How Dallas Women Do It — Jasmine Kwon Zutter on the Grassroots Growth of Class Studios

When Jasmine Zutter was teaching biology at a New York City public school, she had no idea she would one day own her own fitness studio, let alone one of the most popular wellness destinations in Dallas. A decade later, the former teacher is instructing a different kind of discipline at Class Studios, and bouncing between the brand’s two upscale locations in West Village (where cycle and train workouts are hosted) and Preston Center (sculpting and HIIT). Now, she can also add “surviving a global pandemic” to her resume, all while chasing her three young sons.

Zutter talks with PaperCity about everything from her go-to late-night wellness stop to the grassroots growth of Class Studios. The fitness guru also named her favorite margarita in the city — a hard-hitting question for any Dallasite.

PaperCity: What’s your Dallas-area coffee order?
 Zutter: I get a skim vanilla latte from White Rock Coffee.

What’s the best Dallas meal you’ve ever eaten?  
There used to be this underground dining club in Deep Ellum with a waitlist and a lottery, and we got in a few times — FRANK Underground. It was in this chef’s loft, and they had all of these themed meals with 10 courses, paired with wine. They were absolutely the best, and always the most expertly prepared, detailed meals. I’m also a big, big fan of the Ding’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich at any of the Hillstone Concepts restaurants, like the Honor Bar and R&D Kitchen. With French fries, of course.

What are your favorite local wellness spots?
I have a manicure and pedicure at Sophia’s Nails on Lover’s Lane every two weeks, which is like the only self-care I do. I’m also a big fan of YaYa Foot Spa on Lover’s Lane — I try to go as much as possible, usually later at night. All the kids have gone down, it’s like 9 pm, and I’m walking into a massage parlor — that’s my jam. You come home and just pass out. It’s the deepest sleep.

What is your favorite hidden Dallas gem?
Rafa’s Mexican Cuisine — a little hole in the wall. They’ve been there forever, and they have the best margaritas. It’s that kind of very traditional Mexican restaurant — less Tex-Mex and more authentic Mexican. Their margaritas are the bomb.

What led you to create Class Studios?
When I graduated from college I actually was a schoolteacher, and so the name Class speaks to any sort of classroom setting, whether it’s a traditional classroom in a school or fitness setting. It’s this idea of a bunch of people coming together from all different backgrounds, abilities, shapes, sizes, religions, sexual orientations, and races, in a setting to learn something about themselves and get better in some capacity.

After teaching for five years in New York City, I took a little break to assess what I wanted to do and got really plugged into the boutique fitness scene. I immediately fell in love with the idea of group fitness, and when I moved to Dallas, the boutique fitness scene there was in its infancy. It just hadn’t caught on in the city yet. I threw myself in. I taught at two different studios and consulted for a lot of smaller studios around the country. There was that thought in the back of my head: If people are paying me for my expertise, why don’t I build my own?

That’s a very scary idea, but it was the right time. Something I’m really proud of with Class Studios and its growth is that we’ve never really paid for traditional marketing or advertising, even from the very beginning. Almost all of it was word-of-mouth and very grassroots, and it’s all been very organic growth from the beginning, which is super powerful. It speaks really loud volumes about the experience we create within our walls across all four concepts that other people are so passionate about bringing other people into our space.

Plus, the words of affirmation I receive about how much of an impact the experience has had on their mental, physical, and spiritual health — I can’t go a week without someone telling me how Class has changed their life for the better. And it’s not just about my classes, but all of my instructors’ across the board. I think that’s a really special thing, especially coming out of 2020, where people were in a really dark and challenging place.

How do you prioritize your own mental and physical health as a business owner and a mom?
I don’t have a whole lot of downtime for myself. I used to be an avid, gifted napper, and I don’t think I remember the last time I just laid down in the middle of the day. My marriage is very important to me, and I’m lucky to be married to someone who is not only my romantic partner but my mentor, a business partner, a best friend. A lot of my wellness comes from my relationship with him and the time we carve out, and we are very, very good at carving out time for ourselves.

We’re super lucky to be surrounded by a lot of help for our kids — school, a wonderful nanny, my mom who lives really close by, and his parent. I know that is a luxury that a lot of parents don’t have, so we’re very fortunate, and a lot of my wellness comes from that.

What advice would you give to Dallas women?
I once read this, and it always comes back to me: you’re the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. Surround yourself with people who make you better, and who you feel like you have a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship with.

I spent a lot of my twenties thinking about friendship as quantity over quality, and now that I don’t have a lot of time, I have to pick very carefully how and with whom I choose to spend my time. I would say that, in every arena of your life, make sure you’re surrounding yourself with people who will make you better and make you stronger. I see a lot of people surrounding themselves and putting themselves in romantic relationships or friendships that are not that way, and I’m lucky that I think I figured that out so quickly.