Amid Crisis, MBA Student Launches Live Online Gym

As COVID-19 restricted access to the gym, Daniel Mazour had an idea. The entrepreneur, currently enrolled in Maryland Smith’s Online MBA program, decided to co-launch an online alternative that would allow people to pursue health and wellness from home.

MVMT: Movement for Everyone went live in April, with 30-day fitness challenges. “The idea was borne from a deep desire to reinvigorate a sense of community during uncertain times,” says Mazour, MBA ’21. “The feedback and participation have been incredible. We built a strong and dedicated community over the first couple of months, with global participation.”

The early success prompted Mazour and his three partners to make the product evergreen — creating an “online gym for all.” MVMT offers daily, live-streamed and on-demand workouts directed by 18 professional coaches and health professionals under the categories HIIT, Strengthen, Sweat, Dance, Yoga, Mobility, Meditation, and Workout-of-the-Day structured programming, at less than the cost of most physical gyms.

Although his startup was launched at a time when COVID-era lockdowns made gyms inaccessible, Mazour says he sees potential well beyond the pandemic, “as people have now tried working out at home and see the value in the convenience and accessibility.”

Mazour says his startup promotes community, connection and support, and is an “intimate platform” designed to help members improve their health and fitness at their own pace.

He says he sees movement as “critical to both physical and mental health,” and recommends the online gym concept to everyone, particularly to college students. He cites recent studies that find a link between exercise and the reduction in stress and anxiety among college students.

Mazour, who has a bachelor’s degree in business technology management from Toronto’s Ryerson University, says the Maryland Smith OMBA experience proved critical in building the startup. The program's flexibility allowed him to set his own schedule while launching the venture and equipped him with the skills and insights he needed to do so. “Through a globally relevant enterprise lens, the program does a phenomenal job of challenging students’ digital management skills – rigorously tested through globally distributed team projects,” he says.

“Thanks to this program, I feel I’ve stayed ahead of the rapidly changing digital business age. This program leads the charge on the frontier of unmatched, innovative, progressive education for the next generation."

For more on MVMT and for membership benefits for the UMD community, go to mvmtapp.co/umd.