In the Club
The ultimate podcast for kids activity clubs! ClassForKids is an award-winning booking and management software trusted by 3000+ kids activity clubs.
From dance schools to football academies to gymnastics clubs to multi-sports clubs, we’re here to help kids activity providers grow and scale their business. In the Club is monthly music to your ears! Okay, not literal music, but all the advice, tips and inspiration you need!
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In the Club
EP 46: From Gymnast To Founder
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Ever wonder how a world inside the gym translates into a brand that actually understands athletes, coaches, and parents? We sit down with Joanna, founder of Quattro Gymnastics, to trace the leap from training 30 hours a week as a kid to steering a company through market swings, supply challenges, and family life. The story starts at a chaotic moment—new baby, new business—and evolves into a masterclass on flexibility, empathy, and customer‑driven growth.
Joanna breaks down how lived experience across the sport—athlete, coach, judge, and gym staff—shapes smarter products and more honest marketing. Instead of pushing features, she designs for feel: protective wear that supports women, leotards that move with real bodies, pricing that respects tight budgets and big dreams. We talk about running contingencies as a habit, keeping plan B and C ready for everything from rain at events to inflation that hits parents first and clubs next. That mindset connects with our own approach to booking software: the best tools serve clubs by serving parents, reducing friction at every step.
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I could tell you'd be a good singer. You think I'm a good singer? Yeah, I could tell that you're a good I was like, here's another thing that Rebecca's good at. Of course.
SPEAKER_02:But you're really not hard to be singing properly there. No, that is that's no knowledge by harmony.
SPEAKER_00:I mean I don't know why I'm saying.
SPEAKER_02:But we could do that at the end when we wrap this podcast up. We could do like a 3-2 on that. Like that, you can a wrap. You can't oh my god.
SPEAKER_00:Let's wrap this up so then I've got a wrap it up with a wrap.
SPEAKER_02:Do you know what? I really thought I really thought this intro was gonna be smooth, plain sailing. I didn't have I didn't have my usual annoying co-host, Stephen Young. But I've got you. You have another version of annoying. But you've been on podcasts before, you've been on this podcast. Uh, uh, uh, uh, I've seen you take in trying to take over my seat when I was on maternity later. You've done a few rodeos. Steve, it's nice to have you on the podcast. How are you doing today? We're really good. Very good, thank you. We have a very exciting guest, which we'll touch on in a moment, but uh are you coming in this Friday because something very important's happening? What's happening? We're carving pumpkins, it's Halloween. Pumpkin carving! It's Halloween.
SPEAKER_00:Um I will be there in spooky spirit. Spooky spirit. Yeah, okay. Um what's been happening in the Landas team of this week in the office? Um lots of exciting things have been happening, oh my goodness. Uh we have a team visiting Manchester right now as we speak. So they are attending an event down in Manchester. What event are they attending? Do you film? It is a street dance event. Um we Are we performing there? We're we're talking. We're obtaining our knowledge. We are helping um clubs upskill and give them a bunch of information that's gonna help them flap their way through their dance business.
SPEAKER_02:Is it all? We've got a team, we've got Caitlin from Marketing Team, our social media expert, we've got the infamous, the lovable Stephen Young, and we've got somebody in our sales team. Also one down. Yeah, infamous. Yeah. Why? And it's not way too infamous. We'll just keep it. We'll keep his infamous office. We'll keep his uh what's the word? Identity hidden and all will be revealed to um did you have a phone call or Stephen? It's got four more today, didn't it?
SPEAKER_00:He does have four more today. I don't know why in the office. I'm not there, and there's all of you guys are there and I'm sitting in a train on my way to Manchester. I think we should prank him. I thought it would be funny, yeah. Give him a call.
SPEAKER_02:I think we should give him well not right now, but I think we should prank him and like, oh my goodness, the biggest thing has just happened. I'm not gonna believe it, and then we'll all just leave him on red all day. We should all do it. Cameron, are you up for that? Yeah, okay, Cameron's up for it. Um Steve, you have been working very hard for a change. Kidding on. Uh you've been working very hard behind the scenes on some exciting partnerships, which we have announced across um our social channel to announce across email. And today I have the pleasure of interviewing Joanna, the founder of Quatcho. Tell us a little bit about that partnership, what it means to class our kids to Quatcho to gymnastics clubs across our community.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my goodness, having Quatcho on board is uh it really is, it's groundbreaking for us. Um Quatsho, as all of you will know, um, are a leading letard provider and what they do in the space, especially this gymnastics now onto cheer space is absolutely incredible. Um, they are pushing the limits in gymnastics wear. They are doing things that so many other you know providers in their space haven't touched on yet. Things like protective wear for women and um their designs are just fantastic. So for them to be working with us and supporting us in the gymnastics space and sharing their knowledge in the space has just been very exciting and we've loved working with Quattro and the whole team. It's been brilliant to work with.
SPEAKER_02:Have you been on ChatGPT asking for a whole summary of Quattro? Because that is exactly what I'm about to talk to Joanna about. No, I think before we do anything else, let's just get into the interview. Hear what Joanna and I are chatting about and find out more about Quattro. Amazing. So, Joanna, welcome to the Class for Kids podcasts. How are you today?
SPEAKER_01:I'm great, thank you for having me on.
SPEAKER_02:You are very welcome. You are the founder of Quattro Gymnastics. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to starting Quattro.
SPEAKER_01:Gosh, that's a story. Um, but about myself, I'm a member of three, uh busy, busy household, busy life, um, work-life balance, kind of trying to juggle it all in, um, which makes it even more fun when you're trying to run a business. But I think that adds to the excitement of um of Quattro itself. So I started Quattro 15 years ago in line with having my my first child. So that's exactly what every new man wants to do, start a business. Um and I was a previous, I was a gymnast, I um coached, I uh judged. So coming from a world of gymnastics, I was fully immersed in it. And I really wanted to do something in life that I was passionate about. Um, I didn't really fancy coaching for a long-term career. I was really interested in business development and marketing. So I kind of put my two passions together, and Quattro was born. Um, and yeah, a lot's happened in the 15 years. It's been uh a beautiful journey. It's had some really great highs, it's had some difficult times. You know, we we've operated through COVID and have to navigate our way through through that. But um, yeah, it's it's been an amazing journey, and I think what I'm quite aware about is you know, every day is a learning day. You know, something might happen and you might go, oh, I could have done that differently, but without it happening, you don't learn. So it's been a journey, yeah. It's been an exciting one.
SPEAKER_02:A couple of things to unpack there. So I'm not long back from maternity leave. I came back in June. Keep saying I'm not long back. The years gone on and on and on. Um I've been back nearly for six months now, but um yeah, absolutely like hats off to you for starting a business while having a new new baby. Like, were you okay? Like why did you start it then? That is insane. Um I don't know. It probably in some ways created a journey that you would never have expected. Because if we do and and we wait for the right times in life, like when's the right time to change job? When's the right time to have a family if you want one? There's always a reason not to do something. Whereas I think if you're like, you know what, I'm feeling a bit wild here, I'm gonna start the business and I'm gonna do it. Um, I think that probably has created maybe a more not necessarily an interesting story, but one that's certainly not without its challenges, as you've said. It's like, you know, at the same time as having a baby, you've launched that business. And I think sort of the the last thing that you were saying there about you know doing things and experiencing the challenges, that has to come hand in hand with the success of business, right?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. I mean, you can't run a business on a plan that's forecast five years ago for events that happen today. So you've got to, you know, be reactive to market pressures, um, exchange rates, uh national disasters, international disasters, you know, no two days are the same. And I think just being operationally flexible kind of helps build the business. And like you said, you know, things go wrong, okay. You've just got to pick yourself up and go, right, how can we have done things differently?
SPEAKER_02:And that'll apply to you know, companies that are as big as Coca-Cola, who are probably experiencing some difficult things with how AI and their advertising budgets are doing things, right down to our clubs, you know, gymnastics clubs who are operating here in the UK, across Ireland, across the world, they'll be experiencing the same knock-on effects as things like inflation rates, market conditions, all of those different things. What's happening with income, disposable income for parents, how are they spending that money? So it's about that kind of key word, I think, is flexibility and adaptability. And and how would you say that you've kind of did you learn that when you went into business, that that was the kind of key sort of ingredient to success about being flexible and adaptable when you needed to?
SPEAKER_01:I just think the lifestyle I grew up in, so being a gymnast, um, training, you know, up to 30 hours a week from the age of eight to 17, it's a full-time job on top of juggling your schoolwork, on top of juggling your homework and trying to maintain friendship groups. I just think the world I grew up in made me be flexible. I had to be adaptable. Otherwise, I don't think I could have done what I did as a young child. And I think that's just been brought forward in adulthood, really. I don't think it's something, I think it's something you can learn, but I definitely think personally for me, it's almost one of my innate characteristics that I I know I think of a plan 10 steps ahead of what it needs to be. But I've always got plan A, B, and C within that because I know things change operationally, you know, simple things, you know. If we've got an event outside, well, what's plan B? Because we live in the UK and it's gonna rain. So it's it's not, I'm not talking the bit always about the big grand things that are completely out of our control, but that's always why I try to instill in the team. It's like, yes, great, you know, we all know what plan A wants to be, but what is plan B and plan C? Because life happens and things change and we have to adapt. So I've tried to instill that in the workforce as well.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I think that that's really important. I think that's something our our viewers and our listeners will be able to take away. That actually sometimes we can be so focused on, okay, well, this is the end goal that I need to get to, and that's how I'm going to get there. We can sometimes forget to build in those important contingencies. Sure, we might consider them, but have we actually got them you know set up and ready to go and in place? So and you kind of alluded to um marketing being a bit of a passion. So was that something you did before Quattro? Or tell me a little bit about it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I did um I did a degree in business and marketing. Um I always um just loved seeing you know big companies like you know, Adidas and Nike do their ads. And I think for me what was really special is how they related to the consumer. It wasn't a cold ad, it was, you know, feel I oh that the old film of What Women Want with um Mel Gibson, that made me want to go into Martin where he a guy was putting on the lipstick going, I feel, you know, how do I feel when I put this lipstick on? How do I feel when I put the trainers on? And I think for me that really resonated because I was a gymnast, so I know how it feels to wear a leotard, I know how it feels to train hard, work hard. I coach, so I know what it was like from the other angle of you know, kids have good days and bad days as well as a gymnast, and you've got to work together as a team to be successful. I worked in the gym as well, so I know from the management side of it what goes into both the coaching education as well as the gymnasts' experience on the floor. And I'm a member of gymnasts, so I feel like I've got a really well-rounded view of the sport and the industry, which I think is quite special. I think that really helps Quattro stand apart from our competitors because we come from within the industry, so we really like to understand, you know, we first hand understand our community and what what you know what parents are struggling with, you know. Yes, things are expensive. Um, and it's just trying to, you know, be mindful of you know rising costs, how can we find solutions to that? You know, what can we do in our products that you know can be more affordable at certain times of the year for people, but equally we also know that sometimes people are gonna spend you know all their savings for that month because their child has just qualified for their national championships, and that means everything to them. So, you know, just trying to be mindful of what's going on in the economy and the kids, the parents, the coaches, and as a brand manufacturer as well. Like, how can we work with our industry to um provide what they need?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think very similar. Um you know, the brand of Quattro is very similar to class for kids in that regard. Like obviously, our main market is our clubs that use our booking software, so gymnastics clubs, you know, dance schools, whatever it's football academies, but we're not just considering the academies and the clubs, we're actually then thinking a step beyond that and thinking, right, okay, well, what about the parents? Because if parents are going through those difficulties, then the clubs are going to be seeing the knock-on effect of that. So, therefore, how do we support both the club and the parent? And we're even thinking about okay, well, from a booking software level, yes, it needs to be easy for a club to use it, but it also needs to be easy for their parents to navigate it because that's their concern. That's what the customer, our customer's concerned about, is their customers. So it's kind of this Joe market that you're considering, and it's a really important point to, I think, you know, not linger on, but definitely have that kind of idea of, well, parents play an important role in this too. And you're totally right that, you know, they're spending money on classes, that we're spending money on different things for their children, you know, clothes as they grow, um, food, all of these things that happens. And then you're saying, as you know, quite rightly so, that they've then qualified for this competition, which means everything in the world is, of course, as a parent, if that is the savings you have, you're you're going to spend it on these things. So I think that kind of mindfulness is really important. And it's just really interesting to hear your journey, as you say, like you've come from both sides of the industry of marketing and understanding that world, but then also having that really important um foot in the door, as it were, like with the gymnastics community and actually training as a gymnast yourself growing up, understanding the difficulty coaches face, and then kind of aligning those two worlds and bringing parents in. So I think you know, your business model is just exactly what gymnastic clubs across the UK are looking for. It's that kind of understanding of both both worlds. So um that's been really interesting. So thank you for sharing your story. So talk to me a little bit then. We talked about 15 years since you launched, you were a new mum, and you know, you've talked about the highs, some of the lows. How has Quattro evolved since those early days? You know, you started those years ago and we're here now. What's been kind of the evolution journey of Quattro?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think you know, one of the most difficult things people always say to me, you must be really proud of what you know you've achieved. And I always say, It's not me. I now have a team. I'm fortunate to have a great team around me, but also I think we're always too fast and too busy to appreciate and go, hang on a minute, let's have a look at how we started and and where we've where we are today. And I think when we first started, um, you know, we didn't have fancy internet um packages that you could just pop up a website in a day, whereas today it's very easy to do that. You know, we had to work hard with web developers to create an online space. Um, and I was a team of one back then and it became two, and then it became three. And you know, we went from writing down all our customers' delivery addresses um to make sure we could um if they ever called up and said, has it been posted? We'd have a you know, this name, a postcode, yes, it's gone, and we'd walk up to the local post office and we'd post it. And then I moved the guys on to right, we've got to do this with an Excel now because you know, we can't be flicking through pages of orders when customers on the phone. And now we've got databases and software, and you know, we've become a quite digitally um adapt uh business. So I think when you stop and have a look at wow, how did this start 15 years ago and how were we, you know, operating day to day to where we're operating today, it it couldn't be two different businesses, but I think one thing is maintained the same, and it's the heart, the soul, and the community of the company. We always make sure that we are customer focused. Um, and we've got two customers, you know, we've got the parent and we've got the child. Um, so we have to make sure that you know we are um talking to both, as well as our clubs as well, because they're another another customer that are really important to us.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, it is that total like you need to sometimes step back. And I'm thinking about it even, you know, within class for kids, we obviously operate across like a financial year, we have quarters within those years, and sometimes we're so busy focused on right, what's the goal for this quarter? How are we going to get there? That we sometimes forget to look at okay, well, what does success look like? What did we achieve, you know, this time last month? Okay, what did we achieve this time last year? You actually step back and you think sometimes it's not as good as it was, and you think, right, well, where were the gaps? Where were the mistakes? Where could we make our learnings from? But then actually sometimes you step back and you think, wow, look at the progress that we've made, not only like from a you know, targets and metrics point of view, but as a team, like we've got new team members in, they've made this kind of difference. And I think it is a really important thing, no matter what kind of business you run, size, how many employees you've got. I think it's really important to do that from time to time because I think we're always so kind of buried deep within the you know the day-to-day and the operational runnings that it can be difficult to sometimes take perspective on what success looks like. And you know, if you were to do that every other month, there's there's huge wins in those kind of things. But it's funny listening to you say about how you know you'd be ticking off the address labels and then going to the post office. Like, can you imagine having to do that now with the number of customers that you have to watch? So I mean, uh it would just be five minutes. Let's move on from that question. Um, so you're obviously providing, as you say, sort of um uh wear for gymnasts and for their parents, for the child, you think about different markets, um, you also do a leisure wear, that type of thing. So tell me a little bit about what's the mission, like what is it that Quattro stands for and how how are you achieving that across the gymnastics community?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think our mission is to be able to make everyone feel special, um, whether that's during their training sessions, whether that's during their competitions. Um, you know, we truly believe that every gymnast deserves to feel great and that'll help them perform really well as well. Um, and I think just being able to identify their needs and not just their um, you know, the superficial needs of, oh, I need a new leotard, I need to have a sparkless leotard in the gym. It's more of a you know, you need to be able to wear the right products to do the sport. I mean, if children are wearing, you know, baggy t-shirts and shorts, it can impact their performance, it can get in the way of the coaches when they're trying to spot. So, you know, there's two elements of our product. There's the technical element of the actual product, and then there's the the elegance of it, you know, how how much sparkle do you need for training and how much sparkle do you need for competition? So just being able to address those two at the right, um at the right areas is really important. And you know, looking at what we've developed over the last six months, we've been working with Wooka, which um has been one of our one of our pioneering projects this year, and it's been phenomenal because you know it's one of those taboo subjects where you know girls don't really want to talk about their periods, and you know, mums will be like, oh, but we won't send you in today. And it we shouldn't we shouldn't have to worry about, you know, it happens to all girls and through their life, and we just have to be able to manage and maintain that. And through again, community-led feedback, um, developing our base layer, which is like an underlyotard with a wooker liner, has really helped our community because they know they heard, they listened, and that again it helps them perform without worrying about you know what's going on in their body at that particular time in the month.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so talk to me a little bit about how how did that come about, that kind of collaboration and how what was the kind of starting point for the sort of collaboration between yourself and work at to get that base layer protection because it's such, as you say, an important thing that you know, if I do think actually maybe some parents would be like, well, we'll not say NGN today because it's it's first of all, it's painful. It's you know, it's mother nature, it's sore. And second of all, there is that kind of maybe lack of confidence, especially for you know girls that are getting their first period, or you know, they're maybe just like a bit unsure about how do I go about my daily routine. Like, we don't we're not always taught those things from our parents, as you say it's a very taboo subject. I mean, if I think back to that kind of time for for myself, like I don't think my mum really spoke to me about it. So, like, you know, there are you know changes happening and we are trying to be a less taboo subject, but how did that sort of come about then? Talk to me a little bit to that.
SPEAKER_01:Um, we work with lots of federations around the world, and we've got a lot of athletes on our um on our books, so we work with athletes to to help support them in their journeys because it's a non-funded sport, and listening to them, they were actually saying that you know, when it's when it's their period, sometimes they don't really want to wear tampons or or pads because of the wings, and how how did we, you know, because they they do ask us because we were also gymnasts at one point, and what did we used to do and what was available for us, and that got us thinking, okay, is there is there is this a problem wider? You know, is there a solution we can come forward with? But it it wasn't just the periods actually that came to light during the the whole um uh interviewing and the questioning, it was incontinence, which actually became more of a topic than the periods, because the periods they said, yeah, well, we can handle our periods because we we know when they are. Yes, they're uncomfortable, and yes, we can be heavy one month, and sometimes we'll need extra protection. But it was the incontinence because the girls are getting a lot older in the sport, which is fantastic. Um, so their body's being put under a lot more pressure. So when they're tumbling, the impact on the floor is actually causing them to not have control of their bladder, which is an is another issue. So, you know, they'd be tumbling and they'd feel a bit of a leak and then they'd become embarrassed and then they'd have to run into the toilet and then they wouldn't have anything to change into. So we worked with um Scottish Gymnastics um, because some of their athletes were having the same conversations, and they introduced us to to Wooker. So we did some research with Wooker, put out our own questionnaires to the community and said, you know, what are you suffering for? What support do you need? And it came back that actually there were two elements to this. There was the incontinence as well as the periods. So that was really interesting. So working with Wooker to develop um a leotard, then that can actually have this special guesset built in so that it doesn't look any different to any other leotard, so nobody knows the technology's there, but then it's really reassuring to know that if you tumble and okay, your blad is a little bit weaker, it doesn't matter because you're protected, that that layer is actually going to absorb it for you.
SPEAKER_02:And what's the uptake and response to that being? I would imagine that it's you know a great step forward for the brand. And what does the community kind of say about that?
SPEAKER_01:I think it just shows again what our um what our resource is. We are always innovative, we are always pushing the boundaries, we're always looking to find solutions. We're we're not the ones that go, oh, they had a great idea, let's let's let's follow suit. We are always pioneering to be the first. We want to push those limits, not just for the sport, but for um athleticism, you know, in any sport, it doesn't just have to be gymnastics. So, you know, a lot of the base layers that we do are multi-sport, they can be worn under ballet leotars, it can be worn under sprinting leotars, weightlifting. It can it's a cross-sport product because it's it's a female issue, it's not a sport-specific issue, it's a female issue that needs to be addressed. So I think it's just really important for us that we are always looking to be in tune with the community and push those boundaries. We're all about pushing limits, you know, making sure that we are on our customers' side and finding those solutions for them.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I think that's kind of a great sort of product solution for a very important topic, both across, you know, the period side of things, but also the incontinence. And just about like what you were saying earlier about there's kind of an element of like the technical side of things that that gymnasts need these things, but also confidence, and confidence can come in many different forms. It can come in the form of wearing a sparkle in the card and feeling a million dollars and feeling really confident in stepping out in that stage, but then it can also be that you know basic, the base layer of what they need to be able to perform. So there's elements of feeling confident, and you know, that elevates your performance, but actually underneath that is the foundation of okay, can I go out and do this? Is there something that's gonna be in the back of my mind distracting me? Because that's sometimes what it can be, right? Like you were saying earlier. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we we just we don't need our customers to think about that. We want them to be just comfortable or confident and focusing on the job at hand, you know, their performance and not worrying about, you know, all the other things that they they've got to contend with in the background.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna reference this light because this will go out across our social channels. So we have automatic timers um so that if somebody doesn't walk by within a certain amount of time, the lights shut down. So that is why I'm sitting in the dark. Um not just like sitting in it for the sake of it. Um so let's go back to then you've obviously got, you know, you talked about your parents, you've talked about clubs, you've talked about children, you've talked about all of the different sort of um athletes that use your wear. Talk to me about how it feels to see your brand on a competitive stage, you know, Olympic level, whether it's in the gym, you know, you've got your brand across multiple different places, but how did it feel to kind of see the brand on a sort of competitive stage? And how does it feel today?
SPEAKER_01:It it's just such a special feeling. I think it was always my dream to go to the Olympics. Um, I didn't quite make it through injury, um, and I wasn't at that level. I I got as far as the junior British team, I didn't quite get into the seniors where you need to be to get into the Olympics, and I I didn't quite have that skill level compared to some of my peers at the time. Um but to be able to see something you know we've produced at the Olympics, at the World Championships, at the European Championships, is just it's just a sense of pride that can't really be put into words. But I just feel like a part of me, I never made it, but a part of me has made it, and across not just one country, multiple countries. So it's just really special. And I think, you know, as much as the Olympics is a pinnacle for you know most athletes, even the staff in Quattro, because everyone's had a hand in it. The design team have helped, the sales team have helped, the warehouse have picked it, they've packed it, they've shipped it, you know, but it's a sense of pride across the company because everyone's had a really special moment in getting that piece to that gymnast at that pinnacle moment in their career, which is really special.
SPEAKER_02:I know now you can all be like, well, we make the the Olympics every year, like or every time. That's your flex, that is Quattro's flex, like your flex, your team's flex. It's kind of like, yeah, well, we're guaranteed to be there. Um talk to me then a little bit about um I was looking sort of on the website and a couple of different things we'll touch on in a moment, but um freedom to perform, that's your kind of tagline. And I guess we've kind of talked about that and we've alluded to it within lots of different things. Was that always the tagline of Quattro? Did that come about as the brand sort of evolved? Talk to me a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_01:If I take a step back into Quattro's archives, it was actually um a knitware company before we started. Um so uh my father started the company Quattro, and it was named Quattro because there were four of us, and me, my mum and my dad, and my brother. So we were thinking, they were thinking of a name. What what company could they do with Quattro? Um, and then when I diversified the business into gymnastics, um, I tied with changing the name. I thought actually, I don't need to change the name because I'm an artistic gymnast and there's four pieces of apparatus, it means vault, bars, beam, and floor. So the quattro actually held really strong. You know, it's got a different end point to where it started, but it has equally the amount of meaning. But the freedom to perform came in at the point where I diversified into gymnastics because we needed a product that had no limits. They could, you know, they could train in it, they could compete in it, and it wasn't restrictive, it felt like a second skin. So it really did give athletes the freedom to perform, um, you know, with no inhibitions really. So that yeah, that that tagline came in kind of phase two of Quattro's journey.
SPEAKER_02:I love that that you were like, hold on, do we need to totally rechange the brand, refresh it? No, like there's a way I can make Quattro work, but what we'll do is we'll stick a lovely tagline on it, and that'll actually be kind of you know, taglines are one of those things that either companies get right or they get wrong. You know, if you think about taglines, you're gonna be like, just do it night. Like that is literally what it says in the tin. And again, like without even if you weren't to see Quattro or know anything about it, but you saw the name in the tagline, you could very quickly understand, okay, this is something to do with the sport, like sporting world, can you understand that? So I think you know, that kind of fading to perform, and we've touched on it about how it does it, whether it's confidence, whether it's the the technical side of things, whether it's you know being a woman, like how does that that you know impact things day to day? So I think that's um you know touched on that really well. So um looking ahead then, Joanna, what is um next for Quato? Any innovations, anything like you know, your campaigns. I was looking on your website, you've got your advent campaign, you're all ready for the naughty C words, um, anything else for Quatro that you want to hear?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the calendar's been phenomenal again. Um, first of the business to to produce um a 25-day calendar, and it's been received by the community tenfold and over um exceeded all expectations this side. But you know, again, great team, great marketing, great product. I think there's gonna be a lot of happy children out there. Um they do receive one of these on December the 1st. Um, but kind of where are we now? We're really focusing on on the club side of our business. Um, and like similar to you guys, where we know that the clubs have got a lot of administrative um pressure and they don't always have the staff that can you know help manage a timetable. So being able to produce platforms for them to ease their administrative skills is paramount because they want to be busy doing what they're brilliant at, and that's coaching, they don't want to have to be worrying about the timetabling and and the kits that the kids need to wear. So we've developed an online boutique where clubs can brand their own merchandise and all the parents have an access area to their club's platform and they can buy all the branded kits. So that's what we're currently working on at the moment. So it kind of goes hand in hand with Task for Kids in that respect, where you know, pushing them onto taking the pressure off and putting a solution out there for everybody. Um, and we also step into cheer as well, which is a massive industry. So that launched um about two weeks ago now. So that's a really exciting uh launch for us as well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think there's a couple of things there. Cheer, yeah, it's absolutely like a market that we're kind of just realizing how massive it is. Like, you know, I think when you think of cheer, if we were to you were asked to say, like, what do you think about cheerleading? You'd be like, American high school movie, but actually, no, there's a huge community. Like, you know, we have clubs in the cheer space on at class for kids. We've interviewed them, we've had them on the podcast, it's growing rapidly. There's a competitive, non-competitive side. So again, it's kind of like this, the foundational. I always think of gymnastics as like a foundation in the sporting world, right? A lot of kids will go to gymnastics. It probably provides a lot of the skills for things if they go on to competitive, you know, not just in the gymnastics space, but cheerleading within dance, ballet. It's that kind of core foundational sport I think that impacts so many children beyond just being a gymnast. Um, but I think there's a couple of things that you touched on there about the gymnastics. Clubs and that community and that you know they've got so much on they've got, like you say, competitions, they've got squads to manage, they've got insurance to think about, venues, a huge thing for clubs, you know. When we go out to visit them and we've done club shoots where we go out and sort of do case studies and give them content back, it's always kind of these industrial units that they're in. So coupled with that, thinking about running a business there, about how do I fundraise if I need it, how do I cover my overheads? There's so so much for them to think about. And I think when we are talking about class for kids in the capacity of like booking software, it's it's almost like another thing they think, oh, like I can't even think about that, that's too much. But our our mission really is to free club owners from spending all of their time, like you're saying, doing all of the admin, managing the registers, not knowing who's paid, um, not knowing who's got photo permissions that they can put up on their social media channels if they want to advertise more classes. That's kind of what we sit sit and do. So I like to think of Class for Kids as literally a background tool. We're in the background, helping you run your business, giving you the ability to kind of do what it is that you love, whether that's um focusing on the coaching side of things, whether it's training and session planning, all of these different things is kind of what we are here to do. And I guess like with your um merchant, is it kind of like a merchandise store you were talking to there? Yeah. Another, do you know what? No more WhatsApps, no more Facebook messages, no more guys. Here's the link to where we can get our products and on the store. And it's just a much more streamlined way for you to be able to track things um for gymnastics clubs. So um sort of before we kind of wrap up this podcast, Joanna, what do you think are some of the main challenges and and for our listeners and um viewers of the podcast, what do you think are the main challenges um gymnasts or or gymnastics clubs are facing at the moment?
SPEAKER_01:I do think it's probably admin um challenges, and I think that's where you and I can both support them, you know, and let freeing them up to do the things that they're great at and love doing, and letting us work with them in partnership to be able to do the things that they don't have the capacity or the staff to do it. So, like you said, taking the planning off them, making sure that that's the software's running and implementing its uh what it needs to do to help the club plan. And the same for us, you know, it's always the least important thing having their kit for competition until it's the day before the competition and think, oh my gosh, we already have done the kit, or the week when it's sizing up. You know, I had the situation where my kids had a competition last week, and obviously being the owner of Quattro, I'm like, we don't need to be in this position. Let's just get you guys on the shop, and then all the parents know when the competitions are and they can go and make sure they have everything before they need it, so there's no mass panics last minute and you know, next day deliveries flying over the country to make sure everyone's got their kit because you know it's really important that they have their kit. They've done all the training um around you know, the the l the lead up to the events, and they don't need to be worrying about kit. So just being able to take that stress off them and letting us help manage that for them and working directly with their parents as opposed to the coaches. Um, I just think I'll free up their time and like you said, let them do what they're great at and what they enjoy doing.
SPEAKER_02:And I think for any you know, gymnastic clubs that are sort of listening in on this podcast, I know sometimes it seems like it's a task to get something set up like a software, like a shop. But the point is that if you invest a little bit of time, you know, now this side of the year, whatever it is that you know relates to to either product, it's about investing.
SPEAKER_01:It's the unknown, isn't it? It's the unknown. It's like, oh I don't, we haven't done it before, I don't, I'm scared. And it's just broken. I wanna break down those barriers, going, it's okay, we're here to help and support, it's it won't be scary. We're here to, you know, okay, it might take uh two weeks just to hand over the old process to the new process, but once that's in place, they get back so much more time.
SPEAKER_02:So if our listeners who are in the gymnastics space want to find out more about sort of your merchandise and your store, how do they go about that? Where can they find the information?
SPEAKER_01:Quattrogymnastics.com, if they go to the club section, all our offers and programs um and boutique information is all available online there, or they can send us an email at teams at quattrogymnastics.com or pick up the phone. We are a friendly, friendly phone um company here. So absolutely, you know, we love speaking to customers, so just pick up the phone and give us a call.
SPEAKER_02:We will pop the links um to those uh to the shop and the boutique, both in the podcast link and in the social captions as well, Joanna. So very quickly before we round up this podcast, Class for Kids and Quattro are in partnership. We're delighted to announce that. We've announced it to our email database, we've announced it across socials. I don't know where else you announce things these days, but we've announced it everywhere that we can think of. Um we are giving a OneClub the lucky chance to win a£2,500 voucher to spend with Quattro on your design studio. Um, so if clubs want to find out more about that, make sure you check out at Class for Kids UK on Instagram and at Class for Kids on TikTok. And I will drop the link to the landing page in that as well. A very exciting competition for One Lucky Club to be able to win that. Um I just think it's an exciting thing to be able to go and have that fresh feel of your brand ready for sort of the competition season as well. So we're delighted to be able to announce that partnership, and we'll drop the links to that. Um very quickly, Joanna, then um before we finish this podcast, you've given me a bit of a question to ask you on the basis of your marketing experience. What is one company that you would recommend for gymnastics clubs to go and look at when it comes to marketing? What's your kind of favourite brand to follow on TikTok or Instagram?
SPEAKER_01:Wow, uh gosh. Do you know that's such a hard question because there's so many new and exciting brands coming at all the time? And I think the the diversity of marketing platforms has changed phenomenally over the last decade. You know, where where we look for inspiration to where they look today is is a completely different area. However, I will say, um I still love what Adidas and Lanky do. I just think they're such some of the athlete marketing they put out is so powerful. They really do want you to feel the the athlete's journey and see kind of like where they've come from and where they're going to. And I just think the journey for me is so powerful because everyone goes through a journey in life. It doesn't matter what you touch on and what what your passion is, but going taking someone through that journey is just really special. And as soon as you can click in the customer's psyche and they can see that is me, then you've just got their soul, and you hope then you can take them with you on your journey together.
SPEAKER_02:You've just said the line of every market, we've we've taken their soul, we've got them. No, I absolutely I agree. Um, I love Nike's um billboard adverts that they do during like the London marathon, where it's like, you know, nothing feels as good as the blister on your feet at the end of X number.
SPEAKER_01:You can feel the pain, can't you? And it's like there's a reward at the end of it, like one incredible thing to do.
SPEAKER_02:And I remember having that kind of comment section on LinkedIn and I'd commented on it because people were like, Oh, like I don't think this encourages me to do a marathon. And I'm like, no, but that's not the point. The point is see people who are interested in that and know what it takes, who know like the training that it takes from your first 5k to your first 10k, you know that after a certain point that kind of pain starts to feel good and it is a reward. You're like, right, okay, I have achieved this amazing thing, and yes, I think it's not happening. So um, Joanna, thank you so much for joining us on In the Club. Oh, my pleasure, Rebecca. Thank you for having me on. And I'm sure this is not the last time we will have you involved in some class for kids content, but it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you, Joanna. Oh, thank you so much for having me on. My my what a fantastic interview, if I do say so myself.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, that really was.
SPEAKER_02:No, it was great to chat to Joanna um uh about multiple things. So, one of the biggest surprises for me was that I didn't know she had a background, a degree in business and marketing. So she is this kind of um force to be reckoned with within the gymnastics space in terms of her knowledge. She was a gymnast herself, she was coaching, she has a total knowledge of gymnastics and that whole space, both from like a gymnast, a coach, a parent perspective. She's a mum of three. I found out she started Quattro when she had her first baby. I actually said to her, Were you okay? Are you insane? That is wild. Like I could do nothing after my first baby. Like, how did she start a business?
SPEAKER_00:That's also highly inaccurate. You did not do nothing. I did not start a business. I did nothing productive.
SPEAKER_02:I did nothing productive. She is honestly so inspirational. Her knowledge of marketing is really powerful in terms of what she's done with the brands and how she's kind of built that, evolved it, moved it forward, and actually kind of been in line with what's happening, reactive to the market, and considering things like parents' disposable income, how do they make things affordable? We talked about um sort of the collaboration she's done with the the base layer where for periods and then continents, like that type of things. And one of the most inspiring things was she said was that she didn't want to just be okay, they're doing something cool, we're gonna follow suit. She wants to be the innovator, and I think that's exactly what Quattro is, is the innovator. Um and we also talked about the the tagline of freedom to perform. I'd kind of asked her when when did that come about? Was that as the brand evolved? And she sort of talked when she diversified to just owning the business herself because did you know, trivia, fun fact, Quattro was actually a knitwear brand that she and her family had started, her dad, her mum, her brother, and herself. The Quattro. It's very cool. Well, I know. And she she did go on, she diversified the business. She thought, do I need to change the name of it? And she actually thought, well, no, there's just four elements of gymnastics that we can absolutely incorporate into this. But what did evolve was the brand tagline and it's never changed since that freedom to perform. She had a vision, she's implemented it, and it's carried forward, it's relatable, it's relevant, it's all those wonderful things. And we also talked about um some of the challenges that club owners across the UK, Ireland, the world are facing in terms of you know costs rising, um, how do they go about spending more time doing what they like? So um Quato have just launched a store, merchandise store, and what they're trying to do is basically similar to our mission of right, you're doing a heck of a lot of admin here, both for like you know, running the club and then also trying to get your parents ready for comp season, getting them to get the kit for their kids. There's an easier way of doing this. So I think the missions and the values align really nicely, so good work.
SPEAKER_00:I think that's a big reason. Everything you've said, there's a big reason as to why we really, really, really wanted to work with Quatcho is that they want to be they're visionary, they're forward-thinking, they're always ahead of the game in this space, and they also want to be on the ground with the clubs. So this store is is an exciting part of what they already have, and we'll definitely be up have giving them a visit soon.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, there's lots of parallels I think between Quattro and Class for Kids. So we're gonna drop all the wonderful links to all the wonderful things in our podcast description. Joanna and I did touch on this, but I think as our partnerships manager, I'm gonna ask you to tell our clubs a little bit about it. What is happening between Quattro and Class for Kids?
SPEAKER_00:Uh-huh. We have something very, very exciting to let you all know about. Um, we have launched a competition. Um it's called Limitless, and the idea of Limitless is that we want one very, very lucky winner to be able to win£2,500 worth of Quattro vouchers. And we want them to be able to design this on their design builder. Design builder, yep. Kit builder, yeah. Design kit builder, and we would love for all of you to enter in the chance of winning an amazing prize that's put together, put that that Class for Kids and Quatro have been to being able to do put together.
SPEAKER_02:And we've got the so you can win the the voucher that Sima said to design your own Leotard ahead of comp season, meaning that you can have a totally refreshed brand going out and stepping onto the floor, giving your gymnasts the confidence that they need, which Joanna touched on, both from a technical point of view and from a feel-good point of view. Yes. And as we said, only one person can win. It's a competition. We wish that we could give some stuff to most of you. So what else are we doing, SEMA?
SPEAKER_00:We're also for anybody that is unfortunately not the winner, we will be giving them three months free plus£250 worth of quotes of vouchers. So come come along, enter, be part of it, and although there's only one winner, everybody can win. We'll still be giving away£250 worth of vouchers plus three months free.
SPEAKER_02:And that I think summarises a very exciting podcast. Lots of things to learn. Joanna Coxbirth are favourite marketing from companies. She talks about night, she talks about all the wonderful things that they are doing and how they continue to inspire Quatro and Joanna in their marketing and brand evolution. So thank you so much for tuning in to Class for Kids podcast in the club. Now Stephen wants to sing this. Stephen normally counts down a 3-2-1 bye if Stephen wants to sing this. So it's synchronised. This is off the cuff. We've not rehearsed this, so it's 3 2 1 bye, right? And it has to be harmonised. Ready? 3 2, you're not doing it. 3, 2, 1, bye!
