Why we don’t sell annual memberships

Most studios sell a year. It is the simplest way to turn a good first month into a predictable income, and it works: a person who has paid for twelve months of anything will, for a while, arrange their life to get their money’s worth.

We decided not to do that. FreeBrea does not sell annual memberships. It is the fourth of the four rules we hold ourselves to, and we say it in public: you can stop at any time, and your money can come back to you. There are no streaks, no check-in counts, no push notifications, and no message telling you it has been three weeks. You come back because you want to, and for no other reason.

It costs us money, which is why we say it out loud

On a year-long card, the days you don’t come are the days that cost the studio least. We would rather be paid for the hours you actually spend in the room. A rule like this only means something if it is written down where anyone can point to it, so we have written it down. It will make us earn less than we could. That is exactly why you can believe it.

Keeping people is not how we measure success

The method has three depths: let go, notice, and hold your own. At the third, a few breaths bring you back wherever you are, and coming to the room is no longer a need but a liking. We call that graduation. A business built to keep you forever would be working against its own best result, so we would rather be a little worse at holding on to people and a little better at sending them home with something they can use.

For the same reason, we don’t use the usual tools of retention. A streak turns a quiet hour into a score. A reminder turns “I’d like to” into “I should.” A line like “we miss you” turns a pause into a debt. None of these belongs in a place whose whole purpose is to put things down.

What brings people back, then

The hour itself, and the cup of tea after it. We think a quiet room, a few people breathing at the same pace, and a warm drink handed to you without a question is enough. If it is not, no contract could make it so, and we would rather find that out from empty chairs than from a cancellation form.

What this does not mean

It does not mean we are against commitment. Some people will come every week for years, and we will be glad to see them. It only means the commitment is yours to renew, one hour at a time, and never ours to extract.

The practical details are written out in plain language in our terms and refunds: in our first season you simply pay per session; if we add a pass later it will never renew on its own and unused visits come back; gift cards never expire. They are a draft until a lawyer in Alberta has reviewed them, and we will keep them this simple. The principle will not change: nothing about the way we ask for your time or your money should work against your leaving.