From $20,000 in debt to turning over $20 million

Aaron Smith returned home to Melbourne following his travels overseas to find himself $20,000 in the red. Then he decided to open his first KX Pilates studio.

Today, his fitness franchise business turns over $20 million.

“I had travelled for five years. I came back and was $20,000 in debt to my father. I started working in bars and gyms to pay off that debt but, after about three weeks, I sat down with my father and told him my vision. He's quite entrepreneurial and backed me. He was the guarantor for my first business loan.”

Smith spent two years in the US as a personal trainer “looking for something different to bring back to Australia”.

He then moved to London for three years and came across a style of pilates he “fell in love” with.

KX Pilates opened its first studio in Melbourne in 2010.

There are now 51 KX Pilates studios around the country, and one overseas in Jakarta.

Smith says the KX style is “high-intensity or high-performance reformer pilates. We classify ourselves in the boutique fitness market. We have a small group 12-14 people max per class and run up to 70 classes a week.” Read more

Christine D'Mello - Brisbane Times - 31 Dec 2018