Local entrepreneur, Wade Ritchie, opened Milwaukee’s F45 studio six months prior to COVID, a challenging time for any business owner.
Fast forward almost six years, and F45 has continued to grow as more people seek out group fitness classes, with some completing more than 1,000 classes in 5 years 🤯
Check out our Q&A with Wade to learn more about F45 and the strength-training classes bringing the community together.
How did F45 get its start?
F45 Training originates in Sydney, AUS, circa 2011. We brought it to Milwaukee in the summer of 2019. F45 started as a boutique group fitness class geared toward fast-paced, high-intensity interval training with a focus on strength and being highly adaptable. The rugby market in Sydney really latched onto this type of training, and it quickly grew to a full-scale franchise. Fast forward 5ish years, the franchise expanded its exercise market to be suitable for all levels of fitness, from pro athletes to first-time exercisers.
What is your background?
My background is a former collegiate athlete with a bachelor’s in Kinesiology. I started my professional career as an exercise physiologist and personal trainer before opening and running my own boutique fitness studios.
How long have you been in business? Have you faced any major challenges with growing your business(es) or any triumph stories?
We have been open for a little over 6 years now, and have faced many ups and downs along the way. We were about 6 months old when we were forced to shut down from the COVID epidemic. The cultural differences that have spun from “stay at home” have created a new type of group fitness member to whom we have adapted our experience to fit.
Our coaching staff is incredible and has helped so many people along our journey that it makes me choke up when I think about it. We have had members do over 1000 classes in 5 years. We have had people lose 50+ pounds, get off of medications, recover from injuries, run marathons and ironmans, do their first pull-up, etc. We really focus on engaging and connecting our community, so we have had numerous relationships start because of meetings at our studio.
What is F45, and why did you feel it would be a good fit in the Milwaukee area? Or, why did you feel the area was a good place to start your business?
I love the small city feel of Milwaukee. It’s large enough to have great things like F45’s, but small enough to still feel like a part of the community. Milwaukee didn’t really have a major brand of HIIT studio with a strength focus before us. There are lots of treadmill and cardio-focused fitness brands in MKE but we were the first ones to really bring a solid strength-based group fitness class to the area.
What’s the mission behind F45?
At F45, our mission is to help our members find success in fitness, have fun, and be a part of larger, like-minded, community.
What is it like being a small business in MKE? If you’re a woman, minority, or LGBTQ+ owned business, please feel free to touch on your experiences as an entrepreneur in that space as well.
As a small business on Downer Avenue, we see a very diverse population, from young college students to retiree’s training up for their trip to Croatia and everything in between. We are very fortunate to have such a supportive community around us, and we pride ourselves on being welcoming to such diversity.
What do you like about living or working in Milwaukee?
The energy of living/working in Milwaukee is especially great in the summer. I drive up Lakeshore Drive early in the morning to get to F45, and it is so inspiring to see people being active and enjoying the lakefront. It’s a good reminder that people here want to be healthy, and I’m happy to be a part of that.
What makes your business unique?
Our coaches make our business shine! They work with each member to help them every workout, whether it’s helping them with form, spotting them on a heavy weight set, or just getting to know them so that we might help them improve their life outside of our studio. Our coaches rock, and that’s what sets us apart from other fitness studios.
Anything else we should know about your business or anything you’d like to mention? Any favorite stories?
One quick story about one of our longest-serving coaches, Noah Eyrise. I was leading the class and talking through each exercise so members would have a basic understanding before it was their turn to go. Noah was demoing for me so members could see what the exercises should look like. Typically, with 2 coaches running a class, we would have the demo coach doing a 90% effort demo, with heavier weights, faster footwork, or higher box jumps.
One of our plyoboxes can be rotated to a 36″ height, which is pretty considerable for most people. Noah is very athletic and capable, so he lined up both feet and sprang from the floor as the whole class watched on. As he reached the top of the box with his feet, he landed in a squat-like position, putting considerable stress on the seam of his shorts, which quickly gave way to my and Noah’s surprise. It’s a simple story that I love telling, out of love for our Noah.