FranDev Players: Regan Stokes, President of Pure Barre

Regan Stokes first entered into the franchising space through a career opportunity to join the team of a budding franchisor in the fitness space. While Stokes was primarily working in client management before that, she became fascinated by the concept of franchising and saw first-hand how the franchisor and franchisee could work together to create the strongest business possible. After starting in a franchise relations role, she quickly worked her way up onto the executive leadership team.

Now, as the president of Pure Barre, a boutique fitness concept with over 550 locations, Stokes is responsible for building a business model and support system that allows entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams of business ownership.

1851 Franchise spoke with Stokes to learn more about her story and gather her insights into how the franchising industry has changed in 2020.

1851: Tell me about your company.

Regan Stokes: Founded in 2001, Pure Barre is the largest barre brand, offering a range of effective, low-impact, full-body workouts for a broad range of fitness levels. Pure Barre has four signature class formats including introductory, classic barre, interval training and resistance training. Its high-quality instructors receive specialized multi-tiered training allowing for class format and choreography to be refreshed on a quarterly basis. Head-quartered in Irvine, California, Pure Barre is backed by Xponential Fitness, the largest franchisor of boutique fitness brands. 

1851: How did you get into franchising? 

Stokes: I transitioned into franchising in 2016 as my career interests led me to work for a budding franchisor in the fitness industry. My familiarity with franchising was mostly from the consumer view, but I also had some friends who were successful franchisees. I quickly became fascinated by the concept, starting out in a franchise relations role and growing into executive leadership. 

When both the franchisor and its franchisees commit to their roles and work in synergy, the mutual benefits are incredible and very unique in the business world. It’s extremely rewarding to build a model and support system that allows entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. 

1851: Are there any keys to consistent franchise growth? 

Stokes: The success of franchisees is the essential driver of growth and the key indicator of the health of a franchise system. Oftentimes, franchisors can place too much effort on driving new unit sales and not enough time on perfecting the business model and building support infrastructure for existing franchisees. 

Selling units without a strong business model will force you to change your business model with franchisees already on board, which is harder. That has a heavy impact on system-wide performance, which comes full circle by limiting new unit sales.

1851: What are the biggest hurdles to successful franchise growth right now? How did the COVID crisis affect franchise growth opportunities? 

Stokes: This is an opportunistic time for securing great terms on leases and grabbing more market share. That is why a number of savvy business minds joined Pure Barre as new franchisees this year. It has also inspired portfolio expansion for many of our existing franchise partners — they know they have a strong partner in Xponential Fitness as their franchisor and they trust our ability to identify available and viable territories. We also work with them to build a sustainably profitable business that’s also beneficial to their community.

Pure Barre experienced a decline in year-over-year unit sales in 2020 compared to our 2018 numbers (pre-Xponential acquisition), but our year-over-year new studio openings stayed consistent. We anticipated this temporary decrease in new franchise leads and new unit sales during this time of economic turbulence and in turn focused all corporate efforts on supporting existing franchise partners and studios. That’s our ongoing commitment and it is why business men and women continue to invest in Pure Barre — we are committed to each studio’s success. 

1851: Are there any common mistakes you see franchisors making when trying to grow? 

Stokes: I’ve seen many young franchise systems expend too many resources on branding, interior design (for brick-and-mortar businesses) and PR. They are trying hard to paint the picture of the company they are working to become instead of focusing on the necessary operational growth to become what they envision. 

While those are important elements of a successful business and franchise system, the most successful franchise systems don’t always have the most trendy or exclusive PR firm, the highest quality finishes and fixtures, or other non-essential “wow” factors to boast. 

Profitability is the most powerful picture to paint.

1851: What are Pure Barre’s biggest goals/plans for 2021?

Stokes: Pure Barre is continuing its expansion internationally this year and integrating innovative technologies into our classes that help clients not only feel and see the physical and mental benefits, but also quantify them, connect with friends and track progress toward their goals! 

Pure Barre has a long history as a pioneer and leader in the industry. While we were impacted significantly by the pandemic, our strong foundation and adaptability got us through 2020 with a lot to be proud of and to look forward to. As with many businesses throughout the world, 2021 is also about rebuilding to pre-COVID successes and beyond.