Behind the Name: Leandra’s Journey with Kettlebell Co. and the Power of Inclusive Fitness

Welcome to “Behind the Name: Small Business Stories,” our series dedicated to sharing the journeys of inspiring entrepreneurs. At name.com, we are a customer-first registrar, and our goal with this series is to shine a light on local entrepreneurs who are name.com customers, empowering businesses like theirs to establish their online identity through intuitive domain registration and essential web products. Your story deserves to be told, and your online presence begins with us.

Today, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Leandra, the passionate owner of Kettlebell & Co., a boutique kettlebell studio that has been empowering its community for 12 years. Leandra’s inspiring story is a testament to the power of following a passion, building a strong community, and smartly integrating technology to overcome challenges and expand impact. Make sure to check out the full interview video on our YouTube! 

The Evolution of Kettlebell & Co.

Leandra’s journey into entrepreneurship began with a simple passion: a love for kettlebells. After being introduced to them in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she returned to Denver and was surprised to find that no studio had the focus on kettlebells that she was looking for. From grassroots efforts to live/work situations, she finally found a brick-and-mortar that she could solely dedicate to personal fitness with a focus on utilizing the kettlebell. 

Over time, her business, which evolved through various locations and was once known as The Fitness Branch, underwent a rebrand to Kettlebell Co. This change was strategic, aiming to clearly emphasize the gym’s kettlebell focus while also acknowledging Leandra’s physical therapy background and diverse offerings.

Now situated in the Sloan’s Lake area of Denver, Kettlebell Co. has successfully navigated significant challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, by offering virtual classes that extend its inclusive fitness beyond a physical location. Leandra attributes her 13 years in business to a commitment to staying true to herself as well as reinvention at strategic or necessary moments.

An Interview with Leandra Branch, Owner of Kettlebell & Co.

What inspired you to start a kettlebell-focused gym? 

I wish there was some amazing moment, but really I just loved kettlebells and I was introduced to them in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then came back to Denver and could not find a gym that did kettlebells. Through the grapevine, I somehow made my way to opening my own kettlebell studio.

What was the biggest challenge in getting started on that journey?

Oh my gosh, so many challenges. The biggest challenge – it’s probably still the biggest challenge – is just finding people to come join your tribe and your gym and figuring out different marketing strategies to reach them. That was the challenge from day one, and it seems to still be the challenge. 

Was there a moment when you knew this gym was going to work?

No. And there are still moments where I don’t know. And I think that’s the beauty and the beast of being a small business owner, is that you always have to be reinventing your message and your outreach and, some weeks I’m like, yes, we’re crushing it. We’ve made it. And then the next week I’m like, oh no, we’re having to pivot again and figure out a different way to go about our outreach and our vibe and the whole thing. But I will say that because you always have to be pivoting. It’s always something different. And there’s always growth behind it. We’re never just sitting comfy, which can be the beauty part of running your own studio or your own business.

What makes your approach to fitness different from other gyms in the area?

We are very recovery and rehab focused. I have a background in physical therapy. We are about quality over quantity. It’s not about how big, how hard, how fast you are, but how much control you have behind the movement. You have to crawl before you run, and that’s our approach to it, is slow and steady wins the race.

What values or philosophy guide either your fitness practices or your business practices?

Kettlebell & Co. is a space where we believe in celebrating all humans. We are very LGBTQ+ friendly. Our community is very wholesome and loving and celebrate people picking up the little weights just as much as they pick up the big weights. All bodies are celebrated here. So many gyms are all about the sexy people, and movement is sexy, and beautiful, and no matter what size or what gender or what weights you’re using. We really take that into account in coming up with our workouts, and it’s really fun because we have these huge strong guys working next to someone who’s maybe never stepped into the gym, and doesn’t have that go-hard mentality, and they’re all celebrating and doing the same workout and thriving together.

How has technology helped you to run your business more efficiently? 

I am a big AI user, especially in the last six months. It helps me refine my message. I am not an eloquent writer. I am a kettlebeller, so it helps me be efficient. Knockout emails, getting back to people, helps me write my newsletters. It would take me days before AI was around. We’ve been in business for 13 years, so, it would take me so long to write a newsletter, and now I give my bullet points, AI knows my vibe, and it just creates this perfect newsletter for me. During COVID, we did virtual classes. We still do virtual classes to this day, so clients traveling or those that have moved away and can no longer come into us physically, they get to join our community and our workouts still. We use booking software. Technology is a big plus in running my business.

Do you feel pressure to keep up with digital trends?

Yes. But not so much to act on it as aggressively as I probably should. I think definitely in the fitness industry there is so much pressure to do whatever TikTok song to your workout and post every workout of you just crushing it. And here, I think I have so many amazing, loyal clients because we don’t focus on that, and we focus on them, and our trainers are focused on (the clients) training and not just showing off what we can do.

So there is that pressure when I look on my social media and see that all these amazing coaches and trainers are putting their skills and their knowledge out there, but that takes a lot of time. And when you’re running your own brick and mortar our focus is more on our current in-person clientele than just showing what we could do.

Do you worry about losing the personal connection with your members through online tools?

No. I think online tools are great and I think it actually is a great way for people to personally connect to you, whether it’s posting your workouts throughout your pregnancy or showing that when you’re a small business owner, you are the janitor, the plumber, the admin, the whole thing.

So, you know, posting that stuff, I think, draws people into all the hard work that’s behind the fun atmosphere when people show up and take your class. I don’t think virtual loses the connection. To us and what we’re bringing to the workout. I think though, there is a disconnect between the community we have and someone who’s in virtual, because I think what makes us really special is not me or my trainers and kettlebells, but really our community as a whole vibe. And so if you’re not in here, making friends and being with those people, you’re just not getting kind of that little extra sweetness on top of what makes us.

If you could design your dream website, what would it include?

So my dream website, would be really simple. Like, here’s what we offer, here’s our pricing. Maybe some sexy, spicy photos to be like, “yes, I wanna be a part of this”. Click, sign up, they’re in here. That would be really nice. Having different platforms, figuring out what class. It’s just confusing right now. Super clean and upfront would be the perfect website.

Do you want your website to reflect more of your personality or the community vibe, or both?

This sounds a little narcissistic, but I feel like our community and my personality is very similar. And I just think people flock to what they’re comfortable with. I’m a little bit crude and silly and don’t take things too seriously and have a lot of fun, and so therefore our community is very crude and silly and don’t take things too seriously. So it’s kind of a win-win.

Would you wanna offer content like blog posts, member training, or, online portals?

Yes. So if I had all the time and resources in the world, which I’m going to make time for to do this, I think that we offer something very special. And our outreach is very small, very localized. And so using some amazing virtual world to get what we offer out there would be awesome. So, YouTube videos, how-to training videos, all of those things would be awesome. Starting our YouTube channel, connecting it to our website. People shouldn’t have to pay for all of that ’cause they’re gonna find it anyway. So just putting content out there that has the right kettlebell technique and form, and just educating the world on how we do kettlebells and why we do ’em that way would be really good.

How do you imagine members interacting with the brand online?

Yeah, I mean that’s something that we could definitely use help with. I would love members to see something that we put out there and be inspired by it and share it. And our outreach would just grow. I think what we put out there, people relate to and either wanna join our gym or support us. We’re super big in the LGBTQ+ community, and so to find a strength gym, especially a kettlebell gym that’s very loud about that, we get a lot of interaction that

What’s your dream digital experience that you’d want your members to experience?

My dream digital experience would just be giving them more, so more training videos, more tutorials, more clips of our vibe and what we stand for. That takes a lot of time, and unfortunately, we don’t have that much time to invest in things like that. I want to put out more content, but not spend hours on it.

Conclusion: Your Online Identity Starts Here

Leandra’s journey with Kettlebell Co., as revealed in our interview, beautifully illustrates the indispensable role of an online presence for any small business today. From using AI for efficient communication to offering virtual classes that extend community reach, and envisioning a future filled with impactful online content, a strong digital identity is crucial.

Watch the full video on our Youtube channel, and stay tuned for more small business stories!