Fitness Business Podcast: Leadership, Innovation, and Profit

Ryan Mesanz is the Chief Technology Officer of Anytime Fitness. Ryan leads a team that includes 60 developers, designers and infrastructure engineers, so unsurprisingly our focus topic for today is technology! Ryan starts by sharing the tech demands of their customers in 2018, we discuss how Anytime Fitness have created a platform to connect members and coaches with one centralised App and lastly we chat about using data for rewarding loyalty

This episode is part of the Motionsoft Technology Series with interviews featuring speakers from the 2018 Motiosoft Technology Summit. Todays special guest is the Director of Member Services for Crunch Fitness, Candace Sweat. During the episode we discuss leveraging technology for solutions across every area of the business.

Paul Bowman is a passionate fitness industry professional who serves as CEO of Wexer, the global leader in the world of virtual fitness. His passion is never more evident than when discussing Wexer's company mission: to help health club operators stay relevant in an increasingly digital world by embracing technology, rather than seeing it as a competitive threat.

Francesca Schuler is the Chief Executive Officer at In-Shape Health Clubs, a California-based chain of over 65 full services health clubs. Prior to her role as CMO and then COO at In-Shape, Francesca held executive positions as BevMo!, Treasury Wine Estates Americas, Method Products, Inc. and The Gap. She has an M.B.A. from Wharton and lives with her family in Sonoma.

Raj Sareen is an entrepreneur, scientist, and inventor who currently leads a fast-growing wellness technology start-up Styku. With a BS in Space Sciences, and an MS in Physics, Raj spent much of his academic career focused on learning about the physical world we live in and the universe above.

Meredith DePersia oversees the Human Resources function for Active Wellness. She leads a passionate team of HR professionals responsible for employee relations, benefits, recruitment and compliance. Meredith joined Active Wellness in March 2014. Prior to Active, she was the Vice President of Commercial Clubs at Club One, serving in leadership roles such as General Manager, Regional Manager and Director of Operations throughout her 11-year tenure. She has been a featured speaker on employee management for IHRSA and a resource for industry publication articles such as Club Solutions Magazine and Club Business International. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise, a Master of Science in Exercise and Health Promotion and a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification.

Since joining Excel Fitness as the Director of Strategy, Jeff Helfgott has been responsible for scaling the people, process and technology to support its growth from 18 clubs to 62 Planet Fitness clubs across six states. Prior to Excel Fitness, Jeff was an Army combat arms officer before assuming technology and strategy roles at USAA, McKinsey and a variety of start-ups.

Mike Beeney is the Director of Myzone Asia Pacific, a wearable technology company who work with over 6,000 facilities across 65 countries. Mike holds a Masters degree in exercise and health sciences and has worked in the health and fitness sector for over 20 years both in the UK and across the Asia Pacific region. During this episode Mike talks us through the current landscape of wearable tech in the fitness industry, what the future looks like plus how wearables can enhance member retention and adherence.

Katie Bossie is the Senior Business Manager, Health & Fitness for Listen 360. She joined the Listen360 team in 2015 and oversees business development and service delivery of Listen360's member feedback and reviews management system for all health and fitness clients. Having worked with clubs and studios of all types and sizes, Katie is keenly suited to share insights and best practices on what drives member loyalty in the health and fitness industry.

Before launching her own company, FORTË, Lauren Foundos spent a decade working on Wall Street, with the last five years in finance on the trading floor as an Institutional US Government Bond Broker at Whitaker Securities where she helped to dramatically increase UST Short Coupon and Bill desk revenues. Prior to that she worked at Deutsche Bank in Synthetic Equities and Cloudview Capital Management, a global-macro hedge fund, on their trading desk. Lauren graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006, with a BA in communications and concentration in business. She earned ACC Academic Honor Roll, and Intercollegiate Athletic Honor Roll during her time at Maryland.

David Steel is the Chief Viral Officer of Sneeze It, a division of The Steel Method. In his role, he educates companies on how to attract prospects, build a lead pipeline, and convert those leads into customers. He is a best-selling author and online marketing expert who has given speaking engagements in the United States and abroad on how to create successful—and lucrative—digital and social marketing campaigns.

Amanda Bond is owner of The Ad Strategist and the creator of the StrADedy System. Entrepreneur Magazine calls her a "Facebook advertising genius", Social Media Examiner named her "the brightest mind in Facebook advertising today" due to her unique mix of creativity and her vast analytical experience from analyzing hundreds of millions of client ad impressions. Amanda joins us in this episode to talk about conversational selling on Facebook.

Josh Leve is the Founder & CEO of the Association of Fitness Studios (AFS). AFS is the most trusted and fastest growing business association, dedicated to current and aspiring fitness owners. Josh has been featured in all major news outlets and is a featured speaker for all major fitness events such as IHRSA, Athletic Business, Club Industry, NSCA, NASM Optima, EMPOWER!, and ZUMBA.

Mike Jesowshek is a Certified Public Accountant with both a Bachelor and Masters in Accounting. He is the founder of JETRO and Associates, a cloud based accounting firm. Mike has a strong passion for technology as his firm helps provide digital accounting, bookkeeping, tax and payroll solutions for small business owners. With clients all over the U.S., his goal is to help these businesses pay the least amount of taxes as legally possible while helping them grow personally and professionally. In this show Mike shares Tax and Accounting Advice every fitness business owner and fitness professional needs to know.

Sue Richard has excelled in the fitness industry for over 20 years. Through her various roles as a Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, Team Trainer and Club Manager she has inspired thousands of health club members towards incredible results. Sue currently owns her own health and fitness club and is the co founder of TRIBE Team Training.

Brian Zehetner is an accomplished registered dietitian and strength and conditioning coach with 20 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. He is currently the Director of Health and Fitness at Planet Fitness World Headquarters and is the former Chief Science Officer at Anytime Fitness Corporate.

Robert Gerrish is a Venture Strategist and he supports individuals starting, growing, fine-tuning or exiting their business. This episode is perfect for new Personal trainers and fitness professionals. Robert takes us through the steps to ensuring there is a market out there for your business idea, how we best ensure we have our service offering right, the steps to create our ideal client profile and the 3 most important things a fitness professional should do to succeed as your own boss.

Randy Hetrick is Founder and CEO of TRX. Over the past three decades he has built a record number of unique accomplishments including: collegiate athlete, 14-year Navy SEAL Officer, bootstrap entrepreneur, multi-patented inventor, and growth company CEO whose company earned multiple placements on Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies List and Outside Magazine Best Places to Work list. He earned a bachelors degree from the University of Southern California; a master degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey; and an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, where he is a contributing lecturer on entrepreneurship, branding and leadership.

James Breese is the founder of Strength Matters, a business that not only offers Online Personal Training to consumers, but also services fitness professionals with educational events, certifications a print magazine and online community. Via Strength Matters, James has created a system of growing and scaling online Personal Training and he joins us on this intensive show to walk us through the steps he has taken to build a successful online PT business. This show is perfect for Personal Trainers who want to start their online PT business, heres what we discuss: Part 1) Where to get started including software options and testing before launch Part 2) Creating and Planning your system of training Part 3) Onboarding your online clients Part 4) How to set your prices.

Josh York is the Founder & CEO of GYMGUYZ, an in Home Mobile Personal Training franchise company, headquartered in Plainview, NY. Since its inception in 2008, Josh has been valued for his hands-on leadership style growing the business and profitability to more than 10,000 clients, over 150 employees and a fleet of vans in less than 5 years. Today GYMGUYZ is the fastest growing franchise brand with over 200 locations in 28 states and 3 countries.

Henna Inam is the CEO of Transformational Leadership Inc. She is an executive coach to C-level leaders who are creating transformation within organizations. She helps them transform from within, to create cultures of innovation, trust, and inclusion. Henna has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, finance, and sales and has lived or worked in seven countries across four continents. She is the author of Wired for Authenticity, which won Leadership Book of the Year 2016. During this episode you will learn: The practices of an authentic leader Ways to build yourself as an authentic leader How to understand your strengths and saboteurs and how we can develop better self-awareness around those areas

Frank Nash is the owner of STRONGER Personal Training. For the past 20 years Frank has been committed to achieving excellence in the field of Fitness Training and Performance Enhancement. He is an experienced fitness business owner, best Selling Author and International Speaker. During the interview we discuss: What to consider before re-branding your business How he ensures his coaching team consistently deliver an amazing experience for their members Frank shares his experience and opinion on the Employee Vs Contractor question We discuss using technology and how gamification can be a game changer for member engagement and retention Tips for fitness owners who want to stand out in a crowded market

Joey Gonzalez is the CEO of Barry's Bootcamp. Barry's is known as the original cardio and strength interval workout that innovated group fitness and started a global boutique movement. In this episode: Joeys journey to becoming the CEO, their formula for success, Joey shares how they ensure their brand message remains consistent across multiple countries and locations and we discuss Barrys retail and how it has grown to become an important and profitable part of the business.

In this weeks show we discuss 3 Ways to make more Revenue in your Fitness Business, How to increase your prices each year, Tips for getting new members into your club. Rachel Cosgrove, 2012 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, co-owns and has operated Results Fitness, a fitness center in Southern California, for the past 16 years. Results Fitness was named one of the top ten gyms in the United States by Men's Health Magazine three years in a row and was voted a Best Gym by Women's Health Magazine in 2011.

How can we use pricing psychology to influence consumer behavior?This weeks expert guest is Mike Arce the Founder and CEO of Loud Rumor, the fitness & wellness industry's leading source for lead generation. Mike is also the host of the GOAT Show - a podcast that interviews those who are arguably the Greatest Of All Time at what they do.

The relationship between group fitness and member retention The effect virtual fitness has on the member experience Why its important to go back to basics with our class names and schedules How to use group exercise to optimize retention Amy B Thompson is a national account executive for Les Mills USA, she is experienced in leading operations, sales, training and programming for her own studio, several multi-club fitness chains and franchise fitness brands.

Travis Barnes is a Multiple Business Owner, Speaker, Author and Founder of FITBIZ Mastery. He has two books. Journey Fitness. And 52 Amazing Journeys. His most recent accomplishment is becoming a franchisor and he is far from an overnight success. Travis had to overcome a decade of incarceration to get to where he is at.

Greg Justice, MA, is a best-selling author, speaker, and fitness entrepreneur and was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame in 2017. He opened AYC Health & Fitness, Kansas City's Original Personal Training Center, in May 1986. Greg is the co-founder and CEO of the National Corporate Fitness Institute (NCFI), and the co-founder of Scriptor Publishing Group.

Mark is a speaker, consultant, and co-founder of Mark Fisher Fitness, the fitness industry's most eccentric gym, and Business for Unicorns, a company that helps awesome humans become successful entrepreneurs.

Zack Bell is a wellness professional, coach, and educator. During this episode Zack shares: the Orange Theory approach to their coach recruitment strategy, Methods for communicating to team members across multiple locations, Team KPI's for measuring performance, 3 traits to look for when recruiting new coaches for your fitness business.

Sam Mutimer is the Founder and Director of Social Media at Thinktank Social. During this weeks show you will learn, where you should start to develop a social media strategy, The key components of a Facebook strategy, The key components of a Instagram strategy, Top Tips on developing a social media strategy.

Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I'm Lying; The Obstacle Is the Way; Ego Is the Enemy; Conspiracy and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into over 30 languages and has appeared everywhere from the New York Times to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as multiplatinum musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. During his interview on The Fitness Business Podcast, we focus on The Obstacle Is the Way in which Ryan shares stories and strategies on how to turn even the most insurmountable obstacles into advantages. Ryan is the Key Note speaker for the 2018 Athletic Business Show https://www.abshow.com/

How to turn employees into stakeholders How distributed decision making can transform your fitness business How to measure performance in a business using distributed decision making Chuck Blakeman is a serial entrepreneur, an internationally acclaimed speaker, weekly Inc. Magazine contributor, best-selling author and world-renowned business advisor who has built ten businesses in seven industries on four continents.

As Brand President for Anytime Fitness, Stacy Anderson steers the world's largest and fastest-growing fitness franchise, serving 3 million members at gyms located in 30 countries on five continents. Her top priority is leading the evolution of Anytime Fitness from its pioneering 24/7 convenience model to a more personalized coaching approach, featuring new digital technologies and a broader selection of group training programs.

Why should a fitness business be on You Tube? How to set up a You Tube channel? When loading a video what should we include in the decryption, tags? How can we help the Search Engine Optimisation of our videos? Sean Cannell is a YouTuber, international speaker, and business coach who built a seven figure media company helping entrepreneurs and creatives build their influence and income with online video.

Topics discussed in this show: Essential skills that Personal Trainers need to succeed Tips on Time Management for PT's Advice about operating on multiple platforms Ben Coomber is a nutritionist (BSc, CISSN), Coach, speaker and writer. Ben has the UK's #1 rated health and fitness podcast on iTunes 'Ben Coomber Radio'. Ben run's The BTN Academy, an online nutrition education company. Ben also owns Awesome Supplements, a brand offering clarity in the confusing world of supplements. Ben is a sought-after speaker selling out his own public seminars on nutrition, health and personal development alongside speaking at the major UK fitness events.

Kristen Hadeed imagines a world in which all organizations have cultures that empower people to keep climbing toward the best version of themselves every day. As the young leader of Student Maid, a successful cleaning company that hires primarily students, Kristen has fostered a unique perspective on leadership, organizational culture and engaging the next generation. In October 2017, she published her first book, "Permission To Screw Up," in which she tells the stories of her biggest mistakes in leadership. She hopes to inspire other leaders to share their "perfectly imperfect" stories of success to empower people with the knowledge that even if they screw up, they can still make it.

In todays show, Erik Fisher shares 11 Apps for Getting & Staying Organised, Being Creative and Saving Time. Erik Fisher has been with Social Media Examiner for 4 years where he serves as the social media manager. He is also a podcaster on productivity, producing for the last six years, 'Beyond The To-Do List' podcast where he talks with real people who practically implement productivity strategies in their professional and personal lives.

A life-long athlete with more than 20 years of experience in the sports, hotel and health club industries, Jon Brady is a natural as the chief operating officer (COO) of Midtown Athletic Clubs. In his role, Brady oversees all areas of business operations for Midtown's eight locations across the U.S. and in Canada, including the newly opened Hotel at Midtown in Chicago. During the show, we go behind the scenes of MidTown Athletic Chicago to hear how they have integrated 3rd party brands into the club, how they are able to have these boutique style studios with very distinct individual brands and Jon shares advice for anyone looking to introduce a similar set up in their own facility.

Jim Worthington is the owner of the Newtown Athletic Club, a 250,000 sq ft lifestyle club on 25 acres and Chairman of the IHRSA Board of Directors beginning July 1, 2018. As of May 2018, he has been appointed to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition along with individuals such as Herschel Walker, Dr. Oz and Bill Belichick. During this show we discuss, What will we see on the agenda for IHRSA for the next 12 months Jim's plans for his appointment on the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition and we take a look behind the scenes of Newtown Athletic Club

In this weeks show: The difference between a customer and an advocate How we can help our team understand the importance of customer service How a customer advisory board can help you get great insights on your business The role of technology for customer experience And she shares 3 ways to immediately improve the customer experience in your business Amanda Stevens has dedicated nearly two decades to researching and understanding the science of consumer behaviour and how organisations can grow through uncertain times by putting their customers at the heart of everything they do.

Kari Bedgood oversees the marketing and public relations functions for Active Wellness. She leads an innovative, results-driven team responsible for lead generating marketing campaigns, brand management and strategic communications that support the company's sales and growth objectives. Prior to joining Active Wellness in 2014, Kari was Vice President of Marketing and PR for Club One and also worked for Ketchum's Brand Marketing and Consumer Food account management teams serving clients such as 24 Hour Fitness, Kikkoman and Clorox. She has been a featured speaker on Marketing best practices for industry associations including IHRSA and Club Industry. Kari earned her Bachelors of Arts in Journalism from Indiana University, Bloomington.

In this show: Tools for Digital Marketing, How much a club owner should spend annually on their online campaign. 3 secrets to powerful and profitable digital marketing Alan Leach is the Group General Manager and Director of Sales & Marketing at West Wood Clubs, Dublin, Ireland. He is a sales trainer and international speaker and presenter on fitness club sales and marketing. In 2017 Alan was voted onto the IHRSA board of directors. Later in the show, Pam O'Donnell joins us to chat about The IHRSA Institute 2018.

Jason Hsiao is the Co-Founder & Chief Video Officer of Animoto, an award-winning online video maker that makes it easy for any small business to create high-performing marketing video designed to standout on social media. During this 4 week series you will learn: How to Plan your video marketing by asking 6 simple questions The common mistakes to avoid when creating videos Ways to make your video cut through How do we create great videos on a low budget

24 Hour Fitness has a network of more than 420 locations nationwide that serves nearly 4 million members throughout the U.S., opening new clubs at the rate of one every few weeks! Today's special guest is the CEO of 24 Hour Fitness, Chris Roussos. Prior to taking on the role of CEO in May 2017, Chris was the President and CEO of Epic Health Services. With his background in healthcare and his role now in the fitness industry, Chris understands the policy implications of the Affordable Care Act and the impact on business strategy today.

Jason Hsiao is the Co-Founder & Chief Video Officer of Animoto, an award-winning online video maker that makes it easy for any small business to create high-performing marketing video designed to standout on social media. During this 4 week series you will learn: How to Plan your video marketing by asking 6 simple questions The common mistakes to avoid when creating videos Ways to make your video cut through 4: How do we create great videos on a low budget

Michael Piercy is the owner of The LAB in Fairfield, New Jersey. He is the recipient of the 2017 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year award and has also been awarded the 2013 TRX FACEUP award for Overall Instructor of the Year. Michael represents brands such as Under Armour, TRX® and Matrix fitness as a Master Trainer. He is a former professional baseball player with three Major league organizations and holds a master's degree in exercise science.

DISCLAIMER The commentary in this podcast is the opinion of the author and in no way constitutes legal advice. Scott McKenzie is more than a corporate lawyer, he is a trusted advisor. Scott guides his clients through the maze of laws affecting commercial transactions with straight talking and thinking outside of the box. He has been recognised as Australia's leading lawyer to the fitness industry. If you want clear advice and exceptional outcomes, Scott is your man. During the show we discuss how to best manage social media in your facility and the importance of implementing a social media policy.

Jason Hsiao is the Co-Founder & Chief Video Officer of Animoto, an award-winning online video maker that makes it easy for any small business to create high-performing marketing video designed to standout on social media. Prior to Animoto, Jason served as a television producer for MTV Networks.

Jason Hsiao is the Co-Founder & Chief Video Officer of Animoto, an award-winning online video maker that makes it easy for any small business to create high-performing marketing video designed to standout on social media. Prior to Animoto, Jason served as a television producer for MTV Networks. During this 4 week series you will learn: How to Plan your video marketing by asking 6 simple questions The common mistakes to avoid when creating videos Ways to make your video cut through How do we create great videos on a low budget