“For franchisees, we look for people with PHDs: people who are passionate, humble and driven.”
—Christina Collins
BACKGROUND:
• NeverStopMoving365 teaches children the importance of health and fitness through exercise, sports lessons and games.
• Collins founded the brand in 2017 after years working as a physical education teacher.
Reporter Alyssa Huglen asks what makes emerging brand leaders tick—and presents their edited answers in this column in each issue. To suggest a subject, email [email protected]
Where did the idea for NeverStopMoving365 come from?
The idea came from listening to a need in the community. I was a phys ed teacher, and so many children loved my phys ed class but did not love team sports. They didn’t love competition. They didn’t love pressure and a scoreboard and stats, but all kids need movement. Parents started to ask me to personal train their kids outside of school. I think we all know children are sedentary more than ever today, both in school learning from devices as well as at home on devices. It was born out of a cry for help from parents asking for their children to have an inclusive, noncompetitive environment for movement.
What we’re doing is teaching life lessons. We’re doing that character development through exercise, fitness and sport. We’re teaching them to take risks and to learn from their mistakes and develop grit. It’s all of those amazing things that team sports teach, but you don’t actually need the presser and the scoreboard and all of that. You just need a youth movement specialist, and that’s really where we come in.
How do you market the brand as a mobile concept?
There’s no brick and mortar, there’s no real estate, there’s no inventory, so franchisees can be up and running in eight to 12 weeks. We have an entire playbook of how they build that brand awareness. We have an app for booking once they get clients through the awareness and the trial phase into the usage. Parents can book 24/7 from their phone just like they might book an eyebrow wax. They book a youth movement specialist to come to their house and personal train their child. What we baked into our culture is this very heart-led, mission-driven component of boots-on-the-ground, grassroots marketing. It’s an entire playbook of offering a free class at your library so you meet families with young kids that might attend. We did an active story time. We put on bike clinics and different free events in the community that remove the pay-for-play barrier, promote wellness, are accessible to all. That’s really how we get the brand awareness. We’re almost in year eight, and we put on a kids triathlon for over 150 kids, so we’re always growing and always evolving by putting on those events for children to get that exposure.
What lessons have you learned early on?
I’m well aware that a franchisee for McDonald’s came up with their fish sandwich. Franchisees contribute your early adopters, which is where we are. They contribute so much to things. As for me, it’s been learning or reminding myself as a franchisor that your mind is like a parachute: it only works when it’s open. I put up bumpers to help guide and mentor, but not be too closed off.
What’s important to you as you look to expand?
Our big goal is to get a million children active. For franchisees, we look for people with PHDs: people who are passionate, humble and driven. They have to be aligned with the mission and live the mission of embodying a movement lifestyle. We are excited in this next window of growth to hopefully partner with someone who is in an all-year-round warm climate. Think Florida, where we would take what we’re running in the Northeast and have it flourish all year round. It’s such a rewarding, fulfilling experience for people that want to have a positive impact on children in their community.