When early dreams of playing professional soccer were derailed by injuries, Verdine Baker found a career in the fitness industry. In 2008, he started as a membership advisor at Crunch Fitness and then grew within the corporate office in the San Francisco Bay Area. When Verdine joined StretchLab in 2018 as the national sales director, there were three franchise locations. Today, there are more than 500 studios across the globe.
Tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to StretchLab?
I’ve built my career from the start in the health and wellness industry. From a business perspective, I have always been intrigued and curious about small businesses and the scalability that can come from that. Franchising offered a good balance between executing on small business operations, corporate business, and being able to help people and entrepreneurs all at the same time. Having played sports at a professional level, I’ve suffered my fair share of injuries, including six knee surgeries. When it comes to StretchLab, I had an immediate connection with the brand and its mission. Combined with my personal relationship to the service, I knew my wellness and fitness business background would serve me well in taking on leadership with the brand as well.
What is StretchLab for those who may not be familiar and what are the benefits of a StretchLab membership?
StretchLab offers one-on-one assisted stretching for people of all different fitness levels, ages, and backgrounds. Our programming and stretch techniques are proven concepts, and our stretch practitioners are highly trained and required to complete an extensive proprietary training program recognized by a number of well-known fitness and health organizations, before working with our members. Members who consistently prioritize their sessions experience a number of benefits, from decreased chronic pain, to better mobility and flexibility, to stronger athletic performance and less risk of injury, to better balance and overall wellness as well.
Since you’ve been President, StretchLab has grown to more than 500 locations. How has the brand been able to grow so quickly? To what do you attribute the success?
Number one, I think, has been that we have laid out a clear plan to get a location to open successfully and have a path to sustained business. Number two, we’ve been fortunate to have franchisees who are strong business leaders, make good decisions about their people, finances, and business practices, and believe in the brand as a whole. Lastly, having a corporate team dedicated to the StretchLab brand whose sole function is to provide our owners and their studios with the resources and support they need to succeed.
With so many StretchLab locations, how do you continue to provide top notch support for your franchisees?
We’ve been fortunate to learn from the wins and opportunities of Club Pilates, which to date is the largest sister brand within our holding company portfolio of wellness and fitness brands. They have shown the path of what scalability looks like and needs. At the end of the day, it’s been a mixture of using the “stencil”, and knowing when to adjust and pivot as needed with our unique modality and business’s nuances. We’re constantly looking at every function of our support system to find efficiencies and then scale where necessary.
Obviously this kind of growth wouldn’t be possible without some challenges along the way. How do you personally stay motivated, as well as keep your team motivated, during challenging times?
My team is extremely important to me. It’s not lost on me that each of them has their own motivations – mortgages, families, and things that they care deeply about in and outside of work. I have a human-first leadership approach. What motivates me, and in turn helps motivate them, is StretchLab’s mission. We have the privilege to offer a service and create a brand that people truly need, and we’ve been able to position assisted stretching, something that people have seen historically as unique and niche, as something just as necessary and accessible as massage, or fitness, etc. in leading a healthy life for their overall wellbeing.
What’s next on the horizon for StretchLab in 2025?
We are continuing to look at services that compliment the stretching program and supplement the wellness routine of every individual. We’re looking into key services with some other elite wellness partners to see how we can help expedite the results of our members. As we continue to scale, we’re also committed to making some exciting changes this year, digitally and in-studio, that improve the member experience and journey.
