How Michael Browning turned a trampoline park into a multi-million dollar parent company

When Michael Browning Jr. started his family-friendly indoor theme park chain, he wanted it to be the “Six Inner Space Flags.”

The CEO took his vision for the trampoline park even further when he created Unleashed Brands, a Bedford-based multimillion-dollar parent company that offers kid-friendly brands. Its 1,300 franchises collectively serve 25 million children and generated more than $820 million in systemwide sales this year.

Today, Browning compares Unleashed Brands to a growing family that has just sent its oldest child to college. He remains involved with Urban Air Adventure Park, the company that started it all when Browning founded it in 2011. Urban Air has 330 sites open or under development.

“I’ve spent my whole life and risked everything to build this brand and then put it in a position where it knows what it needs to do,” he said.

Browning said he found a higher calling. Unleashed Brands strives to educate entrepreneurs and Browning is the teacher.

The raging story

The business started in July 2021. Browning said he came up with the name Unleashed Brands because he wanted to “unleash the potential.” in children from their early childhood years to college.

He left what he calls his “baby,” Urban Air, under the management of Jay Thomas, a former Six Flags executive.

The enrichment brands for the young people he wanted to recruit had to be based on three pillars: learn, play and grow. He found six brands over the past two years that matched.

The first came Snapology in July 2021. The company offers programs and workshops that engage children ages 1-14 in hands-on, interactive activities.

The second to join was The Little Gym International in November 2021. The fitness franchise business with nearly 400 locations is aimed at children aged 4 months to 12 years old. According to Unleashed Marksthe channel’s revenues soared 55% last year.

In December, Unleashed Brands has purchased Premier Martial Arts, a martial arts school franchise offering programs for children and adults.

Two transactions concluded this year. At the beginning of AprilBrowning added a college-prep program when he purchased Class 101, a Lexington, Ky. company that helps high schoolers navigate the college-finding process.

Later that same monthhe brought in XP League, a youth esports organization that lets players ages 7-15 compete against each other for a nine-week season in the United States and Canada.

Despite rapid growth, Unleashed Brands is still a family business, with a focus on family.

Browning, a 37-year-old father of three, said he doesn’t believe in “work-life balance”. He prefers “work-life synergy,” which means his employees can still be there for their families and add work in between.

“As an entrepreneur and still working, I wanted to maintain the connection with my kids so they never felt like I wasn’t there,” Browning said.

Helping future entrepreneurs

Browning uses his own business-building experiences to teach entrepreneurs when his company holds pitch days, essentially a crash course in Unleashed brands and what it means to own and operate one of his franchises.

“It’s humbling and such an honor because these people can do whatever they want,” Browning said. “But they chose to come here.”

Twice a year, his company walks prospective franchise owners through an eight-step “discovery process” that can take 60 to 90 days. Browning describes what has worked for other companies, especially those that dominate their spaces like Uber or Airbnb. Then he links it to his own experience.

It’s important because franchisees are “launching the next chapter of their lives,” Browning said.

In his spare time, the Texas Christian University alum shares those same lessons with students in his alma mater’s entrepreneurship program. “I always tell kids there are ways to make money and all of those things, but you have to know what your calling is,” Browning said.

Next year, Unleashed Brands will launch a philanthropic foundation to support at-risk children and bring even more brands under its umbrella. Browning said the new brands will focus on music, swimming and traditional sports, all of which are in high demand by parents.

Browning spends time in the Unleashed franchises with her own children and hears the conversations going on. He bases some of his business decisions on the various interests of his children. Her 7 year old son loves martial arts and her 11 year old son loves music and theatre.

He tells this story to future franchisees.

“No matter who they are, what their calling is, we should be able to drop them into our ecosystem and help them learn, play and grow and help them navigate to win,” Browning said.

Related:Bedford’s Unleashed Brands Seizes Youth Esports League for Growing Portfolio