In 2017, Chauntelle and Tyler Balicki had to make a decision; they could either buy a new house to start their new life together, or invest all their money into a business. They chose to become entrepreneurs, opening the Reach Gymnastics Club that same year.
Chauntelle Balicki, who started in gymnastics in her childhood, explained her start in it.
“I grew up in Brantford, and I didn’t start gymnastics until I was around seven-years-old, there weren’t a lot of options for gymnastics back in the early to late 1990s, and I immediately gravitated to the sport. As I got older, I just started to coach here and there [and] always liked being around kids. My mom worked with kids, and I was the oldest cousin, so I was always around younger children…and doing what I do now, combines my natural enjoyment of coaching kids with my love for gymnastics. Teaching was natural for me, and I started coaching from the age of 14. So, I’m going on 23 years of coaching, which has been incredible.” she said.
Tyler Balicki, described meeting Chauntelle, and noted his desire to get into business.
“I also grew up in Brantford, but having no gymnastics background. Chauntelle and I started dating in high school, and I remember watching her going to her competitions when we were teenagers, and just being absolutely amazed at what she was capable of. Then we went to the University of Guelph together. For me, I always gravitated towards the idea of entrepreneurship and had the idea of starting and owning a business one day….yet, I didn’t have an idea for what kind of business, “he said. “After university, I worked out west in the oil fields as a firefighter…I [then] came back home and got a job here on the railway. Shortly, in between those two career paths, Chauntelle and I had just gotten engaged and had a conversation in the kitchen of our rental apartment. We were about to get married, and had to make a decision to either buy a house or starting a business in gymnastics. We just kind of knew…right away, that the answer was. Chauntelle of course had the passion and the dream for continuing with gymnastics, and for the business side of it, I really liked that…and it’s been a great partnership ever since.”
When it came to opening the business, the entrepreneurs didn’t expect the positive reaction that they would get from the community from day one.
“When we first opened, I had a full-time job, and I remember we had just finished renovating that space. That was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Everything has been a learning curve for us right from the start, and I remember our grand opening….where it was more like an open house. And it was also when we opened registration in the summer of 2017. I remember sitting in the office and Chauntelle and our family and friends were out front in the parking lot and in the viewing area…greeting people,” he recalled. “Looking back, I thought if we got about 20 people coming through the doors and registering with us that would be good. Then a line of customers formed…stretching out from the door, and I spent the whole afternoon doing registrations. We got around 100 children to sign up that day….which was amazing. And since then, running Reach has been labor of love and has been an ongoing learning process for both of us.”
Nevertheless, both Chauntelle and Tyler Balicki learned a lot when it came to the business side.
“Trying to find the locations for the gym was hard. We learned very quickly about what zoning meant and what the bylaws were and what you’re allowed or not allowed to do as a business in the city. We learned that to start a gymnastics club, we needed one wide open space with relatively high ceilings, because people are jumping and flipping…you need to have enough space to do those activities, but there’s not a lot of what you need in Brantford for kids’ sports is commercial, and there’s not a lot of those types of spaces in the area. So that was a big obstacle,” she stated. “When we finally found the location…we had a lot of fun, visualizing and…trying to figure out the placement of all the equipment, including all the mats…because once a certain equipment is set, you can’t move it. I had to be very, very strategic in setting where those things went. But when the time came to finalize everything, it only took me within one day of classes to realize how to adjust everything to flow in the way that worked, like a well-oiled machine and working with the space we had. And as the business grew and we got more customers, we added on another staff member or two to operate more than one class there at a time.”
However, right from the start, the business partners have focused on the gym as a recreational club.
“We are a recreational, noncompetitive club, and we made that decision before we opened our doors in 2017, but we do have students who, when they excel, and they make it known that they would like to look into a competitive pathway, we’re more than happy to provide them with clubs in the surrounding area that we think would be best for them in order to get to the next level. Overall, our mission is to inspire children of all ages and abilities to discover the joy of gymnastics in a safe, supportive and positive environment….providing exceptional programming led by passionate and skilled staff, prioritizing safety growth and meaningful social connections, while striving to make every class the highlight of our student’s week. So, we made the decision right from the get go that our focus was going to be on recreational programming and providing a space that kids of all skill levels, all ability, and backgrounds, are able to come in and find love and joy and gymnastics. We wanted it to be a place where when kids leave, they can’t wait to come back the next week.”
The club has offered a variety of programs for children including recreational, advanced gymnastics classes and tumbling classes.
“The heart of the programming, has not really changed much since the day that we opened. We offer parent and tot classes….and we started a class called open gym, where there’s no structure and there isn’t a coach running this class…it’s just for one-year to two-year-olds, where they get to explore with their parents. For us, the gym is a safe space for kids and parents, while giving them a chance to have a little social time too. Then we go up to four-year-olds, and they have a kinder gym program…the children are learning how to socialize, how to wait their turn, how to follow instructions, and how to move different parts of your body in different ways. Instead of just saying head, shoulders, knees and toes…we introduce ideas like…can you touch your toes while upside down? With that in mind, it helps children learn how to do a somersault,” she said. “The next one is five- and six-year-old programs where the kids are starting to learn more about somersault cartwheels, handstands and actual skills. Then for the seven-, eight-year-olds, and nine plus classes, they start being more introduced to fitness components, strengthening exercises, obstacle courses and more technical skills, [however] within the recreational program [framework]. We’re trying our best to make things as fun and fast paced as possible within the gymnastics facility. Other than the recreational programs, we have tumbling, which is only floor work….a lot of dancers like to do this too. And then our advanced programming is for all our four events, and private lessons has been in big demand for the public where a lot of other sports will come in, whether they’re cheering or swimming or diving or dancing, primarily they’ll come in, needing that one time for specific skill to work on, because as much as we are a recreational program, our staff have the knowledge in doing actual technical training that people need specifically for their sport as well.”
Being opened for close to ten years now, Chauntelle Balicki reflected on two highlights.
“One of the highlights was definitely the grand opening…which stands out in my mind. And another one, is every year we do a handprint canvas during a registration period, and since 2017, having 100 hand prints on it to now having 800 handprints for our most recent one is amazing. With the canvases, it’s something that you get to see every time that you walk into the gym which is special. And the third major highlight for me is when we opened the second location,” she said.
Going into 2026 and beyond, Chauntelle and Tyler Balicki have continued to build upon their mission.
“At the end of every quarter, we have an all-staff meeting where we both kind of debrief and look at the back on the session…looking at what went well, what could be improved upon and looking ahead to the next session and what our goals are for the next quarter. And one of the things that we often talk about as a team is that idea of constant improvement and always getting better at what we do,” he noted. “One of our main goals looking ahead is just to continue to build on what Reach has become, and to just not become complacent. Our team has continued to build the best possible experience for these kids coming into our program as we possibly can. We all know that the world is full of so much negativity, and it’s so fast-paced now, with technology, and it’s just so easy to feel like everything’s just gone crazy. And we really want Reach to be a place where kids can have a fun experience and just leave ecstatic and look forward to coming back [and we] really want it to be the best part of their week.”
