Fireside chat with Jennifer Hamilton, CEO of Oxygen Yoga
Date: October 19, 2017
Name: Fireside chat with Jennifer Hamilton, CEO of Oxygen Yoga
Presenter: Jennifer Hamilton
Building and scaling a recognizable brand is always a challenge for entrepreneurs. Moreover, many entrepreneurs stumble especially in health and fitness industry. The Pacific Club invites Jennifer Hamilton, the CEO of Oxygen Yoga and Fitness, to discuss her entrepreneurial journey of becoming a successful franchisor in Vancouver. In addition, entrepreneurs will learn the mindset behind Jennifer Hamilton’s strategies. In this presentation, entrepreneurs will learn the professional and personal side of Jennifer Hamilton.
Jennifer Hamilton is the CEO and the Franchisor of Oxygen Yoga and Fitness. With over 16 years of experience in the fitness industry, she has established her reputation and expanded over 59 locations. Jennifer Hamilton was nominated for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the year in 2008 and 2016 and RBC Women’s Entrepreneur of the year in Canada in 2015 and 2016. She received many other awards, such as Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence award and CFA Franchisee’s choice award. She has supported many young entrepreneurs in fitness, and she is one of the major business role models for young entrepreneurs.
Interview with Jennifer Hamilton
Jennifer Hamilton believes what makes Oxygen Yoga and Fitness special is the combination of 2 energies, which are yoga and fitness. Hamilton has created the attractive environment for people to check out the programs offer by Oxygen Yoga. It is an environment for people to release stress and vent. Aside from physical benefits, Oxygen Yoga creates the community and relationship to engage with all kinds of members. Most importantly, members are able to take care of themselves.
The passion of being active helps Hamilton scale up the business. She never thought of the idea of franchising until her members want their own studio. When Hamilton introduced boot camp into her studio, she fell in love with the concept and enjoyed the feeling of how the environment has changed. Before she brought her first studio, she was flipping houses for living. Now, she will arrive to her studio every morning because she discovered her true passion.
However, Hamilton wanted an inclusive environment, but it was difficult to maintain. She welcomed any inputs, but she was struggling to execute the approach. Hamilton states many entrepreneurs have the misconception that franchising is easy business; nevertheless, Hamilton puts over 14 hours per day when she started her business. Now Hamilton has developed the right system and approach for franchisee. Franchisee just need to follow the system, but not every franchisee is will to do that.
In a typical morning, Hamilton will take her dog for a walk, check with her children, and workout at another gym. She emphasizes she will not workout in her studio because she does not want to be in business mode when she workouts in her personal time.
Hamilton’s leadership style is open communication. She believes everyone has his or her own way to express themselves. She will listen before speak. Therefore, she advices entrepreneurs to do 3 simple things: listen, process, and then reflect.
“Listen, process, reflect; being able to humble is amazing”
In her entrepreneurial journey, Hamilton learned to love fear. Many entrepreneurs are afraid to fail, but she loves making mistake. She is open minded with mistakes because she can learn from the experience. When she falls, she takes it as opportunity to grow from it.
Hamilton defines the word “passion” is to be in the moment. The feeling of waking up knowing what to do is amazing for Hamilton. Her personal mission statement is “I love my life”, meaning she wants her and people around her to take care of themselves and improve self-awareness. That is her lifetime goal.
When it comes to business, Hamilton believes accountability is skill that every entrepreneur needs. It is a huge piece of success and without accountability, entrepreneur will eventually crumble. Hamilton wants entrepreneurs to know that it is important to be accountable to themselves. She always set goals in 3 categories: family, personal, and business. In any business, the first year is always the foundation. Therefore, by being accountable and present, entrepreneurs will discover and understand the needs of others.
Hamilton always encourage her children to try new things. For example, she will teach her children that instead of being jealous, they should learn from others. She will let her children realize people who talk behind their back is afraid of being successful.
If she could give her younger self any advice, she will tell her not to make emotionally based decision. She believes decision in business needs to be black and white. Furthermore, entrepreneurs should always leave their ego at the door.
“True to your instinct, and trust yourself”
“Own that decision, it is a choice”
Hamilton recommends entrepreneurs to read “Starbucks experience” because self-reflection is important. She wants to expand her business to Halifax because it is a beautiful city. Her recent accomplishment is that she manages to partner with Costco, so Costco is now offering Oxygen Yoga gift cards. She is proud of this accomplishment because it is one step closer to National.
Questions and Answers
When there is a conflict between logical minded and emotional minded entrepreneurs, she suggests a neutral person to mediate. Everyone has different communication style. It is important to understand where each one comes from.
Hamilton shares her organizational chart is “flower style”. Everything brooms from her as center. The obstacle from promoting Oxygen Yoga in different province is that people do not understand until they are actually trying the class themselves. Introducing the theory itself is hard to expand the business. Therefore, she has to work with external tools, such as video, to expand her business.
Hamilton shares that one of her failures is her last marriage. The problem was that she let her ego get to her. When it comes to de-stress, she will use infrared sauna. She will meditate before she gets up from bed. As for marketing, she believes the best approach is still organic grow. When people fall in love with her program, all she needs to do is to provide the business model and everything will follow through. For social media, Hamilton uses the strategies of “call of action” and “retargeting” to expand her online presence.
Presenter: Jennifer Hamilton
Building and scaling a recognizable brand is always a challenge for entrepreneurs. Moreover, many entrepreneurs stumble especially in health and fitness industry. The Pacific Club invites Jennifer Hamilton, the CEO of Oxygen Yoga and Fitness, to discuss her entrepreneurial journey of becoming a successful franchisor in Vancouver. In addition, entrepreneurs will learn the mindset behind Jennifer Hamilton’s strategies. In this presentation, entrepreneurs will learn the professional and personal side of Jennifer Hamilton.
Jennifer Hamilton is the CEO and the Franchisor of Oxygen Yoga and Fitness. With over 16 years of experience in the fitness industry, she has established her reputation and expanded over 59 locations. Jennifer Hamilton was nominated for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the year in 2008 and 2016 and RBC Women’s Entrepreneur of the year in Canada in 2015 and 2016. She received many other awards, such as Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence award and CFA Franchisee’s choice award. She has supported many young entrepreneurs in fitness, and she is one of the major business role models for young entrepreneurs.
Interview with Jennifer Hamilton
Jennifer Hamilton believes what makes Oxygen Yoga and Fitness special is the combination of 2 energies, which are yoga and fitness. Hamilton has created the attractive environment for people to check out the programs offer by Oxygen Yoga. It is an environment for people to release stress and vent. Aside from physical benefits, Oxygen Yoga creates the community and relationship to engage with all kinds of members. Most importantly, members are able to take care of themselves.
The passion of being active helps Hamilton scale up the business. She never thought of the idea of franchising until her members want their own studio. When Hamilton introduced boot camp into her studio, she fell in love with the concept and enjoyed the feeling of how the environment has changed. Before she brought her first studio, she was flipping houses for living. Now, she will arrive to her studio every morning because she discovered her true passion.
However, Hamilton wanted an inclusive environment, but it was difficult to maintain. She welcomed any inputs, but she was struggling to execute the approach. Hamilton states many entrepreneurs have the misconception that franchising is easy business; nevertheless, Hamilton puts over 14 hours per day when she started her business. Now Hamilton has developed the right system and approach for franchisee. Franchisee just need to follow the system, but not every franchisee is will to do that.
In a typical morning, Hamilton will take her dog for a walk, check with her children, and workout at another gym. She emphasizes she will not workout in her studio because she does not want to be in business mode when she workouts in her personal time.
Hamilton’s leadership style is open communication. She believes everyone has his or her own way to express themselves. She will listen before speak. Therefore, she advices entrepreneurs to do 3 simple things: listen, process, and then reflect.
“Listen, process, reflect; being able to humble is amazing”
In her entrepreneurial journey, Hamilton learned to love fear. Many entrepreneurs are afraid to fail, but she loves making mistake. She is open minded with mistakes because she can learn from the experience. When she falls, she takes it as opportunity to grow from it.
Hamilton defines the word “passion” is to be in the moment. The feeling of waking up knowing what to do is amazing for Hamilton. Her personal mission statement is “I love my life”, meaning she wants her and people around her to take care of themselves and improve self-awareness. That is her lifetime goal.
When it comes to business, Hamilton believes accountability is skill that every entrepreneur needs. It is a huge piece of success and without accountability, entrepreneur will eventually crumble. Hamilton wants entrepreneurs to know that it is important to be accountable to themselves. She always set goals in 3 categories: family, personal, and business. In any business, the first year is always the foundation. Therefore, by being accountable and present, entrepreneurs will discover and understand the needs of others.
Hamilton always encourage her children to try new things. For example, she will teach her children that instead of being jealous, they should learn from others. She will let her children realize people who talk behind their back is afraid of being successful.
If she could give her younger self any advice, she will tell her not to make emotionally based decision. She believes decision in business needs to be black and white. Furthermore, entrepreneurs should always leave their ego at the door.
“True to your instinct, and trust yourself”
“Own that decision, it is a choice”
Hamilton recommends entrepreneurs to read “Starbucks experience” because self-reflection is important. She wants to expand her business to Halifax because it is a beautiful city. Her recent accomplishment is that she manages to partner with Costco, so Costco is now offering Oxygen Yoga gift cards. She is proud of this accomplishment because it is one step closer to National.
Questions and Answers
When there is a conflict between logical minded and emotional minded entrepreneurs, she suggests a neutral person to mediate. Everyone has different communication style. It is important to understand where each one comes from.
Hamilton shares her organizational chart is “flower style”. Everything brooms from her as center. The obstacle from promoting Oxygen Yoga in different province is that people do not understand until they are actually trying the class themselves. Introducing the theory itself is hard to expand the business. Therefore, she has to work with external tools, such as video, to expand her business.
Hamilton shares that one of her failures is her last marriage. The problem was that she let her ego get to her. When it comes to de-stress, she will use infrared sauna. She will meditate before she gets up from bed. As for marketing, she believes the best approach is still organic grow. When people fall in love with her program, all she needs to do is to provide the business model and everything will follow through. For social media, Hamilton uses the strategies of “call of action” and “retargeting” to expand her online presence.