Our Fly Story: Our Studio Origins

When Fly Founder Dr. Jenni Bruning Brown, Ph.D. moved to Lincoln from the Bay Area she noticed something was missing. She couldn’t find the style and energy of fitness classes she wanted or a fitness community that felt welcoming to everyone, so, she realized she’d have to build one. At this point, Jenni had a law degree and a doctorate in educational psychology and was working as a sport and performance psychologist for athletes and at the University of Nebraska. She was also raising three children, one of whom has special needs. She knew that both she and Lincoln needed a healthy fitness community focused on bringing people together and on the positive aspects of a community sweating together.

Jenni has always been a passionate fitness enthusiast and she’s been teaching classes since she was 19. Can you picture her in an 80’s leotard? She loves fitness classes so much that whenever she travels she always takes as many classes as she can fit in at all kinds of boutique studios. 

What Jenni wanted was a fitness space that pushed her physically, but that also inspired her mentally and created the space for deep personal connections. She knew that this was possible, because of what she had built with Victory Lap Fitness in the Bay Area.

The first Fly studio opened in 2015, in downtown Lincoln. Next door to the location was Jenni’s husband’s law firm, where Morgan Mattison worked handling all marketing and advertising for the firm.  As a member at Fly and someone who loved the philosophy, Morgan came to the forefront, stepping up to help lead and handle operations as Fly grew.

As the Fly community expanded and members moved away from Lincoln, Jenni and Morgan realized that what Fly had to offer was missing in other cities too. The second Lincoln studio opened in 2018, after which Fly expanded into Fargo, North Dakota. 

Through the establishment of fours separate studios & ongoing work improving operations, the Fly team  intimately understands all of the facets of Fly, from high-level issues such as building and finances, all the way to plumbing, sound system management and PR. Together, Jenni & Morgan helped guide the Fargo team through its grand opening in downtown Fargo and their second location in Osgood. 

The Fly family keeps growing, and it has evolved to meet the demand for Fly locations in new cities. In 2022, Fly Fitness Franchise was officially launched to allow more partners who are just as passionate about revolutionizing fitness as Jenni and Morgan are. 

At the root of Fly, passion and drive are essential for Fly franchisees. Both Jenni and Morgan know that what makes Fly studio ownership special is that as an owner, you have access to the Fly franchise team who have mastered the art of studio design, marketing strategy and operational training. Fly brings the data and the experience, so that new Fly owners can bring the electric energy that makes Fly studios, Fly.

Morgan says that it doesn’t matter if your background is in business, finance, fitness, marketing, retail or another industry, “we understand that our most successful owners are those who embrace the Fly philosophy and are committed to creating our signature Fly experience in their own studio.” 

The studio ownership process is about mutual discovery. It begins with a high-level concept overview and moves deeper into the details of the Fly franchise system through each step of the process, while both the Fly team and the potential owner get to know one another. 

As Fly continues to grow, the philosophy is here to stay. That is, building communities of people who aspire to be awesome, seeking opportunities and rejecting expectations.  We make everyone feel like a someone. When you join the Fly family, we become your strategic partner in business. Your success is ours and we’ll be with you every step of the way to support your studio growth. 

Want to learn more about starting your own Fly Fitness studio? Reach out to our team, we’d love to chat!