How Idolem turned one customer’s dream studio into a 40-location wellness network

Melody Benhamou built Idolem by putting herself in the customer’s shoes. As the Quebec wellness group grew from 21 to 40 active locations, that same instinct shaped everything from its network-wide membership to Yoga Reformer, and led it to a technology partner prepared to listen and evolve alongside it.

Melody Benhamou describes herself as a dreamer. But the story of Idolem is really about what happens when a dreamer is equally determined to execute.

She did not begin with a conventional franchise blueprint or a yoga teacher’s idea of how a studio should operate. She began as a customer who could not find the experience she wanted.

Her ideal studio would be clean and welcoming. The team would recognize her. There would be enough classes to fit around a busy life, and her membership would follow her wherever she travelled.

So she built it.

Today, Idolem has around 40 locations actively processing bookings, with 50 in sight and ambitions stretching far beyond Quebec. Yet the question behind its decisions remains remarkably consistent: what would make this experience better for the customer?

Building from the customer outwards

The customer-first approach shaped one of Idolem’s most distinctive features. A membership bought at one location can be used across the network, even though each studio is independently owned and the original location retains the revenue.

For a founder who travelled frequently, it was an obvious part of the dream studio. For a franchise network, it required operators to see themselves as part of something larger than their individual location.

“We work as a team,” Melody says. “Other locations welcome the student because we want to be there for the customer. We believe that by being open, we will bring more customers into the network.”

That philosophy extends to the smaller details of the studio experience. Cleanliness, a warm welcome and classes that finish on time are not operational footnotes to Melody. They are signals of respect.

As Idolem opened more corporate locations, she noticed how difficult it was to preserve that feeling from a distance. Franchising offered a way to put an invested owner closer to each community. The franchisee became, in her words, “a bridge to the customer.”

When the technology no longer fitted the model

By 2022, Idolem had 21 studios and an operating model its existing technology could no longer comfortably support. Head office needed visibility across the network without removing the independence of individual franchisees. Members needed to move between studios. The business needed direct support from people who understood the complexity behind both.

Idolem spent around a year researching the market before choosing bsport. The decision was not simply about replacing one booking platform with another. It was about finding a technology partner prepared to understand the model Idolem had already built, then keep adapting as it developed.

“With some software, you ask for something and the answer is, ‘No, it’s not possible.’ After too many noes, the customer changes software,” Melody says. “What we appreciate with bsport is: ‘Okay, we will work on it. Let’s keep things moving.’”

That willingness to listen mattered because Idolem did not need an off-the-shelf setup. Its network-wide membership, franchise structure and plans for continued expansion created requirements that a platform built for one independent studio would rarely encounter.

Moving 21 studios at once

Idolem approached the move with the same mix of ambition and operational caution that has defined its growth. Rather than relying on a theoretical test, the group paid for a full trial migration using its real data before committing the entire network.

The 21 studios migrated in October 2022 and went live four days later. The preparation was particularly important because booking failures on the previous system had become acute during the pandemic, when reservations were mandatory.

“We did a real test and made sure it was complete,” Melody says. “We tested the importation of the data, and that went really well. From one day to the next, at least 70 percent of our problems were gone.”

The migration was not the end of the technology journey. A fast-growing franchise continues to expose new needs as locations, members and business models are added. Melody describes those periods as occasional “hurricanes of challenges.” What mattered was being able to reach people who knew the account and could help move things forward.

Growing together

Idolem did not simply adopt bsport and grow on top of it. Its requirements helped bsport understand what a large franchise network needs, from the relationship between head office and independently operated studios to data that can be understood across dozens of locations.

As Idolem’s model matured, bsport’s franchise capabilities matured with it. The group pushed for centralized communication from the master account, more sophisticated reporting and simpler customer journeys. Today, Idolem analyzes first visits, promotional conversion and the path from trial to paid membership across the network.

“Data needs to talk,” Melody says. “The number of visits on a particular day or month is not enough. You need to compare it and understand the lifecycle of a customer: when they arrive, how many days it takes to convert and what percentage converts in each studio.”

The results show that growth has not come only from adding addresses. Bookings processed through bsport increased from approximately 726,000 in 2023 to 1.33 million in 2025. Over the same period, annual member revenue processed rose from CAD 7.2 million to CAD 13.5 million. Existing studios were becoming busier as the footprint expanded.

Melody also points to changes that sound small until they are viewed through the member’s eyes. One example is allowing a customer to begin registering for a class before completing a full account, removing an interruption at the moment their interest is highest.

“It may look like a small change, but it changed everything in the customer cycle,” she says. “People want to register, so let them register. It is a game changer for the business.”

The relationship is credible precisely because it has been reciprocal. Idolem has been a demanding customer with a clear vision. bsport’s role was not to claim every answer already existed, but to listen closely enough to help turn those requirements into a stronger product for Idolem and other franchise operators.

Giving loyal customers another reason to stay

Customer-centricity did not stop once the original studio experience was built. Melody continually asks why a satisfied member might eventually leave, and what Idolem could do before that happens.

Sometimes the answer is not poor service or an unhappy customer. Someone who has practised yoga for years may simply want to experience something new.

“It is like a relationship. You need to take care of it and keep it fresh,” she says. “We need new workshops, training and experiences, so customers always have another reason to say, ‘That’s new. Let’s try it.’”

Rather than follow the crowded reformer Pilates market, Idolem developed Yoga Reformer, a format designed to combine the physical appeal of reformer with the emotional experience Melody valued in yoga. She says the classes are full and are bringing back customers who had previously moved away from the brand.

That same instinct has taken Idolem beyond hot yoga into digital content, education, retreats, bathing and spa experiences, juice bars and other wellness concepts. Diversification is a route to new revenue, but it is also a retention strategy: a way to give long-standing members something new to discover without asking them to leave the Idolem world.

Protecting the feeling as the network grows

Idolem expects to reach 50 locations in the nearer term. Melody has also spoken publicly about an ambition to reach 175 across Canada, with France intended to become the group’s first international territory before wider expansion into Europe and the United States.

The scale is considerable, but Melody still talks about success through individual moments: a member being recognized, a clean studio, a door kept open and a class that respects people’s time.

“What I love most is the customer. The franchisees are a bridge to the customer,” she says. “Even through the challenges, customers feel the love we want to give them. That is what surprised me most.”

Technology cannot create that feeling on Idolem’s behalf. But it can give head office and franchisees more time to protect it, while providing the structure needed to keep an increasingly ambitious network connected.

“bsport is growing with us and with our needs,” Melody says. “It is a long-term partnership. They learn what a network needs, they bring new things and they listen to what we ask.”

Melody’s advice for founders preparing to franchise

“Sleep now, because you won’t sleep after,” she says. “It is a lot of work.”

Behind the joke is a serious lesson. A dream may give a business its direction, but execution turns it into something customers can experience. For Idolem, that has meant building the right operating model, continuing to reinvent the offer and choosing partners prepared to evolve with both.

About Idolem

Groupe Idolem is a Quebec-based wellness franchise founded by Melody Benhamou. Beginning with hot yoga, the group has expanded into a wider ecosystem of studio, digital, education, retreat and wellness experiences. Idolem currently has around 40 locations actively processing bookings and plans further expansion in Canada and internationally.

About bsport

bsport is a fitness management platform built for boutique fitness and wellness businesses. It brings bookings, payments, marketing, member management, reporting and multi-location operations into one connected ecosystem, helping operators spend less time on administration and more time growing their business and community.