PIVOT - The Expansion of Free Mvmt Shop

Free Mvmt Shop is a movement based fitness community.  People moving people.  A community committed to creating change, helping people live better lives, and shake what their mama gave them.  Our freedom to move model is built on 4 specific modalities, dance. yoga. cardio. sculpt.  A well balanced experience for your full body.  We are excited to PIVOT and get moving in person again. 

We are seeking capital to PIVOT to a new space and build out a rooftop studio!

How We've Grown This Year (YES THIS YEAR!)

Free Mvmt Shop is the giant umbrella.  The big top.  And now within that brand we have developed Virtual Mvmt and BASH xyz.

A busy year for us.  

Enthusiastically and without skipping so much as a beat, we've been livestreaming all of our classes since March 16, 2020.  We have streamed over 1300 classes this past year.  We built out and launched Virtual Mvmt - www.virtualmvmt.com which is an on demand platform of freshly published and exclusive content.  Classes and workouts for our community when they want them.  Recurring revenue and a powerful digital tool that is only getting sharper. 

Because we also saw a need within our community for kid friendly content, we launched BASH xyz - www.bash.xyz.  BASH an acronym for Building Active Social Humans.  This model is a copycat of what we have with Free Mvmt Shop.  It is centered around movement and creative thinking.  Drop in style in person, virtual and on demand options for kids 0-10.  Really kids of all ages.  As a parent, Ashley fully understands the impact a year of social distance has had on her kids and her family and BASH xyz is designed to engage in a new way.  Bringing a fresh approach to learning, health, art and fitness to kids.  We have run some successful classes events and are building out our partnerships.  Currently in beta and R&D with summer camps starting in June.  

Drumroll....The PIVOT plan 

COVID-19 has put us all through the ringer, but our community is stronger than ever.  Now that the world is beginning to open back up in person, we want to be there.  And we want to be there in a new way.  Outdoors.

At the start of the pandemic we moved out of our 2000 square foot studio, downsized to a safe and more economically responsible space for our livestream team.  Not needing all of that square footage, we had the chance to scaleback.  They say hope for the best and plan for the worst.  We planned to be in this space for a year.  It has been the absolute perfect space for streaming these months and will become an incredible home to BASH xyz, our new kids program. 

The space is built out beautifully to support our goals with BASH xyz.  A front space for sit down learning, reading, creative thinking and instruction and the back studio space for movement and exploration.  The location is outstanding in a great hip, family friendly neighborhood, Wicker Park.  Our perfect customer and demographic.

So where does that leave Free Mvmt Shop?  Where do we film for Virtual Mvmt?  This is where we PIVOT.  This is why we are here.

We had great success last spring and summer with outdoor classes on a soccer field.  And we want to do this again but on our own turf.  Pun intended.  Our plan for the new Free Mvmt Shop which will be open to the public again includes our own private rooftop space.  We are expanding and putting a deck space on an existing single story commercial property in Wicker Park!  Allowing us to start off in person safely as soon as possible, outdoor in fresh open air.  

This new studio brings opportunity for us to safely bring our community of movers back together for class.  Dance under the moonlight.  Deep breathes and yoga with fresh air.  Squats with friends while wearing your sunscreen.  More importantly, this new studio and rooftop provides more opportunities for us to collaborate with other small businesses, other powerful initiatives and artists in our community.  A place where people can come to share their vision with the world, just as we've been so fortunate to do.  

We are seeking funding to expedite this process and get back in person outdoors as soon as the Chicago weather map gives us the go head.  And we are almost there folks.  60 degree days we've had already.  We are hoping to have this ready to go by Spring/Early Summer.  We will be building out the 2,000 square foot indoor studio and the rooftop simultaneously.  This former retail space is a great canvas, already opened up and ready for the Free Mvmt Shop touch.  

What We Have Done, Can Do and Will Do

We are committed to making the health and wellness industry more diverse through our initiative, Yoga For Breonna which honors the life of Breonna Taylor through full scholarships to women of color seeking their 200 hour yoga teacher certification.  This community backed initiative has awarded two full scholarships since inception in June 2020!  We hope to expand this program to include even more funding towards other fitness trainings, for example NASM, pilates, college dance programs, and more. 

About Our Founder, Ashley Rockwood

Ashley has been on a mission to change the world with movement since she was born.  Starting out as a dancer at the age of 2, she hasn't stopped as her career has reached over 20 years.  From opera houses to Beyonce, she has performed and shared her passion with the world.  And now this same passion lives and breathes with Free Mvmt Shop.  After retirement from life on the stage, she was struggling to motivate in the traditional (now not so traditional) gym setting.  The machines.  The loneliness.  Realizing as a dancer in class she was secretly working out in a group class environment.  She missed the people, the energy, the dance.  Free Mvmt Shop was her way to combine her skills in community engagement, design and movement.  Bringing people together to dance, punch out stress, shake off the day, breathe together.  In a way that felt more inclusive, inviting, supportive than a gym.  She never imagined the impact it would have on thousands of peoples lives and she's just getting started.   

About Our Team

Free Mvmt Shop, Virtual Mvmt and BASH xyz are all run by our small, but mighty team at Free Mvmt Shop.  We currently employ 10 people and proudly have kept everyone paid and working throughout the pandemic.  We foresee the ability to bring on 1 full time position and 2 part time positions with this PIVOT.

About Free Mvmt Shop

Ashley and her work with Free Mvmt Shop have been featured in The Cut, The Chicago Tribune, Runners World, Do312.  Free Mvmt Shop has worked with brands such as Athleta, Free People Movement, Lululemon, Clif Bar, Boxed Water, Savage X Fenty, Salesforce and more.

FOLLOW US

If you are interested in partnering with us, hosting an event at Free Mvmt Shop, moving your team with a virtual class, getting involved, please reach out at [email protected] for more information.