At 9Round Fitness, Franchisee Kari Carlson is getting in a quick workout, and reflecting on when the world turned upside down last year.
"It was crazy because I was here. I was working out, and all of a sudden, we got this announcement like you have to close at 12pm," Carlson says. "It was a shock and everyone got hit the same way."
While her team faces challenges like businesses everywhere, Carlson says women-owned businesses have additional obstacles to overcome. It's something that she thinks is important to recognize both every day and on International Women's Day.
"The impact of the loss of revenue and all of that, I think a lot of the women-run businesses were at a disadvantage because they tend to be less funded from the start," she says. "So we had a little bit of a bigger hill to climb and a little more burden."
Research shows that less than five percent of venture capital funding went to startups solely owned by women in 2018.
Carlson says she's grateful to have the support of the franchise behind her and her staff, which is made up of mostly women.
"I think it's really awesome to work with a team for girls," Personal Trainer Kayla Carlson says. "We're really encouraging of each other."
"We do have one guy now," Carlson says. "It's never been on purpose. It's just kind of worked out that way. It's kind of empowering because we have men in our gym, it's more female dominated, but it's about 80/20."
Carlson hopes to empower members of 9Round Fitness, her team. She's encouraging all business owners, particularly women, to continue to push through this difficult time.
"I think it's empowering for our female trainers to be like 'I can kick your butt just as well as anyone else,'" she says. "It's a saturated market and I think that affects the confidence of a woman sometimes. Now that I'm a business owner and in this position, I feel like I can fight thru pandemics and obstacles and all those things just like anyone else."