Pure Sweat Studios Founder on the Future of Health

Candice Bruder has built a small empire, and is quietly rewriting the wellness playbook

Few industries have evolved as rapidly, or as passionately, as wellness. What once lived on the fringe has become a cultural force, reshaping everything from healthcare to hospitality to how we structure our days. In fact, according to FRANdata, there were nearly 680 active brands in the health & wellness franchised industry in 2024 in the U.S. The broader wellness industry is growing fast, and the global market is expected to surpass $7 trillion by the end of 2025.

But for those at the forefront, the journey is rarely glamorous. It requires grit, vision, and a level of personal conviction that cannot be faked. For Candice Bruder, founder of Pure Sweat Studios, the evolution wasn’t a business plan drawn up in a boardroom. It began in a sauna in New York City, quietly, with clarity only solitude can offer.

“I had been a years-long sauna devotee,” she says. “Sauna was both my sanctuary and health haven. While living in New York City, I noticed that my regular sauna practice prevented me from ever getting sick.” The discovery wasn’t just physical—it was spiritual. Infrared therapy, she learned, was doing even more. It deepened her wellness, sharpened her presence, and, eventually, sparked a calling that would carry her across state lines and into entrepreneurship.

The first Pure Sweat located in Belle Meade, Tennessee

In 2017, after a trail of serendipitous life shifts led her to Nashville, she opened her first Pure Sweat location with one simple intention: create a welcoming place for health, healing, and connection. Today, Pure Sweat Studios is a fast-growing national franchise offering infrared sauna, float therapy, and cold plunging—modalities rooted not in trend, but in timeless wellness tradition.

And yet, Bruder is quick to say she never expected this life. “If anyone told me years ago that I would be the founder of a national franchise… I would have never believed them.”

Life, as she reminds us, has a beautiful way of tapping us on the shoulder.

The Light Within, and the Courage to Follow It

Many founders talk about a “lightbulb moment.” Bruder speaks about something softer, deeper.

“I call it the light within that speaks to you, with clarity, and brings you joy and knowingness,” she says. “The question is: can we hear it, and then, do we have the courage to follow it?”

Her moment of clarity was less about business opportunity than about soul alignment. “I would love to create a business dynamic that in addition to me serving it, it serves and enriches me too,” she remembers thinking. That thought, barely a whisper at the time, would eventually crystallize into what Pure Sweat is today.

Community, especially her adopted home of Nashville, became the heartbeat of her vision.

“Nashville embodies deep values. People genuinely care about their fellow neighbors,” she says. Feedback from early clients shaped the culture and foundational practices Pure Sweat is now known for. “I listened with both my ears and heart,” she says. “Their insights helped shape our focus.”

The result? A studio experience that blends warmth, community, and highly science-backed modalities. A sanctuary built not around buzzwords, but around belonging.

The Beautiful, Brutal Middle

Today, Pure Sweat Studios feels effortless. Serene. Elevated. But like all meaningful things, it was forged in moments most never see. The “messy middle,” as she calls it, was very real.

“I worked 12-plus hours everyday for a long time, and still do,” Bruder admits. “There were times that were beautiful and brutal, overwhelming and lonely, abundant and thankless.”

Scaling—especially through franchising—required sacrifice, discipline, and a deep devotion to the mission. “Operations are the backbone of business so that all can flourish,” she says. “There were unknowns, mistakes, and lessons; and life just loves to teach through challenges.”

Entrepreneurship is often painted in glossy tones, but Bruder paints it honestly: “Owning a business will be a magnifying glass. You will discover your great superpowers; you will also discover your deficits. Entrepreneurship is a teacher on all levels.”

Six months after opening, Bruder was approached about franchising. It was, she laughs, “a bold move for both parties.” But what sealed the path wasn’t ambition, it was meaning. “It brought me great joy to share a business platform where others could bring health, healing and connection to their communities,” she says.

Still, she’s clear: franchising a wellness business is not candlelit rooms and euphoric clients all day.

“We are not floating on pink clouds,” she says. “Excellence and success require hard work, commitment, reflection, and resilience.”

And unlike corporate-cut-and-paste franchise systems, Pure Sweat Studios takes an inspired, human approach. Yes, there is a playbook—carefully developed and refined. But there is also individual expression, welcomed and expected.

“I have always believed that a franchise owner needs to fall in love with his or her studio as their own happy place,” Bruder says. “Just like our clients do.”

Her advice for would-be owners is simple, but not easy: “Roll up your sleeves, commit to our playbook, connect in community, and let’s make this world a healthier, happier place.”

Wellness as Daily Devotion, Not Performance

Bruder begins her mornings quietly, in nature when she can. Prayer. Sunlight. Breath. She invests in what she believes in: infrared sauna, floating, cold plunging, quality supplementation, functional medicine. She travels, walks in nature with friends, and nourishes her spirit as intentionally as her body.

“Wellness can be simple, natural and also free,” she says. “If I had to pick one modality, I believe infrared sauna is the most comprehensive health modality there is.”

Her choices reflect her philosophy: wellness is proactive, not reactive. It is grounded. And increasingly, she says, the world is waking up to the same truth.

“There is a cultural shift in focusing on health span versus life span,” she observes. “Sleep, detoxification, nervous system regulation, and mindfulness are within the cultural mainstream.”

People are seeking resilience, not quick fixes; this is exactly what her studios are designed to foster.

Ask Bruder what success looks like, and she does not talk numbers. She talks about the woman healing from divorce who found solace in the float tank. The caregiver, depleted from tending to a loved one in hospice, restored in the heat of the infrared sauna. Clients healing from autoimmune disease, gaining their lives back. The person who walks through the door feeling overwhelmed, then leaving renewed. There is also a quieter joy: watching her franchise owners shift energetically as they grow into leadership. “When a franchise owner calls me to share their story of connection and healing, I still beam with joy.”

A Domino-Effect Future

The future of Pure Sweat Studios is bright, intentional, and grounded in aligned growth. “The opportunity and impact at hand growing with aligned owners is invigorating,” she says.

The broader industry excites her too—but not for buzzy tech trends alone. “There may be technological advances,” she says, “but I also believe it’s going to be about getting back to basics.”

Nature. Heat. Cold. Stillness. Connection.

The practices that have supported humanity for centuries are finding cultural resonance again; and Bruder is one of the modern stewards helping lead that return. Her journey is proof that wellness is not a fad; it’s a reclamation. A remembering. And while the work can be hard, the reward is radiant.

As she puts it, “Life brings messages of illumination. The question is whether we have the courage to follow.”

Candice Bruder did. And in doing so, she built something far greater than a business—she built a movement of healing, one warm room and deep breath at a time.

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To find a Pure Sweat Studio location near you, visit PureSweatStudios.com. If you are interested in becoming a franchise owner, learn more here.