Why did you choose the name Kyoko?
Kyoko can be interpreted in different ways in Japanese and one interpretation is 'mirror'. We want to be a mirror for our patients. Physical self-improvement starts from within and we help people do that. This can be confronting at times, but that's why we're there for.
Bas (co-founder Kyoko) and myself were big anime fans and value Japanese values such as discipline & cleanliness. I went to business school for a year in Seoul as well which was a great experience and helped me shape Kyoko.
Custom metal lid bottles
How did you get into private training?
I had a job in marketing for about 4 years which I liked but it wasn't as big a passion of me as sports & training.
I wanted something new and decided to take the leap by getting the necessary cerficats. Since Bas is specialized in ostheopathy there were a lot of synergies between what I wanted to do and his expertise, so we joined forces and here we are. Not only are we life-long friends but now we're business associates with a shared vision on how to help people get fitter.
What's your focus for Kyoko?
We focus on people with a busy lifestyle who want a place to work-out in peace and want to have someone to guide them through that process, we don't work with professional athletes for example. We offer different programs like fat loss, strength training or even boxing lessons. Everything we do starts with the customer as everyone is unique and has different goals.
Oversized tees & custom totes
You have built an impressive running community in a short time, how did that happen?
We just wanted to motivate people to start moving more in a very accessible, easy way.
So we launched Kyoko Running Club. We started running on Sunday mornings, the first runs there were only 2 people which is very funny to think about so many months later. Then in May the weather started to get better and the community started growing organically.
Our last event with Manuel Cartel had 50 people, so we're extremely grateful and we feel people actually love coming to our runs. The atmosphere is great and the runs are accessible even for entry level runners. Next to being a great event it's also an excellent way to meet new people if you're new in town.
Tell us about your Kyoko merch :)
The first thing I want to say is we ran out of merch crazy fast, people loved the metal drinking bottles and the custom bags.
I use it as a way to strengthen the sense of community in our running club and in my activities as personal trainer, I guess it creates a sense of belonging amongst our community members. We also wanted quality merchandising and the fact people actually use our bottles confirms we made the right choice. We also went for a modern, oversized fit in a heavyweight fabric.
Merch can seem trivial but for a lot of people it's a memory, a souvenir about a good time they had.