She always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She just needed something worth building. Tina Hegna spent over a decade in corporate accounting — not because she'd given up on that dream, but because the right application hadn't found her yet. Then she walked into a Burn Boot Camp class as a member, and everything clicked.

What happened next was anything but simple — one franchise became three, a pandemic tested everything, and an intentional decision to scale back to one location turned out to be the most strategic move she ever made. In this conversation, Tina unpacks the full journey: the financial realities of franchise ownership, what her accounting background did and didn't prepare her for, and the heart-head alignment framework she uses to make every major decision in business and in life.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• [00:10:00] The franchise approval process, funding options, and what to expect in the FDD 14-day blackout period
• [00:18:27] The real cost to open a Burn Boot Camp franchise — and why construction costs can swing the number dramatically
• [00:20:34] Short and long-term financial considerations every franchise owner needs to think through before signing
• [00:24:38] Managing part-time shift workers, building culture, and navigating HR from scratch
• [00:27:55] The heart-head alignment framework Tina uses to make clear decisions
• [00:29:53] What her husband Harlan and sister Stephanie each identified as her greatest strengths

GUEST REFERENCES

• Brené Brown — 'The Gifts of Imperfection' —Amazon link
• Start Strong: Free Week at most Burn Boot Camps - sign up using Burn links below.

CONNECT WITH BURN BOOT CAMP MAPLE GROVE

Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/burnbootcampmaplegrovemn

Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/burnbootcampmaplegrovemn

Website: https://locations.burnbootcamp.com/locations/maple-grove-mn/

Burn Boot Camp location finder and Start Strong Free Week details: https://burnbootcamp.com/

CONNECT WITH HIR

Instagram @https://www.instagram.com/herintentionalreset.co/

Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587329908947

Website: :https://herintentionalreset.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGntCEey4YretrZ39A7mINUiy-Dmz7iRv0BDLhY2OcDQkfqMmMGK8--zTX20RE_aem_d_YskQDM9KyDWyA-8dxVVw

If HIR has been valuable to you, you can support the show here: https://ko-fi.com/herintentionalreset

No pressure — just making it easy for listeners who want to say so.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/hemlock/the-way-forward

License code: RVGOVVHKDJFBKVJC

Tina Hegna_Burn Boot Camp_ Episode 2

[00:00:22] Molly: Hi there. This is Her Intentional Reset, a podcast for women in midlife curious about whether the career they chose 20 years ago still fits. Hear from women who've made pivots big and small, discuss the practical realities, the trade-offs, and whether the change was worth it.

[00:01:00] Molly: Now Meet Christina or Tina Hena. Owner Burn Bootcamp Maple Grove, Minnesota. Tina spent more than 15 years building a career in accounting, a world grounded in precision structure and discipline decision making. Her experience went far beyond the numbers, giving her a deeper understanding of the foundational elements that drive strong businesses, including financial analysis, strategic planning, business operations, and organizational structure.

[00:01:52] Molly: Today, Tina owns and operates Burn Bootcamp in Maple Grove where her experience truly comes to life. She brings together the strategic analytical mindset she developed over her accounting career with the passion and purpose she's found in fitness and community. It's where her head and her heart align leading a team, supporting her members and building a business that reflects both discipline and connection. Outside of the gym. Tina and her husband are raising three boys and continuing to shape a life that feels both intentional and fulfilling. I'm excited for you to hear Tina's story. This is Her Intentional Reset.

[00:02:33] Tina: Thanks for having me.

[00:02:35] Molly: Yes, me too. And Tina, I have to tell our listeners how we know each other because I think it sets up your story perfectly. You owned what I call my happy place, which is Burn Boot Camp. You were the franchise owner, so I had a front row seat to see what you've built.

From Member to Owner

[00:03:01] Tina: So I started at Burn as just a member first. So I, similar to you had that front row seat from that member perspective first. And while my life was transforming, I saw others. Being transformed around me as well. And we had all different walks of life in the gym, and that's still true today.

[00:03:38] Tina: And now, fast forward, and I'm an owner,

[00:03:47] Tina: Well, funny enough, I actually assumed I'm not the only one thinking this and feeling this, and I should own and open one too.

[00:04:21] Tina: It took me that many years, you know, into my young thirties to realize that was it. You know, it touched on my values, my personal mission, my personal why. And so the light bulb turned on and all the dots were connected, that that's what I should do. And then, especially as I learned that I was a franchise, there's a certain way you navigate that as well.

Why Burn Boot Camp

[00:05:05] Tina: This is my favorite question. Mm-hmm. I usually ask how much time do we have? But right now, I, I know I have the time, but to still give you the, the shorter version, we inspire, empower, and transform lives through community fitness. So we are group fitness. We're led by personal trainers that really get to know you.

[00:05:36] Tina: Do kick your butt. You do feel really good. You see the transformation, but it's not just the physical transformation. So what I love about it is that the workout and that physical transformation becomes the vehicle to just like a whole body transformation. The body, the mind, the spirit, and really what we're looking for or looking to build, not just muscle, but it's that confidence that every person inevitably feels.

[00:06:22] Tina: Because we're all human and we're all moving our body and it's just become like this sweet, safe space to just focus on that. Busy moms, parents, anyone that has like a lot going on in their life, a very full plate. This is 45 minutes for you to just focus on yourself. You walk in, get told what to do.

[00:06:47] Molly: How many gyms are there nationwide?

Entrepreneur Spirit Origins

[00:07:19] Molly: spirit, where did that come from?

[00:07:50] Tina: always tapped back into kind of education, the financial storytelling of it a little bit, where it was making it applicable. It wasn't just counting pennies and getting lost in Excel spreadsheets, which all accountants love to do. And I still do but it was that like real life training, tapping into some of the interests and passions that I already had.

Personal Mission

[00:08:40] Tina: I love this question. I talk about this all the time and what it boils down to is inspiring people to live a happy and confident life and that's it. Everything should roll up and sum up into that.

Pitching the Idea at Home

[00:09:26] Tina: This is so funny, and it would be fun to hear his side of this as well, because I've had a lot of ideas. One thing about entrepreneurs is that they have a lot of ideas, and you'll have way more ideas than ones that you'll actually move forward with. 

[00:10:00] Molly:

Franchise Approval and Funding

[00:10:05] Tina: So the timeline, I would say probably follows a similar path no matter what franchise you're buying into, because essentially you're applying to use their brand, their product, it's almost like a license, so to speak.

[00:10:32] Tina: Any business, especially like a brick and mortar business, takes a pretty significant financial investment. But they do a lot of coaching along the way to give you some resources.

[00:10:59] Tina: Fast forward. Now I do get to do it full time, which is great. But that was a huge part of the preparation was do we have the financial wherewithal and how do you make that happen? And so we financed it with a small business loan and some of our own financial resources.

Buildout and Launch Playbook

[00:11:44] Tina: But not where my accounting background came in as much like I was learning and asking a lot of questions along the way, and then you're chasing a moving target in terms of like real estate and construction based. What does that timeline look like? And now you're hiring and getting ready to set a grand opening date all at the same time.

[00:12:20] Tina: But being part of the franchise, you're given so many things from a branding and marketing concept. You have so many assets so many great things that where I might've been lacking and didn't know those things coming into a business so many tools were provided.

Pandemic and Scaling to Three

[00:12:59] Tina: So while my original idea was, okay, let's test the one location, make sure it's successful, my plan did not include a pandemic. so that threw a monkey wrench into things for a little while before I decided what would I do next. And along the way, I did decide I wanna impact more communities so I bought another territory.

[00:13:46] Tina: And so that was the time that I did step away. Ideally, I would've gone part-time, but it's all about finding the right fit, and it kind of depends what your role is. I had a pretty important role not to toot my own horn.I really did enjoy it and it was a really great fit for me. I just wanted to do it a few less hours so that I would have more hours for the business, but ultimately it was the right move to be able to go all in on the three locations at that time. And then, I did sell two of my locations this past summer, and so now I'm back to the one gym.

Becoming a Trainer

[00:14:38] Tina: I wish I could remember exactly what I was thinking that day, but part of it definitely was, okay, you own a gym and you can do, all the behind the scenes stuff, but you probably should as an entrepreneur, know how to do the thing that you're selling or offering.

[00:15:15] Tina: watching someone do a pushup from their toes for the first time and having a hand in that is just an incredible feeling and it's their work. But to know that you made an impact on that person, that they believed that they could, and so they did, is really special. And it's honestly one of the favorite parts of my job now, and I think it makes me be a better owner because I also know how to deliver what it is that we're offering.

Life After Selling Locations

[00:15:50] Tina: Well, it's been about seven months since I, sold the two and started getting settled into what this looks like now. It took some time to find that new rhythm a little bit too. It took a little bit of time to just recover and catch my breath after transaction like that, times two, because I also sold both the gyms at about the same time.

[00:16:48] Tina: Because as you can imagine, going from one gym to three gyms, even that one original gym that was doing well, they now had to share me. I was missing out on things within that original gym community too. So there were many things that I just needed to relearn a little,

[00:17:10] Tina: And I train sometimes. I'm not on a regular schedule, but when I do, I'm very connected to the members because I am able to know them and what they're about. I support train a lot. So one of our camp times in the morning requires two trainers, honestly, sometimes more, which is a great problem. It's very exciting. But it is one of my favorite parts of the whole thing. but part of what makes me so successful now, maybe compared to how I could have done it a year or two prior is I'm there consistently enough where I absolutely know, you know, this person has the shoulder injury, this person's pregnant, this person, it's their first day. And the way I can work the room and have a connection and still be able to call out someone from the across the room, to pick up the heavier weight or go deeper in the squat, given me so much joy and fulfillment that is going all the way back to my, original why.

[00:18:03] Molly: And you mentioned this earlier, you still are doing some of the accounting work from your past company as well.

[00:18:16] Tina: Yeah. But the financial support helps anything in an entrepreneurial setting, if that is your livelihood. I mean, you're very much tied to the ups and downs of the business.

Investment Costs and FDD

[00:18:37] Tina: Yeah, absolutely. So most of the time you'll get more information from what's called a Franchise Disclosure document. In order to get your hands on that, you do fill out an intake form from the franchise. They might vet out a little bit, and it includes some confidentiality and that sort of thing.

[00:19:13] Tina: And so it's like a blackout period but once you get that document, you are required to use that time to your discretion to do the research, due diligence, that sort of thing. Because once you do sign the actual franchise agreement and pay you're in, you're legally tied now to say, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna follow.

[00:19:53] Tina: But in terms of Burn Boot Camp, total investment, it's a very big range. I would say minimally now is 250 to 300,000 for a total investment up to 500,000 maybe more. And so much of that comes down to construction.

Owner Pay and Long Game

[00:20:45] Tina: There are so many different options for how an owner can pay themself or not pay themself, or how they take away, whether it's from the bottom line or an actual paycheck.

[00:21:20] Tina: a lot of employees make that team come together and you could be a hands-on part of that team, like actually scheduled and now you're fulfilling a shift or you could be the extra set of hands, the backup. that's where I saw my role in the beginning.

[00:21:54] Tina: So regular household tax return that most everybody files, but there are some locations, depending on their overall structure. There's a few franchise partners that own 10 or more locations, very much more of a structure that looks more like a corporate structure with their own little headquarters and probably incorporated entities versus LLCs.

[00:22:33] Tina: If you are planning to actually be in those seats and now you're on the schedule, whether you draw an actual paycheck or not, that could still vary. But if you are not paying out as like a payroll cost, your bottom line is higher and so your take home from that now is going to be higher.

[00:23:18] Molly: Okay. And then long term, what are your goals with the franchise?

[00:23:42] Tina: I wanna help my kids go to college. So there is that financial benefit that return that you do want to get. And for me personally, for the last several years, I haven't been contributing in the same way to retirement accounts and college accounts like I would've with a direct paycheck deduction.

[00:24:20] Tina: So ultimately the goal is setting ourselves up for that. And hopefully, between now and then we're able to make the memories and do all the trips now it's honestly my favorite thing to do is to go on adventures and travel with the family and see new places that's a core part of how our family operates.

Lessons Beyond Accounting

[00:24:50] Tina: Yeah. So very lucky to come in with everything that I had.

[00:25:39] Tina: I loved when they would believe the mission and, want what's best for our community too. But at the end of the day, it is a lot more peopleto manage on the schedule and everybody works different shifts. And so that just had a lot of complexities and challenges that I was not ready for.

[00:26:13] Tina: I sometimes consider myself the Chief Culture Officer 'cause I wanna make sure that what Burn Boot Camp, my location anyway, Maple Grove stands for is that extension of me. And so it's really hard to bullet point what that looks like.

[00:26:38] Tina: So you do have to learn how to communicate what is in your head. And especially through the visionary of a company, you have to be able to articulate that and pass that on so that whatever you feel in your head and in your heart is what carries through. And that is the culture you want to have, and that is the experience you want your members or your customers to have.

[00:27:14] Tina: But the really great thing is, There's just so many ways to find people that do know. And so if you are a self-aware person and if you are just eyes wide open to see the whole picture you just find the help sooner rather than later. Don't sit and struggle and try to figure it out yourself and every business is gonna look different. Your skillset is gonna look different.

Outsource the Admin

[00:27:48] Tina: And always coming back to, our mission and our why, and ultimately what we want for our community.

Heart Head Alignment

[00:28:05] Tina: What I wrap it up into is I think I'm very in touch with my heart and my head alignment. And so I lead with my heart in a lot of ways, but you have to have a smart head that goes with it. And what that looks like for me is I'm just a very genuine person. I am genuine in how I choose my livelihood and who I attach myself with and who I do life with. One of our values at Burn Boot Camp is putting people first, and I wholeheartedly believe in that, especially as it relates to my family and putting my family first and letting that be a driving force in how I make decisions.

[00:29:10] Tina: anybody else thinks. I didn't always have that clear connection of how to do that. In fact, I probably led with my heart too much and I would just tell my head to kind of simmer down. We're gonna figure it out. If there's a desire on my heart, we'll find a way.

Husband on Strengths

[00:30:05] Tina: So right off the bat, you guys would win the dating show. Okay. So this was his response. This was actually an easy one. Heart and passion. There are two separate things, but they work hand in hand. Since the day I met her when we were 17, she has had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever known.

[00:31:36] Tina: I didn't even feed 'em those lines. We have been together for a very long time and this does happen a lot where we have the same thoughts and I knew he would say some of those things about my heart, but it is really cool that he's seen the journey the same way that I've lived it with bringing my head back into play.

Sister on Optimism

[00:32:19] Tina: Is it gonna be hard? Yes. Is it gonna be a challenge? Yes. But to find the positivity and the optimism in something so hard makes everyone strive to be just a little bit better. And it's enduring quality of someone that is a leader of an organization.

[00:33:34] Tina: This is our opportunity. This is what we need. We're not outta the game yet. this is what we have to do. And so I like that she sees it in that positive way.

[00:34:03] Tina: And it's definitely something I recognize and I don't take for granted. Mm-hmm. But what I would encourage anyone else thinking about being an entrepreneur or whenever you're making a career change is how that's gonna impact the people around you and who's gonna be with you on that journey and along for the ride.

Rapid Fire Mom Life

[00:34:38] Tina: Let's go. Okay.

Meals and Chores Systems

[00:34:42] Tina: My gosh, I took a hiatus from creative meals and elaborate meals. Pretty much everything I make involves the air fryer and or frozen meatballs we decided to set a schedule. we have this huge blackboard in the kitchen on the side of the cabinets, and every single week we write out the menu.

[00:35:38] Tina: And it just takes out decision. So for me, yes. To be able to like pour my energy to things that like actually matter. Stick to the basics and maybe one day in the future, I'll change it up and I'll get to cook different things again. But for right now, this is what works for us. I'll say, I do make one nice meal a week and it's steaks just for Harlan and I, so Steak Sunday

[00:36:09] Tina: I love the thought process of setting out that menu because it's one less decision to make. And I ask this question because I dread this question every single night where it's like, I am that hamster on the hamster wheel being like, oh my gosh, are we doing this again? Did we just have dinner? Yeah. Okay. Final kids question or family question. do your kids do chores and is allowance tied to it?

[00:37:29] Molly: Yes. The chore needs to be appropriate with their age and capabilities.

Book That Changed Me

[00:37:38] Tina: There was a book that I read a number of years ago. It's, Brene Brown Gifts of Imperfection. I got it at an audio book and I would listen to it while I ran and trained for my half marathon.

[00:38:25] Tina: And so I just felt seen and I understand why I am the way I am now. I'm a big awareness person, like self-awareness. And that was an epiphany to say, oh my gosh, this is why I'm this way. And it didn't change anything. I still am who I am, but it was like this answer that I didn't know I was really looking for.

Wellbeing Non Negotiable

[00:39:04] Tina: And I was very curious about like, how fit could I be? Or you know, how lean could I get? What if I could actually see what I'm capable

[00:39:26] Tina: I think I did it really well. I wasn't obsessed or too strict about it, But it's evolved over time depending on what chapter you're in. So I turned 40 back in June, and it's honestly my favorite age so far. Everything makes sense to me now. I'm very in touch with myself and what makes me happy, what brings me joy and confidence and my priorities are straight,

[00:40:20] Tina: And there are some times that I do choose sleep or I do choose a slower morning. And so I just have to listen. And that's the non-negotiable part is making sure I'm doing right by those things and sometimes my joy is taking the rest day, even if my workout clothes were laid out the night before and I had every intention to go, but yeah, today I needed to be home.

Closing Mission and Next Steps

[00:41:17] Tina: Well, like I said, there's 400 locations nationwide, so depending on where our listeners are, hopefully there's a Burn near you. There is an app and you can do Burn Boot Camp on Demand, which is a fantastic platform.

How to Try Burn

[00:42:16] Molly: Awesome. Thanks for having me, Molly. This was fun.

[00:42:39] Molly: This is how we grow this community together and most importantly. Remember to explore on your own terms. 'cause nothing changes if nothing changes.

REFLECTIONS

[00:43:40] Molly: Just listening to Tina's story about the passion and the heart that she has for Burns mission. My husband and I, were in the food sector and while I personally loved the product, I was not nearly as passionate about it as Tina is with, again, Burn's mission and values and how it really aligns with her and values.