Leading from Within: How barre3 Built a New Model for Women's Studio Ownership with Sadie Lincoln

0:02John Lee Dumas:Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation? JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down leading from within, how Bar 3 built a new model for women's ownership. To drop these value bonds, I brought to Sadie Lincoln and to EO Fire Studios. Sadie is the co-founder and CEO of Bar 3, a global fitness company with over 200 franchise studios, a recognized leader. She advocates for mindful movement, body wisdom, and empowering success. And today we're talking about building with women at the center, 18 years of sustainable growth, the bootstrap decision, and oh, so much more.

0:41John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Sadie and our sponsors. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High Level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking payments and course hosting all on one platform plus award-winning 24-7 support get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com highlevelfire.com fire nation if you have a high ticket offer and need more quality leads nexus install is designed for you we'll book you 8 to 20 qualified calls each month then train you to run the system yourself email my team at john at eofire.com to learn more and see if Nexus is the right fit for you.

1:28John Lee Dumas:Sadie, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Well, hello, Fire Nation. All right. One thing that most people disagree with, I think it's a radical idea, but true for me to let go of your goals and your vision of yourself and any external metric in the future. And it's okay to have those things, but then let them go and be present in the moment with the intention that was behind the goal in the first place. and show up authentically around that intention. And that when I do that, I find the becoming successful happens.

2:24John Lee Dumas:Well, you're right. I think a lot of people would disagree with that, which makes it the perfect answer to this question. So thank you for that. And Fire Nation, today we're talking about leading from within how Bar 3 built a new model for women's ownership. And I want to start, Sadie, by talking about building with women at the center, at the core. So what does it look like to build a franchise model centered on women's ownership and leadership? Well, first of all, it's really fun. It really is amazing. I have 206 studios and they are all owned and operated by incredible women. And we all get to work together every day.

3:05And we are all aligned in purpose and passion and a career that feels good and right in our lives. And we're all delivering classes that are designed for women, developed by women, really uniquely positioned in the marketplace that way. And so it feels aligned for us to also be the owners of the business of our individual studios and the communities that we serve. My entire team is rallies behind these women. We all feel very purposeful of helping women thrive, not only in their bodies, but in their lives and in their business. and a lot of my team members here at our headquarters in Portland and around the nation, we're now decentralized, our women, our president that we hired in the last year, she's a woman.

4:02So yeah, I think all of us would agree. It's a lot of fun and it feels good and right.

4:07John Lee Dumas:Well, I want to move into 18 years of sustainable growth because that's an incredible number. I mean, Bar 3, it's sustained growth for nearly two decades now and this is without chasing trends, which is what I love most. So what's been the secret to staying relevant, Sadie, in both fitness and in business? I think it's very intoxicating to chase trends, to obsess about what other people are doing, how winning other people look on the outside or other brands or other competition can look on the outside. And I think that's true actually for us as individuals as well. We kind of get obsessed with the image of success outside of our own control.

4:49And I truly think the reason we've been so sustainable and also rock solid as an organization is we have a real discipline of A, remembering our purpose and the problem we're uniquely set out to solve, which is to help women be balanced in their bodies and empowered from within. and then to listen to her, listen to our clients, listen to insights, trust our own knowing and evolve our product, our studio offerings, our online offerings to really meet our clients where they are today in this moment. Not be attached to what it used to be in 2008 when I first opened the doors and not, you know, future trip about, oh, what it could be in the future, what I should be doing in the future.

5:40but rather really listen to her now and deliver an exceptional experience that meets her, meets her right where she needs to be. And that is a practice every single one of us at Bar 3, starting with our instructors. We practice and we train on and we remember every single day.

5:58John Lee Dumas:Okay. And this is going to be a really quick answer because it might be no, but was there a trend in the past 18 years that you almost went after? Like, was there something that was like, you almost went that way? I mean, of course you're glad you didn't, but was there something that you almost did? That's such a good question. I don't think I've ever been asked that. I wouldn't say it was a trend, but I did get hooked into being something that wasn't authentic to me as the face of the company. For a moment in our Bar 3 history, I was working with a producer and with some people outside of Bar 3 who were excited about making me kind of the face of Bar.

6:38and coaching me on what I needed to look like, what kind of words I needed to say, and really coaching me around changing our, basically our purpose. Um, and, and, and having people work out at bar three so that they could look really good and, and focus on the external appearances and aesthetics, um, that bar three could offer, which was completely counter to why I started this whole company. It was really about helping women discover that they're already strong and that their inner landscape matters even more than their external landscape. And that kind of chasing that trend for a moment was such a reckoning for me of honoring my values versus what some of the external narrative was telling me was needed to be successful.

7:28John Lee Dumas:Well, congratulations for staying the course and Fire Nation, a great lesson in there. Let's talk about the bootstrap decision because you chose to bootstrap the company and to grow alongside women rather than pursue like the very traditional venture backed path. So how did that decision, Sadie, shape the culture and the company that Bar3 inevitably became? I really love being a franchisor. Like I found my purpose as a franchisor. And the thing I love about it is my investors, I do have investors, and they're all the women that own and operate their own studio and who have invested in our franchise system and their own studio.

8:12So they are financially, you know, partnered that way. And these are the women that I look to and who I need to make sure I am mother tiger of the brand, giving them world-class support and making sure they have everything they need so that every single day they can build a beautiful community and focus on what matters most to all of us, which is taking care of our clients and teaching remarkable classes. So that idea, you know, being beholden to other women who own studios like me really, really appealed to me and my values. And I will say that the discipline of running on cashflow for 18 years is something I am incredibly proud of.

8:58Our team is really good at budgeting and forecasting. We're really good at making investments for sustainable growth based on what we know is best for our clients and best for our studio owners. And this kind of discipline is really baked into who we are at this point and 18 years later. So if I ever did get investment, it would just amplify, you know, our model and how strong we are as business women. I also think it's allowed me to be creative. In the early days, I diversified our revenue streams. I wasn't purely, and we aren't purely a franchisor. We also have a digital online streaming product, which was counter to the idea of just going all in with franchising and scaling and growing as fast as you can.

9:46And had I not had that digital online streaming product, we certainly would not have been as resilient during the COVID years that none of us knew, you know, were around the corner where we had to close our studios. And that financial resilience allowed us to be really strong in the marketplace and come back even stronger. And, you know, that was an example of a decision I was able to make because I didn't have any other stakeholders, you know, telling me otherwise.

10:13John Lee Dumas:See, I love that lesson too, of at the end of the day, Fire Nation, no matter how good your businesses, no matter how good things are going, winter is always coming. Now we know winter is temporary. We'll get out the other side of it, but it's those companies that can survive the downturns, even the incredibly unexpected ones like Sadie was just referencing. Those are the ones that end up waking up on the other side of that and being like, wow, actually all my competitors are gone now. So because I was able to survive that tough time, I'm actually in a better place than I was before because I survived.

10:49John Lee Dumas:We're going to be talking about who thrives as a franchise owner, fit on the inside, the next chapter, and more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Fire Nation, if you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. That is why High Level is Entrepreneur on Fire's featured partner. High Level gives you a website builder and hosting, funnels and landing pages, email marketing, appointment scheduling, payment processing, course and membership hosting, and so much more. Everything you need to succeed all under one roof. No duct tape, no juggling five platforms, just one clean system for your business and their award-winning 24-7 support has your back when you need it most.

11:26John Lee Dumas:When you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a 30-day free trial, a private 15-minute call with me, JLD, access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to uncommon success, my 50 days to something execution roadmap, and more. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. Fire Nation, if you have a high ticket offer, but you are not getting enough quality sales calls on the calendar, Nexus install is exactly what you need. This is a custom LinkedIn client acquisition system built to help you connect with the right prospects, start real conversations, and turn those conversations into booked calls.

12:07John Lee Dumas:here is what makes it different. We do not just hand you a bunch of theory and tell you, good luck. We build the system with you. Dial in your audience, sharpen the messaging, run the outreach, and aim to book you eight to 20 qualified calls each month. Then, once the system is proven and installed, we train you on how to run it yourself so you are not dependent on another agency forever. If you have a strong offer, a clear result, and are ready for more quality conversations with real prospects, email my team at john at eofire.com. And then we'll set up a call to see if Nexus install is the right fit for you.

12:43John Lee Dumas:Simple, focused, and built for predictable long-term quality lead flow. Sadie, we're back and I want to talk about who. Who thrives as a franchise owner? What qualities make a successful bar three franchise owner? And who actually tends to be most excited about this opportunity? Well, I'll start with who thrives because it's real clear. Our top quartile performers at Bar 3 franchise owners, there are a lot of through lines. Well, I would say with all of our owners, alignment to our vision, mission and purpose and a real authentic connection with what we're doing in the world, redefining what success and fitness means, helping women discover that they're already strong and what it is to be fit on the inside.

13:33building community that relationships matter even more than exercise when it comes to our health and our longevity. So that alignment, for sure. I would say the ones who thrive the most combine that alignment with their business acumen, their real leaders of leaders. They thrive in environments where they can attract, develop, and grow their teams. They're good at letting go and not micromanaging. And really know their purpose is to make sure that every single client is taken care of and that it's an amazing place to work and grow. I think that combination really, when I think about it, it's about working smarter, not harder, and leaning into our franchise system.

14:25And what's amazing, especially for the career changers, and I will say they are probably the most excited to join our company and become franchisees, are women who have been in corporate America, have had big jobs, who are burnt out or stressed, and they want to own something that's their own. but with and with all the support that they had at maybe their corporate jobs, the brand, the infrastructure, and the level of dedication to their success. So they don't have to worry about the website, the booking platform, the build out, even the instructor training, they can really focus on what matters, which is building an amazing community, enjoying a lifestyle oriented career, taking care of their instructors, and doing something meaningful with purpose behind it.

15:16You know, those are usually the women that are the most excited to become franchisees.

15:21John Lee Dumas:Let's talk about fit on the inside, because see, you actually talk about that very quote, being fit on the inside quite a bit. And you talk about it as a leader as well. So how does personal alignments and wellbeing translate into a stronger business? I think a practice of self-awareness and being honest with yourself as you are in the very moment is critical to being a good leader. I think investigation of, you know, where you're strong, where your strengths lie, where your unique genius is and doubling down on that is really important, but also where you might be triggered as a leader or wanting more or jealous or envious.

16:10You know, there's also a side of being a leader that can be really hard or, or feeling left out as a leader. You know, it can be lonely on the top. You know, there's these other sides of being a leader that I think are really important to recognize, to sit with, to embrace, and then show up in a way that's really authentic and true to you. And I think that's a daily practice, but I think it's critical. I think it's critical for being able to build out your team and to make sure that each team member complements your strengths, but aren't a mirror of your strengths, right? I think some of us tend to build teams around us that are just like us because there's less conflict, there's less debate.

16:53But we all know that when you have a diverse team with different perspectives all around one common purpose and a practice of self-reflection and respect for each other, it's a powerful combination. I think that's where great brands come from, our teams that come from those principles.

17:13John Lee Dumas:Stevie, we look back on the past 18 years and just the journey that that was. Now let's talk about the next chapter. I mean, what do you see as the future of Bar 3? Like, what does that look like? And where do you see the biggest opportunities for franchise growth in the years ahead? Well, definitely our biggest opportunity is franchising. We are doubling down on being a world-class franchisor. the last year with our new president, Emerald Lopez, we have invested even more in being a franchisor. So we have our 18 years legacy of learning and best practices as a franchisor, which we started franchising right from the beginning, which is unusual for a company, you know, 18 years in, we've been franchising from the very beginning.

18:03It's been our sole purpose. So we have amazing best practices combined with a new playbook, a decentralized team. We have now we have our field level franchise business coaches. We have field level instructor trainers that are obsessed with instructor training and development. She's got all kinds of technology and systems that she's put into the, the, our company so that we can measure insights better and take away friction for our consumer. And it goes on and on and on. So we've really built a platform to scale and with the sole purpose to help women be empowered in their bodies, their lives, and in their business.

18:45We love helping women be successful in their business and men. So far, it's all women, but and men. So certainly that I think you'll see on our schedule, more emphasis in B3 strength. That is one of our top performing classes. I don't think that's going to go anywhere. If anything, we're going to continue to amplify it. Women are coming in with more knowledge than ever around their physiology and a desire to be stronger in their bodies and in their lives. And we have a very unique way of teaching strength training that combines modifications and mindfulness, which is being very well received. And then our bar three signature class in combination to that combines more strength, conditioning, cardio, mindfulness, all in one.

19:36And so those two classes together are creating a really powerful experience that we're going to continue to double down on in all of our studios and certainly our online classes as well.

19:49John Lee Dumas:Sadie, closing value bomb. What would you say is one lesson that our listeners, Fire Nation, can take away about So building a business that grows sustainably, like you've done for 18 years now, while staying true to its mission. Well, I think it's a practice, first of all, to remember the problem you set out to solve in the first place and to continue to be very curious about that problem and how it's changed and evolved over time. And then how you're uniquely positioned to solve that very problem and then focus on that today. in this present moment, what does success look like today to deliver on that promise that you set out to do versus being attached to the past or to gripping onto the future?

20:41John Lee Dumas:Sadie, if Fire Nation wants to connect with you, wants to learn more about what you have going on, what is your call to action for our listeners today? Well, I would love to hear from you on Instagram, Sadie Lincoln's my handle or bar three. you can find us all in a studio near you or online workouts on our website bar3.com I invite you to join our community if you're at all curious about franchising there's a tab right on our website where you can learn more and Rachel will be right in touch with you our team is eager and always loves just an initial conversation if you're interested in and growing with this amazing group of women.

21:23John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with SL and JLD today. So keep up that heat. And for everything we talked about, visit eofire.com, type Sadie, S-A-D-I-E in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up. And Sadie, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, and value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Sadie for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world?

22:00John Lee Dumas:If yes, we are now accepting applications for EO Fire. So to learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest and I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High Level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments and course hosting all on one platform, plus award-winning 24-7 support. Get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com, highlevelfire.com. Fire Nation, if you have a high-ticket offer and need more quality leads, Nexus Install is designed for you.

22:38John Lee Dumas:We'll book you 8 to 20 qualified calls each month, then train you to run the system yourself. Email my team at john at eofire.com to learn more and see if Nexus is the right fit for you.