He Started a Business at 26 and Was Rejected by Every Bank and Investor. Now It’s Passed $1 Billion in Sales: ‘People Thought I Was Crazy’

When Michael Browning Jr. tried to motorboat a trampoline parkland successful 2011, each bank and investor rejected him. His property was a facet — he was 26 years old astatine the time. Investors said he was excessively young and that his thought would ne'er work. 

Undeterred, Browning went to his parents and asked for their help. His dada had a construction background and said he could thief Browning build the facility. His parents besides invested successful the venture. 

That’s really Browning recovered himself moving alongside his father, building the first Urban Air Adventure Park by hand. They rented forklifts, laid wood and unloaded foam cubes, constructing the trampoline parkland from scratch. 

“It was 1 of these things wherever I conscionable had a immense passion for starting the business,” Browning tells Entrepreneur successful a caller interview. “The banks didn’t spot it, landlords didn’t spot it, group thought I was crazy, but I was committed to it, and it each worked out.”

In 2021, Browning founded Unleashed Brands, a unified franchise level to thief children learn, play and grow. Unleashed Brands, which includes Urban Air, The Little Gym, Sylvan Learning, Premier Martial Arts and Water Wings Swim School, has much than 1,600 locations nationwide and serves much than 25 cardinal children. 

Last year, the institution did conscionable complete $1 billion successful revenue, and Browning predicts it will scope that milestone again successful 2026. In 2025, Unleashed Brands opened 133 caller franchise locations, pinch much than 200 franchises successful development.

The pursuing question and reply has been lightly edited for clarity and concision. 

Michael Browning Jr. Credit: Unleashed Brands

Urban Air: from first parkland to franchise

How agelong did it return Urban Air to go a franchise?
Our first Urban Air location opened connected October 28, 2011, truthful we’re coming up connected our 15th year. Our first franchise opened connected December 16, 2014, pinch a family successful Wichita, Kansas, the Beckers, who are still franchisees coming and now person aggregate locations. Their wide head is opening a Little Gym, and the Beckers renewed their original franchise for different 10 years.

How did you make the first Urban Air location activity contempt the consequence of failure?
It came down to how we viewed problems and adversity. My halfway operating accuracy is that problems are mile markers connected the roadworthy to your destiny. People get rattled erstwhile problems show up; I spot them arsenic expected. You tin propulsion complete and quit, aliases you tin spell over, under, astir aliases done them. We had to beryllium gritty, funny and innovative. 

When we started, we were only the sixth trampoline parkland successful the state and didn’t really cognize what we were doing. We ran the business connected one mantra: Keep guests safe, support them happy and make money — successful that order. Every determination went done that filter. My family and I worked each position — register, attraction monitor, janitor, statement big — until we knew really to do each occupation pinch excellence. Then we trained and coached our unit to present an exceptional impermanent experience.

Learning astir franchising

When did you recognize your first Urban Air location could beryllium a franchise, not conscionable a azygous business?
I didn’t initially spot franchising arsenic a maturation path. We had 4 family-owned locations successful Dallas–Fort Worth erstwhile a guest, whose sister lived adjacent our first location, kept calling and asking maine to franchise the conception to him. The only point I knew astir franchising was from the movie The Founder astir McDonald’s. I went and researched it, sewage mentors successful franchising and decided I didn’t want to look backmost successful 15 to 20 years and regret not exploring it. 

Demand for the marque was strong, but I didn’t want to unfastened and run each location extracurricular Dallas–Fort Worth myself. As I learned more, I realized franchising was an astonishing model: group get a “business successful a box” they tin ain and run locally. I now thatch Introduction to Franchising astatine a section assemblage because I wish I’d understood it earlier. Too galore group deliberation entrepreneurship has to commencement from a blank expanse of paper; I judge franchising is 1 of the champion models successful America to stimulate entrepreneurship.

Urban Air Adventure Park. Credit: Unleashed Brands

Starting Unleashed Brands

What was happening successful your life erstwhile you decided to commencement Unleashed Brands?
I’m an entrepreneur and CEO, but I’m besides a dada of three: a 14-year-old daughter, an 11-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy today. If you rewind to Covid, those kids were astir 1, 6, and 9 years old. At that time, we were only Urban Air, and we unopen down each locations, for illustration everyone else. We utilized those months to retool and analyse what we’d built aft years of hypergrowth. I realized we’d created a platform, a instrumentality that knows really to sell, design, market, unfastened and run franchise businesses, and we had a large, powerful user database of families. 

Coming retired of Covid, my woman and I were sitting connected the couch, some Googling activities for our kids, and I retrieve thinking: This is really difficult and fragmented. Nobody had built a Marriott Bonvoy-like ecosystem for kids’ enrichment. That’s erstwhile it clicked: I was going to bargain the world’s champion youth-focused brands families already trust, link them connected a shared services infrastructure — aforesaid point-of-sale system, aforesaid tech stack, shared trading and media — and simplify the younker enrichment travel for parents. It grew retired of frustration arsenic a parent. That’s really Unleashed was born.

Making strategical acquisitions

How did you motorboat Unleashed Brands — did it commencement pinch acquisitions?
Yes. I started by articulating the thesis: We’re going to get the world’s champion brands that thief kids learn, play and grow. To go a existent platform, I needed much than 1 brand. I targeted 2 brands my kids had personally experienced. The first was The Little Gym; my woman had taken our first girl location astatine a section franchise successful Dallas. I asked the franchisee who owned the business, sewage the owner’s number successful Chicago, called and asked if they’d sell. They said The Little Gym wasn’t for sale; I said, “Everything’s for sale” and asked for their number. We worked done it. 

The Little Gym. Credit: Unleashed Brands

The 2nd was Snapology, a STEM acquisition company. My girl had done a Snapology campy during Covid and loved it — she learned engineering concepts and built a motion-sensor siren for her chamber doorway without realizing she was coding. I reached retired to laminitis Laura Coe, shared the thesis, and she wanted to beryllium portion of it. Those 2 acquisitions successful 2021 really launched Unleashed Brands arsenic a platform.

How galore brands does Unleashed Brands oversee now?
We person 7 brands, organized nether 3 pillars: Learn, play and grow. Urban Air sits successful our play pillar. In the study pillar, we person Sylvan Learning Centers, Snapology and Class 101, which focuses connected assemblage planning. In the turn pillar, we person The Little Gym, 1 of the largest gymnastics concepts; Water Wings, a aquatics school; and Premier Martial Arts, which focuses connected Krav Maga.

Growth secrets

What strategies person you utilized to grow? What are your secrets? 
I’m a very marketing-oriented CEO. If you want to beryllium the best-kept-secret nary 1 knows about, don’t market. A batch of group spot trading arsenic an expense; I position it arsenic an finance that takes time. You request reach, aliases the number of group who spot your message, and frequency, aliases really often they spot it, earlier they’ll act. Many entrepreneurs aren’t gritty aliases innovative capable successful their marketing. When I started franchising, I didn’t cognize really to sell franchises aliases do franchise marketing. What I did cognize was that guests were coming into Urban Air, having a awesome clip and later calling to inquire if we could unfastened a location successful their municipality aliases if they could unfastened 1 themselves. 

Instead of jumping consecutive into blase integer campaigns, I leaned into that. I put signs complete the men’s urinals and connected the backs of bath stall doors that said, “Want to beryllium your ain boss? Own an Urban Air franchise.” Everyone goes to the bath while they’re there, and they’re having a awesome acquisition successful the park, truthful that connection sticks. I’d stake a ample percent of our first 50 franchisees came from group who sheepishly admitted they saw those signs. It inspired them to see being their ain leader and bringing thing nosy to their hometown.

Advice for founders

What hard, actual proposal do you person for founders?
You person to beryllium consenting to get successful the weeds and study each portion of the business. Every “overnight success” takes astir 15 years; group only spot the consequence aft each the problems and learning. You request friendly knowledge of your institution astatine each level. That intends missed holidays, precocious nights, early mornings and being “on” 24/7. 

There’s a misconception that being your ain boss intends moving less. It’s amazing, but it carries a different weight. You besides person to find nosy successful the regular grind — joyousness successful the activity itself, not conscionable successful the large woody aliases large sale. People opportunity if you emotion what you do, you’ll ne'er activity a time successful your life, but that doesn’t mean you won’t person problems. You request to emotion it truthful overmuch that the problems ne'er extremity you, and you must beryllium consenting to activity very hard.