Industry Change: Recent Episodes
Richard Toutounji
Richard Toutounji is talking to masters of business who have prospered by adapting to change in their industry.
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 but he was great at selling franchises and selling gym memberships, but obviously running a $100 million business was next level! So he talked to the right people, educated himself and delivered results!
How do you deliver the results when you are still learning?
- Observe and learn – During the first three months as CEO Andy he took a back seat and observed what the operators did, he learnt the goods and the bads within the industry from this.
- Back yourself – Andy had to back his own ideas and add his own flavour to the business. Andy believes “It’s one thing to back yourself but actually going in and doing it is another.” A big thing that distinguished him was that he followed through with his ideas.
- Work WITH people – Andy always enjoyed working with people and building relationships. He has a lot of empathy because he was a previous SNAP franchisee so the SNAP franchisees were able to relate to him and be on the same page because of his experience.
- Educate yourself – Outside of work during the early stages of Andy being CEO, he was in a relentless study mindset. He studied business, he became a student of business, fitness and of the industry. He learnt from people 100 years ago and explored the tycoons of the industry today. He read and listened to everything he could in his free time. At the time he wasn’t sure it was working but over time he realised he was using things he learnt.
Did the need to educate yourself come because you had the job or did it come because you wanted to know it in the future?
It was a bit of both for Andy, but there was an urgent need to educate himself because he had the job. He didn’t tell anyone his age so people assumed he was older. The motivation came to learn ‘adult talk’ early so he could stand at the same level with the franchisees and give himself enough time to deliver results.
He knew he could get the results but he wanted to buy some time to be able to develop a stronger understanding and back himself on different things in the industry. The true test was dealing with adversity, since he was still young he could get stuck into fixing problems rather than delegating others to do them.
Looking into the future, saw the problems with sales, mental health and has created an app.
At the time Andy was CEO of SNAP fitness in Austr
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 Group (UK), John Treharne who has taken that business from nothing to now 60 locations! Ty was lucky by being involved with the right people, actively putting himself out there in the industry.
He came back from the UK and wanted to start his own business. He came across a franchise, EFM Health Clubs which is still around today and he bought his first EFM at the age of 21 and then went on to own 3 EFM locations in Melbourne. Whilst he had these 3 he then bought a mid-size independent club. This was an opportunity that he came across and it was in a dire position but he turned it around and made it successful, so at the time he owned 4 gym venues! He then sold them to move onto his next venture.
Snap fitness approached him to help drive the franchise development part of the business. He spent months developing franchises and sold 35 franchises and was in a good position to be the CEO which has only progressed from there.
What is LIFT Brands?
Ty is the CEO of LIFT Brands which is a collection of fitness-minded businesses that share a goal to help people get healthy in a positive community. They own snap fitness 24/7 which covers all hours convenience, 9Round which is more boutique and fitness on demand which is virtual. All these brands cover key fitness environments for all demographics. They have a very strong presence in New Zealand and Australia and are expanding across the Asia-pacific region.
When is the right time to make the right move? The importance of opportunities and timing…
Peter Taunton the founder of LIFT Brands says that, “If you haven’t failed in business you haven’t had a go!” Ty has had his fair share of failures but strongly believes that if you aren’t having a go you aren’t experiencing the industry and growing beneficially. Ty stresses that it is important to know that if you fail, fail fast and step out quickly. Some people try and hold on too long, but realising the problem, losing a small amount of money, stepping out of the situation and learning from it is how you can be proactive in the industry.
A lot of fitness professionals can over analyse things and opportunities come and go all the time, it’s a matter of whether you will take the chance and run with it. Ty’s father used to say, “Take a huge bite and go at it hard!” That’s something you have to do with business. You can’t expect to go into something and just have it all done with no effort, you need to put in the work!
Where do you see the future of the 24/7 gyms?
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?
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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 dealing with childcare because a the time it was a big industry issue with gyms regulation. He wasn’t being paid for this, it was all volunteer work. What is Exercise NZ?
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Exercise NZ is an association that is about making a difference and supporting exercise professionals and facilities within the fitness industry. They are quite unique as an organization because they facilitate things like events and resources. It is the providers like personal trainers, gym owners, etc. that make the difference, and this is what Exercise NZ wants to support. They want to support the providers.
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Exercise NZ has the highest uptake of members in the association because they believe it’s all about asking: what do the providers of exercise want? It is about the long game with solving the physical inactivity that NZ has but it is about the short game with providers and supporting their problems.
- It is a Not for profit body and membership association. The members are providers of exercise, whether that be gym owners, personal trainers or fitness instructors, it is for anyone who works in the fitness industry. By being a member they get support, advice, advocacy from Exercise NZ and they get to go to events at a discounted rate. They are not about the commercial end even though many of their members are.
- The individual personal trainer, yoga instructor or fitness studio owner can do what they do with the backing of an industry association like Exercise NZ behind them. It is basically an insurance policy to help your fitness business run successfully. They can help you with the stuff you may not know, like the new laws, regulations, and governance that is important to comply with but many people won’t know or don’t have the time to focus on.
How did you take this concept of fitness industry standards globally?
- In 2001 Richard wanted to help develop standards for exercise professionals which are now the register for fitness professionals. New Zealand was the 3rd country in the world to have these standards.
- Some people are anti-standards but there is nothing to be scared about because professionals can always vote to change the standards that are in place.
- Richard once had a meeting in Lebanon and it was the first time industry competitors were in the same room. It is a very small country geographically but there are lots of gyms and personal trainers, however, there isn’t a lot with qualifications. This is an example of emerging standards as there are emerging training providers. It can be frustrating for those who are qualified if there are no standards because the qualification essentially has no value. Hence Richard gave them a chance to join an international grouping that has standards.
- Now there is the global association that means your qual
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 unrecognizable. Whilst trying to get back on track with being healthy he found it hard to make good nutritional choices as there was a lack of availability and it wasn’t affordable to eat healthy. Luke realized there was no culture in Australia that promotes nutritional food as something accessible and affordable and this is how the idea of Sumo Salad was formed.
Luke wanted to make a healthy food chain that turned a salad into a big healthy satisfying meal. He wanted to change Australia’s perception of healthy eating. They knew there was a demand for this and despite being shut down by investors they persisted with this idea to change the way Australia eats and creates a better option for people. In 16 years Sumo Salad grew to over 100 locations and was the first fresh and healthy food chain to make its mark in Australian food courts.
As a self-funded business they faced many challenges but they had to focus on getting good locations and trading in local communities to establish a following. They had $90 million in turnover and no real competitors because this was at a time before the wellness lifestyle was popular. However as the business grew, the competition grew at the same time. For the first 10 years, they withstood competitors and food courts were the main place they were franchised. However, over time the food court became less relevant for the consumer and cafe culture was adopted. Instinctively luke thought that if Sumo Salad did not adapt the business would die.
A change had to be made in order for Sumo Salad to sustain itself. Hence they took the move to shift their whole strategy and create Sumo Well that provides fresh and healthy grab and go options for Aussies. Luke strived to adapt to the fitness and wellness industry and he did so with a series of tests, a broadened network and thinking holistically about what the customer journey is now.
Most Sumo Salad customers were active in gyms or using personal trainers and Luke realized that Sumo Salad couldn’t grow if it was just a salad bar in shopping centers. In order to progress Luke needs to collaborate with like-minded brands and surround the customer with better options, hence Sumo Well was created to be the partner of choice for gyms, personal trainers and fitness leaders. This has broadened their network and sphere of work to partner with fitness professionals who care about their clients’ health and wellbeing.
What is the one thing that made Sumo Salad change?
Luke said that constantly asking ‘but why’ was what helped him reframe the business. They kept asking this to refine their purpose to the point that they realized they don’t have to focus on a small niche. They can branch out to a bigger audience and the purpose is more powerful because it changes the way people eat and how they consume nutrition. Through reframing their purpose
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!
So many people are intimidated by gyms, assuming they are only for people who are already fit, but that is because they have never been to one. They don’t know that gyms cater to a diverse range of people. If people aren’t intimidated by gyms the membership levels will increase, however it starts with people in the industry creating a welcoming atmosphere for new clients. Fitness instructors need to remember that everyone is different, and this is where Fitness Australia comes in. Fitness Australia wants to work with partnered gyms to break this down to bring in the 80% of people who aren’t attending gyms.
Why should you join Fitness Australia?
Fitness Australia is not only the largest industry association but it is the most reputable, with ongoing accreditation, education services and high professional standards. This gives people in the fitness industry credibility by being apart of the leading industry association, along with many other benefits. Fitness Australia is the association that government turn to to create regulations that affect the fitness industry, hence joining them gives you a competitive advantage within the industry.
Fitness Australia has recently renewed their partnership with us to assist better lead generation for personal trainers and to help positioning and branding within the fitness industry. Together this partnership strives to make people healthier and happier. Watch the full episode to hear it all!
To learn more about Fitness Australia or to become a member click here.
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 effectively. This was a big learning curve that led to the launch of the business management software in 2001 that is still the crux of MINDBODY today.
As a leader he found there were three key fundamental that led to his success:
- Knowing your customer
You can think you know them but to actually know them is so important! Whilst starting out Rick spent a lot of time in fitness studios and learnt how they operated. This allowed him to get into the mindset of these small business owners to understand their point of view. This was key to developing a product that mattered and customers actually found useful.
- Crafting a differentiated product that people will pay for
Once you understand who your target market is and how they think, you need to develop a unique selling point that will entice customers! Rick recalled that the first time people would pay for the software in the late 90’s was thrilling because this meant he had an audience that connected with his business and proved that this was a product that met their needs.
- Scaling it
Once the first two fundamentals are established it is important to scale your business according to the needs within the market. Rick found that there was a need for MindBody worldwide, and from the beginning had to ensure the platform was accessible for international businesses as this is what allowed it to grow into what it is now!
Ricks journey with MINDBODY in the fitness and wellness industry is an inspirational one he credits to passion, determination and tenacity. In order to stand out in the fitness industry Rick emphasised it is important to have the following:
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Passion
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You must be passionate about the business idea itself. Naturally this is what motivates entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into a reality. It is not just about money – you should be doing it because you truly care about what your practice does for the customer!
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Differentiation
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How are you going to differentiate yourself in your local market? There will be dozens of other competitive businesses in your neighbourhood so you need to find what it is that will make you stand out! The way t
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 class training organisation.
TRANSFORMATION NOT TRANSACTIONS Having a wholehearted dedication to your craft creates a transformation mindset that causes you to strive for progress over perfection.
Watch the video to discover the 5 pillars of functional training and don’t forget to grab yourself a copy for just $0.99c https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Driven-Movement-Functional-Training/dp/0648430715/
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 trainers have ebooks and courses and online programs, so why was the Bikini Body Guide so successful? Tobi puts it down to his relentless pursuit in building a product that sells itself. When you create a quality product that gets people results – people want to buy it – you don’t have to ‘sell’ it to them.
But how do you go from a bikini ebook to a global app available in 155 countries and countless languages with millions of users? Tobi puts it down to being adaptable to changes and able to pivot easily. When they first build the Bikini Body Guide Ebook, they realised that it was not going to cut it in the interactive world we live in today. So even while they were launching the ebook they were already thinking about the next step – building an app. Even as they launched the BBG App, they were already thinking about rebranding to SWEAT with Kayla and then eventually to just SWEAT. Adding new workouts, languages, etc. just seemed like the logical next step as they listened to their audience.
Kayla & Tobi have built a strong brand presence – especially on Instagram. As one of the most influential fitness figures on Instagram it’s surprising to find out that Kayla doesn’t do any paid posts. Tobi has a single view on this: Do you want to be an influencer or do you want to be influential? Influencers are a dime a dozen, selling this and selling that. But does promoting that brand REALLY add value to your audience?
In a world consumed by social media it’s easy to get caught up in ‘vanity metrics.’ How many likes do I have, how many people commented on that, how many people have watched my video. You could post a whole heap of funny cat photos – but that’s not going to help sell software. Tobi prefers to look at those metrics through the eyes of brand. What are we trying to convey to our audience? Are we reaching our target audience?
Tobi has a wealth of knowledge around brand, leadership, mentors and the digital world. Check it all out in the video above.
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 staff, etc. As a business owners you need to know not only legally what your obligations are – but how to run those employee relationships smoothly so that you you’re not stressed out all the time dealing with staff.
The key to making this happen is setting the right expectations for employees from the start. A good employee handbook is KEY to making this happen that outlines the correct behaviours for all staff and the consequences of not following through. When you establish this from the start and follow through on it, you can easily scale your business with new employees.
Best of all Employsure can help you at every step of the way from developing guidelines to writing contracts, getting sign offs from employees and following through on making sure it’s adhered to. This takes a lot of the fear out of scaling the business when you have a trusted partner with you at each stage.
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 Leisure is only getting stronger. Success doesn’t just happen overnight and is not limited to one factor. While some may tell you that newspapers and publishers are struggling, in the business to business space people want to engage with good content. When it comes down to it every story needs quality content. Engaging with lengthy and informative content online can be difficult for viewers to remain alert and interested. Typically, people only stay engaged with online content for a very limited and short period of time. Due to this, longer and more informed pieces of information work better in print. In addition, the demographic of people who make decisions on buying big items of equipment or on major projects tend to be older and tend to be people who have grown up with print as the major form of communication.
https://www.ausleisure.com.au/ As communication is changing it is still fundamentally the same. No matter what platform you are gathering information from, whether it’s the newspaper, Facebook, google, or magazines, it’s all about content. Readers want content that is reliable, relevant, and informative. People want content that is going to help them make better informed decisions, especially when in the leisure industry. Whether a large or small business you are delivering a product or service that people are benefitting from, and that is a great story to tell.
So how do you know when you have a good story to tell? While you can spend all of you time and money ensuring you company looks good online and on print you need quality information and content to get the leads you want. Sometimes people are too close to their own stories. In order to find that story or content we need to take a step back. Within the fitness or personal training industry sharing stories such as the success of your business, how you have helped a member achieve a big weight loss goal, become part of a major event, or how your program has been a personal success are great stories to tell. Everyone in this day and age is desperate for conte
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 ‘experience’ type economy in your gym, fitness studio, or group classes? There are four key things to building an experience led fitness studio.
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Build A Tribe of Passionate Members When people like coming to where they participate in their fitness program it’s a key ingredient in customer retention. But more than that, build a place where people enjoy hanging out with each other and spending time with each other.
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Design an Appealing Environment No, we’re not just talking about keeping your gym clean and tidy (although that helps!). But think of your facility as a branding exercise. Do you have a brand colour? Use it in your gym! Paint a huge logo on a wall. Connect the experience that people see online and in your branding to what they see in your facility.
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Encourage Friendly Competition Fostering a healthy competition keeps people engaged and coming back for more. Contests, membership rewards, and weekly challenges are all great for fostering your experience community.
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Use technology to drive people back to experiences We live in a digital world and our members EXPECT us to keep up. Using apps to keep people engaged and providing virtual classes all drive people back to face to face experiences in your gym.
Creating unique experiences for your customers can be powerful in building a tribe of passionate people who go out into the world and can’t help talking about your brand.
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 people are on the same journey as they are.
Geoff shares with me his three rules for building winning tribes:
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Communities Need to be a safe place. 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,' right? That's exactly how communities need to be built. Everyone needs to know that the tribe is a safe place to share - that what they share will not go outside the group.
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Leaders must lead. If you want people to be open, vulnerable and honest in the group, then you as the leader must exhibit that behaviour first. No exception. You can't just tell people what to do you have to lead by example.
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Share the wins. Make your communities a place where people can share their wins. Because, unfortunately we live in a 'tall poppy' world, where you get cut down quickly if you share your wins. So communities MUST be a place where everyone is able to share their wins.
Geoff has been around the personal training industry for a while and believes that even on a small budget personal trainers can have real success through building communities, creating social proof through before and after photos, testimonials, etc. weight loss challenges (everyone loves a bit of competition) and bringing people together online and offline.
To find out more about Geoff's new method - The Jowett Method. Visit his Facebook Page here.
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 into your gym:
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The Onboarding Process How you welcome people from the moment they sign up is critical for the long term success of them at your club. It's important to make sure they feel comfortable, that they know where everything is, how they can get help, who to speak to, what the etiquette is, etc.
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Create A Community Love it or hate it, you can't ignore the fact that people love Crossfit. And it's not just because they love the high intensity workout. People want to feel 'part' of something. They might come for the equipment and the workout, but they stay because of the community.
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Time To Grow Up Ok, real talk here. It's time to move your business from the kitchen table into the board room. OK, so not literally. But as a fitness professional you need to shift your mindset from the kitchen table and act like a CEO. Yes, your passionate about fitness, but to be successful you're also going to have to increase your business acumen to keep up with the big players.
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Create Unique Experiences We get it, as a fitness professional it's important that your clients are performing the right form and technique. But if you're constantly correcting form in classes, instead of creating fun, unique experiences - it won't be long before that get's super boring. Make workouts fun, high five your clients, laugh, have fun. You can guarantee they'll go to work and tell Suzi how great your class is.
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! Customers need to be convinced before they even walk into a store these days. The inspiration model is a great way to convince people to purchase your product, to get them in the door.
As technology has developed sales has had to change. Things like online shopping and even credit cards have changed the way we buy and sell. Steve was on the cutting edge of direct debit when the technology first came out. By establishing direct debit in his gyms Steve was able to make sales that other businesses would have missed out on. Being on the cutting edge, knowing what’s coming out in tech and what’s about the trend is invaluable to your business.
Customers these days are smart, they do their research they shop around for what they want. As sales has evolved it’s become more interlinked with both marketing and customer service. These three aspects are what drive your businesses’ success.
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 coming into the industry as well as the three things that Dan focusses on each day that help him continue to deliver services with passion and drive.
Listen to the full episode to find out more.
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; scheduling your time wisely, and keeping your inbox sparse can drastically cut down on the time you spend working. Delegation is another great time saver, you’re the boss you’re not there to fix every tiny problem that comes up. Once your business is established your lifestyle becomes a choice between extra revenue and extra time. Which is it that you want?
Watch the whole episode to find out more of James’s ideas and strategies, and check out the Super Fast Business website for more information on them.
https://www.superfastbusiness.com
Watch the episode to find out more or Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen.
While I was in Malaysia I got the chance to meet up with Jason Campbell from Mindvalley. During our interview we spoke about the importance of sales for business.
Mindvalley’s mission is to push Humanity forward through education. They are a company that recognises that there are gaps in traditional education. Mindvalley focuses on teaching in four key areas:
- Mind
- Body
- Spirituality
- Impact
They teach both through online courses and offline with events like Awesomeness Fest. Mindvalley’s founder Vishen Lakhiani’s goal is to impact one billion lives worldwide!
In the interview Jason explains that sales is usually viewed as a bit of a negative thing. A necessary evil, that you have to use in order to grow your business. However sales doesn’t have to be like this, the sales philosophy at Mindvalley is unique in that they focus on how each sale creates a positive energy, a positive impact on the world as a whole. Jason describes the three sales loves as;
- Love Yourself
- Love Your Product
- Love Your Customer
If you can implement these three loves into each and every one of your sales then you will be able to make a positive impact! You might have worked previously making sales without much confidence in the product and this most likely had a negative effect. Sales without integrity don’t feel right. If every time you make a sale it makes the world a worse place, you won’t leave the office feeling good. That’s why sales have gotten this bad rap, because people are pushing products and services they don’t truly believe in. If you’re business is something that you love and believe in, you have a responsibility to share it with the world!
Watch the whole interview to learn more about the three loves and Mindvalley’s positive sale philosophy and don’t forget to check out the Mindvalley Academy website! http://www.mindvalleyacademy.com
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen.
Welcome back to this week's episode of Industry Change where I speak to my good friend Sam Cawthorn. Sam is an international best selling author and sought after keynote speaker around the world. We chat about the future of speaking and how, as business owners, it's imperative that we know how to communicate effectively.
One of the things that holds most people back when it comes to public speaking is not wanting to look bad in front of family, friends or colleagues and talks me through how we need to shift our thinking into how we can make a difference, rather than worrying about what people think.
Sam talks to me about how to get your message across as a business owner whether that is on stage speaking or online through video. Firstly, if you are going to succeed in getting your message across, you need to get over yourself. The biggest barrier to succeeding is worrying about what other people are going to think of you.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen.
Welcome to Industry Change Episode 5, where Richard talks to Malcolm Gunning, the Principal of Gunning Real Estate and also the president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia. They discuss how the consumer has changed as vendors have become smarter as more information has opened up to them via the internet.
In just 10 years the face of the real estate industry has changed dramatically. Where 10 years ago consumers would sit on a Saturday morning and look through the classifieds of the newspaper. Now they are sitting on their iPads browsing through new real estate portals and platforms online. The classifieds are now a fraction of what they were.
They also discuss the rise of new platforms like Purplebricks and how agents now have to add even more value to their clients to justify the traditional pricing models of the industry.
Listen to the episode to find out more.
In this week's episode of Industry Change I'm talking with PR expert and founder of The Comms Department Bec Brown about the significant changes to the PR Industry especially in the online space.
Bec Brown began The Comms Department as a publicity consulting business in 2012, under Bec Brown Communications. Since then the business has evolved with the changing industry and grown to a team of 6, located in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, before rebranding in 2016 to The Comms Department.
The PR industry has undergone a massive change in the last few years and Bec talks about how they have transitioned from just concentrating on traditional media to taking advantage of new online platforms.
Bec will be joining me at COM's upcoming Digital Marketing Business Summit to help business owners learn new skills about online marketing and craft their own press release.
This week on Episode 3 of Industry Change Richard interviews Gary Ng, the CVO of EWeb Marketing in Sydney about what's next in business. Gary Ng has been in the Digital Marketing business for 18 years and has built his company to a point where he doesn't have a day to day role in the running of the company. Instead, he pursues his passion for socialpreneurship & other enterprises.
Richard talks to Gary about how he gradually stepped away from the day to day running of the business and how he conquered the fear of handing over those responsibilities to somebody else. Gary spends most of his time now as the Chief Visionary Officer, building a strong company culture around his life message of success, happiness and fun.
They explore the concept of building a life vision around your passion, rather than just your business and how to pursue that passion beyond just what you do in your business life.
Click on the video to watch the full episode as they chat about the exciting time that we're heading into in the technology space and how that will effect businesses moving forward.
Thanks for watching Episode 3 of Industry Change with Richard Toutounji. For more great episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or YouTube as well as like and share on Social Media.
Welcome back to Industry Change Episode 2 with Fitness Australia CEO, Bill Moore. Bill has been in the fitness industry for over 3 decades, starting his career as a Personal Trainer with his own studio in Balmain through to co-founding one of the largest online training programs in Australia, 12 Week Body Transformation with Michelle Bridges. And is now currently the CEO of Fitness Australia, the peak health & fitness association in Australia.
Having been in the industry for over 30 years he has seen the transformation of fitness businesses from predominantly operating an offline model to having to compete in the online space. This is best represented in his experience with co-founding Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation online program.
The industry is in a massive shift at the moment, with fitness rates at an all time high but at the same time obesity rates higher than ever. Bill predicts that the future of the industry lies in aligning fitness and nutrition so that we're not just training fit people to be fitter.
Thanks for watching Episode 2 of Industry Change with Richard Toutounji. For more great episodes, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or YouTube as well as like and share on Social Media.
This week I am proud to launch the first episode of COM’s new show Industry Change.This is a show that is dedicated to interviewing industry leaders on changes that are occurring in their specific industry. We’re talking to masters of business who have prospered by adapting to changes in their industry.
In the first episode, I am proud to announce that our guest is President of CAFBA, David Gandolfo. CAFBA is an industry body of professional leasing/finance brokers who represent the interests of its members by assisting with regulatory, governmental matters, bank and finance companies issues. CAFBA survives by continuously and proactively lobbying governments at all levels on behalf of its members to create changes in the industry that will benefit members. As a leader in their industry, they are often sought out by the media for comments on industry related issues.