In one of the most data-rich episodes the LIFTS Podcast has produced, Matthew Januszek and Mo Iqbal are joined by Julian Barnes—co-founder and CEO of Boutique Fitness Solutions (BFS)—to unpack the findings from the BFS State of the Industry Report and what the numbers reveal about which studio models are thriving, which are struggling, and why the gap between them is widening.
From the explosive growth of Pilates to the real-world bite of tariffs on equipment imports, from the one hiring decision that consistently separates profitable studios from unprofitable ones to the question of whether aggregators like ClassPass help or hurt, this is an essential listen for anyone who owns, operates, invests in, or studies the boutique fitness business.
What This Episode Covers
Julian Barnes is the co-founder and CEO of Boutique Fitness Solutions (BFS), a research and consultancy firm dedicated to the boutique fitness studio segment. Through the BFS Network and its annual State of the Industry Report, Barnes and his team compile performance benchmarks, profitability data, and operational trends from studios across the country—making BFS one of the few organizations producing rigorous, studio-level data on a sector that has historically operated without it.
His work sits at the intersection of finance, operations, and fitness culture, giving him a perspective that is equally useful to a single-location studio owner trying to improve margins and to an institutional investor evaluating a portfolio of fitness brands. Barnes is known for translating complex data into actionable frameworks—particularly his FER model (Find, Enroll, Retain) as a clean organizing principle for studio growth strategy.
Under his leadership, BFS has tracked the rise of Pilates as the standout growth modality of recent years and documented the structural advantages that well-managed owner-operators hold over larger portfolio models—findings that challenge some of the conventional wisdom about scale in fitness.
Key Moments from the Conversation
- Barnes identifies hiring a full-time manager as the single most consistent differentiator between profitable boutique studios and those that remain stuck at break-even—studios run by trainer-owners who never make the transition to CEO rarely unlock the next level of performance.
- The BFS State of the Industry data reveals clear profitability benchmarks that studio owners can use as a diagnostic: operators who know where they stand relative to these benchmarks are dramatically better positioned to make targeted improvements.
- On tariffs, Barnes explains how import duties on equipment are forcing operators to rethink global manufacturing strategies and pricing, with some studios absorbing cost increases and others beginning to pass them on to members through revised membership structures.
- The concept of selling outcomes rather than features emerges as a recurring theme: the studios gaining share are communicating transformation and results, while those losing members are still leading with class descriptions and equipment specs.
- Pilates is outperforming other modalities across nearly every metric in the BFS data—driven by a combination of low injury risk, broad demographic appeal, and a community culture that supports higher retention rates than many other formats.
- Barnes walks through the FER framework—Find, Enroll, Retain—as a practical organizing lens for studio operators, arguing that most underperforming studios have a specific bottleneck in one of these three areas rather than a general performance problem.
- The discussion of aggregators like ClassPass surfaces genuine tension: Barnes presents data on both sides, noting that the channel can drive discovery but often at a cost to perceived value and long-term retention if not managed carefully.
- A closing emphasis on Disney-level client experience reframes retention as an experience design problem—the studios that win long-term are those that treat every member interaction as a moment worth engineering, not just a transaction.
Why This Conversation Matters
The LIFTS Podcast, co-hosted by Matthew Januszek of Escape Fitness USA and Mo Iqbal of SweatWorks at https://www.liftspodcast.com/, is built for the operators, investors, and industry thinkers who want evidence over anecdote—and Julian Barnes delivers exactly that. The BFS State of the Industry Report is one of the most cited resources in boutique fitness, and this conversation with Barnes is one of the clearest distillations of its core findings available in audio form.
For studio owners, this episode functions as a practical audit checklist: do you have a full-time manager, do you know your profitability benchmarks, are you selling outcomes or features, and is your retention strategy built around experience or just loyalty mechanics? For investors and brand partners, the Pilates growth data and the structural advantages of owner-operated models offer signal that the boutique segment's next chapter will reward quality of execution over quantity of locations.
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube
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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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