The Founders is an Azzet finance series showcasing the inspiring journeys of visionary entrepreneurs who turned ideas into thriving businesses. Dive into captivating stories and insightful interviews with founders and CEOs. They share their challenges, triumphs, and industry insights in this ongoing series.
Launching a business with no prior experience in tech or social media management wasn’t easy, but Ariel Comeau leaned on her expertise in coaching, leadership, and wellness education to bring RMS Movement to life.
RMS Movement is a health and wellness app aimed at helping busy professionals incorporate fitness and mobility into their regular schedules. It offers a coach in their pocket.
The idea for RMS Movement was born from Ariel’s experience as a health and wellness coach, where she realised the limitations of one-on-one coaching and saw an opportunity to impact more people at scale
“RMS is designed to feel like you've got a personal trainer in your pocket, a personal health and wellness coach,” she says.
“The mission was to give busy professionals access to high-quality, customisable programs at an accessible price point.
Comeau started the business with no following or marketing experience and had to persevere to launch the platform in 2023.
Stepping into the ring
With no built-in social media audience or previous marketing experience, Comeau had to figure out how to make RMS movement stand out in a crowded industry.
She likens the entrepreneurial journey to stepping into the boxing ring.
"It's like you're the the rookie in the ring, initially you take way more punches than you throw,” Comeau says.
“But every time you land a hit, it feels like a victory — small wins that remind you you’re on the right path."
Starting out with a lifelong passion for dance, exercise and movement, after being a health and wellness coach in New York City, Comeau says another challenge was cycling through various iterations of the platform before landing on the right one.
Comeau tells Azzet she had no funding to start, and had to hone in on entrepreneurial skills she had never exercised before.
“Since there was no initial funding for the start or launch, I had to embrace a jack-of-all-trades approach, teaching myself to manage everything from tech to marketing,” she explains.
But after numerous iterations, she realized the vision required more flexibility than a traditional website could offer.
Pivoting with purpose, she discovered a platform that allowed her to host RMS as an app—and she personally designed every element.
"It was a rude awakening, but also a breakthrough moment,” Comeau says.
“Once I shifted my approach, everything started to click.”
Comeau says she wouldn’t be where she is without the endurance to get up after being knocked down. This is especially true with the competition in the health and fitness industry.
Sizing up the competition
Comeau says a huge barrier in the fitness industry cutting through the white noise of trends that aren’t backed by science.
She says this creates a tricky game where you have to combine fact-based research with marketability.
“How do you compete with the things that are just, you know, sexy and catchy and grabbing people's attention, but aren't rooted in truth or fact or science?” she asks.
“You have to dance the dance of marketability and giving people both what they want and they need and they need wow and what they need.”
Reaping the rewards
After years of growth, Comeau has finally created a tight-knit fitness community on the app.
She says she loves the app members and how accessible it is to everyone.
"I love the way we've made it accessible, with customisable fitness programs that feel like personal coaching — without the high-end price tag,” she says.
Despite her love for what she has created, Comeau said she misses what made her passionate about wellness education in the first place: seeing the wins of her clients.
“I want to experience the combination of being able to be in on my clients' wins, hear what's going on for them, hear their challenges, help them to refine their process as they go,” she says.
“I've learned this is one of my greatest skill sets, so I want to continue to utilise that.”
As there was a growing demand for mobility training, Comeau experimented with the idea of having the advantage of both worlds. She created a 30-day interactive program for desk-bound professionals, which proved to be a great success.
“That gave me an opportunity to work a little bit more one-on-one with people in a group coaching capacity, which I really enjoyed, and so that's kind of setting the stage for what's to come next,” she says.
This led her to think about what the future of RMS Movement holds. Off the back of that success and feedback that people wanted more mobility training, RMS launched two new key tracks.
The first is a Semi-Private Group Coaching Program that will support high performers to reach their fitness goals using our holistic health approach in a group coaching environment.
The other track is the Corporate Wellness Partnership. Through these partnerships, RMS Movement will enter different corporate workplaces and aim to infuse movement and holistic health into their days regularly.
She says working with corporations will allow her to create more holistic training programs where she can work directly with clients in group settings.
“What excites me the most is getting to, like, have my hand and see the process help someone really overcome those barriers,” Comeau says.
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