Kimberlee Perry: Founder and CEO of Bouncefitbody

0:00Saturday, September 26th, two of combat sports' most dangerous strikers collide. Bare Knuckle. Liverpool's own Darren the Gorilla Till goes to war with Cuban powerhouse Yoel Soldier of God Romero. Plus, the Bare Knuckle Middleweight Championship of the World is on the line when the reigning champ Dave the Redneck Mundell defends against undefeated British challenger Jack the Meek Cleaver Colon. BKFC 94. Till vs. Romero. Watch it live only on DAZN. Sign up now at DAZN.com. Welcome to the Jazz Shapers podcast from Mishkondorea. What you're about to hear was originally broadcast on Jazz FM. However, the music has been cut due to rights issues.

0:43This is Jazz Shapers with Elliot Moss on Jazz FM. In partnership with Mishkondorea. It's business, but it's personal.

0:56Listen in colour. Welcome to Jazz Shapers with me, Elliot Moss, bringing the shapers of the business world together with a musician shaping jazz, soul and blues. My guest today, I'm very pleased to say, is Kimberley Perry, founder and CEO of Bounce Fit Body. What a great name. The resistance-based fitness class company. Disappointed after missing a promotion, Australian-born Kimberley found herself feeling isolated, having moved out of London and on maternity leave. Seeking a more passion-led lifestyle, sounds good to me, and to connect with others through exercise, Kimberly left her sales job and spent£200 on eight second-hand trampolines and a basic website, launching the first Bounce sessions in a community centre in 2014.

1:34Unable to meet the growing demand alone, Kimberly recruited a team of instructors and then set up a franchise model. Bounce Fit Body now has, wait for it, over 350 franchise Bounce studios in the UK and internationally, with over 60 ,000 monthly attendees, and they've since expanded into other areas of resistance-based fitness, such as reformer pilates and spin bikes. Welcome, Kimberley. Thank you. So lovely to be here. £200, eight trampolines. What did you expect to happen when you started this business over 10 years ago? Yeah, honestly, not much. All the goal was at that point was not going back to my corporate job and maybe being able to teach fitness classes once a week to eight people, obviously.

2:20Seven people, if you include me on one of those trampolines. And 200 quid was about all I had on maternity leave there or we were willing to put towards a little goal like this, Chris, my husband and I. So, yeah, that was it. Secondhand trampolines from Amazon was the way. And there wasn't many of them around. They weren't a thing at that point. Obviously, I didn't create the trampoline, so I knew about them. But my background in dance and my love of aerobics, cardio exercise, that sort of came together and I thought I've got to bring something else to it. And that's where the trampolines came in.

3:03And when did you realize that you were onto something? Was there a moment when you went, hold on a second, this isn't going to be once a week, this isn't going to be seven other women or men, whoever it's going to be, it's something else. Something's happening here. Something's going on. And that was really exciting, actually. But it was also a pretty nerve wracking time because my son was probably five months old. So I really was busy being a mum. And this was part of my own personal fitness. And the goal in having it be something for the future was something I thought was going to be a real slow burn.

3:38Maybe in a year or so time, it might take off to the point of being three or four classes a week. But really quickly at about Five months in, I had to say to my husband, look, this is something I want to make more of a go of. And why did you say that to him? That's the bit I'm intrigued about. Well, there was bookings flying in. Oh, okay. And how did people hear about it, though? Well, I would walk my little self around, pushing the pram and dropping some leaflets into the neighbourhood letterboxes. I would go to the local community centres with my baby, my son, and we'd do a baby class and some sort of sensory class, And I'd stick a leaflet on the notice board there in the local churches or any sort of little community center or group that was happening.

4:26I would put those leaflets around and hope for the best. And that was where the booking system link was. And people would go on and click and book and pay by PayPal. And they started clicking. They were clicking. And here we are, 11 years later, 60 ,000 people every month signing up. so it just goes to show you a bit of DIY doesn't do any harm. We talked a little bit just then about the 200 pounds and no expectations. Obviously there was stuff going on for you and I've read and you can be as open as you like or not. I think you were feeling there was some postnatal depression that was around at the time.

5:02There was some stuff going on at work which wasn't great. People react really different ways when they're feeling stressed. Some people kind of just hunker down and hide and other people go out into the world. And you went out into the world. What was it about you that kind of made Kimberley that person? I think being afraid is something that's really acutely aware in my day-to-day life, being afraid, being nervous of things. And I hate that feeling. So I can't explain why, but it makes me do the opposite. It makes me attack and go forward with what my greatest fear would be and just do it and try it.

5:40So I'm acutely aware of the nervousness, of the anxiety, of the worries, of what could go wrong. And to sit and think about that too much is just not a place I can be. You know, people might refer to that as a bit of entrepreneurial spirit. But for me, it's a more personal feeling like let's just go and sort this and deal with it. And what's the worst that can happen? It's already a fear. So if it's going to be a reality, then see how that goes. And does, when you went out and you dropped leaflets off and you got the booking system up, did that make you feel better immediately? Yeah, exactly. And that's the part of it that makes you go and do more and more and more and achieve more and more and just lower and lessen that worry of fear or anxiety.

6:22When it starts to work out, it's great. When you were little as well, I read that your parents instilled in you this relentless drive, as it's called, for success in sport. Do you think somewhere deep inside you as well, you were built for pushing and working hard? Absolutely. My parents were pretty hard on me in every way, but certainly in sport or being active and succeeding in that sense, it was measurable to them. So for me, I wanted to drive towards that to prove that I could do that. I wasn't always good at stuff, but I certainly knew that that was the measure of their happiness or their proudness for me.

6:59and it just became something that I felt certainly proud of myself and a love for sport. You know, sport is A to B for me. You know, there's not a lot of feeling in it for me. You either win the race or you work towards catching the ball or throwing and passing. Like, it's really tangible sport and I feel like I like to operate in that space and it brings me lots of joy. So, yeah, fitness, sport, that industry, it's exciting, it's fun and it's easy for me to read and understand. And be measurable, which I want to come back to in a bit. Stay with me for much more from my guest. It's Kimberley Perry.

7:37But right now we're here a taster from the Mishcon Innovation Series, which can be found on all the major podcast platforms. Mishcon, as Emily Knight talks to Charlotte Young, a fund manager at Troy Asset Management, about why women historically invest less than men and what's being done to change it. The Mishcon Innovation Series. Inspiration from founders of cutting-edge businesses. in association with Jazz Shapers with Mishkon Derea. Why do you think it's important to increase the numbers of women pursuing a career and investment at the graduate level? So it's a few things. I think firstly, this is a great job.

8:11No day is the same. We are always learning. It's so interesting. You're traveling, you're learning about the world. And I think women should be counted into that. The second is what we're doing is we're allocating capital across the economy. So we're, I think, performing a pretty important societal role, whether this is funding startups at the venture capital end, or at the publicly listed equity end, holding company management teams to account. So asking them, why are your carbon emissions X? What are your policies on diversity at board level? Why should it only be or predominantly be men around the table at that point, I think it's really important that we're all holding those businesses to account together.

8:56And then at the startup end, there is a problem whereby female founders generally receive a lot less funding than their male counterparts. And in some senses, there's no wonder because if you've got a homogenous set of decision makers, quite often they might just not see the business case for perhaps that female product or a minority product, which just you can't relate to. So you need to have those decision makers being more diverse to understand where the money needs to go. And then the third thing, diverse teams make better decisions. And we've got a fiduciary duty to our clients. Many of my clients are charities.

9:32We've got to optimize their returns. So I want to have a good balance of perspectives on the team. And part of that balance is having a gender mix as well. The Mishcon Innovation Series, in association with Jazz Shapers, with Mishkondorea. Jazz Shapers on Jazz FM. In partnership with Mishkondorea. It's business, but it's personal. You can enjoy all our former business shapers on the Jazz Shapers podcast, and you can catch this very programme again if you pop Jazz Shapers into your podcast platform of choice. My guest today is Kimberley Perry, founder and CEO of Bounce Fit Body. I just want to say it again, Bounce Fit Body, the resistance-based fitness class company.

10:11So here we are, 11 years later. I want to just go back to those first few years. So things are happening. You're kind of going, wow, there's some interest over here. Before COVID 2019, what were you doing to sort of bring in the right people to ensure that as you build a business? Because there's one thing running a fitness class, which you can kind of manage and you put the time up and you book a hall and you do all that thing. It's quite another thing when it starts to become a business. So what did you do in those early years to sort of give yourself the structure to enable the business to flourish?

10:42Well, I don't think I chose the right people. I will say that I put the framework there, but I wasn't experienced or knowledgeable in the right people in the right places. So that's been a real learning curve over the last 10, 11 years to try and look at the skills that everyone's got and put them and move them into the right positions within the framework of any business, any role. When did you realise you didn't have the right people? Was it pretty quick? Yeah, no. It took me a little while to realise that and I felt like being passionate was something that I was looking for more so than being the right person for the role.

11:24A lot of people can be passionate about the thing that they're doing but may not have the right skills to back that up. So I think I was a little misled by the love people have for bounce and being instructors that are fantastic at teaching bounce, but maybe not right for the business. So there were some errors, yes. And in terms of your own skill set, because obviously you've been in business, but you know, you're there as an enthusiast and someone who loves what you've created. Have you personally had to learn a whole bunch of stuff that you just didn't know about? Or was it there already? Yeah, absolutely.

12:01A bit of both. I mean, I'm very corporate. I left high school when I was 16 and went into the corporate world. So I've always had quite serious jobs in that sort of area of business from sales to events. And which bit do you like? Which bit is the bit that you feel most comfortable with? In terms of my corporate skills? Definitely selling. Everything is from a sales perspective in my business. So we're selling the classes, we're selling the programs, we are selling the equipment, we're selling clothing, we're selling ourselves to the attendee, to the participant. All of that is bottom line sales for me.

12:42And what's Kimberley's, if there was a special source of a person that's brilliant at sales, if you were teaching me how I might be a better salesperson, which is hopefully I'm teachable and I'm sure I need to learn, what would you say is the most important thing? I think you've got to be genuine, obviously, but you've got to look for that thing in the person that you're speaking to or selling to that you connect with and how you can bring something to their life. Whatever you're selling needs to genuinely fit them and you've got to understand what their needs are about what you're selling or what they might want.

13:16And specifically for Bounce Fit Body, what's the thing that you think that people have bought? We're selling an experience for sure. It's not actually the exercise or the workout or the weight loss or the strengthening, we're selling an experience of togetherness. So it's a group exercise class that's sociable, fun, and it unites people. And that's the focus of what I'm doing every day, making sure that togetherness is most prevalent in this business. And what she did really, Brittany, like any good salesperson, she told you about the other benefits as well. Look at that. But they're not important.

13:53The weight loss, the fitness, no, they're not important. They're sidelines. They're sidelines. That's beautiful. Stay with me for much more from my business shaper, is Kimberly Perry. She's the founder and CEO of Bounce Fit Body. And we were talking before, you said about, you know, I asked you the question about sales and you said, well, it's the togetherness thing. And then you did all the other things as well. That must feel good, you know, from where you were when this came about, which was you were feeling isolated, there was stuff going on for you emotionally. And I love that image of you going, the more afraid I am, the more I go to it, I go to the fire.

14:24Now that you're looking here, you know, more than 10 years later and you see the togetherness in front of you, what is that making you feel? Absolutely feeling proud because I know that is what other people want. I think that's where the success has come from. People want to be together, less socially isolated in their communities and ultimately you're going to get endorphins from doing something like exercise. so I know, believe, feel, trust and can see that feel-good energy coming from everything that I do at Bounce, teaching a class and building the business and spreading the franchises throughout the UK and the world.

15:06The undertone of that is feeling proud that others are feeling good. And in terms of the business itself, you work with Chris, your husband. He obviously was supportive right at the beginning for the first 200 quid. Well done, Chris. um what's that like work now that you you work together and i imagine it's pretty intense there's a lot of it do you sometimes wish you were in the class just being part of consuming this thing and having that calmness or do you love the intensity and the busyness of your life yeah definitely i love it i thrive on it and i feel alive by having an agenda that's really busy um i think it's tough when you're working with your partner and working with colleagues that you love that become your friends as well.

15:53It's really, really difficult to separate your life and what you're passionate about in your life. Do you do it? Are you able to separate? You have to be honest, Kimberley. I have to work really, really hard at having a clear head that's not thinking about the business a couple of mornings a week. That's the honesty of it. It's a couple of mornings, it's a couple of hours. And how do you distract yourself? Um, turn the phone off. Yeah, I definitely turn the phone off. I try and focus on things like food and having a long nutritious breakfast or going outside and eating outside for a while, not at my desk, not with my phone.

16:31Um, I really am weather dependent. So if it's a nice day, I'll take more time on a nice day and I'll allow myself, you know, that's one of the joys of running your own business. You can choose your schedule a bit. So, you know, being outside and in the sun with nature, that sort of thing. It really does fill me up, recharge me. So there's not a set day and time where you get to do... No, you grab it when you know you need a bit of space. And what about exercise? You still look very fit. Obviously, you're a choreographer and you've done a lot of sport. What kind of sport do you do? Does it not matter?

17:04Well, I'm bouncing. I still bounce. People are really surprised by that. I teach six classes a week. I still bounce. I do it. I'm Kimberly Perry and I still bounce. Absolutely. That's the joy of what I do. The The bouncing part, the actual teaching the fitness class and being present in the session, that's the best part about my job. And to be quite honest, if you aren't passionate about the core product or the core service and you're the CEO of it, then I don't believe you. So that's why I still do it because it's the number one factor for me. It's the most fun. It's the thing I'm most dedicated to and being the boss and the CEO and running the business.

17:43That's second to that for me. stay with me for my final chat with kimberly perry my guest there we've got some aretha franklin to go with her too that's in just a moment don't go anywhere jazz shapers on jazz fm in partnership with mishkondorea it's business but it's personal just for a few more minutes kimberly perry is my business shaper and she is the person behind the woman behind the brilliant business called bounce fit body and you still bounce and i love that thought of you saying the idea of you saying if you're not passionate about your product then who else would be where does it go from here?

18:15You're obviously on a mission. I can see you're a driven person. You know, you're very focused and you've done something here. You've created something out of nothing. What happens from 2025 to 2030? What's the vision? More market share, more people doing a resistance-based workout, which is what our trampolines are. So they're low impact. They're easy on the joints. They're for anybody. If you can jump up and down, you can do bounce. So more growth means other resistance-based pieces of equipment for us. So that's why we've moved into the Reforma Pilates market. There's springs on the edge of the carriage of Reformers, just like there's springs on a trampoline.

19:00We do bungee fitness. So literally a bungee cord comes from the ceiling. It's got a harness around you. You're supported but you're working against the resistance so developing those new pieces of equipment has been really instrumental for us to gain more attendees and more interest in our brand throughout the fitness industry we've even created a new piece of kit called the body former which is on the floor is carriage based and it works with springs so we've designed a piece of equipment that we will be spreading throughout the world as well and that and that what i would call research and development, that kind of sense, I'm going to create something new.

19:38Do these ideas, are you kind of going, I need to keep reinventing this business? Is that where this drive comes from? Evolution is integral to bounce. Yeah, we as a brand are always looking at the fashion, the trend, the future movement of the industry. Just like fashion, fitness comes and goes. So jumping on a trampoline is something that was around in the 80s. It's something that the astronauts do for bone density with NASA. So, you know, looking at how something is used at one stage in the world and evolving and redeveloping a piece of kit for a different purpose or with a different style of music or in a different way is moving forward with trends.

20:21It's very hard to create something new all the time and stay relevant. So part of our secret is to evolve consistently. And in terms of your own development, are there things that Kimberley needs to think about as she builds this empire? Because obviously as the business gets bigger, as it gets more complicated, as there's more capital that you need and more people and there's more franchisees and all that, that's a lot for a person to take. How are you ensuring that you develop as a person? Well, I'm making sure it's not all about me within the business. so as an inspiring leader of the business I can bring in new thoughts and new processes so yeah it's about that really It's been great talking to you Kimberley thank you, thank you for making the time good luck I hope it continues to go brilliantly just before I say cheery bye what's your song choice and why have you chosen it?

21:11Well thanks for having me my song choice is Unforgettable by Natalie Cole it's a beautiful song and a song that my nan shared with me when she first introduced me to jazz music. And you will find jazz songs at Bounce every week. So yeah, we try and bring in a new version of something, music or tastes and unforgettable is something that I'd like Bounce Fit Body to be. Unforgettable from Natalie Cole, the song choice of my business shaper today, Kimberly Perry. I hate the feeling of being afraid. It makes me attack. I love how she was so honest about what drove her to create this business and indeed attack all the different fears that she may have had over the years.

21:53Bringing people together, a sense of connection, that's what's underpin her creation of Bounce Fit Body, much more than actually creating the business, which of course has followed with all the financial success as well. And finally, I'm passionate about the product. Don't trust the CEO that isn't. And what I love about that is that she loves what she does. Great stuff. That's it from Jazz Shapers. Have a lovely weekend. Jazz Shapers on Jazz FM. In partnership with Mishkondorea. It's business, but it's personal. We hope you enjoyed that edition of Jazz Shapers. You'll find hundreds more guests available for you to listen to in our archive.

22:28To find out more, just search Jazz Shapers on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, or head over to mishkon.com forward slash Jazz Shapers.