"Iterate before you innovate": an interview with the CEO of Keppner Boxing

Today, we're excited to interview Keith Keppner, the founder and CEO of Keppner Boxing. Keith's journey began when he used boxing to regain his health after a chronic illness and a Lyme disease diagnosis at 17. He turned his passion for boxing into a professional career, competing in Mexico and the U.S.

Keith opened Keppner Boxing in 2013, which went on to  produce multiple Golden Glove Champions and professional boxers. Coming out of 2020, Keppner Boxing achieved a 12-15% growth year after year - an amazing growth rate for a boutique fitness business during the pandemic. 

Join us as we follow Keith's journey and his commitment to the boxing community. We're so honored to be part of Keppner Boxing's success story.

What’s your secret sauce for keeping everything running smoothly across multiple studios?

Having that location’s manager run audits as well as periodic check ins from corporate.  Our corporate call center works in all locations so that also becomes an automatic daily update if there is anything that needs attention! 

What are your go-to tools and apps for making your job easier and keeping things on track?

We use slack for internal communications vs email and then many owners and staff have the High Level app on their phone that allows them to access grow through that. 

What numbers do you keep an eye on to make sure your studios are thriving?

Top line is the top. If that isn’t where it needs to be then it is working backwards and determining how many leads, appointments, show rate and close rates based off of weekly reports. That allows us to know what type of problem it is. Is it lead volume problem, a lead offer problem (maybe the offer attracts someone we don’t want), are we setting up enough commitment in the apt booking, how are we at service and close in studio to ensure we have a good close rate? And then lastly, after their first session, how well is the team for that location following through with them to help them sign up?

What are some common slip-ups you’ve seen in fitness studio operations, and how can they be avoided?  

The biggest for us is ensuring a membership is set up correctly and ensuring someone is marked as a no show when they don’t show.  So just double checking at the end of the night and next day and continual rehearsal. 

How do you keep things fresh and innovative while maintaining a consistent experience across all studios? 

I don’t have a great answer for that.  It’s really about doing our best to raise the bar of service closer and closer to an ideal.  With that we do community sparring events that raise money for charity and some internal contests. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to someone new to managing a boutique fitness studio?

#1 is care about your staff and clients, #2 care about the business as its own organism.  If you don’t care about the staff and clients then you don’t have a business, but if you don’t care for the business properly and prioritize it and serve short term requests from staff etc at the expense of the business then no one has a job any  more and your clients don’t have a gym! 

"#1, Care about your staff and client; #2, care about the business as its own organism."

What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self starting out in this industry?

Iterate before you innovate. I was always thinking of a “better way” without even knowing a way. 

"Iterate before you innovate."

Do you have a favorite success story or moment from your time at your company?

When I was coaching everything and doing everything client facing and people said this business is great, but it’s just because you’re doing everything vs now my Athens location has been running for 5 years successfully without me in it through the power of of systems! 

In your opinion, what will the boutique fitness industry look like in 5 years?

There will be even more consolidation and clearing the field. I believe the client is going to demand more and more quality of service from studios and ones that can provide that will succeed. There is a big shift coming and a morphing of the boutique into another form. 

"There is a big shift coming and a morphing of the boutique into another form."

How has Hapana contributed to your studio’s evolution and growth?

Tremendously through having an all in one CRM that talks with the member management platform. The mass texting, automations and workflows are a game changer! 

Which of our products have been the best for your growth?

GROW!

Which of Hapana’s products have been the most useful?

SMS, emailing, workflows.

Which of Hapana’s products have been the most exciting?

The step by step improvement across both CORE and GROW have been great. 

What are some of the biggest milestones you have achieved with the help of Hapana?

Having our call center that uses it across the world! 

What are your  plans for the future? 

We have merged our Athens location with X3 Sports. This will be a new and exciting path for massive growth over the next 3-5 years and will have a positive impact on the franchise business as well! 

Thanks Keith!

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