Today we’d like to introduce you to Fen Tung.
Fen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I became BollyX’s Product Director after meeting Shahil Patel, one of the co-founders at MIT Sloan. He had an extensive dance background, whereas, I had an extensive fitness background. Given that BollyX was a cardio dance fitness class that we wanted instructors teaching at gyms/studios, joining forces seemed like a good idea. Back in college, I had plans to attend Medical School. When that fell through after graduating, I decided to work at a gym part time just to get a free membership. That front desk job allowed me to meet personal trainers and group exercise instructors at the gym. Soon after I began working there, I got my certifications to do Personal Training and teach group fitness classes. I began my fitness career with teaching kickboxing and boot camp/body sculpt classes, then obtained other certifications/licenses such as BodyPump, Pilates and Zumba over the years. A few years after I began teaching Zumba classes, I met Shahil and began teaching BollyX classes. I really love the combination of music and exercise, so helping launch a Bollywood-inspired dance fitness format was a no-brainer for me.
Has it been a smooth road?
As with any start-up, there are definitely a few bumps in the road. What start-up doesn’t struggle with finances? We’d love to be able to bring BollyX to gyms and fitness conferences all over the world, but it requires money to do that. For now, we are steadily growing in major cities in the US and slowly gaining traction in Canada. We attended our first major convention -FIBO – in Germany this past April and networked with a lot of awesome fitness companies! As part of the BollyX HQ team, we are small but mighty. There are at times not enough hours in the day to get everything we need to do accomplished, but with teamwork, we push through together!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
BollyX – The Bollywood Workout, is a cardio dance fitness program inspired by the music of Bollywood, India’s film industry. You will also hear folk music from other regions of India played in BollyX classes. For example, Bhangra is a high energy dance genre that really gets the heart pumping. People love hearing the variety of South Asian music in each BollyX class – it’s what brings them back for more!
In each class, we encourage people to “unleash their inner rock star”! People don’t take BX classes just because it’s so fun, they also take it because it’s an effective workout! Our format is based on high intensity interval training principles, which improves cardiovascular fitness levels. Additionally, we have songs focused on the wide squat, which will get the muscles of the lower body lean and strong. We’re happy to hear that not only do people leave BollyX classes sweaty and with a big smile on their face, but that they walk out feeling confident like a rock star after nailing the dance performance in class!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Cambridge/Boston has many start-ups in various fields, but specifically with BollyX, I found it very helpful to start here because I already had a fitness family and community in Cambridge. I had been teaching classes and working in gyms in the area for nearly ten years when BollyX was launched. My friends and gym members who take my class regularly were extremely supportive in trying BollyX due to our history together. I don’t know if other fitness start-ups could do well in Boston unless they too had friends, family and a community already established here.
Pricing:
- $15 cash walk-in, Online prices: $12 single class, $66 for 6-pack, $110 for 12-pack, $24 new clients only 3-pack
Contact Info:
- Website: bollyx.com
- Email: contact@bollyx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bollyxfitness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bollyxfitness/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bollyxfitness
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bollyx-cambridge
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