The Sweat Vacay Story
An Entrepreneur’s Journey to Build Her Brand
Creating pop-up workouts with local flavor in the world’s most beautiful vacation destinations.
Lauren became a Stages-certified cycling instructor in 2018
ENTERING THE WORLD OF WELLNESS
In this week’s A Career Choice is a Life Choice Q&A, Deanna Bakos talked with Lauren Demarest, co-founder of Sweat Vacay, her fitness company based out of Mykonos, Greece, that puts together group-style workout classes in exotic locations. She quit her advertising job at McCann NY in Manhattan to move to Greece and start this company.
DB: Thanks for speaking with us today, Lauren! What is your current position?
LD: I am the Founder of Sweat Vacay. I wanted to create a unique and beautiful experience for people who wanted to stay in shape while on vacation! There are a lot of people that don’t want to walk away from their routines just because they are in a new place. If you regularly take morning yoga or belong to a cycling studio, I think you should have access to the same kinds of classes no matter where you go. The big difference is that our studios are all outside and with incredible views.
Lauren trying a wooden CoCoMat bike in Crete
SWITCHING GEARS
DB: Starting a company can be scary. What brought you here?
LD: I left my corporate NYC job and moved to Greece to conquer the growing global wellness travel market. At the time, I didn’t have any fitness background outside of being an enthusiast. I worked out regularly with Class Pass. But at the time, that was it.
I got my BA from Guilford College, and completed my graduate work at the Savannah College of Art and Design in historically haunted Savannah, Georgia. There I earned my MFA in advertising with a focus in copywriting. And this charming Southern experience changed my life and my career trajectory completely. A few weeks before graduation, I was called by a talent recruiter from McCann Erickson in New York City. She had seen my portfolio online and wanted to offer me a job. At the time, McCann was the largest agency in the world, with offices in 136 countries. This was my dream. And I took it.
I worked at McCann for eight years, touching almost every brand we had, from Choice Hotels to General Mills to Lockheed Martin. There I was the founding creative member of the digital and social arm of McCann, now called McCann Live. I created social brand voices for Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Nature Valley, blogged for Chex Cereal, produced a million dollar global campaign for L’Oréal, and landed a huge Pharma account. I worked my way up to Associate Creative Director. And then I had the skills to build a brand of my own.
Our outdoor yoga studio at The Garden of Mykonos
Thus, a new dream was born. I came up with the idea for Sweat Vacay on vacation in Greece when I wanted to take a beach yoga class and found that there was a lack of easy-to-book classes on the island. How could this be? All these American tourists take fitness classes every day. There’s nothing here to meet that need? The opportunity seemed too great to ignore. I knew I could build a business that offered daily spin, yoga, bootcamp, barre, and pilates classes outside in exotic, picturesque locations.
I quit my job in October of 2018 to build Sweat Vacay full time. I moved to Mykonos and launched Sweat Vacay with a team of Greek trainers in April of 2019. Season one we had three location partnerships, 22 custom spin bikes, and 100 custom yoga mats. We had class-goers from 16 countries around the globe, come to work out with us and taught 100 classes. It was official. I was in business.
And I’m happy to say that we’ve grown. This past year we added 5 locations on Mykonos. And this coming season, we are beyond thrilled to be adding the island of Kea to our list of locations. Our first big event will be Keanaissance. At this event from June 2-5, we’re working with our friends at VIVA Investment Partners and Villa Carpe Diem to invite people to take a break from their business schedules and come together for a wellness-infused long weekend with entrepreneurs & investors from all over Europe. Surrounded by the Aegean Sea, and close to Athens, Kea is uniquely positioned to accommodate a relaxing summit with yoga, meditation, personal training sessions, and more. We are creating an environment for guests to connect, learn, and relax – Keanaissance featuring classes by Sweat Vacay has it all. Summit-goers can take in the pristine beaches from their mats with sea-view morning classes. And discover all the island has to offer on hiking excursions, or indulge in a massage. Networking like this will ensure everyone enjoys an unforgettable getaway. And that’s just the beginning. We will be running corporate and retreat wellness packages at Villa Carpe Diem all year long. It’s an exciting growth trajectory for the company.
DB: Wow! That is exciting. What do you value most about starting your own company?
LD: The thing I value most, is that I am both the creative director and client. So the approvals process that can water down great creative is no more. If I like it, it goes live. But it’s not without its challenges. I am doing the work that would normally be done by an entire team as the social strategist, media planner, art director, copywriter, designer, photographer, videographer, editor, prop stylist, producer, publisher, and community manager. Plus the challenging parts that are new to me. The operations. The finances. Working within the Greek system means working regularly with my Greek legal team, my accountants, tax attorneys, insurance brokers, and trademark specialists. I’ve developed a booking tool – Sweat Booker. This meant working with front and back end developers. And I’ve since become trained by Stages as a cycling instructor and have trainings to teach barre.
DB: What have you learned the most in your career path?
LD: Learning that you always have to stay on your toes since technology, tools, trends, and social media best practices are changing every. single. day. (throws hands up in exasperation)
DB: What’s different about hiring people for your company?
LD: Because I’m running the American company and the Greek subsidiary, hiring practices are different depending on where my trainer is from. I really love our Jet Setter Guest Instructor Program. With this program, I’m giving opportunities to elite trainers from all over the world a chance to live and work in the Greek Islands as part of a working vacation. So many of our trainers are part of this popular program. Through this, we not only have the best of local Greek talent, but we also have trainers and yogis coming to our team from Mallorca, Bordeaux, Jakarta, Cape Town, Manhattan, Naples, Seattle, Dubai, and more.