Connections! in SW Florida - Featuring Michelle Lee Price from TriTone Triple Barre

Hello, Michelle.

Hi, how are you?

I'm good. Hello, Naples and surrounding areas. Michelle, you are my first early evening one. I've done them in the middle of the day, I've done them at the start of the day, and now you are the, um, the, uh, latter part of the day. So we'll see what kind of live audience we get, but certainly we've been getting some really good traffic on the replays too. My name is Renee Han, and I am bringing you this Connections in Southwest Florida. My whole intent behind this is to connect local people with local businesses. When we all got hit with this COVID challenge that we're in the midst of, um, you know, it took the breath out of a lot of us and a lot of businesses. And I thought, with so many people on the internet right now, on social media, I thought this would be a great platform to be able to showcase wonderful businesses like yours, Michelle. So thank you for joining me today.

You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

My pleasure. Let's start, Michelle. I'd love, before we get into the business part of it, I'd love the audience to get to know you a little bit. So tell us about Michelle.

I was actually born and raised here in beautiful Naples, Florida, and I love that you and your sales team is always promoting moving to Paradise. That was where I'm from, and I've spent my whole life in the housing, um, construction, design, and real estate industry. My parents owned a general contracting firm, a development firm, and a real estate firm. So it's really kind of been what I grew up in Paradise, watching this place grow and blossom. And I also studied interior design in school, so My passion has been in creating beautiful spaces and just really loving this coastal lifestyle that we have here. I don't really know how much you want to know about me, but you can stop me when you're ready. No, that's wonderful.

And people are— we're going to talk about your business in the health and wellness area today, but I do want people to know, everyone, you're going to hear about her, her, that side of the business, but You are multifaceted, multi-talented, because I've seen some of your design work and it is gorgeous. One question I have before we get into business side, with so many talents, how do you decide how to spend your time, Michelle?

It is very challenging. Delegating time to task is probably one of the biggest challenges I face every day. But what I basically did is turned my passion and creativity and drive into my career. So I'm able to kind of funnel all these multifaceted ideas that go on. I do this because this is my brain around here, you know, that there's like ideas floating in space. And that's really where they all come from, is these crazy ideas. I guess I think a lot, um, and I come up with things, and then I research and study and development until I can put them all into action. So I'm kind of a workaholic. To have to be like doing something. And I like projects, so with design and all of that, I like to be working on something towards an end goal. So my end goal, I guess, is kind of like dangling a carrot. I always have some type of goal that I feel that I have to reach, and I can't sleep or stop until I'm done. And I'm never done because I keep creating new things to add to it. So that's kind of, I guess, how I Keep going.

That is a great illness to have because I find myself with the same one. It's a curse and an asset. And you are also a mother to a beautiful boy. Yes. And he's a dog. Not only do you have multiple careers, but then you are also CEO of the household. Although I don't know, maybe, maybe you guys have negotiated different titles, but Well, very good, Michelle. So we're here to talk about your business, which is Tritone Triple Bar, but the beauty of it is because of your design background, you were able to just not only bring in the business but create the environment. So tell us a little bit about Tritone, and, uh, and I'm anxious to learn some more.

So thanks. I cannot wait to have you in one of our studios. Um, I started gymnastics when I was 2 years old. So I was obsessed not only with doing projects, but I was also obsessed with flipping and performing and just really kind of just doing anything that involved the spotlight. So my entire life I grew up competing in gymnastics, dance, cheerleading, also softball. Um, and I began coaching when I was about 15. So coaching had been kind of one of those moments where I found myself. Um, and then when I moved on to my career as an interior designer, I was always stuck at a desk and I really loved the passion of design, but I felt like just being constricted to the office and business and, um, all of the big stuff that goes behind it that you really don't think about in the creative realms, which I'm sure, you know, of all of the business that goes behind real estate, design, construction, managing people, managing huge projects. So I'm really great at all of those things, but I was missing like the human interaction and moving my body to music and teaching. And as an adult, it's really hard to do that. I'm not going to be on a dance team or a cheerleading team, and my skills, um, aren't really there.

Michelle, I think you've got a powerhouse group of women that work out for me with you, and I think you could get a squad going.

Maybe, but our skill level is like, I call it like kindergarten ballet. So we just do really super basic stuff because doing all this crazy stuff my whole life, I injured my body very badly. And when I was about 27, I had a severe injury. I mean, I was already injured, but all of a sudden I just became in so much pain. I had to leave my design career. I had to quit my job. Was stuck on the couch for a year. And then I decided one day after I had gained weight, had a baby, gotten really depressed, hadn't left the house in 3 years, I was like, you know what? I got to get my shit back together. Excuse me.

We like keeping it real, Michelle. You go ahead. Keep telling.

That's one of our slogans. Real women doing real things to achieve real results. So, you know, I was at a very broken point of my life and I thought that this Tritone idea that I had had for a long time was like a dream that was very far away, never going to come true. Never thought I would dance again, let alone move, walk around, even go to work for an entire day sounded completely insane to me because I had spent so much time in pain and not able to really make it through a whole day. So I don't know what happened. All of a sudden one day I was like, I'm going to do this. And everyone's like, you are crazy. What are you going to do? I'm going to start this brand. I'm going to make my own method. I'm going to open a studio. I'm going to design it and create this plan. And I'm going to sell franchises and do all these things. And everyone's like, "Kay, why don't you just like go back to work? Like get a job." You're like, "I am." I don't know. I just, you know, they're like, "Yeah, exactly. You have a kid at home. Like how are you going to do all these things?" opened a little studio. I got an opportunity and I did. I threw it together and now we are trying to open our second studio here locally in Naples and our first franchise. So I did all of the things I said I was going to do.

I have no doubt, and I never had the opportunity, Michelle, to meet you when you were in that point of your life, but it amazes me because every time I've seen you since I've met you, You are just a ray of sunshine. So the thought of you in any darkness is just counterintuitive to me. So whatever you're doing, it works.

Well, moving and being with people and doing what you love, like, it's really what makes it all happen. And being a mom.

Yeah, absolutely. So tell us a little bit about— so you gave us a good intro that this was sort of a vision you had, a passion about moving your body, connecting with people. Tell us about the business. You talked about developing your own. It really is, you didn't buy into a franchise. Nobody's gonna go into another city and see this. So tell us about Tritone Triple Bar. What does it entail? What's available for people? And then I wanna come on in the back end and talk about the new, the second place. But let's start with the first place.

How did I do this? Well, like she had originally said, I have all these talents and all this drive. So when I was younger, I was also never bored. I was on the cheerleading team, the dance team, and the gymnastics team. So, um, I wanted a workout that incorporated the things that I loved that was also low impact for my injured body. So when I created my workout, I thought, this is going to be my perfect job and my perfect activity. I can incorporate the teaching that I love, I can incorporate the design because I can finally design my dream studio. Since I had been in studios my entire life, I always imagined what a beautiful studio would look like. And if you ever competed, you know that you're usually working out in dirty, sweaty warehouses. And I mean, we are doing crazy stuff wherever we could. So when I found out that I could turn this into a business, I realized that, you know, I'm obsessed with design and creation, that I was going to make it 100% how I wanted it. And people could either like it or not come. And it turned out a lot of people liked it and a lot of people have come. And since then we've just been growing and evolving. So the workout entails cheerleading, gymnastics, and dance style principles. And there's not really any other workouts out there that really do all of that in one place. So we get your cardio going with cheerleading style dance moves because I wanted like to have fun and kind of move my body and, you know, get your heart rate up, burn some calories. And I like to dance. So very simple, easy to follow, 20 minutes of cardio dance. Then we do 20 minutes of ballet barre. And as you see in the background here, this is my ballet barre. System. It's called Triple Bar because we have 3, and also the name of the business is Tri—

so the stiff people like me, we can start low.

And it's funny, when I auditioned for Shark Tank, um, my little kicker was, all the women come in and they say, oh, thank God, I can just put my leg right here on the small bar. I don't have to whip it way up there. And they were all laughing. I thought Funny. So this is patent pending. We are patent pending for our methodology and the design of the apparatus. I invented the use of the lowest bar. It came from an idea of an idea of an idea that evolved into adding another bar, and then I created an entire method of movement around it. So that's our third section. So the second section, we use all three bars while standing. We do, um, simple ballet-based movements where I call my kindergarten ballet. It's just tendus, pliés, passé, but man, it really makes your legs burn. And then we do all your ab work. Yep, on the floor. And we do lots of stretching and toning too. So we use like an active stretch approach. You're always moving and flowing, but it helps your muscles lengthen and repair and recover. And I've actually like, I barely have any pain anymore compared to what I did 3 years ago. So it has helped my body, and as a real woman doing real things for real results, we hope to share with other women like you. So you can come in sometime and check it out. So part number 3 of the workout is on the mat. We do all of our mat work using the lower bar. So what the lower bar actually does is puts your hips in proper alignment. So when you're doing planks and you're doing additional abdominal work you can use it to kind of put your body into a position that can accept this really deep toning motions. So like, you know, if you're in a plank, like say you're in a plank, there's all this pressure on your back, so your butt kind of sinks down and you're like, or pushing it way up. If you have your feet on the bar, you can push on the bar and then use the force from the bar to pull your core in tighter. Um, it actually makes you into like a deeper workout, and the body positions that create in all of the movements that we do replicate the gymnastics hollow core position. So like when you're doing backflips and things, you have to be in this certain like slightly inverted deep ab work position just to move. So it helps you get into that position and then you can move and do these harder motions. And it's really fun.

I love it. Now you're there at the studio, right?

This is my home studio, actually.

So this is where I've been since COVID-19. I love it. Well, then I won't ask you to do a spin around. I wasn't sure if you were at home or in the studio, but I love that you—

Thank you.

You are so serious about it that you've incorporated into your house too. That's a great role model.

Thank you. Well, we had to close the studios, so I'm sure you're curious about that. We had to close our first South studio, and then we were set to launch studio number 2 and franchise. In February. And then they were like, by the way, um, close your business. So first I was like, okay, this is crazy, what's going on? And then now 3 months later, I'm still not sure what's going on. So I had already actually designed this. It's really super cute. I will show you. This is my home studio. We've got our sign, got a pretty floor, and our little bar system. Not much, but it's kind of what a studio looks like. So I created this space kind of before this so that I could work on documenting my choreography videos and some of our moves so that now that we're training all these other women, they can learn what's inside of this crazy brain. So it has to be—

I love it.

—out there somewhere. So forcing myself to film myself is very difficult. So everyone working out at home right now, I give it to you. Having an online program has been my dream, but now being stuck and trying to do it and be a mom and run the studios and take care of the switch from closing the studios to what do we do now and all of that, I don't feel like filming myself.

No, and that's a lot of agility. And I have a, I have a few follow-up questions for you. I want to start, before I get into more of the technical side with the exercise aspect, tell me a little bit about what your vision visually was for your studios. If you were to describe your studios and what you'd hope that others that showed up would say about them, what, what, tell me what that feels and looks like?

Um, really just like a friendly, happy, sparkly environment because that's kind of like the gist of me. And I'm a cheerleader at heart, so I'm just kind of like, you know, bring that happy vibe to people. And when people walk into our space, I just wanted them to feel comfortable and welcome and know that this is a place where we're all at different levels and different walks of life, but we can all get together and do the same thing. And It's only as hard as you make it, as tight as you squeeze, so you can get a little bit of something stretch, and someone that's really hot and fit like Hollywood Girl can come in and, you know, really squeeze her muscles and get this great workout. But the design really reflects how you feel in a space. So as you see the colors behind me, my traditional branding is a gloss white with pops of coastal aqua, and I like silver. So, um, our bars are custom colored to reflect that. As you see, we have the aqua bars and the white bars here. Um, the new bar system that we just put in is actually has like a shimmer coat on it. It's so beautiful. Oh, I love it.

Um, you haven't been able to unveil yet?

Yeah, I have. I've been like leaking, so it's been like kind of little posts of it. But the new studio, um, is kind of like our signature studio. So as we're a franchise company now. Each studio that opens past this one will look remotely similar to this. So when you sign our franchise contract, I design your space, but I design it applying these features. So we already know what it's going to cost, what it's going to look like, where I can purchase these items that are readily available, and then I lay it out within your space that you have. So I say that the concept is a blooming, a contemporary blooming garden. So it's like very, you won't see as much, there's not as much character behind me here. But if you see my South Studio, I have this beautiful driftwood sculpture. The North Studio has a rose wall with like the greenery behind it. And I'll have the florals and everything draping from driftwood beams in the ceiling. So it feels like it's a blooming garden because this is where I planted all of my seeds. And we always say that the franchise company or corporate team is the mothership and we're Mother Earth and then all of our offspring blossoms since. So we plant the seeds and I water them, I teach them, I nourish them, I watch them grow, and then they sprout and grow into beautiful trees and bushes and flowers and create their own things and have their own studios.

So it's our blooming garden. I love it. I love it. And tell us—

mermaid stuff, mermaid coastal design everywhere. That's a big thing. So we have seashells and Little Mermaid sayings, things like that. I love it.

So tell me, tell us, where are your two locations?

Um, our South studio is in the Naples Bay Club right at the top of Fifth Avenue. Um, it's a very beautiful, um, like resort hotel, so it's nice and quaint in the heart of downtown. We see lots of vacationers and lots of tourists, so people from all over the world, which is cool. Difficult to have long-lasting business relationships 'cause everyone's in and out, but we get to see so many people, so it's amazing. And our second studio is in the Vanderbilt Galleria on Airport and Vanderbilt. We have roadside, we have signage, and it's more of like a storefront, so it's our signature turnkey studio like I had mentioned.

Um, it's the real deal. Where in the plaza are you? I'm trying to envision because I know that area. So we think Airport Road. Okay, facing, um, Metro PCS and all that is in, or a different one?

Yes, but we face the road. Okay, got it. And then there's FedEx and Metro PCS, and we're right in the middle. So something we don't have downtown is a sign and like public access. It's like a little a little hole in paradise. So we're really excited about North Naples because we get to connect with more people that actually live in town and commute in that area. So we're excited to see how we can connect with people and change their bodies on a long-term basis.

I love it. And so that one, correct me, Michelle, that one never got an opportunity to open, but it's practically opened Monday, kind of.

Um, so we're just tiptoeing into it, but yes, we're supposed to open February. Okay, wonderful.

I want to talk about the classes you offer, but let me start first with how do, how do memberships work?

So, um, you can do class packs or memberships. We are offering a brand new new studio special for only $75 a month. Our unlimited is usually $175, so $75 a month is best deal you will get anywhere at any time. So you guys should definitely come see us and check it out. Um, And if you get the unlimited, which is cheaper than our partial membership, you can come whenever you want. So, um, we'll have classes every day, 7 days a week, in the morning and in the evening, before and after work, and 9:30 AM. Right now we have just 9:30 AM, um, in our North Studio as we kind of tiptoe back into being in public.

Um, and then what about the afternoon class?

We're trying to decide what, um, we don't really know what times are going to be best in the North Naples area yet. Our South was 6 PM because everyone could get off of work and get there in time. So we're probably thinking about, um, 6, and then we may have some earlier classes like 4:30. And since, um, it's something like teens can do and moms and daughters can do, um, you have daughters, right? So We're thinking like the 4:30 time would be great for that. Okay, wonderful.

And then is the South one all— is it, is it open again? Not yet. Not yet. Okay, so just the North one's open right now. And for 9:30 AM classes, you're running a special for $75 a month. Normally it would be— did I, did I hear $175 a month? Okay, so that's a great deal.

Yes, it is a great deal. Our personal membership is $125. So the 75-month is great. We have small classes. The max we can fit in the studio is 20. But in our North Studio, we have it set up so that you can have 6-foot spacing. So if we do one person at every section, they're exactly 6 feet apart. And our bar is antimicrobial. I custom designed it to be powder-coated aluminum so you can just, wipe it clean. We have minimal equipment, so it's, I mean, one of the safest things you can do right now.

So come see us. And I heard you earlier, it's for all skill levels, all fitness levels. You can modify things, I imagine, for people who are like me that might be needing a little bit less physical stress to get it done, to the experts, right?

Yes, but all of our classes are every level, so there's no advanced class. And I think it just gets harder, like I said before, as you squeeze more, you know, and nothing— it's all simple, effective moves. So we started like the base of the move and we make it a little harder, we make it a little harder, we add on, we add on. So towards the end of your combination, you're doing something that's a lot more complicated than when you first started. So that way everyone can do it. And people feel most confident in a dance class when they can physically do it and they're not struggling or trying to trip on the move. She did 2 this way, 1 that way, what's going on? I've tried those things, they don't work. So our system that we have now is flawless. Every person can follow along and actually execute each section. At any time. Wonderful.

And then, Michelle, do the classes vary each day? If somebody's coming multiple times a week, are they gonna get some variety, or how does that work? It's different.

So with me, it's like Forrest Gump, like box chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Um, we stick to the same outline. We have our classic class, which is the method. Um, it's 20 minutes of cardio dance, 20 minutes of triple barre, and 20 minutes of lower barre with active stretch. Then throughout the week, I take a section of each one of those methodologies and turn them into 1-hour classes. So not only do we have so many moves within a class that we can come up with, we can have so many moves within each class. So it's never the same.

I love it. I love it.

Well, fantastic. The method is like so fluid and we teach the same way and we build our moves the same way. So once you understand the method, you know how to do it. It's always new, but it's always the same.

Does that make sense? Absolutely. Let me ask this: if someone is interested in signing up, do they just come into the studio before 9:30? Do they go online? How would— what would be the best first step to take if somebody was interested?

Either one is great. Um, all of the phone numbers on all of our marketing and the website lead to me, so you can call me or text me anytime. I'm our head salesperson. I wear every hat. I always joke, sometimes I'm cleaning, sometimes I'm HR, sometimes I'm teaching. I don't know what I do. I do everything. So you can call me. Our website is tritonefit.com. On there you'll find all of our information. Next week we are launching our brand new website with 3 locations. Super excited. And virtual. So if you are still not ready to come out of the house, but you want to try it out, there's a link in our Instagram bio. It's @tritone.triple.bar. So it's Tritone Triple Bar with periods in between. That link in our bio will take you to our online classes, but on our website right there, tritonefit.com, you can get our online class schedule and our studio class schedule. So it's really easy if you have MindBody, You can sign up there or you can call me or you show up.

Awesome. And so it sounds like with your first franchise opening too, there could be some opportunities if somebody falls in love with the business and they wanna be able to expand that reach into new towns, they can also give you a call to do that as well. It sounds like you're open.

I like your business mind. You're always thinking ahead. So one of our, my business motto is empowering other women. To own their own business through entrepreneurship. So that's why we do the franchise plan. So I know that there's other women out there that may be not totally happy in their corporate world, but they used to dance or they just, you know, really crave that physical involvement and owning their own business. So we, as a designer, I say create the blueprint to success and I share all of my tools with other entrepreneurs so that they can do what they do best, own the studio, connect with clients, market, do all of the front of the house things while I provide you with all the tools you need to set up for success, because it's always about setting up for success. So fantastic.

Are you at Liberty? Here, where your first franchise location is?

It is in Little Falls, New Jersey, and it is one reason that you should always focus on building relationships, because we were on the high school cheerleading team together and now she's opening a studio.

I love it. Another person with the same passion. And you've made it easy because you've already figured it out and you just deliver it with her partnership in a nice little bundle. So thank you for that.

Pretty sparkly little package.

Exactly. With some mermaid scales, right? Well, let me take just a moment as we wrap up. I wanted to let people know what other sessions I'm going to have this week. I've got David Jed with Heights Title coming on tomorrow. I've got Honor Yoga that's going to be joining me the day after, and Melaleuca will be joining me— what day is that— on Thursday. So again, this is a free service I'm doing. Um, all you have to do is take a half an hour of your time. Uh, didn't take a ton of prep work, and we can showcase your business. So if you're interested in having one of these spots, just reach out to me, renee@yournaplesexpert.com., and I am happy to give you some airtime too. So Michelle, as we wrap things up, I just want to thank you again for not only sharing your time but your passion. Um, you know, this is a tough time in the world right now. It's a tough time in Naples, and I would encourage everyone to think about how we can start to, um, you know, help the businesses get back open with a bang. Michelle's told you she is Her North location is open for business. So if you failed to get a great Mother's Day gift for your mother, sister, daughter, there's still time because a membership would be a great way to invest in their immediate and future happiness. But Michelle, anything you'd like to share before we wrap up today?

Um, no, I mean, I told you a lot about myself, so I'm sorry. Thank you for listening. Um, thank you so much for all that you do for our community, and like I said, for always promoting moving paradise as you and your beautiful Kane family does. I'm so happy for that. Um, it makes me happy to see my hometown growing, and I hope that I can help everyone stay active and you can see what local people love about this place and how we can help each other's businesses and, you know, stay fit and healthy, because that's what I'm trying to do. And let me tell you, being back in the studio for a few days and doing I like, we're all in this serious financial crisis right now, obviously, because our businesses are closed. We have rent to pay and all these things that we don't know how to handle. And suddenly being stuck at home, being with your kids all the time, and then being with your kids is so great, but, um, it's different and it's a lot, you know. So when I got back to work, it reminded me of who I am and why I do this and that one hour of class, I feel like everything just went away and I could just be me in the moment, be active. And when you're dancing, you're moving and you're, you're feeding. I'm an energy person, so I feed off of everybody's energy in the room. And you don't get that when you're quarantined at home. Everyone's grumpy and you're stuck together. So it's like it ignites these endorphins inside of your mind. So whether you're a dancer or not, it's just It's so amazing and fun to be with these nice people and to move and to just get your body flowing again. So please come visit us because I want to share that with you.

I love it, and that is a wonderful way to wrap up. So everyone go check out Tritone Triple Barre. You'll get to see, have some sparkle in your life, you'll leave feeling good, and you'll meet some great people, and you'll take a little bit of her sunshine and energy with you. To make it last the rest of the day. So thank you. At the end of the class. Yes, I love it. Well, Michelle, thank you so much, and everyone have a fantastic week. Thank you.