When Carla Sconce, founder and director of HIIT Pilates, opened her business in Sydney in June 2020, she was launching more than a new studio. She was introducing a proprietary class format she had built from the ground up: a 50-minute workout combining 12 minutes of high-intensity interval training, performed off the reformer carriage and guided by a TV screen, with 35 minutes of reformer Pilates.
The result is a high-energy, strength-focused class designed to give clients everything they need in one session: cardio, resistance training, and the benefits of reformer Pilates, delivered on equipment chosen with strength and inclusivity in mind.
Since then, HIIT Pilates has grown from one Rosebery studio into four locations across Sydney, including its first franchise. Carla has also created the HIIT Academy, a nationally accredited instructor training program designed to train instructors in the HIIT Pilates method and support the brand’s growing network. Alongside that growth, ClassPass has become an important part of the business model, helping HIIT Pilates fill extra beds, introduce new locations to local clients, and support the brand’s next stage of expansion. As Carla puts it, “ClassPass has been a critical part of building out our community and filling our classes.”
From COVID recovery to long-term growth
HIIT Pilates opened just after Australia’s first COVID lockdown. The first studio quickly built momentum, but the timing of the second location was more difficult. Carla opened the North Shore studio six months later, only to close both studios again eight weeks later during the second lockdown.
When the studios reopened, ClassPass became a way to rebuild attendance, especially at the newer location that had not yet had time to develop a strong membership base. “I found ClassPass helpful coming back into it, to build numbers… I hadn’t had that chance with the second studio to build that membership base,” Carla says.
What began as a strategy for filling available beds has since become a consistent part of the business. All four HIIT Pilates locations are now listed on ClassPass, and Carla sees the platform as a complementary channel rather than a replacement for direct memberships. For Carla, that additional capacity matters. With 12 beds in each studio, every unused spot represents missed revenue.
ClassPass helps turn those empty beds into incremental income, particularly in a market where clients are increasingly conscious of cost. “When I first opened up 6 years ago, people’s pain point was health,” Carla says. “Now, the pain point is money.” Rather than viewing ClassPass as discounting, Carla sees it as a way to make a premium service more accessible while still protecting the core business. “At the end of the day, I’d rather get $14 off that bed than nothing at all,” she shares. “It’s a good few thousands of dollars that come in every month that I wouldn’t otherwise have.”
Using ClassPass as a launch, reporting, and management tool
As HIIT Pilates has expanded, ClassPass has become an important part of each new studio launch. Carla now opens new locations in tandem with their ClassPass listings, giving each studio immediate visibility among people already searching for fitness experiences nearby. “When I open up a new location, if it’s on the ClassPass app, there’ll be a bunch of people in that area who it’s gonna pop up on their app,” she says. “It’s a big platform, it’s a very big brand, and being linked to it does help with new locations.”
That visibility is especially valuable while a new studio is still building its membership base. By helping introduce HIIT Pilates to clients in the area, ClassPass creates opportunities for word of mouth, repeat visits, and long-term attendance. For Carla, it functions not only as a booking channel but also as an awareness tool that supports growth from day one.
ClassPass is also part of HIIT Pilates’ day-to-day operations. Carla’s studio manager monitors class numbers in the morning and uses SmartSpot to open additional spots to ClassPass users when there’s availability, while Carla works with her ClassPass account manager to adjust inventory, booking windows, and peak-time access. “We play around with how many days they can book ahead, just to see what will lead to a conversion,” Carla explains.
Beyond bookings, Carla uses ClassPass reviews and reporting to stay close to performance across the business. With 27 instructors across four locations, feedback from ClassPass users helps her monitor the client experience and spot issues she may not otherwise see day to day. “I’ve got 27 instructors across the four locations, so it’s good to be able to see how we’re tracking from a client experience perspective,” she says. The reporting dashboard also helps her track earnings throughout the month, adding revenue predictability as the business grows. Just as important, Carla adds, has been the support from her ClassPass account managers, “They’ve always been really communicative, checking in, and offering ideas.”
Growing a franchise network with community at the center
HIIT Pilates is now preparing for its next stage of growth, with more franchise locations planned across Sydney and New South Wales before expanding interstate. For Carla, expansion is about more than opening additional studios. It’s about protecting the quality, consistency, and sense of community that have shaped HIIT Pilates from the start. She’s focused on finding owner-operator franchisees who want to be present in the business, lead from the front, and build strong relationships with their local clients.
With the HIIT Academy already in place, there’s a built-in ecosystem to support that growth from the inside out. The academy helps create a steady pipeline of instructors trained in the HIIT Pilates method, giving future franchisees access to talent that already understands the brand’s programming, class structure, and standards. “From the franchise point of view, they know that we’ve got a constant stream of new instructors being trained up, so staffing’s not a huge issue,” Carla says.
As new locations open, Carla expects ClassPass to continue playing an important role in building awareness, filling classes, and helping new communities discover the brand. Her advice to other studios considering ClassPass is to approach it as a partnership, not a competitor. “You need to work with it, and be willing to evolve, and also know how you can work together, essentially,” she says.
For HIIT Pilates, that mindset has turned ClassPass into a long-term growth channel, supporting the business across revenue, operations, marketing, and expansion.
