Andrea Rogers is the founder of Xtend Barre. In just over a decade, she has grown the business into a global success and has no plans of stopping any time soon.
She Does This caught up with Andrea on her recent visit to Australia to chat all things business, fitness and what's next for the Xtend Barre empire!
SDT: For those of us who haven’t yet heard of Xtend Barre, can you describe the workout?
ANDREA: A typical Xtend Barre workout combines both Pilates and dance to create an overall toning workout. It's all about dynamic movement to ensure you're engaging all parts of your body.
Xtend Barre is a high intensity, low impact workout that aims to challenge you and get you breaking into a sweat! We use fitballs, booty bands and even ankle weights to change up our workouts, meaning you will never do the same class twice at an Xtend Barre studio!
SDT: You had a background in dancing as a choreographer, so what inspired you to create your own work out?
ANDREA: Yes, I was a professional dancer for many years and have always loved choreography! After my career as a dancer, I trained as a pilates instructor and taught in a studio. After a few years of teaching Pilates, I really began to miss the ‘dance’ element, so I began to include it in my pilates classes. All my clients seemed to love it so that's when the idea of Xtend Barre was born!
SDT: We live in a society where fitness is important to us, so the industry is quite saturated with gyms etc. How did you make sure Xtend Barre stood out in the beginning?
ANDREA: Xtend Barre is a workout that engages your whole body and achieves great results! I think people are shocked by how much of a workout they get from Xtend Barre and that is why it stood out. It is a full body workout that helps you develop long and lean muscles, and helps improve posture and body alignment.
We're all about community at Xtend Barre and our instructors thrive on going above and beyond to provide the best workout! We cater for all fitness levels, and we encourage anyone and everyone to take part in our barre workouts!
SDT: What would your top tips be for a woman starting a business in a saturated market?
ANDREA: Passion is a key to success! If you are passionate about something, you will want others to feel the same way. My best advice is to start small and test your model; you need to find your niche and also create a business around your core ethics and beliefs! Don’t give up. It can sometimes be challenging but again your passion should be your driving force, if you don’t feel passionate, the business will not be possible.
SDT: Xtend Barre has been brought to Australia, what does this mean to you on a personal level to see your brand achieve international success?
ANDREA: Xtend Barre now has 23 studios across Australia! To see my brand grow and inspire others around the world is an incredible feeling. I want to encourage women to take the steps to live a healthy life, both physically and mentally, so to see more people coming on board and choosing Xtend Barre is truly amazing. I look forward to seeing where Xtend Barre goes in the future!
SDT: What’s next for Andrea Rogers and the Xtend Barre empire?!
ANDREA: We want to continue growing the Xtend Barre empire and community. We have also recently expanded into Asia, which is an amazing step for us. I’m sure you’ll see more of us popping up all around the world.
