The 3rd Degree #12 – Michael Browning Jr.: From One Trampoline Park To Youth Empire

Transcript

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The leap from one local adventure park to a billion-dollar youth enrichment platform didn’t hinge on luck—it grew from data, grit, and a clear promise to families. Brandon Willey sits down with Michael Browning Jr., founder and CEO of Unleashed Brands, to unpack how Urban Air sparked a movement and why a platform beats a portfolio when your customer is the chief household officer and your user is a kid with boundless potential.

Michael takes us back to the early days—mapping waiver data across Dallas–Fort Worth, surviving a chorus of “no,” and turning curiosity into multi-site momentum. He shares how franchising wasn’t a grand plan but a response to demand, and why the best operators win by mastering fundamentals, not hacks. Then we zoom out: the birth of Unleashed Brands, a shared-services backbone that standardizes enrollment, payments, check-ins, and progress tracking across beloved names like The Little Gym, Sylvan Learning, Snapology, and Premier Martial Arts. The message is simple and parent-friendly—one experience for classes, camps, parties, and leagues, many ways for kids to learn, play, and grow.

We also explore the hard parts: migrating legacy POS systems, aligning cultures, and evolving leadership from “speedboat” to “battleship” without losing agility. Michael lays out the next decade with a consumer app that becomes a family’s daily command center, informed by an advisory board of youth experts and built to reward loyalty while making choices clear on price and schedule. Along the way, we touch on the Unleashed Brands Foundation’s work in childhood cancer research and inclusion, and the metrics that matter most—customer acquisition cost, retention, and funnel conversion. If you care about scaling impact, building resilient franchise systems, or simply making parenting logistics easier, this conversation delivers both strategy and heart.

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Brandon Willey

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