Starting & Scaling a Gym (with William Watts & Chris Wojcik)
William Watts opened East Austin Jiu Jitsu and was voted Austin's best gym in his very first year. Chris Wojcik has competed—and trained—at BJJ gyms around the world, and is now opening his own. In this conversation, they get into what actually works when you're starting or scaling a gym: how to onboard new members so they stick, why it's easier to get onboarding right than to win back members who are already drifting, and the "obvious" blind spots—bad class times, cluttered websites—that end up costing gyms new members every week.
In this session, you'll hear no jargon or complicated frameworks—just two people who know what keeps members around.
Meet the Experts
Learn from experienced industry professionals who bring practical insights, real-world examples, and proven strategies to help gym owners run better businesses.
William Watts
William Watts is the co-owner of East Austin Jiujitsu Parlor. The Parlor is a leading jiujitsu facility that incorporates high level instruction with physical therapy and strength & conditioning coaching so more people can get more out of their training. Before William opened the Parlor he was scaling Restore Hyper Wellness, one of the fastest growing retail wellness businesses in the world. He has consulted health & fitness businesses across the country, led a panel at SXSW, and recently wrote The Jiujitsu Gym Operations Manual.
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Chris Wojcik
Chris Wojcik is one of the most innovative people in jiujitsu. He is an ADCC, Polaris, and EBI veteran, as well as a member of the winning team from CJI 2. Chris popularized the reverse Aoki lock submission commonly called a "Woj lock." Chris is the author of "A Grappler's Diary" and he is currently building The Grappler's Almanac.
For gym owners starting out or still finding their footing, this webinar breaks down how to onboard new members the right way—before you ever have to worry about winning them back.
- Onboarding beats reactive retention. It's easier—and higher-leverage—to get new members off to a strong start than to win back the ones already walking out the door.
- Small mistakes cost real members. An ad that sends people to your homepage instead of your signup page, a class time nobody can actually make—easy to miss, easy to fix.
- Simple wins. You don't need to be complicated or sophisticated. Clean, direct, and consistent gets the job done for a small, owner-operated gym.
- Practical next steps. Specific changes you can make this week, not just theory.
Related Content
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