Industry Change

On this episode of Industry Change, we sit down with Sharon Simmons from the Pilates Association of Australia. Pilates has come a long way from obscurity and burst onto the mainstream fitness scene in the last few years and the PAA does a great job in setting the standards for the industry as well as supporting Pilates Studios and Instructors. The biggest prediction that Sharan has for the rest of 2020 is that there will be even more diversity within the Pilates space. More and more consumers are choosing Pilates classes and the studio’s as part of a real move towards health and wellness and using movement as medicine. The challenge for the industry will be keeping the quality as the industry continues to grow.

In this episode of Industry Change, I speak with long-time friend and meditation teacher, Tom Cronin. Tom traded his life as a finance broker to become a meditation teacher and has an incredible story. Interestingly he’s the first person who actually got me to sit in stillness for 20 minutes and I’ve now incorporated meditation into my daily life.

In this episode of Industry Change, I chat with Justin McDonnel, Co-Founder & Chair of Collective Wellness Group which includes Anytime Fitness, Orange Theory and Xtend Barre. Where does Justin see the fitness industry heading? As surprising as it is, the 24/7 model is still growing and there is still a significant amount of people still signing up to gyms every year. But people are looking for relationships rather than just a membership. Larger gyms and 24/7’s can achieve this even on a larger scale, but have to focus on the manager and coaches building relationships with members. And there is a definite opportunity for the studio model and boutique fitness model to grow and expand, especially considering it is much easier for boutiques to build that relational style of training.

Want to know the importance of technology and mental health in the fitness industry? In this episode Richard chats with the Chief Operating Officer of LIFT Brands Andy Peat. Andy was 17 when he started out in the industry, conveniently not having to tell anyone his age… he was a personal trainer, worked on cruise liners and then became a SNAP fitness franchisee and from this he became the CEO of SNAP fitness Australia at the age of 25. Now he is the COO of LIFT Brands and the creator of technology fitness and nutrition app ‘Nomergy’. Take a read or watch the full interview… What are the fundamentals of growing in the fitness industry?  Andy’s quick progression in the industry was a credit to timing, luck and proven skills. He also emphasises the importance of putting yourself out there and know what people want to hear, from this he got the opportunity to learn and prove himself once he was in the role as CEO.  When Andy started as CEO he has no right to the job, he didn’t have a degree or much experience bu

In this week’s episode of Industry Change I chat with Ty Menzies the CEO of LIFT Brands. Ty has had over 15 years of experience in this industry with a background of owning independent clubs, franchises and is now the CEO of LIFT Brands with over 300 locations across the Asia-pacific. Recently Ty was elected as a a Board Member of Fitness Australia and the Exercise Association of New Zealand. We discuss how to succeed in the industry and take advantage of the right opportunities at the right time and more.  Ty’s journey in the fitness industry  Ty’s journey has not been an overnight success story. He started as a personal trainer and really enjoyed it, but always knew he wanted to be a business owner and wanted to step into a sales and club management role. He had great mentors and took good advice from the right people that guided him into the sales and club management space.  The first club he managed was a very large gym in London which was a great experience, he was hired by the owner of The Gym Gr

In today’s Industry Change episode I chat with Richard Beddie CEO of Exercise New Zealand about the journey. Richard has been in the industry for over 20 years, initially, he was a gym owner and eager to learn more he went to a fitness industry conference. He did this because he figured that people who knew more than him about the industry would be talking and giving worthy advice, so he went along and found the AGM for Fitness New Zealand. How did you start this journey of running an organization and going global? When Richard owned a gym the first thing he did was go to a conference because he figured people who knew more than him would be talking and giving advice so he went along and found the AGM for fitness NZ. He asked a lot of questions and the next thing he knew he was on the committee and became the chairman. At the time he thought it was a great way to give his input and make an impact on the industry. He realized that his passion changed from owning his gym and getting leads to being about deali

In this episode of Industry, Change Richard talks to Luke Baylist co-founder and CEO of Australia’s biggest health food chain: Sumo Salad. At one point for a long time, Sumo Salad had 92% brand awareness in the market as they were the first health food chain in Australia. Now after 16 years Luke Baylis has created Sumo Well which aims to combine fitness and food together. How did Luke start out as an entrepreneur? Going back to the beginning Luke says the beginning of his entrepreneurial career was not a ‘glamourous story’. In the early 2000s Luke and his best friend were living in Chicago working for an IT company. He was young, eating all the wrong foods and drinking and within 4 years he put on 50kg. He found that in America when you ate a salad it was almost the size of a table and it wasn’t healthy either! He realized he had no portion control, no healthy food options and was not exercising. In Australia, he was used to living a fit and healthy lifestyle, so when he went back to Australia he was unrecog

In this week’s episode of Industry Change Richard speaks with Barrie Elvish the CEO of Fitness Australia. Appointed at the beginning of 2019, Barrie is striving to empower and build healthier communities alongside the fitness industry.    Despite coming from outside the fitness industry, Barrie has set a number of goals to entice Australians to live healthier, more active lives. Barrie discussed with us that 20% of Australian’s have a gym membership but only 6% are active with their memberships. This means that 94% of Australian’s are not active in gyms! Fitness Australia is now restructuring to align with more gyms and personal trainers, to encourage Australian’s to go to gyms while removing the stigma that ‘only men with six packs to go to the gym’.  Fitness Australia’s goal is to get 15% of Australians more active by 2030, and it’s up to those in the fitness industry to align with Fitness Australia to make this happen.    The problem that stops growth in the industry is perception! 

In this week’s episode of Industry Change Richard speaks to CEO and Co-founder of global wellness platform MINDBODY, Rick Stollmeyer. From humble beginnings Rick started this company in the late 90’s, which aimed to provide fitness businesses’ with software to create change for their clients. Now, in 2019, MINDBODY is the largest platform in the industry that brings fitness businesses and clients together, reaching almost 300 000 businesses and 35 million consumers worldwide striving to connect wellness with the world.  Rick had the big idea to create a health and wellness portal, where people could find the information they needed to live healthier and happier lives. From this idea he connected to the boutique fitness industry which was developing in the 1990’s in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Within these hubs he began developing software for spin, yoga and pilates studios. However whilst doing this he discovered that the most important thing he could do was help these businesses run more effecti

I was lucky enough to sit down with my good friend and Co-Founder of Functional Training Institute, Tarek Michael-Chouja to talk about their new book that launched this week! Tarek is one of the innovators of functional training and shares his message not only across Australia, but globally. The truth about marketing is that if you have a bad product then you will continually pay higher prices for marketing and it will always be an uphill battle. The better that you can be at your craft and the better coach you can be – the easier it will be to market your business. A book like this takes time and effort and has been, in fact, three years in the making. Tarek shares with me some of the key ideas that has made it possible to produce such a great book. COLLABORATION NOT EGO In order to be world class you’ll need to drop your ego and focus on collaboration. Tarek has been able to collaborate with many people over the years which has not only resulted in this book, but also in being able to build a world c

If you’re in the fitness space, most likely you’ve heard of Kayla Itsines – she’s a global phenomenon growing from a local fitness trainer in Adelaide to becoming the global face of the app and brand SWEAT. Who you probably haven’t heard of is Tobi Pearce – Kayla’s Fiance and CEO of SWEAT. Tobi has been beside Kayla from the beginning very much in the background building the brand to wear it’s at today. I was lucky enough to catch up with Tobi while he was in Sydney and talk all about growing a fitness brand, transitioning to the fitness space, and how to build a brand that people love. Tobi & Kayla have been able to scale their brand in only 5 short years and show no signs of stopping. In 2014 they launched the Bikini Body Guide. Very quickly they realised that an ebook is not very interactive and moved that to an app. In 2017 they transitioned the name of that app to SWEAT with Kayla and then further transitioned to SWEAT as they have added new trainers to the app. Plenty of personal train

On this episode of Industry change I chat with sales and performance expert – Chris Muddell from Employsure. We talk all about the systems that you need to have in place in order to scale. As solo business operators there can be a real fear around growing our business, bringing on new staff and the obligations that might mean. I mean, we went into business because we were good at what we did – not because we wanted to be writing employment contracts all day. I call Chris the ‘magic man,’ Not only because he’s a great sales guy, but also because he understands what it takes to scale a business with the right systems in place so that employee relationships run smoothly and businesses uplift and grow. He’s a genius at pinpointing and reverse-engineering the right behaviours in order to facilitate growth. Inevitably if you want to scale and grow your business you are going to have to think about bringing on people to help you, whether that be contractors, employers, part time

In the eyes of Nigel Benton, publisher of Australasian Leisure Management, there are endless great stories to share. Everyone has a story to tell. While some may be able to share their own, others may be too close to see the amazing story right in front of them. The leisure industry plays a very significant role in the economy as well as peoples individual social and community benefits. Whether you are going to fitness clubs, sporting games, children play centres, participate in recreational activities or attend shows and entertainment programs it’s all classified as leisure. In the industry producers are providing an experience to consumers who are making those decisions on a daily, weekly, and monthly bases. Having worked in the publishing industry for over twenty years, Nigel equates his secrets of success to content. In a time were technology and digital communication is on the rise, one may think that printed media is on its way out. For Nigel, the exact opposite seems to be true. The Australasian Leisu

This week I sat down with long time fitness industry expert Ryan Hogan. Ryan has been in the industry for over 20 years, he has been heavily involved in Filex during that time and now is moving into a role with Wexer - creating digital experiences for gyms. Being in the fitness industry for so long he's seen many things come and go (including the Reebok Slide - who remembers that??). As things move into the digital space and our members expect us to provide digital experiences, it is even more important to provide an amazing experience for our clients when they are face to face with us in our facilities or at our classes. There is a reason that Crossfit, SoulCycle and Boutique Yoga and Pilates studios are so popular. They all provide a service that other gyms and facilities provide. And yet people are passionate about getting their Crossfit in everyday? It’s not just about the product they provide, it’s about the experience that members get when they are a part of the program. So how do you mimic this same ‘e

On this week’s episode of Industry change, I sit down with influencer, former athlete and best-selling author, Steve Brossman. We talk all about positioning yourself as a personal trainer in order to find success in your market no matter how often the environment changes. The concept of positioning might sound easy, but actually going through the process is where the difficulty comes. Just remember, you don’t have to be the best in the world, you just have to be the best in their world. If you have helped someone or a group of people, you have the right to share your knowledge and expertise to get it out there and help people and share your passion. Richard and Steve also talk in more detail about their views on social media, the idea of being an expert, tricks on finding success while working with a partner, and a whole lot more takeaways. Listen to find out more!

In this episode of Industry Change, I sat down with long time fitness industry expert, Geoff Jowett. Geoff was involved as an original founder of Vision Personal Training, where he saw great success in building boutique personal training studios. He went on to have major success with the BodyTrim brand. And yet even after all the fame, all the money, all the ego - he hit rock bottom. After going through rehab and alcoholics anonymous he realised that he needed to find his true north again. And so set out to discover that what he was really passionate about, what lit him up inside was building communities and seeing people succeed in those communities. You see communities are a game changer. In a world where we have more 'social' interaction than we've ever had before - we're actually more lonely than we've ever been, we're more disconnected than we've ever been. Communities, whether it be online, offline or a hybrid of the two - create a place where people realise that they are not along. That other

This week on Industry Change, Richard talks with Justin Tamsett who is the founder of Active Management and part of the fitness industry for 30 years! Just is a business coach for gyms and personal trainers and travels the world teaching business owners how to retain clients and run a more successful club. Last year alone he trainer in more than 70 clubs! Everyone knows someone who has a gym membership, but never goes. It's become a standard in the industry and something that gym managers have become quite used to. What JT reveals to Richard is the shift that is happening among gyms right now. You see, when your members actually attend your gym, they start to see actual results, then they tell their friends, and suddenly their friends are also attending your gym. And BOOM, just like that - you're reducing your marketing spend. Well, it's easy enough to say you need more people to actually set foot in your gym, but how do you make that happen in reality? JT and Richard reveal four tips for getting more people

On Industry Change this week I sat down with Steve Jensen, hall of Fame Lifestyle Industry entrepreneur with over 30 years experience, to talk about the evolution of sales and marketing. Steve bases his sales practice on the inspirational model. You need to inspire excitement and happiness in the customer for your product, or service. If you’re dealing with a customer who is excited and inspired they will be happy to go ahead and spend money. This form of sales is designed to engage with what Steve calls the ‘Green Brain’ otherwise known as the limbic system. This part of the brain is where the majority of snap decisions are made. What you’re trying to avoid with inspirational sales is engaging with the ‘Red Brain’ or neural cortex, which deals with more logical processing. To inspire your customers Steve emphasises the need to market yourself as a unique business. What is it that makes you stand out from the crowd? Use it to win the customer over, let them know that they can’t get this service anywhere else!

This week I sit down with Dan Henderson from Function Training Institute to talk to him about the functional fitness space. Interestingly, 5 years ago I did a similar interview when functional training was just in it's infancy. It was great to get him back and see how the industry has evolved over that time. At the time, 5 years ago, his business was still in it's infancy and operating more like a hobby based business. Fast forward 5 years and the industry is booming and Dan and his co-founder, Tarek, can be found speaking and training trainers worldwide. Dan talks to me about how the industry has changed as it's grown. Particularly as more gyms and fitness professionals have embraced the movement as well as more and more research revealing what Dan and the team have been teaching for the past 5 years. These days there's not that many gyms where you wont find battle ropes, kettlebells, powerbags and other functional type training equipment. We discuss the challenges that new fitness professionals face co

On Industry Change this week I’m in the beautiful Maldives, speaking with James Schramko from Super-Fast Business. When you’re running your own business, it is difficult to establish a work life balance. Many people put themselves at the centre of their business and work themselves to the bone trying to make it a success. You might be under the assumption that this much hard work is what it takes to make. The reality is that your business, and your stress levels, will benefit from you being able to take a holiday. James has had many successful companies and now works coaching others on business marketing and strategies. He has successfully built a team that runs smoothly on their own, allowing him to come on trips like this one to the Maldives. This amazing lifestyle is more achievable than you would think. Your business doesn’t have to revolve around you, if you build a great, trustworthy, team of employees who know what they’re doing taking a RDO is not going to be the end of the world. Simple things like;