Limited Arnold festival crowd was early pandemic warning
Woman’s bet on herself, yoga studio pays off
The Arnold Sports Festival was one of the first events to fall victim to the coronavirus.
Festival president Robert Lorimer remembers the day well.
A year later, he thinks banning most spectators was the right decision. He just wishes he had been given more notice.
The four-day festival and weightlifting competition, named for actor, bodybuilder and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, lost millions of dollars in 2020 due to health restrictions imposed days before it was set to begin, Lorimer said. Although competitors and fans had already arrived in Columbus, spectators were limited because of the virus.
“For the health of the people, absolutely it was the right decision,” Lorimer said. “For (the Arnold) it might have been the right call if it was made a week
earlier. … I’m upset with the way it played out due to the fact that they shut us down when we had already spent $4 million.”
Just days after restrictions were imposed on The Arnold, several other events followed suit with similar limitations and even cancelations, including the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament that had games scheduled in Dayton. Soon after, professional sports teams also temporarily halted their seasons.
There are no firm plans for when the Arnold will be held again, though Lorimer said he’s hopeful some version of it could take place this fall after COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available.
It will be a difficult task to pull off though, as Lorimer said he and his team need about six months to prepare and right now it’s impossible to predict what the pandemic may look like in half a year.
“We’re kind of just in limbo,” Lorimer said. “But, I’m really hopeful myself. I don’t think this thing can last forever.”
Predicting the state of the world a few months from now is a game that many people, doctors and event planners alike, are playing at the moment.
For Dr. Mysheika Roberts, there’s no question limiting the Arnold was the right move a year ago. The Columbus Public Health commissioner was the first to raise concerns about the festival as the threat of the virus became clearer.
At first, Arnold organizers like Lorimer agreed to go along with spectator limits. Schwarzenegger himself was part of the announcement to limit the festival’s activities, calling it “a very sad moment.”
Then, Lorimer said he and others soon felt like the same restrictions were not being imposed on other events in Ohio. They attempted to pull back on their initial agreement to limit fans before the state issued a health order that mandated restrictions.
Roberts said she was grateful that community leaders, including Dewine and Dr. Amy Acton, former director for the Ohio Department of Health, all heard her out on her concerns. Limiting spectators, Roberts said, was a compromise but also allowed for the “core of the event” to go on.
“When you’re a public leader like I am, you have to make some tough decisions and you have to live with them,” she said. “I think we dodged a bullet.”
A year after raising her concerns about the Arnold, Roberts said one thing remains unclear: when the festival will be able to restart.
The answer though, will undoubtedly lie in the rate of infections, vaccinations and whether any new variants crop up, said Dr. Bill Miller, senior associate dean of research and professor of epidemiology at Ohio State University’s College of Public Health.
Recent health orders may provide clues to the near-future. Dewine announced Feb. 22 that come April, outdoor stadiums would be permitted to have 30% capacity.
Determining whether an event is safe enough to hold this year, Miller said, should be done on a “case-by-case basis.” Either way, Miller said he’d be surprised if the Arnold took place this year.
Although new cases of coronavirus have steadily declined across Ohio in recent weeks, between 1,000 and 3,000 are still being reported per day, which is more than last summer’s surge. That many cases, Miller and other experts have said, are far too many to significantly ease restrictions.
“We’re still higher than we were in the summer,” Miller said. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Something to keep an eye on this summer is the Olympic Games, originally scheduled for July 2020 but delayed to 2021 because of the pandemic. If the games move forward, they could be a good indication for other summer events.
Despite the massive scale of pulling something off such as the Olympics, Lorimer fears the Arnold is dependent on the state of the virus in many more countries. While the Olympics brings together the top athletes from around the world, he said the Arnold invites competitors from far more nations.
That means that even when the Arnold is able to resume, it won’t be without a plethora of health and safety measures, Lorimer said.
Face masks, hand washing and distancing, Lorimer admitted, may be the only way the festival can take place any time soon.
“It’s really important that people stay safe. Keep in mind, in our industry we’re pretty much marketing to people who are health conscious,” Lorimer said. “Arnold has a really careful eye out on this himself too. He doesn’t want to go forward if we can’t have spectators there in a safe way. We don’t want to have that happen again.” mfilby@dispatch.com @Maxfilby
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Alissa Rodgers won’t ever forget 2015, when her marriage fell apart. Not only would her three children suffer consequences, but the business she had spent four years building suddenly was in jeopardy.
That’s because her husband at the time was her business partner and, as part of their divorce proceedings, he wanted to sell. Rodgers, the founder of Goyoga, did not.
“It felt like my baby,” she said. “I loved it and was just as passionate about it as I am my kids. There were people in my life saying, ‘Just let it go. You can start all over.’ But I had worked so hard to get it where it was.”
To save it, she had to scramble. She asked her team if they could wait a little longer than usual for their paychecks. They could. Landlords were asked to give her extra time on rent. They did. And a former connection from Rodgers’
“I’m somebody who has a hard time asking for help. I had to be vulnerable in that time and ask for help. In the end, it strengthened our team.” Alissa Rodgers
Goyoga founder
days as a Massage Envy franchisee was asked if she’d be interested in making an additional investment in Goyoga. She was.
Today, the business is the largest yoga studio system in the Columbus region with eight locations, and it’s among the largest such operations in the Midwest. While COVID-19 has presented challenges, Rodgers and co-owner Carrie Downey are aiming higher. They’re taking steps to start selling franchises in 2021.
“The experience (related to the divorce) made us stronger,” Rodgers said. “I’m somebody who has a hard time asking for help. I had to be vulnerable in that time and ask for help. In the end, it strengthened our team.”
The Great Recession foundry
Rodgers grew up as a cheerleader in Dublin in the 1980s and 1990s. She relished going to work with her dad, who owned a construction company, and answering phones. At age 12, she started a babysitting service by using her neighborhood directory to send personal notes to families marketing her skills. She built up a clientele whose kids she watched for 10 years.
After graduating from Dublin Coffman High School in 1998, she attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in health policy and administration. She went on to work in process design consulting. The few years she spent in that New York-based role felt like earning an MBA and then some, she said. The work involved extensive travel all over the country. After she became pregnant in 2003, she began considering options.
Rodgers decided to join her mom and stepfather, Julie and Steve Kambeitz, in becoming the first Massage Envy franchisees in Ohio in 2007. Their three locations consistently placed in the company’s top 10% nationwide in terms of revenue.
“This was right at the beginning of the Great Recession,” Rodgers said. “I had to learn a lot about launching a new business, and on top of it, it was one where the services were considered a luxury for many people during a difficult time in the economy. We had to learn to survive and thrive. Looking back, I’m so thankful I had that experience.”
The family exited the business in 2017 when their franchise agreement expired.
Discovering yoga
Rodgers was drawn to yoga as an outlet for getting into shape after she had her first child.
“I had the same thoughts many people have when they decide to try yoga — ‘I’m not going to be good. I’m not athletic. I’m not flexible. I can’t do those crazy poses,’” she said.
Her best friend, Jennifer Blake, was a yoga teacher who persistently nudged her to try a class at a studio in Dublin. Rodgers took her up on the offer.
Taking 90-minute Bikram yoga classes in a 105-degree room two to three times a week gave Rodgers a stronger body, more confidence and more energy. She also felt focused from the mind-body practice. When the owner of the Dublin studio decided sell the
business in 2006, Rodgers and Blake tried to buy it. They lost out to another student who offered more money.
“(After that), I hopped around trying to find another place, but couldn’t find anything that had that really strong community feel where it’s welcoming and where they really inspire you,” Rodgers said. “It’s more than just teaching poses. It’s inspiration; wisdom and lessons you can use in your life.
“Something inside said, ‘You need to open a studio. You can do it.’ I never looked back.”
Starting small
Rodgers launched Goyoga in March 2011 with classes from restorative yoga to power yoga. Rodgers said the Massage Envy experience proved pivotal to her new business. She remembered the stress of having six-figure loans hanging over the family’s head and decided not to take on that burden for her new venture.
“I had a tax refund of a few thousand dollars. I said, this is all I’m going to put toward it.”
A location inside other people’s dance and martial arts studios provided her cheap spaces to test her vision — an affordable and more accessible form of yoga than what was on the market. Groupon was a pretty big deal at the time, and Rodgers used the digital coupon provider for most of her marketing.
Goyoga built a following fairly quickly, which gave Rodgers the confidence to sign her first lease with a landlord for space in Powell in September 2011. More locations would follow in low-overhead spaces, like an unused fitness room in a gym, so prices could remain affordable for clients. As the business grew, Rodgers stuck to the plan of making the studios comfortable for everyone, from the curious first-timer to the hardcore yogi, by fostering a sense of community in a warm, welcoming environment. Unlike other studios where instructors teach from the front of a room on a mat, Goyoga’s instructors would intentionally move throughout the space to give assists when needed. Customized plans were designed to meet every kind of budget, from a single class drop-in to monthly memberships.
Also pivotal to the early success was Rodgers’ relationship with Downey. They met in 2007 when Downey worked for Massage Envy’s regional developer.
By the time Rodgers was getting Goyoga off the ground, Downey had fall
en in love with the practice. She remains a minority owner, manages the New Albany studio and handles the finances and human resources.
“Alissa is tenacious,” Downey said. “She’s someone who is able to get 30 hours out of a 24-hour day.”
The road ahead
Goyoga’s newest location opened in Dublin in March just as awareness of COVID-19 was increasing. The business quickly launched a digital component that will continue going forward. Forty livestream classes are offered every week, and there are hundreds of pre-recorded classes so members can do yoga from anywhere. Goyoga also is offering hardship memberships to people experiencing financial challenges because of the pandemic.
When the studios closed in the spring because of the health crisis, Rodgers and Downey got serious about getting their ducks in a row for a franchising push. “We believe it can be really successful,” Downey said.
While an economic downturn might not seem like the ideal time to launch a new venture, business applications actually have surged during the pandemic as people who lost jobs look to create opportunities of their own, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Steve Kambeitz, Rodgers’ stepfather, a retired CFO and former business partner in Massage Envy, said franchising will change Goyoga’s business model. “I describe her now as a yogi that runs a business,” he said. “If she takes it to this next level, that’s a whole new ballgame. It’s really going to become a business that is yoga.”
Rodgers has the attributes to pull it off, Kambeitz said. She has a glass-halffull attitude and can handle frank conversations about business challenges.
“I remember the first time she put a budget together for Massage Envy — I looked at it and laughed. The budget was very optimistic,” Kambeitz said. “I asked her, ‘Do you want to bet your bonus on it?’ She said yes. She didn’t get a bonus that year.
“I helped her get into a more realistic mode,” he said. “It shows that she’s smart and a fast learner who doesn’t take things personally. She doesn’t worry about the small stuff. Her tendency is to plow through and make things happen.”
Laura Newpoff is a freelance writer.