This Hot Mat Pilates Studio Has Grown 45% MoM Without Ads

In conversation with Zoë Sterk, founder of Garage Hot Pilates, Florida.

St. Augustine native Zoë Sterk started teaching hot mat Pilates classes in her garage, and today runs Garage Hot Pilates—a high-energy, boutique studio in the heart of her city.

Zoë's classes are a one-of-a-kind experience that fuses hot mat Pilates with high-intensity circuits all set in an infrared-heated room with low lighting and energizing music.

At a Glance

Challenge

What began as one class a week in Zoë’s garage for a few friends quickly outgrew its humble origins. The community needed a bigger space. The challenge was figuring out how to scale the experience without losing the authenticity that made it work.

Solution

Zoë focused on deepening community connections through referrals. She chose Kenko because it supported everything she needed — from waitlists, guest passes to customizable email journeys — giving her the freedom to grow on her own terms.

Impact

Now operating from a premium space in St. Augustine Beach, Garage Hot Pilates has achieved consistent 45% month-over-month growth for seven straight months, purely through organic momentum.

Favorite features:

Referral automations, Guest passes, Smart Waitlists, Campaigns, Journeys

The Challenge: Growing faster than your space can handle 

It all began with one class a week for a few close friends, and soon turned into something much bigger.

As those friends brought their friends, the word was out. Soon, Zoë found herself running packed classes in her garage twice a day, with strangers showing up just from word of mouth.

"I was having strangers come into my house every day... and they were paying real money to work out in my garage. That’s when I knew — there’s something here."

Zoë knew instinctively that she had tapped into a gap in the local fitness scene. So, what do you do when your passion project outgrows your garage?

The Solution: Scale with systems that put community first

She moved into a larger studio in St. Augustine Beach. She also decided that she and her lean team needed systems that could support the growing community while staying true to the roots of her business.

“The waitlist was like a number one feature I was looking for in a booking platform. I needed a platform that seamlessly integrated into my website. And when I was choosing Kenko, pricing and value were things I definitely considered…..Kenko's policies on credit card processing fees was a big factor in my decision.”

So once the basics were in place — the facility, the systems, and team processes Zoë had to shift her focus to personalizing her drip campaigns.

"I definitely spent a lot of time building out the key initial journeys. I knew right away, like, the drip campaigns are something super important. I tried to make things kind of personalized because we are a small business."

So naturally, when you combine authentic community-building with great classes, growth becomes inevitable.

The Impact:  45% MoM growth without ads

Garage Hot Pilates clearly outgrew its humble beginnings. Now, running out of a beautiful studio space, it has been growing 45% month over month for seven months straight, driven entirely by organic momentum and a deeply engaged community.

"We do this thing called ‘Garage Night Out’ - where we go out to dinner. Just like really making it inclusive..... so that the community kind of becomes friends."

Zoë says community and word of mouth are at the heart of this success. She herself, who comes from a marketing background, has not run a single paid ad for her studio.

“Community is number one. I definitely have the referral system set up. If members refer a friend, they get $5 off their friend gets $5 off. It's not a super high referral fee, but it works for us. And then I also have the buddy passes set up for my members. And yeah, people definitely bring their friends.”

Conclusion:

Sometimes, what really makes things work isn’t just the systems and processes. It’s having the right people in your corner. 

“Kenko is super helpful, the support team always gets back to me and solves whatever I need. It’s funny, I feel like we’ve grown with you guys (Kenko), you know? You’ve been improving and growing so much - which is amazing to see.”