Laura Halley is the owner of Revive Athletics. Read our interview with Laura about her experience with Xcelerate Business Advising and Peer Mentor Groups. 

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What inspired you to start your own business? 

I was inspired to start Revive Athletics when I realized that so many other people were looking for this type of concept! When I initially started Revive Athletics, it was online-only and was more of just a creative outlet to my full-time corporate job. I had the idea because I was trying to reduce my own fashion footprint by shopping secondhand only and quickly realized there was nowhere to shop for a curated selection of gently used, secondhand activewear. I started reaching out to fitness professionals to see if they would be interested in selling their clothes and it became clear that a marketplace like this was missing. In addition to that, I wanted to make premium brand activewear more accessible. The wellness industry already prices so many people out and these clothes are generally very expensive. Providing a place to shop that makes shopping secondhand easy, and a place where more people can afford the premium brands is “the why” behind my business.

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What were some of your key goals that you worked with Xcelerate on this year? 

This year I worked on finances. I wanted to feel more confident when talking about finances, building out projections, and making sure my business was financially healthy. Connecting with resources through Xcelerate helped me accomplish that this year!

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How has your identity as a woman and any and all other intersectional identities impacted your business?

I have felt empowered starting a business as a woman and very supported.

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What were some of the challenges you faced this year and how did working with Xcelerate help you to overcome these challenges?

This was a challenging year! I opened a second store at the end of 2023 and this year required re-evaluating a lot of processes and procedures that had worked well for one store but needed some improvement to work better for two stores. I had more employees and more bills to pay this year and having worked with Xcelerate leading up to this to make sure I had the financial literacy to make big decisions for the business and the resources to help with employees made all the difference.

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Are there any wins or achievements you have celebrated this year while working with Xcelerate? For example - hiring new employees, paying yourself, quitting a day job, achieving profitability, opening a new location, increase in sales, launching a new product. Please be as specific as possible.

I opened a new location at the end of 2023 which was when I was in Peer Groups with Xcelerate. 

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How do you personally define success for you and your business?

Success means bringing something to the community that people are excited about, being able to support my employees and myself while having a flexible lifestyle and operating a business that I care about!

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Is there anything else you'd like to share about your Xcelerate experience?

I appreciate the resources that have been provided by Xcelerate over the past few years to help me feel more confident in myself and my abilities as a business owner!

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Find them: @revive_athletics