Passion to Planet: Patrice Verosil on Turning Bouldering into a Business

Once a niche sport reserved for the truly adventurous and adrenaline seekers, bouldering has seen a rapid rise in popularity, particularly in Singapore. What began as a small community of climbers seeking vertical thrills has evolved into an urban movement, with sleek gyms popping up across the city, and a wave of new climbers and athletes scaling their way into competitive leagues and fitness culture alike. 

At the heart of this climbing revolution is Patrice Verosil, a former bouldering athlete and co-owner behind one of Singapore’s most distinctive climbing hubs, Boulder Planet. With its bold and unique routes, inclusive community ethos, and commitment to training future athletes, Boulder Planet isn’t just a gym but a place where you can foster a passion for the sport and find sanctuary amid our bustling everyday lives.

The Beat Asia sat down with the entrepreneur to talk about her journey of turning her passion into a successful business venture, how she fought through the challenges of running a business at the height of a global pandemic, and how Boulder Planet is shaping the future of climbing culture in the region.  

Chalk, Grit, and Growth

Patrice began climbing 14 years ago for two reasons: to be part of something niche and to face her fear of heights!

“I decided that I'm going to face it head-on and put myself in an uncomfortable position and join the climbing team,” she shared. “I also wanted to be cool. I wanted to be different, and at the time, climbing wasn’t considered mainstream yet.”

The sport is indeed unique and may look intimidating at first glance. The fact that you’re scaling a wall without any ropes or harnesses, even if it’s not that high, may have risky written all over it, but Patrice was drawn not to the challenge, but to the fact that it uncovered things about herself she never thought she could do. 

“When you are on the ground and you're trying to do the climb, you're not sure yet whether you're going to reach the top. And so you're going to try to complete the climb, move by move, hold by hold, as you get there. And so this self-discovery of what I am truly capable of is one of the key things that drew me to this sport. The other thing is the community. Climbing is also a mental sport, and you need to figure out how to get from the start to the end. So, sharing with other people, talking to them about their strategy. How are you going to get to the next hold? How are you going to get to the top? It’s the community and social aspect that I love.”

Patrice also enlightened us a bit more about the sport and described Bouldering as a discipline of climbing. In Bouldering, there are wall structures you need to climb, but there are no ropes or harnesses involved. Instead, there are thick and padded safety mattresses to catch you when you fall or land. Whereas in rock climbing, it’s usually a lot higher and will involve a harness. 

“To put it simply, bouldering is like sprinting. So, short distance,” she told The Beat Asia. “And then you have rock climbing, where it’s a little bit more like a marathon. Endurance matters a lot.”

Patrice was a competitive climber back in the day, but after years of being immersed in the sport, she took a step back in 2015 to pursue a more stable path. The entrepreneur went into the tech industry due to financial considerations and the desire to build a career outside of climbing. 

“I needed to prove to myself that I am more things other than climbing. I have done it for so many years, and it's my whole world! So, I needed to figure out for myself that I can do something else outside of that and still excel in it.”

She joined HubSpot for a few years as part of the technical support team, servicing clients. She also mentioned how the experience was a “steep learning curve” as her educational training had been in English literature. 

But even after she bought her first home, started a family, and slowly built a career in that industry, the call of the climbing wall never left her, and she began to question the possibility of returning to her passion now that she was more financially stable and capable. So when her former climbing coach, Ben Toh, heard about her searching for a new opportunity, he asked her to help him launch a new climbing gym, which later became known as Boulder Planet.

“I thought I was just leaving my job to enter a different job,” she said. “I didn’t know that he was planning on opening a climbing gym again. Since I was thinking of wanting to try something new, I decided that the time was right for me to enter this with him.”

She began in 2021 as general manager and played a key role in leading the business through the uncertainties of the pandemic. Patrice mentioned some of the challenges they faced during that time, like how they could only accommodate 50 people at a time, which posed a significant cut in their revenue. On top of that, they also had to create timing schedules and had to close down for two months due to tighter COVID restrictions when Phase 2 happened. 

When asked about what she had learned in running a business through a difficult time, she replied, “Transparency is important. I think it's very important, especially for a small team, for them to know the current situation the business is in because it impacts everybody. There’s no need to be coy about it, [we told them] ‘Hey guys, we are not making money. We are going to try to keep everyone paid as they should be, but you all need to know that once we open, everybody needs to pull their weight because we need to recover from these two months that we didn’t make any money.'”

“The other thing is being adaptable. So, what were we doing in those two months? We tried to bump up our budgeting, tried to fix our systems. Whatever we couldn’t do while we are operating, we tried to prioritize that so that it’s still a productive period for all of us.”

The business eventually made it through the storm and back on gentle waves, which is mainly thanks to Patrice’s leadership, shaped by her corporate background and deep love for the climbing community. The entrepreneur shared that her corporate experience, specifically, balanced her passion and made her think more objectively from a business standpoint. While most people opened climbing gyms solely for the love of the sport, Patrice understood that, as a business, they would need to scale up and grow, so they would need to have standard operating procedures, governance, as well as proper regulations and policies. 

“Focus on the top line. Optimize the cost,” she stated. “It was really important for us to make sure that wherever we are [spending most] in the company made sense.”

She also shared that good customer service is another thing she carried from her corporate training. The co-owner puts a lot of thought into knowing her audience and market, which led her to create unique offers that catered specifically to their clients. 

“In our first year, we were grappling with who our audience is. So, we decided to do a market survey of all our current customers, and that's when we found out that our biggest target audience is corporate workers working 9:00 to 5:00. So, knowing that, what are the difficulties? What are the considerations? Where are they coming from?”

The survey led them to realize that most people in this segment “don’t have a lot of time,” and so gym subscriptions that provided unlimited entry wouldn’t be considered high value for them.  

“For people who are pressed for time, it doesn’t matter if it’s unlimited. I don't want to be paying that amount because I don't have unlimited time anyway,” Patrice explained, which is what pushed them to release pricing options that made more sense for them. The Boulder Planet Hopper (BP Hopper) is a monthly subscription that gives climbers access to the gym four times a month — a decent amount of time for office professionals who might only have time to climb once a week. It’s a much cheaper option too, considering you can get this monthly pass for only S$59. 

“I’ve heard one of my friends say that if you’re a climber in Singapore, you must have a BP Hopper. So it’s become like an essential,” Patrice shared, proving that this strategy is a good example of how a business can make more money while still catering to its clients’ needs. 

Boulder Planet also holds much pride for their Route Setting, refreshing a section of their walls every week, so there’s something new for climbers to do in every visit. They invest a lot in their route setters — the people who put up the climbs — to make sure that what they put up is creative, enjoyable, and accessible for people who are coming to the gym.

Another unique selling point is how they’ve put a lot of thought into their White Spaces. In reality, people only spend half the time climbing the walls, while the other half is spent talking with friends, taking pictures or videos, or resting in between attempts. Boulder Planet’s gyms are designed in such a way that people have spaces to sit and rest, to dine or work, and even just “be” in between their climbing time. 

“We put a lot of thought, not just the experiences on the wall with regards to route setting, but off the wall as well.”

We believe this feature shows that more than a climbing gym, Boulder Planet is in the business of creating a hub where people can escape to and enjoy with their peers.  

As for their goals? Patrice shared that Boulder Planet has already made an entry into other Southeast Asian cities, specifically in Bangkok and Jakarta, and hopes to establish more gyms in the region. But the company is only the beginning. What the entrepreneur truly aims to do is discover and nurture talent. 

“In comparison to the West, climbing is very well developed already, and so talent is coming up. In order to build talent, you need to make the sport accessible. That’s when talent will surface,” she stated. “On a business standpoint, my goal is to have more Boulder Planets, but that is just a step towards my main goal, which is to have more Southeast Asian athletes represented on the world stage. And maybe one day, there will be a Southeast Asian climbing Olympian.”

Boulder Planet currently supports five athletes in Singapore who are competing at various levels. They provide them with training facilities, equipment, and financial support when they compete overseas. They also have a couple of young athletes competing at national and regional levels in Indonesia, and are on the lookout for talent in Thailand.

“The more people who support the gym, the more we can support all of these athletes financially or resources-wise.”

If you ever want to try bouldering, Boulder Planet is a good place to start, considering Patrice and her team have put a lot of effort into making their gyms and routes accessible to all, no matter what level they’re in. Whether you’re a beginner or more advanced, there’s a route for you. 

And if you’re still a bit reluctant to try, Patrice gives one advice: “Get someone to do it with you. It’s a different experience, because you realize that even if after a session, and you’re not sure whether you like climbing yet, at least you had time to spend with someone.”

From being a competitive climber, going into corporate, and eventually managing to combine the two, Patrice shows us that pursuing one’s passion can also lead to a successful business venture, and that it all depends on one’s risk appetite. It had been an uphill battle, but just like climbing, endurance and hardwork key. 

“I’ve always thrived in a startup environment,” she said. “That's one thing I learned going into corporate. I realized that in corporate, you are doing the same thing over and over again whereas in the startup, you get to wear multiple hats. I am fine with either, but doing the startup way just gives me more energy.”

As for whether one should pursue their passions? Patrice advised, “Yes, completely! I totally agree, and it's fine if you don't start immediately. It's okay if you go into corporate, build up whatever you need to build up financially or skills-wise, and then come back because eventually those will be very useful in your own venture.”

For more information on Boulder Planet’s offerings, visit their website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Boulder Planet SG Locations:

• Boulder Planet Sembawang: Sembawang Shopping Centre, 604 Sembawang Road, #B1 - 22/23, Singapore 758459
• ​Boulder Planet Tai Seng: Grantral Mall, 601 Macpherson Road, #02 – 07, Singapore 368242