Celebrity Trainer Marnie Alton Transforms M/Body into a $40K Online Fitness Powerhouse

Marnie Alton, a celebrity fitness trainer, has taken Barre to the next level with M/Body, now a popular membership platform. Interestingly enough, M/Body didn’t start as a membership platform.

Marnie’s journey with M/Body began in 2014 with a brick-and-mortar studio in Los Angeles, which she built from the ground up with personal dedication and the support of friends. It quickly grew into one of the most popular fitness studios in LA, known for its meticulous attention to detail and holistic approach to fitness.

Marnie recalls, “It was very much a labor of love and credit card debt. Everything was very meticulous—the smells, the shapes of things, everything.”

Initially, the studio grew steadily, attracting a dedicated following and expanding to a staff of about 15 employees. The hands-on environment allowed Marnie to connect deeply with her clients, providing a personalized experience that was central to the studio’s success.

Despite her success, Marnie knew the industry was shifting towards online fitness. However, fear of the unknown held her back initially from making the move. The idea of transitioning was daunting, filled with uncertainties about maintaining the personal touch and high-quality experience her clients expected. This hesitation persisted until the pandemic hit, making the move unavoidable. 

In April 2020, Marnie transitioned M/Body to an exclusively online platform with Uscreen.

“During Covid, we suddenly found ourselves disconnected from people that we wouldn't have been able to reach if we were confined to a single physical space in one town. But we managed to connect with people in a different way. Teaching in front of a camera, I still felt the presence of people on the other side, living their lives. I used to think real connections required physical interactions—hugs, direct eye contact. But, I realized we could still profoundly impact people online.”

- Marnie Alton, Founder of M/Body

The decision to stay online was driven by the realization that she could still connect deeply with her community through virtual classes, reaching people globally from places like Florida, Texas, Minnesota, New York, Italy, Singapore, Australia, and South Africa — all at the same time without needing to physically exist anywhere. 

With Uscreen, Marnie could centralize her operations, streamline workflows, and significantly improve the user experience. This shift allowed her to maintain the high standards she set in her physical studio, now extended into the digital realm.

As of writing this story, M/Body has a thriving online fitness community reaching 1,200 members and generating $40K monthly revenue with 62% app users.

Marnie’s move to an online membership platform didn’t come without doubts or challenges.

Maintaining the community feel and engagement in an online environment was a major concern for Marnie. Initially, she was skeptical about whether she could replicate the intimate, community-driven experience of her studio online and feared losing the emotional connection and real-time feedback that in-person classes provided.

To build an interactive and engaging online community, she needed a membership site platform specifically designed for her needs as a fitness membership owner. 

From essential features like real-time communication via live comments, to more big-picture goals like “How do I make my videos as easily accessible and convenient as possible for my members?”, Marnie needed a dedicated platform. 

She also needed to replace her offline retreats with online live-streaming events. To retain the same level of personal touch, resonance, and connection with her members, her membership site platform needed to support live streaming and related functionality.  

Shifting to an online membership platform also required strategic resource management. Marnie explains, “We stopped all of our offline memberships when lockdown happened. So we went from having a monthly income and 15 employees to still having 15 employees and full rent and all the stuff and no income. So we had to be really, really strategic about how we used dollars.”

"We couldn’t have a crew of ten people recording a video. So we started doing it much more like bootstrapping with phones and microphones on the phones initially because we couldn’t get anything better. We’re far more evolved from that now."

- Marnie Alton, Founder of M/Body

Marnie chose Uscreen as the membership platform for M/Body because of its comprehensive features that support video content management, live streaming, and community engagement. Uscreen enabled Marnie to integrate various aspects of her business into a cohesive online operation.

She began hosting live classes, which quickly became the heart of her online community. The live stream format is easy for Marniee to film and produce, and her members love the live energy vibe – M/BODY live streams consistently see 100+ viewers.

Marnie shared, “From the feedback we get, people still prefer to watch the live class versus the polished produced video. People feel closer to us because they’re seeing real things happening in real-time.”

M/BODY films 95% of its content live, and afterward, Uscreen automatically adds it to the content library for people to watch later. This makes Marniee’s content creation and upload process even more efficient and offers something for everyone.

Plus, with the live chat feature, members can connect directly with Marniee and each other. They come early to talk and hang out afterward, while Marniee’s team can answer questions about workout modifications in real-time. 

This increases customer satisfaction and retention and brings the M/BODY community closer together. Marniee further shares, “The community board has been of great service to both us and our members. It allows for ongoing interaction and support within the community.”

To improve member experience, Marnie also launched mobile apps for M/BODY. She shares, “We always aimed to make things easier for our members, and the app was another way to do that. Members also requested it. One great feature of the app is the ability to work out offline, which is crucial for our global community. People don’t always have reliable Wi-Fi, especially when traveling, and they don’t want to lug a laptop around."

Marnie values the overall ease of functionality and how apps make it simpler for her members to access content and participate in workouts. The streamlined experience is important for delivering a better member experience. 

“We always want to be of service to our customers and find the most streamlined way to get them into the actual workout. And the apps are a way to do that. Initially, we went as barebones as possible, but eventually evolved as we grew.”

- Marnie Alton, Founder of M/Body

By running an online membership platform, Marniee could scale her business to $40k+ a month and serve a much larger audience.

“We can expand and scale the business without expanding our workload – plus, we can touch more people, be a part of more lives, and have a more profitable business.”

- Marnie Alton, Founder of M/Body

Live streaming helped her save time and money as a more efficient way to create her product. She only spends about 40% of her time filming, which means she has more energy to focus on the parts of the business she loves. And she doesn’t have to pay huge studio overhead costs or deal with the day-to-day challenges of in-person ownership.

By moving her business online with Uscreen, Marniee could grow M/BODY, stay true to her values, and create a long-term sustainable business model. 

Apps 

Marnie appreciates how apps have improved her business by making her fitness programs more accessible to her clients, especially those who are constantly on the move or have weak internet. She highlights the offline workout feature as a major benefit, saying, 

"I've been really happy with apps so far because you can work out offline. That's a really big favorite for me and it’s fun too because again we have such a global and diverse community where people were wi-fi isn't always the greatest for them, where they live or where they're at, or they're taking us on a on a vacation or on a road trip."

- Marnie Alton, Founder of M/Body

Live Streaming and Comments

Marnie mentions that live sessions are crucial for her engagement and that the live comments feature is a significant advantage. It allows real-time interaction with members, which helps in maintaining the community feel.

"The live comments you added a few years ago have been fantastic. It’s so engaging that people arrive early to chat, interact during the session, and even stay after it ends. It’s surprising how the conversations continue even after the live session has ended—they’re really into it, connecting with one another.”

- Marnie Alton, Founder of M/Body

Community Board

Marnie appreciates the community board feature that allows members to interact outside of social media platforms. This has been particularly useful for her community, which values privacy and focused interactions.

“The community board provides a space for our members to interact without needed to depend on any social media platform, which was especially important given the backlash against platforms like Facebook a while back. Uscreen has been a great solution, truly serving both our needs and those of our members.” 

- Marnie Alton, Founder of M/Body

Story Written by: Aarushi Singh