Run a Profitable Gym

Who is building on your platform?

This episode is a recording of Dave Tate's speech at the 2017 TwoBrain Summit.Dave is the owner of EliteFTS.com, the premier source of powerlifting equipment.Dave has been an inspiration to me since his first articles on T-Nation (the Periodization Bible Parts 1 and 2) almost a decade ago. His early stories were about training at Westside with Louie, but since then he's written extensively about his own experiences in business; learning disabilities; training; and even helping writers.Dave is excellent at identifying the work that NEEDS to be done, and doing it, instead of being busy for the sake of being busy. He's also a very down-to-earth guy; despite being famous in the fitness world, he always makes time to respond to emails (and even answer his phone when people call his private number.)In this recording from the 2017 TwoBrain Summit, Tate tells us all how SIMPLE success actually is.Dave is plain-spoken but very intelligent. This recording contains a LOT of f-bombs, and an exponentially higher amount of actionable knowledge. Enjoy.Dave's Strong(er) Business Summit is October 21 in Columbus, Ohio. Register here.Our 2017 TwoBrain UK Summit at Reebok CrossFit Thames is filling up! Register here.

Are you doing the RIGHT hard thing?

#ridebikesbehappyI’ve known Jan Roubal for probably 20 years. He's a personal friend who owns Vélorution, a bike store in Sault Ste. Marie, ON.What does a bike store have to do with owning a gym?As CrossFit gym owners, we are in the fitness industry. We own a service business, not a product business. We already KNOW that building a community is critical for our success. We also know: that's not easy.In the product sales business, that's even harder. Some would say it's impossible to build a community around a product when there are dozens of competing products in town. If a new cyclist can't tell the difference between a Cannondale and a Trek, won't they always make their decision based on price?Not if you're buying a bike from Velorution.You buy a bike from Jan because it makes you happy.His customers routinely show up to ride with him and help new cyclists. They tag him in pictures--#ridebikesbehappy--every weekend, wherever they are.I would never consider buying a bike somewhere else locally other than Jan’s shop and it’s all because of the atmosphere he has built around Velorution. Jan’s personality comes through in this interview--the first one recorded at the new TwoBrain Workshop. Jan strolled in wearing cycling shoes and jeans, and carrying two cans of his favorite beer. But this chill persona isn't innate: it's the person Jan has learned to be in order to become a better leader and business owner. And we can learn it too.

Who Will Lead Them? With Josh Price

Justin Bergh is the General Manager of The CrossFit Games. He is the man behind the curtain and he really makes the Games go--everything from making sure the athletes start their heats on time to making sure the events flow well. He is the guy that puts it all together. In this episode, we are going to talk about what it takes to guide massive team of volunteers; what it takes to keep everyone following the rules; and how the CBS and Madison deals came about. More importantly, I want you to know the human element of HQ. These are some of the friendliest, happiest people on earth and they are here to serve you.   Justin has a background in sports. He graduated from a sports management program and worked with the Jacksonville Jaguars and also at a sports technology company. Additionally he has worked with the PGA tour and also many other events. He found CrossFit in 2006 before there even was such a thing as the CrossFit Games. In 2008, as the world economy was falling apart, Justin took the risk of jumping from his day job and opening a CrossFit gym. Justin knew that he wanted to be a part of making people healthier through meaningful work. After opening the gym, he went to the CrossFit affiliate gathering and approached Greg Glassman about helping him with technological aspects of CrossFit. He was offered an internship chance on the CrossFit seminar staff which eventually turned into a full time position with CrossFit. As part of the early years of The CrossFit Games, Justin experienced many challenges while the groundwork for what The Games would eventually become was being laid. One of the most challenging aspect of The Games is that many events are unknown until just before the workouts are about to begin. This challenges the staff to keep the information secret and control equipment throughout the venue at the same time.For the first few years as the competition and the caliber of athletes was growing, they started touring a list of cities to host the annual CrossFit games. After looking at Madison and the Alliant Energy Center campus, the lightbulb went off and they really like what they saw.  Madison was a place where the foundation of CrossFit could be built going forward. First and foremost the goal of the CrossFit Games is to crown the fittest woman and man on earth. The second is to create a great community event and tell great stories through media. With these goals in mind, CrossFit feels like they have a great partner in Madison to provide more entertainment, education, and fun to the CrossFit games. Justin could not manage the CrossFit games every year without the help of over 800 volunteers.  The volunteers are extremely motivated to help the sport succeed and very experienced which makes running the event much easier. This is not to say the team has not made mistakes. Most of  the mistakes made by Justin and his team are from being too ambitious or attempting to be too precise. Ultimately the meaningful work is what makes the CrossFit Games successful and keeps Justin coming back for more every year. Timeline:0:55 – Justin Bergh Introduction 2:48 – Justin Bergh Story 13:41 – Justin on how he made inroads into CrossFit18:26 – How did the Home Depot Center get selected?21:20 – What prompted the move to Madison?28:58 – What is planned for next year for the CrossFit Games setup?36:12 – The type of leadership required to run the CrossFit Games43:02 – How many people come back every year to volunteer43:56 – How is conflict resolved amongst so many highly motivated people?48:06 – What is to come with CrossFit Games of the future? 

Episode 86 – Kate Foster & Taylor Kemp This episode is brought to you by Anvil Coffee Co. Today we are very lucky to be joined by Kate Foster former poster child for CrossFit for Hope. Her journey through two bone marrow transplants is well-documented in CrossFit Journal. I was there at St. Jude in 2013, and I share a small snapshot of that meeting in this podcast intro. Kate just graduated high school a few months ago and is going to be attending the University of North Carolina this fall. She will be studying biology and economics and would eventually like to become a doctor. She has a heart for medicine and is looking forward to helping others just like she has been helped before. One of the big causes that Kate supports is bone marrow transplants. Being that she has had two bone marrow transplants, she knows how important it is to have a matching donor. Taylor Kemp was Kate’s bone marrow donor. She was a student at the time at University of Georgia and she happened to be attending an event for bone marrow donations. Six months later, she got a call telling her that she was a potential match for a girl with leukemia. After a few extra tests, she was confirmed as a match for Kate!

What if we had 1000 mentors helping 1000 small businesses each?

I love entrepreneurs.Fitness led me to entrepreneurship. Now it's time to help other entrepreneurs find fitness.Why do business owners *really* need fitness? Sure, like the rest of us, they might need to lose a few pounds. And everyone knows that exercise relieves stress and improves focus.But entrepreneurship requires more than resilience and focus: it requires a fit BRAIN.One of my companies is IgniteGym. Our mission is to build cognitive fitness. These are the 10 elements of cognitive fitness: Memory Attention Motor Control Sensory Processing and Perception Organization, Planning and Logic Language Social, Emotional functioning Computation, calculation Motivation Creativity, imaginationALL of these are critical for entrepreneurs. And they're all enhanced by exercise. In fact, I'd argue they're the REAL purpose of exercise for business owners.But what KIND of exercise?In this episode, I discuss each of the 10 cognitive domains, and how to build them with different types of exercise. I share my personal regimen, and how I get business owners at the Two-Brain Workshop to build workouts into their day.Know a business owner? Share this episode with them.The first step is BDNF: Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. This is what John Ratey called "Miracle-Gro for the brain" in his book, "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain".What triggers BDNF? Aerobic exercise.In this episode, I talk about the necessity of developing BRAINpower for business owners. Then I tell you specifically WHAT to do; how I would build a perfect brain-training week for a business owner; and what I do every week to make me more effective at growing my businesses.If you're a gym owner, there are tips in this episode to help other entrepreneurs (and, let's face it: yourself.) If you own another business, this episode will tell you what to do; how long to do it; and where to find a coach (because you'll need one.)I refer to my podcast episodes with Ari Meisel of GetLeverage and Nelson Dellis, four-time US Memory Champion.I mention IgniteGym.com and Zecutive.com too. You'll find some sample workouts and challenges on the latter site.