Entrepreneur USA – September 2019

(C. Jardin) #1

a 34-year-old instructor in
Oregon, is a classic case. She
teaches two classes a week to
supplement her livelihood as a
farmer. She likes getting paid to
work out, and it’s proven a reli-
able source of income as the cir-
cumstances of her life evolve.
“I’ve moved several times,” she
says, “and with Jazzercise, I
knew I could always get a job.”
Because the company is so flexi-
ble, its franchisees’ revenue var-
ies widely. Some women do just
$4,000 in gross sales in a year,
but the top earners— people
for whom Jazzercise is a full-
time pursuit—are bringing in
up to $600,000. The company
takes 20 percent of a franchi-
see’s sales.
This arrangement has also
created great longevity. Some
franchisees have been teach-
ing classes for decades, shrink-


ing their workload as they (and
their customers) age. But only
one Jazzercise instructor has
been teaching since the very
beginning: Missett. At age 75,
in addition to leading the com-
pany, she leads classes three
times a week.

“I GUESS I never doubted
myself,” Missett says, reflect-
ing upon what it took to build
Jazzercise. “I knew I had this
incredible group of people
around me. I always believed you
need people who lift you up, who
are positive, smarter than you,
and believe in what you’re doing.”
It’s late June, and Missett
has just wrapped up teaching a
low-impact fitness class, where a
group of septuagenarians lifted
weights to a Billie Eilish song.
Now she’s sitting in a conference
room at her company’s head-

quarters in Carlsbad, just outside
San Diego. She’s tall and very
tan, with striking blue eyes and
blonde hair that swoops upward.
Her nails are painted glittery
pink, and she reaches for a wine-
glass that’s embossed with her
initials and filled with cherry
Dr. Pepper. Soda, she says, is her
only vice, and she has always
believed that if you have nice
glassware, you should use it.
Missett belongs to several elite
organizations for women in busi-
ness, but so far, she hasn’t met
another female founder who has
maintained complete control of
her company for as long as she
has. She’s still involved in every
aspect, right down to choreo-
graphing new routines for her
instructors, which happens every
10 weeks.
In many ways, Missett
represents the enduring charm

of Jazzercise. The brand runs
on personal relationships, and
here she is, still the face of her
company all these decades
later. But the charm of the per-
sonal relationships can also
be an Achilles’ heel. It pre-
vents longtime owners from
charging what they should for
classes, for example. Customers
who entered at a membership
fee 20 years ago may pay out-
dated fees—and because of how
their agreement is structured,
Jazzercise can’t require owners
to charge a minimum.
Two years ago, the com-
pany had an internal reckon-
ing. There were instructors
who needed to retire and
facilities that weren’t up to
snuff. Jazzercise made owners
send in pictures of their facili-
ties and required changes.
Some balked and closed down.

Fitness


Make your move.


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