CEO Corner: How Amy Neary Grew Prime IV Hydration & Wellness
Neary’s fast-growing IV therapy franchise opened its 100th location at the end of 2023 and could have up to 750 units by the end of 2027
The best businesses are forged out of a healthy mix of inspiration, execution and adaptability. Amy Neary, founder and CEO of Prime IV Hydration & Wellness, has used all three to build one of the country’s fastest-growing wellness franchises.
After noticing a trend of consumers seeking access to vitamin infusion therapy, Neary created Prime IV in 2017; the wellness brand offers IV treatments designed to fight fatigue, boost energy, improve aging and more. In 2020, Neary made the fateful decision to open Prime IV up for franchising, setting the stage for impressive growth over the past several years.
Prime IV opened its 100th location at the end of 2023 and is planning to open nearly 100 locations in 2024 alone. On its current growth trajectory, Prime IV could have up to 750 locations by the end of 2027.
Athletech News spoke with Neary about her inspiration for creating an IV therapy brand, how Prime IV approaches the business of franchising, and what could come next for Prime IV in terms of new locations and therapy offerings.
This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Athletech News: Can you tell us a bit about your background and why you decided to create Prime IV Hydration & Wellness in 2017?
Amy Neary: It was quite a journey. I’d owned a couple of laboratories in Colorado Springs for over a decade and by 2017, I noticed something was changing in our marketplace, as a lot of our loyal customers who were coming in for B12 shots started asking about IV therapy. Those labs I owned were part of a franchise system, so I went to them and asked if IV therapy was something they would be interested in, and the answer was, “Absolutely not.” They were right to say that since it didn’t match who we were in the lab.
I then took IV therapy on as my own business. If I was going to build something from scratch, I wanted to make sure our formulations were the best in the country and that we were healing people’s bodies and administering nutrients in the best way possible. The research part of it was a joy for me because of my pre-med background in biology and chemistry. The hardest part was traveling across the country to every IV location I could find just to figure out what was missing in the industry to see where we could truly do something great.
ATN: What are the key health benefits of IV therapy?
AN: The biggest part is that you get 100% absorption from the nutrients that we administer via IV compared to 10 to 30% absorption via most types of vitamins. That’s how we help heal people at a cellular level. We help people with everything from boosting immunity to anti-aging to athletic performance. We have a treatment called NAD+, which has a profound impact on people’s brain health. A Myers’ cocktail, which has been around for 50-plus years, helps people with migraines and chronic fatigue. These are things you can’t get in a regular over-the-counter vitamin.
ATN: Has public awareness surrounding the benefits of IV therapy grown over the 7 years since you founded Prime IV?
AN: It’s becoming more well-known. I think post-COVID, people are seeking ways to be proactive with their health. I don’t think people want to end up on 5 to 10 medications and age really poorly like their parents. That’s a sick-care model versus a healthcare model. Seven years ago, when I told people about what I did, they just kind of tilted their heads in question. Now people either know someone who has benefited from IV therapy or they do it themselves. It definitely feels like it’s here to say.
ATN: Prime IV opened its 100th location in late 2023 and now has even more spas open across the country. What have been the biggest keys to that quick growth?
AN: A few things: Our success as a business model in and of itself has been incredible. Right off the bat, when I opened my first location, it was extraordinarily successful, and our early adopters have had extraordinary success.
Then it’s our absolute dedication to serving and supporting our franchisees. I’ve seen what can happen to a brand that grows too fast, so I knew having the right people and systems in place would keep us thriving. We created an internal sales team that’s headed up by my husband. These are people who really care about our brand and about the people who become a part of our brand. We ask them pretty much every week, “Who have you said no to this week?” The internal care that we take in the selection process and who we allow to come into the brand has made us much stronger from the inside out.
Another thing is word of mouth. We have a huge portion of franchise partners who have referred others, or they have been referred by existing franchise partners who were having success running their own Prime IV locations.
ATN: How big can Prime IV become domestically and potentially internationally?
AN: We’re currently working to expand into Canada. That’s our most concrete international expansion goal right now. Domestically, we have over 240 locations sold. We use an incredible, AI-driven software that says there’s an opportunity to have upwards of 1,000 units nationwide. I’m much more comfortable with around 500 to 750 units. That’s where I see us maxed out.
ATN: Was franchising always the plan for Prime IV?
AN: No, it wasn’t even on my radar when I started in 2017. It’s an interesting story of how it happened. I was asked to speak at a conference in San Antonio for the other franchise system I was a part of. There, I was introduced to a woman named Heidi Neville, who told me she’d heard that I started an IV hydration business and that if I ever decided to franchise it, she wanted to be my first franchisee. It was a moment in time that changed my life because we’ve since become great friends. She’s been with me since the beginning.
We opened our first franchise in the middle of COVID. That was Heidi, who held her grand opening in March 2020.
ATN: What does Prime IV look for in franchise partners?
AN: It’s about the person, whether they want to follow our system, be good stewards of the brand and help people in their communities. That matters much more than where they’re located. We’ve often been surprised by the huge success we’ve had in locations with small populations. Idaho Falls is a great example. When we opened in Idaho Falls, I was concerned because it was a very different demographic from where we’d been successful. I didn’t know if people were going to gravitate to IV therapy there. But they’ve absolutely crushed it.
ATN: Will Prime IV look to add additional wellness services beyond IV therapy?
AN: Yes, although I want to be very cautious with what we add because I want to stay true to who we are. We’ve integrated peptide therapy, including semaglutide, a GLP-1 agonist that’s been proven to be powerful for weight loss. That’s made a great impact for us.
We do have another new treatment that I’m really excited about, but it’s not yet ready. It’s something I’ve been researching and keeping up with for over a decade. I never thought I’d be able to offer to the world, but life is funny, and here I am. It’s a therapy that’s changing men’s and women’s lives as they age. We’re in beta tests right now, and we’re going to be announcing it later in the year.