All-Star Cheer Athletics (questions/rumors)

[BlueCat]

So I'm a little curious about the business side of Cheer Athletics. How many owners are there? When you guys open up different locations do the owners stay the same or does each location have a separate owner? Does each location just have a manager that makes sure things are being run smoothly and that CA's philosophy is still the same? You also mentioned something about the CLAWffice and CA's new corporate offices.. Do you guys have a separate office location for all the paperwork/business operations or is there just office space at the gym? Do you guys have in-house accountants or do you use a CPA firm to do all of that? What kind of work do you do on a daily basis in regards to the business aspect? Are people hired that have almost no involvement in the "cheer" part? If these questions are too invasive or anything, I apologize. As a prospective business/accounting student, I've taken some accounting courses, but haven't really had the opportunity to learn more about the operations and inside workings of a business and I'm really curious about it. Especially in regards to cheer gyms.

On a completely unrelated note, what's the Food Network show about?

How many owners are there? 3 equal owners for CA Brands, LLC - Brad Habermel, Angela Rogers, Jody Melton. CA Brands, LLC owns all of the other entities.

When you guys open up different locations do the owners stay the same or does each location have a separate owner? Ownership stays the same.

Does each location just have a manager that makes sure things are being run smoothly and that CA's philosophy is still the same? Yes. The gyms are all run by long-time CA folks we trust and who share our overall philosophy. We also now have "national directors" of our class program and all star prep programs that help keep the curriculum consistent for those programs across all of the gyms.

Do you guys have a separate office location for all the paperwork/business operations or is there just office space at the gym? Separate office location. Corporate HQ ("The Clawfice") houses 3 owners, their exec assistants, TigerBlue (an apparel/screen print brand), graphics & design department, Camps & Training administrative staff, screen print production machines, the warehouse, and shipping/receiving.

Do you guys have in-house accountants or do you use a CPA firm to do all of that? Separate CPA firm.

What kind of work do you do on a daily basis in regards to the business aspect? I do different stuff every day. There truly is no "typical" work day any more with all of the expansion.

Are people hired that have almost no involvement in the "cheer" part? That depends on how you define "cheer" part, but we have I would guess we have 30-40 staff that spend significant time on things that don't involve spotting back handsprings or shouting 8 counts.

On a completely unrelated note, what's the Food Network show about? I haven't actually seen it, but it was a reality/contest show about groups vying for restaurant/food court space in a mall. They filmed part of the finale at the gym and had our athletes/coaches/parents testing and judging the food.

 

[cheerisherlife]

The Food Network Show is called Food Court Wars. It is being replayed at 12:00 am midnight CST tonight!

 

[astaley22]

How many owners are there? 3 equal owners for CA Brands, LLC - Brad Habermel, Angela Rogers, Jody Melton. CA Brands, LLC owns all of the other entities.

When you guys open up different locations do the owners stay the same or does each location have a separate owner? Ownership stays the same.

Does each location just have a manager that makes sure things are being run smoothly and that CA's philosophy is still the same? Yes. The gyms are all run by long-time CA folks we trust and who share our overall philosophy. We also now have "national directors" of our class program and all star prep programs that help keep the curriculum consistent for those programs across all of the gyms.

Do you guys have a separate office location for all the paperwork/business operations or is there just office space at the gym? Separate office location. Corporate HQ ("The Clawfice") houses 3 owners, their exec assistants, TigerBlue (an apparel/screen print brand), graphics & design department, Camps & Training administrative staff, screen print production machines, the warehouse, and shipping/receiving.

Do you guys have in-house accountants or do you use a CPA firm to do all of that? Separate CPA firm.

What kind of work do you do on a daily basis in regards to the business aspect? I do different stuff every day. There truly is no "typical" work day any more with all of the expansion.

Are people hired that have almost no involvement in the "cheer" part? That depends on how you define "cheer" part, but we have I would guess 30-40 staff that don't ever spot back handsprings or shout out 8 counts.

On a completely unrelated note, what's the Food Network show about? I haven't actually seen it, but it was a reality/contest show about groups vying for restaurant/food court space in a mall. They filmed part of the finale at the gym and had our athletes/coaches/parents testing and judging the food.

Unrelated but I have to say, I love how thoroughly you answer each question you're given!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Ally13]

How many owners are there? 3 equal owners for CA Brands, LLC - Brad Habermel, Angela Rogers, Jody Melton. CA Brands, LLC owns all of the other entities.

When you guys open up different locations do the owners stay the same or does each location have a separate owner? Ownership stays the same.

Does each location just have a manager that makes sure things are being run smoothly and that CA's philosophy is still the same? Yes. The gyms are all run by long-time CA folks we trust and who share our overall philosophy. We also now have "national directors" of our class program and all star prep programs that help keep the curriculum consistent for those programs across all of the gyms.

Do you guys have a separate office location for all the paperwork/business operations or is there just office space at the gym? Separate office location. Corporate HQ ("The Clawfice") houses 3 owners, their exec assistants, TigerBlue (an apparel/screen print brand), graphics & design department, Camps & Training administrative staff, screen print production machines, the warehouse, and shipping/receiving.

Do you guys have in-house accountants or do you use a CPA firm to do all of that? Separate CPA firm.

What kind of work do you do on a daily basis in regards to the business aspect? I do different stuff every day. There truly is no "typical" work day any more with all of the expansion.

Are people hired that have almost no involvement in the "cheer" part? That depends on how you define "cheer" part, but we have I would guess 30-40 staff that don't ever spot back handsprings or shout out 8 counts.

On a completely unrelated note, what's the Food Network show about? I haven't actually seen it, but it was a reality/contest show about groups vying for restaurant/food court space in a mall. They filmed part of the finale at the gym and had our athletes/coaches/parents testing and judging the food.

Thank you very much!

 

[katemarie89]

So cool seeing Cheer Athletics on TV! Congrats @BlueCat!

 

[wishfulthinking]

Is it just me or did Cheer Athletics' gym look bigger than the actual mall...

 

[f5forever]

@BlueCat Did you (or Brad, or ANYBODY at CA) ever think/dream that CA would be as successful and diverse as it is today?!? By that I mean was it a long-term goal to have this many locations, the need for a Claw Office, and your own design/printing equipment, or was it kind of a "wow we didn't expect it, but let's keep doing what we're doing and adapt as we need to" kind of thing?


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[BlueCat]

@BlueCat Did you (or Brad, or ANYBODY at CA) ever think/dream that CA would be as successful and diverse as it is today?!? By that I mean was it a long-term goal to have this many locations, the need for a Claw Office, and your own design/printing equipment, or was it kind of a "wow we didn't expect it, but let's keep doing what we're doing and adapt as we need to" kind of thing?

We never imagined that CA would become what it has. Going from two kids in a park to having well over 100 employees across multiple industries just didn't seem possible. We still have much to learn in each of the businesses we are involved in, but that is part of what makes it so interesting and rewarding.

The key through all of it has been finding the best possible staff and creating a great environment for them to work in. Particularly over the last few years, we have really tried to empower them, treat them like professionals, and create possibilities for growth and upward mobility. We really try to give them their "dream job."

 

[goddessmommy]

How many owners are there? 3 equal owners for CA Brands, LLC - Brad Habermel, Angela Rogers, Jody Melton. CA Brands, LLC owns all of the other entities.

When you guys open up different locations do the owners stay the same or does each location have a separate owner? Ownership stays the same.

Does each location just have a manager that makes sure things are being run smoothly and that CA's philosophy is still the same? Yes. The gyms are all run by long-time CA folks we trust and who share our overall philosophy. We also now have "national directors" of our class program and all star prep programs that help keep the curriculum consistent for those programs across all of the gyms.

Do you guys have a separate office location for all the paperwork/business operations or is there just office space at the gym? Separate office location. Corporate HQ ("The Clawfice") houses 3 owners, their exec assistants, TigerBlue (an apparel/screen print brand), graphics & design department, Camps & Training administrative staff, screen print production machines, the warehouse, and shipping/receiving.

Do you guys have in-house accountants or do you use a CPA firm to do all of that? Separate CPA firm.

What kind of work do you do on a daily basis in regards to the business aspect? I do different stuff every day. There truly is no "typical" work day any more with all of the expansion.

Are people hired that have almost no involvement in the "cheer" part? That depends on how you define "cheer" part, but we have I would guess we have 30-40 staff that spend significant time on things that don't involve spotting back handsprings or shouting 8 counts.

On a completely unrelated note, what's the Food Network show about? I haven't actually seen it, but it was a reality/contest show about groups vying for restaurant/food court space in a mall. They filmed part of the finale at the gym and had our athletes/coaches/parents testing and judging the food.

As someone who would love to get involved in the administrative side of a gym thank you for those answers! I've been in the cheer/dance world for years and now that my daughter is in cheer I'd love to be more involved in the business side as I am enjoying learning the new aspects of this sport, and have many years of administrative, management and event planning experience so I would think my skills would be useful. I'm surprised to see such a large staff for this organization, though I shouldn't be surprised as I live in this area and am familiar with the gym sizes of CA. Its great to see a true HQ for your brand, perhaps my desire to work at that level for a gym in the future is actually attainable. I feel I'm too old to actually coach, so the other side would be my goal.

 

[caitlyn_the_camille]

How does CA handle AllStar prep? (I don't really know the best way to word that question) I know your athletes trying out are expected to have competition-ready skills, so where do the prep athletes come in? For example, if you have a girl trying out for level 3 and she doesn't have all her level 3 skills, how do you decide whether to put her on a level 2 team or a level 3 prep team? (I don't even know if CA has a level 3 prep team, that was just the first scenario I could think of)


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[BlueCat]

How does CA handle AllStar prep? (I don't really know the best way to word that question) I know your athletes trying out are expected to have competition-ready skills, so where do the prep athletes come in? For example, if you have a girl trying out for level 3 and she doesn't have all her level 3 skills, how do you decide whether to put her on a level 2 team or a level 3 prep team? (I don't even know if CA has a level 3 prep team, that was just the first scenario I could think of)

I believe the standards are roughly the same as for the regular teams in terms of team placements. The differences between prep and "regular" are mainly: length of season, practice times, and cost.

 

[BlueCat]

As someone who would love to get involved in the administrative side of a gym thank you for those answers! I've been in the cheer/dance world for years and now that my daughter is in cheer I'd love to be more involved in the business side as I am enjoying learning the new aspects of this sport, and have many years of administrative, management and event planning experience so I would think my skills would be useful. I'm surprised to see such a large staff for this organization, though I shouldn't be surprised as I live in this area and am familiar with the gym sizes of CA. Its great to see a true HQ for your brand, perhaps my desire to work at that level for a gym in the future is actually attainable. I feel I'm too old to actually coach, so the other side would be my goal.

As programs get larger, more jobs like this will open up.

 

[BlueCat]

As programs get larger, more jobs like this will open up.

The flip side of "evil mega-programs running small gym owners out of business". It obviously depends on your perspective, but one business growing and (possibly) another shrinking is not automatically mean something is wrong and needs to be fixed with division changes.

 

[cheerf5]

Is the Frisco location up and running this season?


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[BlueCat]

Is the Frisco location up and running this season?

Yes. Team names are "Universe" based (CosmicCats, GalaxyCats, etc.)