This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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Julie Cartwright, founding president of fast-growing fitness brand Pvolve, knows a thing or two about growing brand awareness and subscriptions through a dynamic partnership strategy.
Since its launch in 2017, the fitness brand has partnered with dozens of companies including beauty brands like Tower28 and Lolavie; supplement makers Armra, Nutrafol and Tally Health; apparel brands like Lululemon and Beyond Yoga; F&B companies including Erewhon and Smart Water; global giants like Amex and Amazon; plus Weight Watchers and Hers from the health sector.
“Having partnerships with science-backed health and wellness companies is critical,” Cartwright told Glossy on this week’s episode. “[And] beauty partnerships are so important to us because of our ‘beauty bars’ that are in our growing studio network.”
Cartwright thinks of partnerships in two buckets: things the customer needs for full-body health, like health and wellness, and things she likes to look and feel her best, like beauty and apparel.
“[It’s] really that whole health [approach],” Cartwright said. “We’re not going to be able to do everything for her. We can help her move better, longer, but there are other things that she’s going to need, and those are partnerships that we’re really interested in — and then there are partnerships of just what she likes.”
Pvolve is a low-impact, functional movement workout that uses patented resistance equipment like stretchy bands, an exercise ball, a custom mat and weights. It currently has 43 franchised studio locations within the U.S., most of which opened in the past year, with plans to open 40 more this year. The brand primarily services women 35 years of age and older.
Around 70% of Pvolve’s revenue is equipment sales, with the rest coming from digital subscriptions, with plans to equally diversify its revenue between equipment, subscriptions and studios by 2030, Cartwright said.
In a lot of ways, Cartwright is doing everything right to future-proof the business in an era of immense pressure within fitness. This includes a subscription model with both in-studio and digital classes; clinical testing of its modality; and a celebrity spokesperson in Jennifer Aniston. This is set against a backdrop of immense competition. To wit: In 2025, service-based businesses like fitness studios and gyms leased more than half of all total retail space in the U.S, according to data released last month by CoStar data firm.
Pvolve also uses smaller, more regional partnerships to drive potential customers into its brick-and-mortar studios. “We broker the [bigger] deals, like Tower28 — that’s more of what we do on our side. But at the local level, it’s really important that [franchise owners] are able to support local businesses that matter to those residents,” Cartwright said. “So there’s a lot that happens on the owner’s side — and we give them toolkits. We provide them with materials to go out into their local community. But that’s really important because what’s important in San Diego is sort of different from what’s important in Miami, which is different from what’s important in Chelsea, in New York, you know?”
Cartwright joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss the power of Pvolve’s partnerships, what the brand is looking for, and why growing companies must leverage collabs to reach the right audience.
On becoming more selective through the years
“I think we’ve gotten smarter. We certainly made a couple of, maybe a little bit more impulsive, decisions early-stage where we’re just like, ‘let’s just get our name out!’ Now, we’re pretty deliberate about who we partner with. I think there are a couple of criteria. No. 1 is we are science-backed, so we have tons of investment in clinical studies, high-end clinical studies, muscle biopsies and MRIs that we send our users through to prove out these tremendous results. So having partnerships with science-backed health and wellness companies is critical. So you’ll see that with the Nutrafols and the Armras, and Weight Watchers is a great example of that. And really, [offering] that whole health [approach] — really what she needs in order to live well, long. We’re not going to be able to do everything for her. We can help her move better, longer, but she’s going to need other things, and those are partnerships we’re really interested in. And then there are partnerships that are just about what she likes. Lululemon is a great example of a huge partnership that we have. She wants to look great while she’s working out, and having high-quality, high-function apparel is part of that.”
On balancing nationwide and regional partnerships
“We broker the [bigger] deals, like Tower28, that’s more of what we do on our side. But at the local level, it’s really important that, for example, our owner in Columbia, South Carolina is able to support local businesses that matter to those residents. So, there’s a lot that happens on the owner’s side — and we give them toolkits. We provide them with materials to go out into their local community. But that’s really important because what’s important in San Diego is sort of different from what’s important in Miami, which is different from what’s important in Chelsea, in New York, you know? And so really, that’s part of the criteria for picking a really great franchisee: someone that’s really ingrained in their community.”
