GARY: Next on Start Up, we head to Novi, Michigan to meet up with Yushu Zhou, the owner of We Rock the Spectrum, a gym that aims to create a welcoming, inspiring and sensory safe environment for both neurodivergent and neurotypical children.

All of this and more is next on Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: If your career is on pause, you can earn a business or tech degree from Walsh College, with a flexible schedule for working professionals who want to expand their skills for a changing marketplace.

Learn more at WalshCollege.edu Walsh College is a proud supporter of Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: Whether your business is starting up or scaling up, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation can connect you with services and support.

From finding employees to accessing state-wide resources and partnership opportunities.

Michigan, Pure Opportunity.

FAY: We create fragrancies inspired by global destinations It is a portal.

It's culture, it's moments, it's experiences.

More than 60% of sales in Amazon's store come from independent sellers like Fay at Terminal B. Amazon, a proud supporter of Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: As a business owner, your time is valuable.

Bluehost's AI website builder allows you to type a description for a fully generated website, with managed WordPress hosting and built-in security.

Learn more at Bluehost.com Bluehost is a proud supporter of Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: Running a business isn't easy.

BambooHR supports your HR strategies by automating operational tasks leaving you with more time to concentrate on what's most important to you and your business.

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♪ GARY: My name is Gary Bredow.

I'm a documentary filmmaker and an entrepreneur.

As the country faces significant challenges, small business owners are navigating their way through a changing global marketplace with strength and perseverance while continuing to push the economy forward.

We've set out for our 13th consecutive season talking to a wide range of diverse business owners to better understand how they learned to adapt, innovate, and even completely reinvent themselves.

This is Start Up.

♪ Sociologist Judy Singer coined the term neurodiversity back in the 1990s to acknowledge the neurological differences between brains.

Neurodivergence includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and even Tourette's.

According to the National Institute of Health, autism rates have risen more than sevenfold since the early 90's.

And with the neurodiverse population growing, there's a need for more environments that support the neurodiverse community.

Today, I'm heading to Novi, Michigan to meet up with Yushu Zhou, the owner operator of We Rock the Spectrum, a franchise business that provides a welcoming, inspiring and sensory safe environment for neurodivergent and neurotypical children alike.

This is the first time that we've featured a franchise, so I'm excited to meet Yushu and learn more about this fascinating business.

♪ Tell me about your upbringing.

Where are you from?

Just to get a sense of who you are as a person.

YUSHU: Absolutely.

So my name is Yushu Zhou.

I was born and raised in China.

I came to the US in 2009.

Oh gosh, it's almost 16 years ago.

GARY: Wow.

YUSHU: First to pursue my education, I went to Cornell for my hotel management and later went back to school to get an MBA from Harvard Business School.

After that, spent a decade in the senior living healthcare industry.

GARY: What of the biggest challenges that you could say that you faced being an immigrant coming to the US?

YUSHU: I would say in the beginning, definitely trying to just fit in, to try to find my place.

And it's definitely harder in the beginning because everything I do, I need to do 10 times harder to just get a equal opportunity like many other people take for granted.

GARY: Yeah.

YUSHU: But I do appreciate the experience because it teach me resilience.

GARY: Yeah.

YUSHU: It teach me how to really appreciate different inclusion, diversity.

And that's how exactly I want my gym to represent the value.

Everybody can be who they are, do not get judged, and find their place.

GARY: So you've carried that same mindset into this business.

Inclusion is so incredibly important.

And that seems to be the foundation of this place.

Right?

Inclusion?

YUSHU: Absolutely.

I would say based on the name, a lot of people will say, "Oh, We Rock the Spectrum Kids Gym.

Probably just open only to the kids with a spectrum."

But we keep educating people.

We are an inclusive gym that open to all kids and all ability and all ages.

GARY: Tell me about your last corporate job.

YUSHU: Yes, so my last corporate job was with healthcare REIT.

So at that time I was doing a lot of asset management and also data analytics for the company.

Really made a lot of impact progress for the company.

But deep in my heart I know that I want to see more impact on the people, on the senior, on the patients we are serving.

And that's something I cannot see.

I only see, oh, maybe the hour quarter reports.

We are making improvement to the shareholders.

It's a little bit like hard for me to really see in action and I really miss that part.

GARY: Were you doing well financially with that corporation?

YUSHU: Oh, absolutely.

GARY: Okay.

And you had a conflict internally it sounds like.

YUSHU: I was turning like 40 at that time.

I maybe have a midlife crisis at that time.

Trying to really find the meaning of life.

Trying to find out what exactly I want to pursue, what really matters to me most.

GARY: Yeah.

YUSHU: And I think back here especially COVID really wants me to build more connection with the family, my own family, other families, the community, and really make an impact to people's daily lives.

And that's something I miss.

And I want to go back to.

GARY: Do you remember the moment when you made the decision from going at this very profitable high end corporate job when you kind of decided to make that leap and pursue something more meaningful?

YUSHU: I would say COVID is a game changer.

I really had a very different perspective from the COVID especially after my son Oliver was born.

And just like starting like one year, we just feel he had very limited vocabulary.

And that's how I started to taking him to do speech therapy.

And that's how I met all the other kids on the Spectrum, ADHD, etc.

And that's a very awakening moment because before that, no, I'm not really aware of this.

But now while it's so common, I think the latest thing is that one in every 36 kids have autism.

GARY: Yes.

YUSHU: But then I really got into this opportunity about the Kid's Gym because at that time I would say we actually relocated from Nashville, Tennessee to Novi, Michigan... GARY: Huh.

YUSHU: About two years ago.

At that time, Oliver, my son was three years old.

During wintertime, it's very hard to find indoor places for kids like him.

So I really like the one we went to in Nashville and we decided to just join the franchise and open one here.

GARY: I don't know the first thing about acquiring a franchise.

So give me sort of a breakdown on what you did step by step.

YUSHU: We actually reached out to the just a franchise email address, in general.

What we did is that just I applied online saying I'm interested in the franchise opportunity in Michigan.

Within a day, somebody from the corporate will reach out to us, give us more, set up a phone call, give us some quick background about what they do, what are some required documentation, logistics, et cetera.

But then after that, what we do is that we actually set up an interview with the CEO, Dina.

That is something to me is very unusual because I said, "Wow, you literally talk to every potential owner."

Because we know CEO always very busy.

And from that, just one little thing kind of tell me that they care.

They want to make sure everybody they approve join the family, I have the same value.

And that's something I think it's very different from a lot of other franchise company.

And then after that, after the interview, if they still feel you are good fit, then they just do the financial background, like all the due diligence and then we'll start... GARY: Yeah.

YUSHU: Paying the franchise fee and then start getting the project management started.

♪ ♪ GARY: What was the experience like the first time you guys came here with your son?

JESSICA: It was wonderful.

It was just like we were able to walk into a world that we weren't judged, that everybody understood.

MICHAEL: You're always kind of on guard with taking your children to places or around people that don't understand.

So definitely like coming into here, being able to the little hair that I still got left, but, you know, let your hair down, relax.

And just being in an understanding environment, it really, really, really helps.

GARY: What are some of the things that make this, this space unique?

MICHAEL: Some children that's neurodivergent, they want to stim, they want to run around, they want to be free.

Like they don't have to be so controlled.

So being able to go into multiple swings because sometimes that motion, the spinning around is stimming and soothing, the rocking back and forth.

So a lot of the swings here, they kind of cater towards those stimming activities.

JESSICA: It's accommodating for them as well.

Yeah.

GARY: What would you say to people out there in general, viewers that are watching this, that if they see a parent out in public with a neurodivergent child, what message do you have for them?

JESSICA: You know, just smile at them.

Just tell them they're doing a good job.

MICHAEL: Yeah, just don't judge.

I mean... JESSICA: Don't judge.

MICHAEL: You know, everybody kind of got things that's going on.

Everybody got their differences.

But just, you know, don't pass judgment too quick.

You know, energy is transferable.

So a smile, a nice gesture could go really far to help somebody out because you, you know, you might not know what the next person is going through.

JESSICA: Right.

♪ GARY: The physical build out, how much involvement is there from corporate or is that really on your end?

YUSHU: Yeah, I would say it's definitely teamwork.

It's... GARY: Teamwork.

YUSHU: Yeah, like 50/50.

What I mean that the corporate definitely give you high level guideline guidance about what works... GARY: Oh, ok.

YUSHU: Best.

Right.

Based on the past 200 different owner scenario.

GARY: What you're looking for.

YUSHU: Yeah, exactly.

So, for example, they typically suggest probably between 4 to 5,000 square feet will be a good starting point.

They also give you some tips about, okay, where exactly is the location wise, what be more popular, ceiling height, how you design, et cetera.

But then they also give our other owners flexibility as well.

GARY: Yeah.

YUSHU: Design, how you lay out, some of the equipment, where you want to put the rooms.

So those are very flexible.

GARY: Was this a high financial barrier to be able to get into this franchise for other people that may be interested, you know?

YUSHU: Yeah, I would say yes and no.

So you pay the upfront fee and then they basically use a fee as part of your project management.

GARY: Okay.

YUSHU: Yep.

GARY: And then is there an annual fee beyond that first initial fee?

YUSHU: Oh, yes.

So the typical model is that you just pay the royalty fee.

It really depends on different franchise revenue, et cetera.

But then typically that's between like 3 to 5% of your monthly sale.

GARY: How did you personally finance the business?

Was it all your own money or did you take out a bank loan or anything?

YUSHU: It's all my personal saving.

GARY: Ahh.

YUSHU: We did look into doing the loan, business loan, but then just at that time with the interest rate being very high, I did some personal evaluation.

I said, "Well, I'll just use my saving and go big or go home."

GARY: Wow, you definitely have a lot of skin in the game.

If you will.

YUSHU: Absolutely.

GARY: What are the challenges that you see most with having a child diagnosed with autism?

Challenges in the world in general?

YUSHU: As far as all the families, new divergent family came to my gym, I would say the number one common feedback I got from them is that there are just still so many limited resources available.

Like a lot of kids, they cannot go to very loud places.

They need to go to sensory friendly places kids play.

But then now there's very limited choice for them.

I'll say, that is one thing I noticed.

But also additional resource for the parents as well.

Because when sometimes when the kids here with us a few hours, we can already feel, "Wow, that take a lot of energy patience to be with that child."

But then if you're 24/7 with the kids, think about how much of the challenges on the parents.

Also when they see some behavior that the kids have a melting down that a lot of people's first reaction is that, "Oh.

Bad parenting."

GARY: Bad parenting.

That's the immediate conclusion that people come to.

YUSHU: Yeah.

And you will see the parents will just keep apologizing.

"I'm sorry.

"It's not because us, it's just, you know, "my kids might have slight different reaction to different things."

So that's one thing we're very proud of.

And also, as you can see there, that's our motto, "Finally a place where you never have to say I'm sorry again."

Because we all here understand each other and keep educating.

♪ ♪ ♪ GARY: What is it like to work here as an employee?

MARY: I just feel so blessed to like be a part of it.

Just as a mom of a kid with special needs, to help other moms that come in the door, that don't feel seen, that are overwhelmed.

Because we expect everything to be hard when we walk into someplace.

And for them to leave with like just a little, be able to let their breath out and feel like I can relax.

And it's been nice to just be a small part of that.

GARY: For the parents that do not have a child that's on the spectrum that they commit, I would assume that they're an equally important part of the clientele.

MARY: So important, so important that the next generation comes up in a world that is inclusive and understanding and compassionate towards kids, you know, like mine and like so many kids nowadays.

And it's important that he has exposure to kids that are neurotypical too and that they have exposure to each other.

GARY: For any parents who have never experienced We Rock the Spectrum, what would you say to them?

MARY: For kids that are on the spectrum, you won't find another place like it.

You're gonna find, you know, just a breath of fresh air here.

And for kids that aren't like, you're- you're investing in their future, you're giving them a more compassionate, more- more understanding outlook as adults by coming and playing here.

GARY: What is the revenue model here?

Is it membership based?

Is it pop in per visit?

Like, how do you make money here?

YUSHU: Mainly three different parts.

Number one, we call open play.

So open play, meaning that the kids family can come here, pay by visit, and then they can enjoy the entire facility for a certain time period.

So for my gym, typically two hours.

And that also combined with a monthly membership or packages, all under open play.

GARY: Got it.

YUSHU: Yeah.

And second will be, we call Events, including for example, birthday parties, field trip from the schools.

And the third revenue will be just activity and classes.

So we do sometime we'll do different classes.

Focus on social skills, strength, regulations, and also other activity.

For example, we're trying to do a summer camp.

Our very first summer camp to include more kids of all abilities.

♪ GARY: Who are you here with today?

MEAGEN: I'm here with my son, Gus.

GARY: Tell me about Gus.

MEAGEN: So Gus has a rare genetic condition called Fela McDermott Syndrome.

GARY: Okay.

MEAGEN: And it causes him to have profound intellectual disability, autism, non speaking, a whole gambit of things.

GARY: Have you noticed a difference, like in his behavior since you guys started coming here?

MEAGEN: Yes, he loves it here.

There's not a lot of places we can take him that are enclosed that work for him.

And he gets very stir crazy.

Like when he's up on the weekend, he wants to go somewhere.

And for the longest time we didn't have any place that we could take him.

So we get to come and we get out of the house.

We come here, he gets to play.

It wears him out.

His sister loves it too.

I have a neurotypical daughter as well.

So we get to come as a whole family.

And yeah, he loves it.

He was really excited.

He recognized the door as we were pulling in and he did his little happy stim.

GARY: So this is the place where he wants to hang, where he wants to be.

MEAGAN: Yes, yep.

GARY: You're dealing with a lot, all the time.

What does a place like this mean for you?

MEAGEN: It's like rest.

Like I said, it's a place where I can actually like sit down sometimes.

Cause I know he can't go anywhere.

I know he's safe in here.

When you get this diagnosis, there's a lot of grief, you know, like things that we're gonna miss out on and stuff like that.

And when this opened, we came and we're like, we could actually have a birthday party for him.

He had a blast.

It was nice because we got to invite kids from his school, like other, you know, profoundly disabled kids.

And they got to come.

And the families were like, "We never thought our kid would get invited to a birthday party."

Right.

GARY: Wow.

MEAGEN: And so it was a really cool community that we had during his birthday and yeah, it was awesome.

GARY: How are you getting people through the door?

How do you let people know that you are here?

YUSHU: What I do is two parts word of mouth and also doing social media.

GARY: Is there any support from corporate on that end or is marketing completely up to the franchise owner?

YUSHU: Yeah, I would say again, just 50/50.

GARY: Oh!

YUSHU: The corporate definitely will share, for example, some past events template post for us to follow.

But then they also have give us freedom to modify based on the local, let's say, situation markets as well.

GARY: Sometimes within different franchises, you'll see owners somewhat acting competitive amongst each other.

But here it doesn't feel that way at all.

YUSHU: Absolutely.

So we actually for the owners, we have owner Facebook group.

GARY: Ah.

YUSHU: So every day we'll have a lot of owner post their questions and we just share different tips and tricks to help each other.

And that's something that I really value.

And also for me personally, I'm always strong believer of, you know, making the pie bigger instead of slicing the pie.

So I always very supportive of, you know, my sister gyms or even other competitors in- in the area because I always tell them that "I'm not your competitor.

"We're all here for the same thing, "to provide more resources for the kids if we can join "forces to do things.

Let's do it."

♪ GARY: It looks like the owners have- you guys all have a pretty good collaborative relationship.

ROBIN: We do.

We're all trying to figure out, you know, how do we do this in Michigan?

How do we navigate working with state and local funding?

How do we get grants?

How do we raise money to open?

Like we were all working through that together.

GARY: What advice can you have to somebody who sees this and says, "I want that in Omaha, Nebraska or Iowa City, Iowa" or wherever they are?

ROBIN: Of course, I think the first thing I would do, if you see this and you're really interested in potentially becoming a franchise owner, We Rock the Spectrum, first thing is go visit a location.

Yes, it is a business and yes, we do want to make sure we can eat, but it is a labor of love.

GARY: It's a lot more than that.

ROBIN: It is a labor of love and really understanding how to reach out to the community and what's important to these parents really takes somebody who understands the needs for these kids.

GARY: But don't be scared.

Reach out.

ROBIN: Don't be scared.

GARY: Give it a try.

ROBIN: Don't be scared.

Hey, SBA loans exist for a reason.

So absolutely don't be scared.

People from all walks of life have opened up a location.

So just because my background is in business, that's not everyone's story.

GARY: What keeps you up at night?

What are you scared of?

What are your fears?

YUSHU: Right now?

I would say the summer.

Before I open the business, GARY: Yeah.

YUSHU: I always want the summer to come, nice weather to kick in.

But now as a business owner, oh, when the nice weather outside, people don't come to us that often.

GARY: Parks.

YUSHU: Yep, they'll go to parks.

Free resources as well.

But it also opportunity for me to really reflect.

What are the things we can offer add value to the parents during the summertime indoor too.

GARY: What are you feeling right now at this point in the business?

YUSHU: Yeah, I definitely feel very hopeful.

I actually want to set more goals to myself.

Right now we're mainly doing a lot of open play.

We don't have that many classes, but eventually I want to do almost every day, weekday, weekends, a lot of classes.

Novi is very diversified space.

So one thing I want to start rolling is doing some cultural education and celebration.

Invite different people kids to come to share their background, share their story to foster that understanding and respect for each other.

GARY: What is your overarching goal with this business?

YUSHU: Yeah, my goals are inspire kids, empower parents and support communities.

As a Kid's Gym, of course, our priority is to provide a safe, inspiring space for the kids to come here to be who they are, have fun and learn something.

But also as a mom, as a parent, I also know the challenges a lot of parents are facing.

So I want to empower them, provide resources to support them as well.

No business can be successful without the support of the community.

So I want to do the same to eventually also give back to help many other small business and together collaborate and, you know, make the city, make the community better and better.

GARY: It was an honor to meet Yushu and her team.

And to say I learned a lot today is an understatement.

As a Chinese immigrant who came to America to study at Harvard, Yushu adds an incredible amount of value to her community, both as a person and as a business owner.

And I'm grateful that she wasn't deterred in any way from making America her home.

Because we need more compassionate and driven people like Yushu in this country.

After talking to several parents and children throughout the day, I realized that We Rock the Spectrum is so much more than just a gym.

What appears to be standard gear was actually specialized occupational therapy equipment designed to foster neurological development.

The swings, motor play toys, and arts and crafts stations are all strategically designed to encourage learning, exploration and safe sensory experiences.

And this benefits both gym goers and their guardians.

After today, I better understand some of the challenges that parents deal with every day having neurodivergent children, and these kids are just trying to make their way in a neurotypical world.

And this gym provides an environment where they don't have to worry about being judged.

This is truly a safe space that's built around their specific needs, allowing them to explore, learn, and feel a sense of independence and autonomy.

In my opinion, exposure is education.

And education increases empathy.

We need to take care of each other and help make each other's lives easier, and Yushu and her team are doing just that.

For more information, visit our website and search episodes for We Rock the Spectrum.

Next time on Start Up, we head to Renton, Washington to meet up with siblings Joe.

Tan and Son Vo, the founders of Silk Road Manufacturing, a company that produces backpacks and accessories for our military, law enforcement and firefighters.

Be sure to join us next time on Start Up.

Do you want to learn more about the show?

Or maybe nominate a business?

Visit us at StartUp-usa.com and connect with us on social media.

♪ ♪ We've got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ A long road ahead of us ♪ Got a long road ahead of us ♪ ♪ Before we pay our dues ♪ We've got a long GARY: You're not my father.

CAMERAMAN: He's not your father.

ANNOUNCER: Running a business isn't easy.

BambooHR supports your HR strategies by automating operational tasks leaving you with more time to concentrate on what's most important to you and your business.

Learn more at BambooHR.com BambooHR, a proud supporter of Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: As a business owner, your time is valuable.

Bluehost's AI website builder allows you to type a description for a fully generated website, with managed WordPress hosting and built-in security.

Learn more at Bluehost.com Bluehost is a proud supporter of Start Up.

NANCEY: I would love to leave the legacy of a household name worldwide.

Better fitting stylish eyewear for everyone.

More than 60% of sales in Amazon's store come from independent sellers like Nancey at Vontélle.

Amazon, a proud supporter of Start Up.

ANNOUNCER: Whether your business is starting up or scaling up, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation can connect you with services and support.

From finding employees to accessing state-wide resources and partnership opportunities.

Michigan, Pure Opportunity.

ANNOUNCER: If your career is on pause, you can earn a business or tech degree from Walsh College, with a flexible schedule for working professionals who want to expand their skills for a changing marketplace.

Learn more at WalshCollege.edu Walsh College is a proud supporter of Start Up.