Hoopnotica started with a group of women hooping as performance art, which morphed into teaching classes and eventually creating a line products. The Hoopnotica trend caught on quickly in Los Angeles; Marisa Tomei and Beyonce are avid hoopers.
The nostalgia tie in can be powerful, bringing back the joy of mastering hooping as a child. It brings pleasure to the idea of exercise. An added benefit is that hooping can be done in a small space almost anywhere. Koechli was in Toronto with her hoop recently to launch the line on The Shopping Channel and said the main feature is the health giving potential.
AB - What made you think of the hula-hoop as an exercise tool?
KK - It’s a new sort of old school with a new spin. It started as a performance art with the jam band The String Cheese Incident. Our founder met a woman who had found a hoop and was making and selling them in the farmers market. She taught herself the moves and got muscle tone, she felt great and confident and it changed her life. She was an IT professional and all of a sudden performing at parties with her hoop and then naturally, what happened was that all these people asked how to do it, how to get the body she had.
AB - What kind of muscle shaping comes with regular hooping?
KK - The body starts to look like a dancer’s body, very strong legs, really strong core, open chest, strong back and lean arms. It’s a yoga body, lean and strong. It’s total transformation. I eventually taught classes and saw people being transformed. People knew about it in Los Angeles, but the rest of the world needed to experience it. So in 2006, we created a Hooping DVD series so people didn’t have to find a class in their area. Adults think they can't do it, but it’s about the size of the hoop. We don’t use the child’s version. You can travel with it and it’s easy to ship.
AB - Do people tell you they have a nostalgic connection to the hula-hoop?
KK - Everyone has connection from when they were kids. There is a natural magnetism as a fitness product. You burn calories and fat and enjoy it when you can’t get to the gym or running. I was never motivated by exercise. I went from a size fourteen to four after hooping for a year. I finally realised I kept buying new clothes and one day I looked at an old dress and said Oh, my God! And there is no gym membership. It’s a one-time purchase, recession friendly.
AB – Was starting the business scary?
KK - Absolutely. A lot of people didn’t take us seriously, we were just hula-hoop girls but we had some business sense. We believed in it 100%. We see our students come back and this changes people’s lives for the better. The drama has been totally worth it. I had business background running a modeling agency in LA for five years and I was an executive assistant in the entertainment business.
AB - You said you want to create $10 million in sales by 2010. Is it do-able?
KK – We’re going for it and we're on route!
AB - Are you faithful with your hooping?
KK - I'm mainly working every day but my favourite thing to do it taking ten-minute hooping breaks. We always have music in the office and I'll jump up and hoop for ten minutes. It gets my heart rate going and I get a smile going and get away from the computer. You're refreshed, and it can bring you out of a bad mood. You can't be unhappy in a hoop!
Team Hoopnotica will appear on The Shopping Channel in Canada, Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 11:00am, 3:00pm, 8:00pm & 11:00pm. For more information, see www.hoopnotica.com
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