FlyProject's Jason Choong: Accent on Fun in Fitness

Cousins, Jason and Kenny Choong are the co founders of this trendy fitness boutique located in DC Mall, Bukit Damansara. It started from their first outlet in Mont Kiara, FlyCycle - a workout class where riders break sweat on stationary bikes.

Their thriving spinning business encouraged them to explore other fitness regimen, which led to the launch of FlyProject.

Each class is led by top notch instructors, who are trained to motivate and inspire, leaving customers wanting more. The workout areas are described as “fitness lab" which booms to the thud music complete with dance-floor style strobe lights that run across the ceilings. The classes offered include boxing, pilates, yoga, cardio dancing and ‘HIIT’ (High intensity-interval training), among others.

The ambiance at FlyProject is key, as Jason and team have created more than just a workout space. In an increasingly crowded market of boutique workout outlets, Jason talks about his goal to push the Fly brand beyond the fitness sphere.

How did FlyProject come to be? Back then there was very little boutique gyms. Majority of people could only go to big gym like Fitness First. There wasn’t anything that was specialised. So, when I experienced something like this overseas, I understood that fitness was much more than being a part of a daily routine; it is more of a lifestyle. That is what I wanted to bring back to Malaysia. What is your role in the business? As the founder, in the beginning I think you wear many hats. At the same time growing a company isn’t easy and taking on head count is also not very easy when the business generates very little revenue. But today we do have a very strong team. Right now, I only see growth and development. How did this business start? Well, it started out as hobby. We never planned for it to be big but I think that over the last year, we understood the market a bit better. We could see this growing into a much bigger thing than it was before. Also experimenting with newer workouts to bring to Malaysians, so that they have much more things to enjoy. Because I think variety is very important to a customer, you need to be able to choose more than just cycling. What has been the biggest challenge for you since running Fly? I would say the biggest challenge of running a business in Malaysia is finding manpower and that’s our drawback. I think human capital is really important in a service industry like ours. It is hard to scout good talent. How long is a session? Our magic number is 45 minutes. Certain classes are slightly longer. But we are now incorporating shorter class sessions for the lunch crowd. So that they can come in for a quick workout, shower and then go back to work. At 28 years old, what motivates you to do more? To be able to see the team grow and, of course, to look after the company and the team. So, that everyone will be able to grow further with the company. I think a lot of millenials, when they look for a job, they want to be able to grow with the company. I think a lot of older companies are very structured and lack growth (prospects) for their people. Is Fly more than just a fitness brand? We’ve always wanted to create a lifestyle brand. We are moving towards F&B, called “FlyFuel” and hopefully other lifestyle ventures in the future. But at this moment, the core is fitness. What is the age group that walks into your fitness centre? So, strangely enough it’s a wide range of ages. We have a lot of millenials from twenties onwards but they also go all the way up to 60. We have 60-year-olds come in. They really do enjoy the classes. I guess this makes them feel young again. What makes FlyProject different than all the other fitness centers out there? What we are really strong at is the team. We work really hard to build the team and this team is what makes it different from everywhere else. Just a great bunch of people who help look after this community.