Founders Matt Sharp, Megin Sharp, and Lincoln Brown have grown KidStrong to 158 locations.
“A big factor for us is making sure the brand is just as valuable for the parents as it is for the kids. If we work on something in class, we’re also teaching the parents the science behind it.”
– Matt Sharp, KidStrong co-founder and CEO.
Five years ago, when his youth wellness concept was just half a decade old, KidStrong co-founder Matt Sharp was uncertain about the brand’s future.
Like most business owners, Sharp was fearful of closures because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the opposite happened. Over the next few years, the brand hit a rate of growth Sharp could only describe as “furious.”
For Sharp, it’s no mystery as to why, as he noticed a shift in how parents viewed the development of their children.
“I think more people were aware in the following years about where their kids were developmentally, versus where they should be,” Sharp said.
It was that awareness of early childhood development that led to the founding of KidStrong in 2015, which Matt and his wife, Megin, originally created for their daughter, Ella. Sharp said when their daughter was about 18 months old, they were looking for other child wellness programs, but none were sufficient.
“We weren’t happy with the type of training and coaching we were seeing in general,” he said. “So, we started a pop-up class with our business partner, Lincoln Brown, who we owned a CrossFit studio with. We started our classes with 25 kids and grew it to around 100.”
That class, set up in Lexington, Kentucky, morphed into KidStrong, which opened its first location in Frisco, Texas. The Sharps and Brown would then add a few more company-owned locations before launching their franchise system in 2019. Nearly six years later, the brand has reached 154 locations, with 146 owned by the concept’s 104 franchisees.
KidStrong educates children from the time they when they can walk to age 11.
The quick expansion has coincided with a surge in systemwide sales. In 2024, the brand hit $80.6 million in sales, a 76.3 percent increase, and secured its spot on the Top 400 for the first time at No. 354. The unit growth remained just as robust, jumping 33.7 percent with the addition of 34 locations.
Josh Patrick, KidStrong’s senior vice president of franchise development, credited the brand for striking while the iron’s hot.
“From what I’ve seen, coming out of the pandemic there were two categories that have been booming,” Patrick said. “They are brands revolving around pets and kids, which we benefited from. Franchising has been a great way for us to get our brand out there as fast as possible, too, allowing us to take advantage of that momentum.”
Riding a wave of interest in youth-centered brands isn’t enough to keep growth sustainable, however, which is why Sharp continues to stress the importance of what the kids are learning daily.
“Everything we do is based on developmental science,” Sharp said. “Other brands are kind of in this ‘activity bucket,’ but we’re training parents and kids what they need to know at each stage. Our goal is to have the kids in our program be a year or two ahead of their peers.”
In addition to the physical exercise, Sharp said KidStrong programs include speaking activities and other classes to improve confidence in children.
“Exercise is enjoyable for them and if they get into sports, they have a good base for that,” Sharp said. “On the brain side, it’s about self-regulation. Breathing techniques and introducing discipline and structure, preparing kids for school. For some kids, it can be the first real structure they’ve seen.”
A well-oiled machine
Sharp described the brand’s curriculum as having a focus on physical training, developing the brain and building character. He said keeping the program fresh has become the product team’s bread and butter, with a goal of answering two questions.
KidStrong franchisee Jasmine Carr operates nine locations.
“One of them is, ‘does it work?’ and the other is, ‘is it fun?’” Sharp said. “We have a group of development experts that are either on staff or advisers that help us develop it. A big factor for us is making sure the brand is just as valuable for the parents as it is for the kids. If we work on something in class, we’re also teaching the parents the science behind it.”
For the owners and staff to produce the best results with the curriculum, Patrick said standardization across all locations is a must, meaning there’s regular training and certification for franchisees and employees. The brand develops and maintains close ties with it operators, as new programming is rolled out regularly.
“We have a certification process for all of the positions, from manager to coach, and they continue their education with those,” Patrick said. “We also have franchise business coaches that are broken out by region, and they’re in the centers, working with the franchisees day in and day out.
“It’s a high-control environment,” he continued. “We’re very involved with our franchisees and very protective of the brand. We have people supporting them through real estate, construction, design and marketing, and then post-opening, we are inside your business. It’s ultimately about supporting our owners get to where they want to be.”
One franchisee who’s gotten to where she wants to be is Jasmine Carr, who runs nine KidStrong locations with her husband, Xan. The Carrs learned about the brand during its early days and later became customers. Carr eventually left a 16-year career in healthcare operations to become a franchisee.
Carr said the training she received has been essential in growing their portfolio with units in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
“I did all of the training KidStrong offers,” Carr said. “I trained as a coach and center director, because I operated our first location in that capacity. I wanted to make sure I was in a position where if a coach called out sick, we didn’t’ have a hole or cancel classes. If we had turnovers, I could plug and play that position, and I think that’s what made our territory successful.”
Carr’s first unit opened in September 2020, and in the next five years, she said training has continued to evolve, and the brand has created more certifications, giving more useful education to her team.
“KidStrong has a really good playbook, whether it’s operational or marketing,” Carr said. “They have it down to a science, and continue to evolve it as the brand gets bigger. As a franchisee, it’s important, because this does best as an owner-operator system. It’s not meant to be a hands-off, passive investment.”
The cost to open a KidStrong franchise is between $448,100 and $600,000. Centers typically range from 3,000 to 4,000 square feet in size. In 2024, the brand reported an average unit volume of $800,000. The 12 top-performing locations averaged $998,651, while the bottom 11 units averaged $448,493.
The KidStrong curriculum uses developmental science.
Innovation to match growth
To assist its franchisees, Sharp said the brand is actively working to make sure owners are up to date with digital tools.
“All of our technology we use and provide is to make life better for the customer, make life easier for the people that work there and for us to be really efficient at headquarters in how we spend our time,” Sharp said. “The technology is designed to free up time, even at the unit level, for more human interactions.”
“I’d say right now we’re focusing on how we can leverage AI at the unit level to help take some of the work off the general managers and franchisees,” added Patrick of efforts to tap into artificial intelligence. “That allows them to spend their energy on the right things.”
At the franchisee level, Carr said an example is an integrated attendance program, which allows her team to check in kids and connect with parents via an app where they can cancel and rebook classes as needed.
In addition to the technology front, Sharp said KidStrong is bolstering its marketing efficacy, while also expanding its executive team.
“We’ve brought on a vice president of operations and are also bringing on more experienced franchisees to sign deals,” Sharp said.
“We’re doing all of that while making sure we’re delivering the best in class programming every week. Once you surpass 100 units, you become a more legitimate brand and attract more talent to build more momentum. All of that trickles down to the units, and in return, you see metrics increase.”
The momentum Sharp noted is expected to help the brand open nearly 50 locations this year and another 60 in 2026. In looking for more franchisees to join the pipeline, Patrick said KidStrong is seeking four types of backgrounds.
“The first is making sure they’re an owner-operator, because we want a franchisee who’s all in,” Patrick said. “From experience, we want someone who comes in from the franchise space, and we tend to get people who come from the adult fitness space or general wellness, and have some experience with a membership model.”
Those with corporate backgrounds who know how to track sales and hire great people also make strong franchisees, he continued. “Finally, we love military backgrounds, because they come in and run the playbook, so that’s always been a plus.”
KidStrong is one of 17 franchises in an education and learning segment of the Top 400 that generated $6.6 billion in total sales last year.
The segment includes early childhood education concepts such as The Learning Experience, which grew sales 18.2 percent, to $770 million, and activity-focused brands such as School of Rock, which finished 2024 with systemwide sales of $233 million.