Aaron Smith is the founder and innovator behind KX Pilates, Australia’s largest pilates franchise, which features over 75 studios across the country and international expansion plans on the horizon.
But for Aaron, running a successful franchise empire was never about the money. Even at the start.
Aaron first experienced reformer pilates while working as a personal trainer in London. He fell in love with it immediately. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever done, and right away he could see that an Australian audience would love it too.
Aaron started his business out of passion. It was about helping people. He wanted to provide others with a unique experience that he loved, so they could love it the way he did. And he wanted to reach as many people as he could.
It’s an ethos that stemmed from how he was brought up. Aaron was taught that in loving what you do, and helping people, success will come from it—whatever that success looks like for you.
“As they say, where focus goes, energy flows—and the focus was always on pilates,” says Aaron.
It was this love, this single-minded focus, that delivered the effective and sustainable business model that KX Pilates has built today. Together with his wife, Andi, they’ve shared this focus to create an empire, that’s only going to continue growing—whether Aaron is at the helm or not. And, more than helping people enjoy how they move their bodies, creating a successful franchise has been a vehicle to help others build their business dreams, too.
Not to say that it’s been easy; as all business owners can attest to, creating your own business—no matter how large it grows—is also an avenue you spend most of your life sweating over, working towards, and dedicating your time and energy into, day in, day out.
And the hard work, dedication, and all-or-nothing attitude has paid off. A 10-year overnight success story, Aaron likes to call it.
But the most gratifying thing for Aaron, the belief that centres him, has always been that he gets to share his love with more people. In his passion, he found his success, defined by values that were never about the dollar sign attached to them. He focussed his single-minded energy into growing a business that’s set to succeed, whether he’s there or not.
Ultimately though, he’s helping people achieve their dreams, and sharing his passion at the same time. And for Aaron, that’s success.
Hear the full conversation with Aaron Smith on Episode 11 of It’s Never About Money.
