---
title: "An Olympic Gold Medalist Fell in Love With This Franchise While Traveling. Now He’s on Track for $275k in Revenue: ‘I Would Choose It Over a Million Times’"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/8999aa49-3b56-4f83-abd8-042425017176
source: "Entrepreneur Franchise"
original_url: https://www.entrepreneur.com/buying-a-franchise/olympic-gold-medalist-bought-this-franchise-on-track-for-275000-revenue
author: "Sherin Shibu"
category: "General"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2026-07-14T12:46:04.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T13:18:30.077Z
image: https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/Michael-Cherry-Twist.jpg
---

# An Olympic Gold Medalist Fell in Love With This Franchise While Traveling. Now He’s on Track for $275k in Revenue: ‘I Would Choose It Over a Million Times’

**TL;DR:** Olympic gold medalist Michael Cherry has acquired a Painting with a Twist studio in Chesapeake, Virginia, and has reversed a revenue decline, generating over $168,000 in revenue since taking ownership in October 2025. Cherry, who won a gold medal in track and field at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, is on track to reach up to $275,000 in annual revenue in 2026.

*By Sherin Shibu, originally published in Entrepreneur Franchise on 2026-07-14. [Read the original](https://www.entrepreneur.com/buying-a-franchise/olympic-gold-medalist-bought-this-franchise-on-track-for-275000-revenue).*

## Key facts

- Michael Cherry won a gold medal in track and field at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
- Now the 30-year-old track star is the owner of a paint and sip studio, Painting with a Twist, in Chesapeake, Virginia.
- Since taking ownership of the studio in October, he has reversed a revenue decline and generated more than $168,000 in revenue.
- Olympic gold medalist Michael Cherry, 30, is accustomed to hard work paying off. Cherry qualified for his first Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, competing in both the men’s 400 meters and men’s 4 x 400 meters relay. He won gold in the relay, earning his first Olympic gold medal.
- Now Cherry is bringing an Olympic-style work ethic to his next venture: a paint and sip studio. For years, he harbored a passion for Painting with a Twist studio events, making it a point to visit their locations across the country wherever his running career took him.
- “I attended at least about 30 classes myself, just to see what it was like, and I always enjoyed it,” Cherry tells *Entrepreneur* in a new interview. “I went there for a date one time, and after that I kind of fell in love and started to go in every single city that I stayed in and lived in.”
- Cherry lived in Orlando, Los Angeles, New York City and Miami. He made sure to visit Painting with a Twist locations in each city. “I feel like I’m always closer to the customer than I am to the actual owner,” Cherry says. “For me, it’s fun art, not fine art.”
- ## Why he recently bought a studio

## Story

Olympic gold medalist Michael Cherry, 30, is accustomed to hard work paying off.

## Entities

- General (sector)
- Entrepreneur (publication)
- franchise ownership (topic)
- entrepreneurship (topic)
- revenue growth (topic)
- franchise acquisition (topic)
- Painting with a Twist (company)
- Sherin Shibu (person)
- Chesapeake, Virginia (location)
- Michael Cherry (person)

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Originally reported by Sherin Shibu, Entrepreneur Franchise (https://www.entrepreneur.com/buying-a-franchise/olympic-gold-medalist-bought-this-franchise-on-track-for-275000-revenue). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/8999aa49-3b56-4f83-abd8-042425017176).