This article was originally published in ICON/REFINED Magazine Volume 7. 

Photography by SkyHigh Productions

March 2020 marked a dark time for many business owners, Jodi Barrett included. Her studio, Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada, had been in operation since 2017, and while Jodi had dabbled in expanding her in-person classes to an online platform, as of March 2020, there was no longer any room to dip her toe in. It was time to go full force if she wanted to maintain her business and help keep her clients healthy in uncertain times. “This was ultimately how my hybrid model was born, and it would eventually allow me to grow locally and connect globally,” she says. 

“The hybrid model allowed me to maintain immediate connection with my in-studio clients,” she says. “After 48 hours of the government shut down, many of them were picking up kettlebells and were training online.”

While Jodi values the lessons that arise from failures, there were some obstacles in navigating hybrid. At the time, Jodi’s business was a one-woman-show, and finding the time and energy to continually give it her all was no easy feat. “I was teaching three times the amount,” she says, until restrictions allowed her to pull double duty, filming her workouts with in-person clients who were safely spaced out. Leveraging live classes, she then added them to an on-demand library, eventually also running exclusive classes online as well. “It was a way to navigate two worlds,” she says. And not only that, but she also created connections that may have never been made. “I recently had a client from the UK who flew here to be in person with his community that he hangs out with online weekly.”

Implementing a hybrid model turned out to be a long-term gamechanger for Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada. The global reach has opened new doors for Jodi, including training the nation’s veterans at annual retreats, as well as launch a retreat of her own. And the online side keeps expanding as well: Kettlebell Kickboxing now boasts its very own app. 

“The greatest challenge led to one decision being made that gave me the ability to learn. Now, the hybrid model will allow the business to grow and project us into the future of online while still connecting on a personal level.”