How to Create a Fitness Brand, According to Blogilates Founder Cassey Ho

Cassey Ho was a Pilates instructor in college. When she left to move across the country for a job, she posted a workout video on YouTube for the students she was leaving behind. She never intended to build a global brand with millions of followers. But that’s exactly what she did.

Ho, founder of the fitness brand Blogilates, might now be in charge of engaging an audience across her blog, YouTube, and social media platforms, but more than 10 years after she uploaded that first video, she and her brand still stand out amidst the proliferated landscape because she remains committed to the reason she posted on YouTube in the first place: community.

“I treat my audience like they’re my friends, like my actual students,” says Ho. She created the POP Pilates method—a class set to pop music—at a time when instructors still mainly relied on calming classical music or no music at all. It caught on and she built a local following with her classes, so she took it to YouTube when she relocated. “I did it because I wanted to connect with people. It’s so simple,” she says. “I think that intention for me has always stuck and is the reason that Blogilates has survived this whole time.”

Because of that approach, much of her growth has been slow, steady, and organic, and she’s remained diligent about engaging with followers, even as the number of ways to do so has multiplied. But she has also become more intentional about serving her growing audience. “I’m on every single platform—Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, my blog, my newsletter,” says Ho.

She also believes the combination of the fitness videos and the aspects of her life that she shares keeps people loyal both to her and to the content she creates. “I will always share vulnerable parts of my life,” Ho insists. “I’m not afraid to [share] what I think and what I’m going through. I’m the instructor, but I’m also not perfect. People really connect to that and appreciate that they can relate.”

While her following has ballooned from that original class of a couple dozen students to more than 5 million YouTube subscribers (and millions more across social media), Ho has never stopped listening. “I read through all the comments on every platform and I try to figure out, What is it that they want? What is it that they need to learn more of, and where can I step in and create some new content for them? It’s a lot of really digging in and getting to know your audience,” she says. “When I am making content and they’re writing back to me, it’s like we’re having a conversation through content.”

Her advice to those who want to replicate her success? “Don’t lose yourself,” she says. And if you want to start something, start it. Ho uploaded that first video with no expectations or intentions—but people responded to it. Now, in addition to creating content for a blog, YouTube channel, and every popular digital platform, she designs activewear, writes about nutrition and mental health, and creates workout challenges and schedules to make her now-robust video library more accessible to followers. Instructors can also be trained in her POP Pilates method and there are 4,000 classes worldwide. None of that would have happened had she not simply put her first post out there.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram; just post something, then hone it from there,” she advises. “Listen to your audience and figure out who your audience is. It’s really important to know what you’re about and then go really hard into that.”

That, again, comes back to being yourself and sticking to it. Ho admits she’s lost that battle at times in an effort to please everyone, but has also realized it’s impossible to make everyone happy (especially on the internet). “Don’t be afraid to be weird. If you are going to try to be someone else, you are going to blend into the entire sea of people trying to be this perfect fitness creator,” she says. “If you lean into yourself and really take advantage of your own skills and personality, you will stand out.”

Ho did stand out, and even though she didn’t initially set out to build a career in fitness, she built one organically. And sticking with it has led her to fulfill something she actually did set out to do, even if it was in a different way than she might have envisioned. “My dream had always been to become a fashion designer,” she says. “It’s really cool that YouTube and fitness brought me back to what I wanted to do.”