Chad and Tiffany Mussmon went from teachers to franchise owners in 1997, building from one The Little Gym (#198 on the Franchise 500) to seven locations across Maryland and Virginia — and adding two Snapology (#394 on the Franchise 500) territories along the way. This spring, they opened a co-branded Little Gym and Snapology hub in Leesburg, Virginia, giving parents one stop for physical development and STEAM. In this Q&A, they trace the journey, systems and family handoff behind that growth.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Unleashed Brands
What made you take the leap from employee to owner back in 1997?
Chad: We were both teachers with a young family coming out of college and didn’t really have capital right away — we just worked our way through with sweat equity and put a business plan together. I didn’t come from an entrepreneurial family, but my uncle was an entrepreneur, and I loved his approach to mentoring people and creating his own destiny. Franchising was new to me — I knew McDonald’s, but I didn’t realize how widespread franchising was as a 23-year-old. We just started shifting our mindset from employee to ownership, with the awesome responsibility that comes with that.
In the early years, what was the hardest challenge, and how did you deal with it?
Chad: Back then, multi-unit ownership wasn’t common outside of the big guys. There wasn’t a lot of strategy for a single-unit operator moving to multiple locations. We had a mentor who gave us great real estate contacts. Local banking contacts were a big part of our ability to capitalize on growth.
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What did Covid-19 change for your business?
Chad: With Covid, we had a rough time — we closed a bunch — and my entrepreneurial spirit was crushed. I told Tiffany I’d never open another business. But my spirit recovered, and we opened four in 18 months. We saw numbers in the aftermath of Covid we’d never seen. We never had a million-dollar revenue location before Covid-19; then, in the two years after, five out of six locations were million-dollar locations. Things are leveling off now, and the D.C. economy has its challenges, but we have become stronger. We also learned a lot about dealing with landlords — some worked with us, some didn’t. It was a learning curve.
What told you it was time to keep expanding and hiring management?
Tiffany: We saw the need locally — our county is one of the fastest-growing in America — and there was a big need for a non-competitive gymnastics program.
Chad: We knew we couldn’t do it by ourselves, nor did we want to work 60-70 hours a week. I was probably one of the first Little Gym people to step away from day-to-day operations. I’m still very active, just not day-to-day. I was able to do that by focusing closely on the type of quality instructors, directors and managers running our facilities.
How have parents responded to combining both brands under one roof?
Chad: It’s been phenomenal. For parents, it’s about the ease of bringing multiple children to one place. Some kids are more athletic, some are more into coding or STEM. The preliminary results are that parents love doing multiple activities under one roof — it really helps the modern family with their lifestyle.
Tiffany: Snapology goes perfectly with The Little Gym. Both concepts believe in the same thing — building confidence for kids. We even have kids doing both — two classes at The Little Gym and a class at Snapology — in one place.
Your kids now help manage the co-branded location. What does that look like?
Chad: They’re the new generation of that blood, sweat and equity. Their ownership will come based on the success of the location — they have an equity stake.
Tiffany: We’re mentoring them like we were mentored. It’s probably our favorite location now because we spend time with them. They’re both young parents, and we spend most of our time there.
How do you keep quality consistent across multiple units and brands?
Chad: It’s a challenge. I’ve been a “systems guy” for 20 years. I’m big on creating documented ways of doing things. Even in franchising, you still get discrepancies. But when systems are in place, we can direct things back to the right way when issues come up.
What’s next — more co-branded sites, new markets or a pause?
Chad: We’ll consider some markets in our territories over the next 12 to 18 months for The Little Gym. At some existing locations, as space becomes available, we may talk to landlords about adding Snapology. Some other concepts on the Unleashed platform are appealing, but I think we’re taking a pause to catch our breath.
