Hidden Gems: Meet Jennifer Halla of Austin Ninjas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Halla.

Hi Jennifer, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to Austin in June 1999 to work for Motorola as an Engineer. I met my future husband in December 1999 and after 3 years both working in technical fields, we decided to spend 2 years in the US Peace Corps. We lived in Ghana, West Africa, for a little over 2 years, where I taught mathematics to high school students. Returning to Austin in 2006, I returned to the semi-conductor industry in an engineering role. When my husband and I started our family, I decided to take a break from working and focus on my children and family. When my two boys were 7 and 5, we started watching American Ninja Warrior, a hit NBC TV show, in 2016. My sons loved the television show very much and wanted to be American Ninja Warriors when they grew up. At the time, there was not a ninja gym in the Austin area. On a trip to Chicago, in July 2017, we surprised the boys with a trip to a ninja gym. What was planned to be a 1-time visit, became 4 visits during that trip. I came back inspired to bring a ninja warrior gym to Austin, for not only my children, but for all the kids in our city who dreamed of being a ninja warrior. I opened the doors of Austin Ninjas, the first American Ninja Warrior gym in Austin, in January 2018. Austin Ninjas became not only a ninja training gym for youth, it quickly became a powerhouse facility with youth and adult athletes training and competing in state and national competitions. Austin Ninjas expanded to a second location, in Cedar Park, in August 2019. It has been such an amazing journey to see how much happiness Austin Ninjas brings to our customers.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road to opening Austin Ninjas was remarkably fast. I had a goal in mind of what I wanted Austin Ninjas to be and how I wanted to run the gym and focusing on that helped to push through any of the struggles in the beginning. Being a parent to what is our primary customer has allowed me to understand the client base and tailor the gym offerings well. We had built our student population up to over 550 students/week by March 2020. COVID-19 shutdowns required us to be closed for over 2 months. It has been a huge struggle to overcome the on-going pandemic. We are working very hard to ensure a clean and safe environment for our customers, but it has been slow to recover. The gym now has about 350 students/week back training. We have always had a model of small class sizes, and our 5 students: 1 instructor model has been helpful to allow customers to feel safe returning. Austin Ninjas students conquer obstacles daily in the gym and in turn Austin Ninjas will conquer this traumatic obstacle of 2020.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Austin Ninjas is an American Ninja Warrior obstacle gym. We offer weekly classes, open gym, birthday parties, camps, kids night out, and competitions. Austin Ninjas is a fun way to get exercise and it is great to see kids and adults of all athletic backgrounds find a place to train at the gym. We are most proud of the little accomplishments we get to see each week in our classes. Whether it is a 5-year-old beating a warped wall that is 10 feet tall, or a 42-year-old catching a lache’ for the first time, we help all our students find success and a reason to keep returning.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The Covid-19 crisis has significantly impacted my business. When we first shut down, we had to process a lot of refunds for birthday parties and classes. Initially, it was hard to not take the refunds personally, but there is absolutely nothing that any of us did to cause this crisis. This is not our fault, and although we have to deal with the destruction of our businesses, we are all in this together. And together we will rebuild our city.

Pricing:

• Classes: $25/class
• Classes: $25/class
• Camps: $300/week
• Kids Night Out: $30
• Parties: $350 – $450

Contact Info:

• Address: Austin Ninjas 6001 W Parmer Lane, Suite 430 Austin, TX 78727 Austin Ninjas Cedar Park 200 Buttercup Creek, Suite 107A Cedar Park, TX 78613
• Email: info@austinninjas.com
• Website: www.austinninjas.com
• Instagram: @austinninjas
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/warpedwallwarriors
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AustinNinjas

Image Credits
Lorin Ball Dylan McNeill