I was in a life-changing car crash at 18 – now I have a world-famous fitness brand
A WOMAN has revealed how she transformed her passion into a world-renowned fitness brand.
Bryony Deery, 31, is the founder of Pilates By Bryony, a wellness and Pilates online platform and app.
The fitness fanatic first discovered Pilates, a type of exercise which focuses on core strength, balance, flexibility and posture, aged 18, after she suffered a car crash.
Bryony was left with neck and back injuries, and after being recommended Pilates by a doctor, found that it helped to completely heal her injuries.
“It changed my life”, she told Abbey Clancy on her podcast, Exhibit A.
“I don’t think I ever would have been doing this if I hadn’t had that accident.”
Following her accident, Bryony became extremely passionate about Pilates, and during lockdown in 2021, she decided to start hosting Zoom fitness classes.
“I think starting on Zoom really helps you to find your voice.
“I was so shy when I started,” she said.
In her first class, around 10 people turned up, and she continued doing two classes a week, until she had about 100 participants.
“I went from being completely broke to making quite a lot of money each week, from just two hours of work,” she said.
Keen to capitalise on her success, Bryony decided to create a ‘January Challenge’, and had a whopping 550 people sign up.
“It was an expensive thing, so that month my life changed completely,” she said.
“I’d never made that amount of money in my life.”
Bryony revealed that in just one month, she made quadruple what she ever had in a year, and realised that their was something special about her business.
The challenge was a success, so she continued to film more and more classes, before deciding to use some of her earnings to set up an app.
Bryony is constantly uploading new classes to the app, which costs £42 a month, meaning that her subscribers can choose to workout whenever suits them.
How to start your own business
Dragon's Den star Theo Paphitis revealed his tips for budding entrepreneurs:
- One of the biggest barriers aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners face is a lack of confidence. You must believe in your idea — even more than that, be the one boring your friends to death about it.
- Never be afraid to make decisions. Once you have an idea, it’s the confidence to make decisions that is crucial to starting and maintaining a business.
- If you don’t take calculated risks, you’re standing still. If a decision turns out to be wrong, identify it quickly and deal with it if you can. Failing that, find someone else who can.
- It’s OK not to get it right the first time. My experience of making bad decisions is what helped develop my confidence, making me who I am today.
- Never underestimate the power of social media, and remember the internet has levelled the playing field for small businesses.
- Don’t forget to dream. A machine can’t do that!
“It’s wellness at your convenience,” she said.
The app offers classes which range from between five and 50 minutes, which can be done with our without a mat.
It also offers recipe inspiration and sound bath workshops.
Bryony believes that a lot of the success from her business came from constantly promoting her app on social media, and through word of mouth.
Abbey added that she thinks people buy into Bryony’s brand because of the authenticity of how she found her love for Pilates.
When Bryony first started her business, all she invested in to it was a £40 online booking system and a Zoom membership and filmed her videos on her iPhone.
Sharing advice to anyone thinking of starting their own Pilates business, she said: “Don’t think it has to be perfect, my first ever classes were filmed off my terrible iPhone hanging off my kitchen table, and they’re still popular.”
She also advised reaching out to people with a large following, and inviting them to try out your classes, in exchange for promoting your business.
Bryony, who also founded matcha brand Cloudcha, with Rochelle Humes, revealed that many of her subscribers have messaged her to tell her that her classes have changed their lives.
“One girls mum told me that I had literally saved her daughter’s life,” she said.
“Every single day I think, ‘I’m so lucky, I’m so happy, my life is amazing’.”