Meet Kennedy Lynch of Portage

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kennedy Lynch.

Hi Kennedy , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started teaching Pure Barre in 2014 when we were stationed in Maryland. I fell in love the community that was built around the barre + the amazing workout. I knew very early on that I wanted to open my own studio some day. Fast forward to when my husband retired from the Air Force in 2019. I started searching for a new permanent place to settle down with our family that I could open my own Pure Barre. The Kalamazoo/Portage area was perfect (my family lives 3 hours North, my husband’s family lives 5.5 hours West). I started the process of interviewing to own a franchise in early 2021 and finally finished our build out for a brand new studio in Jan. 2022! You really can do anything you’re willing to work for. We (my family, teachers, front desk staff, Pure Barre members) have built the most amazing community at PB KZOO (we call it our 2nd home).

In May of 2024, we lost our studio to the tornado that came through Portage, MI. It was devastating. The local community immediately reached out to offer whatever we needed during this challenging time. My team stepped-up and we held classes around town until we found a new temporary, permanent space. Our members showed unwavering support to us and their barre mates. We navigated unknown things to rebuild all while never missing a day of classes. It was an incredibly hard journey, but it was so rewarding to come out on the other side even stronger. We opened in our new space in Sept. 2024. We are thrilled to have a permanent space of our own and so thankful for everyone who stayed along for the ride.

We’ve been in our new space a little over a year and I’m so proud of the staff + members (all of whom I call friends). They continue to show up for their mental and physical well-being with grace and determination.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think anything about owning your own business is smooth.

I lost my Mom in June of 2022. She suffered a stroke just a week or two after we opened. She was getting ready to retire from her full-time job and help me with the business side of owning the studio. I had to prepare myself to do all of that stuff on my own while also being the GM and teaching classes. So it was a lot, and it wasn’t perfect (not even close), but I got through it.

The tornado. Wow, honestly the running a business on the fly and moving around to new temporary places, temporary equipment, etc. was a breeze compared to having to navigate insurance, finding a new location, and rebuilding! Probably because this was all simultaneously going on. But, I truly learned a lot of things I never thought (or hoped) I needed to know.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are a barre fitness studio. We specialize in low-impact but high-intensity movements designed to strengthen and tone your entire body. Every class is musically driven and designed for all fitness levels. We offer four different class formats (Classic -Strength + Definition, Empower -Cardio + Barre, Align – Balance + Flexibility & Define -Strength + Power) , each designed to target your fitness goals in separate ways. Pure Barre creates a supportive community where you feel empowered, motivated and inspired every time you walk through the door.

Every workout method brings value, but Pure Barre blends them all. It isn’t ballet, yoga, pilates, or weight lifting. It blends the best of all of these workouts into one. It’s control, strength, endurance and recovery into a science-based training system that you can do every day, for life.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are always looking for businesses to offer free pop-ups at (we’ll come to your business and offer a free to Pure Barre class to anyone who wants to join). We also love to invite other businesses that are like minded (health and wellness) into our studio to collaborate and expose our members to their services.

Pricing:

• Unlimted Membership (3+ classes/week)
• 8-Pack membership (2x/week)
• 4-Pack Membership (1x/week)
• 10 Class Punch Card
• 20 Class Punch Card

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.purebarre.com/location/kalamazoo-mi
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pbkzoo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purebarrekalamazoo/