You quickly learn as a small business how big customer service is and other peoples opinions can have a toll on your business. Word of mouth is such a big part of our success so making customers leave happy and satisfied is always a priority. As we have learned though, you can’t make everyone happy, and that’s totally okay.
Being a small business owner, you do it all! There are a lot of late nights, early mornings, and really getting down to doing the dirty work. Really, like cleaning the toilets and so on! It is exactly what I signed up for though and will do whatever it takes to provide a clean, fun, friendly environment where our clients can come in and get a killer workout.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Re/forme lagree fitness – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Re/forme is a high intensity, low impact fitness studio that is suitable to all fitness levels. Lagree fitness itself is its own patented method of fitness. It is best described as pilates on steroids.
On the megaformer, you can do a variety of movements that are all super slow, targeting your slow twitch muscle fibers (which are your fat burning fibers) to build long, lean muscles. Every class is specifically written to challenge your entire body and work for every muscle group. A lot of first-time clients tell us they felt muscles burning they didn’t even know they had!
Re/forme is for everyone. We have clients who solely do lagree and have seen massive changes. We have clients who cross train for ultra marathons with lagree, and people who never had a consistent routine and tried re/forme for the first time and are now some of the strongest clients in class! Wherever you are in your fitness journey, each class is 100% about you and how you can get one inch lower than you did the past week, or hold a plank move for 10 seconds longer, but that individual journey is in a room where everyone is also trying to better themselves.
We have really tried to create a community in the studio where our clients get to know each other, we know who you are, and if you want us to be, we are invested in your fitness and lifestyle goals. We celebrate milestones when clients hit 50 classes, there is a 100 class wall you get to sign, and once our clients start to hit 200 classes we will have a celebration for that and so on!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
As of now, our plans is to continue to grow and keep changing our customer’s lives for the better! We don’t have any plans or news to talk about as of now but will try to keep everyone updated as best we can once we do.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1737 West 34th Street Suite 800 Houston, TX 77008
- Website: www.reformelagree.com
- Phone: 8325160061
- Email: info@reformelagree.com
- Instagram: @reformelagree
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reformelagree/?ref=br_rs
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/re-forme-lagree-fitness-houston
Image Credit:
Billy Morquecho
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
