HALO Talks

"I think Kobe turned his profession from what it was into a purpose. It's one of the reasons why people gravitated towards him . . . and I think it's also one of the reasons why his loss hit us so hard. He was there with a bigger point . . . and I think it was a wake up call for all of us," states industry veteran William Maloney.  Will's new company, Health Capital, helps people build a "health portfolio." Listen now to this wide ranging discussion on Will's extensive background with athletes of all levels, to how the industry has changed, the latest in health trends, technology, nutrition, and more!  

Rick Richey has been in the HALO sector since 2002. As the Owner of the Independent Training Spot, he's since gone on to start ReCOVER in 2018, the first facility of its kind in NYC dedicated strictly to recovery using modalities like air compression, CVAC, hydromassage, NuCalm, full spectrum infrared sauna and more. Rick discusses the challenges (and advantages!) of not being first to market, lessons learned from advertising in health clubs and how that carries over to ReCOVER, the importance of using surveys on a regular basis, what they would do differently if had to start up again, and more! 

"The strength coach is the ultimate fall guy in professional sports. It's almost like the more players are paid, the less accountable they became for their own behaviors. It's just sort of something that comes with it, but it makes you better!" laughs Coach Dana Cavalea, author of Habits of a Champion. As a performance coach with the NY Yankees from 2002-2014, Coach discusses his rather fortuitous entry into the field, to coaching elite athletes, challenges of working with management & players, and much more! Listen now for this insider's glance into elements of professional sports people rarely get to see! 

"The fitness industry is notorious for having terrible retention rates. New leads are the lifeblood of any business," states Patrick Cundiff of Loud Rumor. Having worked with over 2,000 fitness studios in the past 5 years, their agency is well positioned to know what works and what doesn't. This discussion focuses on why it's necessary to consider pivoting part of your business online, retargeting, lead capture, continuing to provide value as facilities start to reopen, why it's important to keep advertising--especially now--and more.  

"Everybody moves and everybody wears socks! It's what we call the movement cycle. . . and there's an entry point for everyone and that's a great opportunity," states Jared Verteramo, President of Lasso Gear. Lasso is a highly unique, patented sock in the "hybrid sports with medical benefits" space. This wide ranging discussion covers how to compete with other, huge companies in your space, dealing with excess inventory, how to stay lean and deal with downstream demand, plans for scaling in the future and more!

"You can get great experience working with other companies, but you always have to have something bubbling . . . if you want to create your own thing. You have to be ready to take the risk," states Isaac Calpito on how his super popular workout, Torch'd, got started. Isaac came to NYC the day after high school graduation, lived on his friend's floor while auditioning, and eventually ended up on Broadway for 10 years doing 8 shows a week. It was there that Torch'd began. Isaac has over 20,000 people virtually doing his workout, since raised nearly $250K for the No Kid Hungry charity, and counts many celebrities as clients. Listen now as he discusses how to manage your business as it grows (perhaps much more quickly than expected!), thoughts on virtual training, and more!

As the Managing Director and Founder of Exaltare Capital, Omar's group was one of the first inside the Planet Fitness network.  He was able to "see around the corner" and jump in very early. With his background in consulting and private equity (he worked on the highly successful 24 Hour deal among many others) he states,  "I enjoyed being close to the portfolio companies and really wanted to be more hands on." In this wide ranging discussion, Omar shares his position on private equity, what being an "independent sponsor" really means, thoughts on scaling businesses in the COVID environment, and more. 

"The level of conviction has to be high enough even if it seems to be insane by everybody," states Alex Plonsker of SplitGym, referring to how crazy it can be as an entrepreneur. In essence, SplitGym is becoming a, "StubHub for the fitness industry. People can sell unused classes or days for cashback and more or less creating a secondary market." SplitGym is fully integrated with MindBody, so it's a seamless transaction on the consumer side. Alex has rolled out in New York and is now on the hunt for funding to help scale. Listen now to this former banker turned  entrepreneur about the challenges of a "non-tech guy" building a tech company, managing a team, making the jump into becoming a business owner, and more!  

"Two of the most important elements in the golf swing are your glute strength and hip mobility," states Trillium Rose. Trillium is recognized as a Top 50 Teacher by Golf Digest and the LPGA and honored as the 2017 Middle Atlantic PGA "Teacher of the Year.” Trillium dives into the latest in golf tech, training and education. Her area of expertise is in helping golfers develop their skills as quickly as possible and help them practice efficiently. She is a graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University with a Master’s degree in Motor Learning and Control. Listen now to this wide ranging discussion about an incredibly popular part of the HALO sector. 

"Just move! It doesn't have to be about how many sets, reps, and time. There is no magic pill. We are the magic pill!" states entrepreneur Joana Meneses. Founder of BodyRoots, Joana has been in the HALO sector since 1999. She dove into Pilates head first just as it was gaining in popularity and quickly became one of the top Stott Pilates Master Trainers in the early days, travelling all over the world training trainers. On her return, she began (and ran) the highly regarded Pilates program at the former Printing House Fitness for 8 years. She recently went "back to her roots" in the Azores and established Liquid Roots, running sold out retreats biannually for the past 5 years. Listen now to learn more from this experienced industry veteran! 

"Kids who exercise up to an hour a day will do up to 40% better on tests in school," states Lee Spieker a 30+ year industry veteran. Lee has done it all! From everything to working for Weider in the early days, to selling Universal equipment (remember those?) to owning health clubs, to producing the well known Buns of Steel workouts, and eventually starting Railyard Fitness as well as the non-profit, 1houraday. This wide ranging discussion focuses on the critical importance of fitness for children . . . and (unfortunately) how we're failing as a country. Lee gives his thoughts on what can be done. . .everything from working with public education officials, to how parents can assist, to what vendors (and fitness facilities) can do is touched on. This is a must listen for anyone who wants to help (hopefully) reverse a dire issue in our country. 

"We need to accommodate people who have low ability levels, while also not limiting what we offer to those who have high performance abilities," states Mike Donnelly, Director of Fitness for Greco Fitness. With plans to be the largest boutique facility in Canada, Jenna York, Director of Operations and Mike chat about Greco's quick rise, Greco's strong reputation in the market, working with investors, their impressive roll out to a paid, digital revenue stream, maintaining quality control around franchising, the benefits of having "patient capital" support your brand, and more! 

"You've got to build a business model before you build a product!" states Colin McIntosh, CEO. Sheets & Giggles began in October 2017 with an initial raise of $284,000 through crowd funding. Currently at a $5M per year run rate after only approximately 17 months of sales, Colin reviews everything from his revenue funded business model, to marketing, to how and why he choose eucalyptus sheets, to his plans to start working with top athletes, and much more. This is a fantastic brand who, while clearly not taking themselves too seriously, are posting up impressive numbers in a short period of time. Listen now to this wide ranging discussion! 

"We can control our efforts in life, we cannot control the outcomes," states Dan Millman, a former world champion athlete, gymnastics coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor--has authored 17 books published in 29 languages. His best-known, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, was adapted to film in 2006 starring Nick Nolte. Dan was way ahead of the curve when, in the 1970's, he had his first business called "Rent-A-Coach." He has seen the HALO sector evolve over 20+ years and in this wide ranging discussion, chats about training athletes, where the sector is going next, and much more!

"If you do it because you see value or you do it because it's intrinsic . . . it's sustainable. If you do it because you feel guilty, obligated, for the reward or the  money, or you're coerced, it ends as soon as that reinforcer goes away," states Matt Richter, 25+ year management consultant, industry expert, keynote speaker and author of The Leadership Story. Why do some go to the gym and others don't? What are some steps the HALO sector can consider applying to the latest in research in motivation and self-determination theory to better serve our clientele? Listen now to this wide ranging, and thought provoking discussion backed by the latest research in the learning and development field. 

"I want to be the first globally recognized, fully franchisable corporation owned by a woman of color," states Hodges (an incredible entrepreneurial powerhouse!) when asked about future plans. As a seasoned fitness entrepreneur and global learning manager, she created her first class in her grandmother's backyard in June 2016. Classes are a mix of HITT, traditional aerobics, and ZUMBA to trap music with a focus on women of color. It quickly skyrocketed and she began teaching at Facebook, Tumblr and other major clients. Listen now to this wide ranging discussion on scaling, the beginnings of an instructor training program, operational "nut and bolts" and more! 

"If you govern your decisions by what's in the best interest of your members, while it may more difficult in the near term, I fundamentally believe it'll benefit you in the longer term," states CEO Bill Davis. With 38 years in business, ABC Financial supports nearly 40% of all fitness clubs in the USA. Now owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, Bill discusses the role of ABC in the HALO sector, what owners should consider in the current COVID-19 climate, hints at  big changes coming to ABC in the next few months (that were initially going to be introduced at IHRSA 2020!) and much more. 

A classically trained research scientist with a Doctorate in Motor Learning, Dr. Paul Juris is a seminal figure in the HALO sector. He was a Professor of Human Movement Studies at Columbia University and later went on to construct the (then new) Equinox Fitness Training Institute to a level never seen before. "We wanted to bring as much scientific rigor into the program as possible. . .I introduced movement science to that program, which at the time really didn't exist in the fitness industry," he states. In this wide ranging discussion, Paul offers his thoughts on what needs to be looked at more closely in our "typical" model, the evolution of education in the industry, discussion of fitness tech's pros and cons, and much more!

"Our whole goal is to help build community within buildings, to help people get to know each other better, and to make the city feel a little smaller, and a little less lonely," states Ryan Freed. With hOM currently in over 100 buildings in NYC and Toronto, this life long entrepreneur started in the HALO sector by offering meditation classes in a residential building. He then pivoted into a much larger variety of classes for commercial office spaces and residential multi-family landlords. This wide ranging discussion touches on everything from commercial and residential real estate, to scaling a business, to thoughts of going "deeper" versus going "wider" and more. 

"I always joke that every start up needs a crazy Israeli," laughs Kenny about his Co-Founder, Nadav. Currently approaching its sixth month, these two former attorneys discuss everything nearly any entrepreneur can relate to! From having to share a small studio apartment, to the need to to pivot due to manufacturing & hardware issues, to waking up at 4:30am, to ClassPass, to dealing with operations in a brick & mortar studio, and much more. This is a must listen for anyone who has ever considered branching out on your own.