Matthew Januszek welcomed Helaine Knapp, the founder and CEO of CITYROW, to the Escape Your Limits Podcast for a conversation about building a boutique fitness brand from the ground up and navigating the realities of scaling in a competitive market.
Helaine shares how she turned rowing — a modality most people associated with a single dusty machine in the corner of the gym — into the foundation of a growing boutique fitness brand.
About CITYROW
Helaine Knapp is the founder and CEO of CITYROW, a boutique fitness brand built around efficient, full-body, rowing-based workouts that combine cardio and strength.
She launched the brand after recognizing that rowing, despite being one of the most effective forms of full-body exercise, had been largely overlooked as the basis for a modern boutique fitness experience.
Under her leadership, CITYROW grew from a single concept into a brand with studios and an at-home offering, positioning Knapp as an experienced voice on the realities of building and scaling in the boutique fitness space.
What CITYROW and Matthew Januszek Talked About
- Helaine Knapp shares the insight that led her to build a boutique brand around rowing and how she identified the opportunity others had missed.
- She discusses the challenges of building a fitness brand from scratch, from developing the concept to opening the first studio.
- The conversation explores the economics and operational realities of scaling a boutique fitness business in a crowded and competitive market.
- Knapp reflects on how CITYROW expanded into at-home fitness and the strategic thinking behind moving beyond the studio.
- She addresses the importance of building a strong brand identity and community in the boutique fitness category.
- The conversation covers the lessons Knapp learned as a founder navigating growth, fundraising, and the shifting fitness landscape.
- Knapp offers practical insight for entrepreneurs looking to build differentiated brands in the boutique fitness space.
Why This Conversation Matters
Matthew Januszek has watched the boutique fitness category reshape the industry, and the equipment behind these experiences has always been central to Escape Fitness's work.
Helaine Knapp's story of building a brand around a single modality and scaling it reflects the entrepreneurial spirit Matthew continues to explore through Escape Fitness USA and the LIFTS Podcast.
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About Matthew Januszek
Matthew Januszek is the co-founder of Escape Fitness, the functional-training equipment brand he built from a UK startup into a global name supplying many of the world’s leading gyms, studios, and hotel fitness spaces. Following the separation of the UK and US businesses, Matthew’s focus today is Escape Fitness USA and the next chapter of the brand in North America. He hosted more than 300 episodes of the Escape Your Limits podcast and now co-hosts the LIFTS Podcast with SweatWorks founder Mohammed Iqbal, covering the business, science, and technology shaping the fitness industry. Explore more interviews and episodes on MatthewJanuszek.com.
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