About the survey
The Aerial Arts Index will use anonymous, aggregated survey data collected from studio owners and operators across the United States. No individual studio will be identifiable in our findings. Responses will be collected and analysed using an independent research consultancy engaged to ensure methodological integrity.
What’s included?
Our first study will cover studios with aerial silks, lyra/aerial hoop, aerial straps, aerial pole, aerial hammock, dance trapeze and other specialty apparatuses. We measure membership retention, customer lifetime value, customer acquisition cost, pricing benchmarks, and revenue mix. Full methodology notes are published alongside our findings.
Our principles
INDEPENDENCE
Our research is conducted independently. We have no financial relationship with any studio management platform or studio operator that would compromise our findings.
TRANSPARENCY
We publish our methodology openly. You can see exactly how we collected data, how we analysed it, and where the limitations are. We will never overstate what the data shows.
RECIPROCITY
Every studio that participates in our research receives the full findings. This data belongs to the community that generates it and we believe everyone should benefit from sharing knowledge.
RIGOR
We work with independent research professionals to validate our methodology and ensure our findings are credible, citable, and useful — not just interesting.
Why an Aerial Arts Index?
Jackie Guscott MacAllen has been training aerial hoop since 2022. Like most aerial students, she fell hard for the discipline — the community, the progression, the feeling of being completely absorbed in something physically and mentally demanding.
But Jackie also runs a communications business, and she can't help looking at industries through a strategic lens. What she found when she started looking at aerial arts surprised her: one of the most vibrant and fastest-growing segments in boutique fitness had almost no publicly available business intelligence of any kind. Studio owners were making consequential decisions about pricing, membership structure, and marketing with nothing to compare against — no benchmarks, no published data, no industry standard of any kind.
The gap seemed both surprising and fixable. Jackie started the Aerial Arts Index to fix it.
About Jackie
She is an aerial hoop student and amateur performer based in New York. She is also the CEO of MacAllen Media & Public Affairs, an international communications consultancy that helps innovative businesses reach the right audiences at the right time with the right message. Her work spans strategic communications, brand positioning, media relations, and digital campaigns with a particular focus on businesses that lead with purpose and operate in complex or emerging markets. She brings that same lens to the Aerial Arts Index: a belief that good data, clearly communicated, changes how industries understand and invest in themselves.