Before she discovered PushPress Free, Felicia Davis found herself spread thin.
On top of having a full-time job as an MRI tech, she had a newborn baby at home. And at the same time, she was trying to manage her business, Uniquely Abled Fitness - Waterford Chapter.
Uniquely Abled Fitness serves those with cognitive and physical disabilities, including Down Syndrome, autism, Spina Bifida and para-athletes. The model follows Uniquely Abled Programming, a brand started by coach Christiana Siegelin. It’s currently running in three other North American gyms.
Perhaps the most impressive part about Davis handling all the business-related tasks was that she was doing it without a gym management system in place.
As a result, she found herself constantly receiving messages from athletes and parents. Her text messages, emails, Facebook Messenger alerts would simply never stop. And Davis consistently scrambled to use these messages to compile a registration list for each class.
In addition, she manually compiled lists of who needed to be billed, who still needed to sign a waiver, and on and on. She even contacted coaches personally to let them know who was coming to their class that day.
“It was a nightmare,” Davis said of her pre-PushPress days.
Through the Stages of Gym Growth.
Although Davis has big plans to grow Uniquely Abled Fitness, like most new businesses, she started from scratch. And as a small business with 20 athletes, and operating out of CrossFit Syndicate in Waterford, WI, she referred to the start as a “heart project.”
Davis pays her coaches to run classes, but at this point she hasn’t yet paid herself a cent. In addition, she currently operates entirely on fundraised money.
As such, she didn’t think she was able to afford the gym management software that she knew would be crucial to growth.
“I couldn’t afford a lot and I shopped around,” Davis said.
And after speaking with a handful of companies, her efforts seemed fruitless. She described a feeling of desperation, the thought bringing her to tears.
“I don’t know what to do,” she recalled. “I am having a really hard time. My athletes need this, and I need a way to organize everything. I have no idea who is showing up, when they’re showing up.”
How PushPress Free Solved the Problem.
Davis’ research eventually led her to discover PushPress Free.
Free is designed especially for new gym owners in the early stages of opening a gym. With it, gym owners only get billed if they process payments, meaning there are no subscription fees. Plus, they still have access to all the features of PushPress Pro products, minus the third-party integrations and add-ons.
“I couldn’t believe they offered this for free,” Davis said. “It’s a God-send.”
After just one month of using PushPress Free, Davis regained control of her fitness business.
“I don’t get fifteen messages every class telling me they’re coming to class,” she said. “I can just log into the app.”
Further, the app allows her new clients to sign the waiver electronically. If at any point she needs to access it in the future, it’s just a few clicks away.
Pro Tip: Want to learn about how PushPress can help you manage your fitness business better? Book a demo with our team today!
The Future of Her Fitness Business.
Ultimately, having PushPress in her corner has allowed Davis to focus on her coaches and athletes. She’s alleviated the time she used to spend on tedious administrative tasks.
Even with a three-month-old baby at home, Davis can breathe easier and focus on the big picture. Her mission is to make fitness more inclusive and accessible to all.
“Fitness is for everybody, and a lot of gyms don’t open their doors to people with disabilities,” Davis said. “Some gym owners have told me they’re afraid because they don’t know what to do. And some of my athletes say they have been turned away from other gyms because they’re a liability. But every CrossFit gym can (coach people with disabilities). They just have to have the desire to do it.”
She added, “I daydream for this program to be around in other gyms in the area. It would be really cool to help other gyms develop programs like this, so we can build community and breakdown barriers. I want to help with that.”
Now that PushPress has helped her regain the bandwidth to manage her day-to-day responsibilities, she has more time to focus on that dream.
