Run a Profitable Gym

Two years ago on this podcast, I introduced Nicole Aucoin to CrossFit affiliates. Nicole, an RD, was piloting a nutrition program at CrossFit Port Orange in Florida. From that podcast, hundreds of nutrition programs were launched in CrossFit gyms, resulting in millions of dollars in new revenues.More importantly, many of us are back in line with Greg's vision of CrossFit gyms. As he said in Episode 93, "If you're not changing your eating, you're not doing CrossFit."The prescriptive model is a coaching model: we tell our clients exactly what to do to change their lives. We tell them when to squat, and how many times. But exercise alone won't get the job done: they need nutrition, and they need to see YOU--their trusted coach--as the expert.Enter Healthy Steps Nutrition, Nicole's program.HSN is led by a Registered Dietitian (Nicole).

You need to balance UPGRADES with unnecessary tinkering. How can you tell the difference?

Episode 103: Q+A With CoopI like to start every year with a recap of the BEST questions I received the year before.I get over 200 emails and texts every day. Some of these questions come from those within the TwoBrain family; others from those who aren't yet part of our tribe. In the latter case, I choose the questions that recur most often (like 'what's the best marketing advice you gave last year?')

One of the key metrics we track in Two-Brain is LEG: Length of Engagement.The average LEG of gyms when they start the Incubator is 13.1 months (that's going down, by the way, thanks to 6-week challenges and "free trial" entry points.)If we can increase LEG to 15 months--every client in your gym stays an extra two months--that could easily mean an extra $45,000 per year for your gym ($150 x 150 clients x 2 months.)Yeah, retention is kinda important.Long-term retention is really long-term behavior change. If attending your gym becomes part of a client's life, you'll keep them longer. If they struggle to make a lifestyle change, you'll always be the negotiable part of their day. That means you'll be the first thing cut from their schedule, or their budget, when they have limited resources.In this episode, I share how to change long-term client behaviors using the B-MAT model of behavioral modification. The original comes from BJ Fogg at Stanford University, and I'll give specific examples and explanations in this episode.

Episode 101 – Level Up with Nathan Holiday & Josh Price This is a VERY visual episode, so I'm going to include the video recording of the discussion. It's not edited or produced (as the podcast always is) but it's worth an hour in front of a screen to see it. If you visited CrossFit.com in 2006 (as I did,) you would have found the original CrossFit message boards. And one of the most-discussed concepts was the idea of a "belt system" for progressions in CrossFit. Many of us sketched out our own, but none were ever perfect, and most weren't even usable. Until now. I think Nathan Holiday has done it. Even Nate failed when he tried it the first time. And the second. But what he has now in the Level Method not only shows what clients need to do to be progressing, but also gives coaches a way to create meaningful moments in the clients life cycle. The Level Method gives you a system for rewarding "moments" in the client's life cycle. I recommend reading "The Power of Moments" by Chip and Dan Heath as soon as you can. Make that your next book. Today we dive deep into the Level Method. Nate is very knowledgeable on the coaching side, and we get technical about energy systems, biomechanics and progressions. After a full half hour of nerd talk, Josh Price joins us to talk about his experience with using the Level Method in his gym and how it has helped his CrossFit gym grow.

This year has truly been amazing for the Two Brain Family. As a thank you for your continued support, I have two gifts for listeners to this podcast.  The first is Two-Brain 2017,  which is a collection of all the blog posts from the last year. We have compiled these into a book format that is over 300 pages!Click the link here to get this book: Twobrainbusiness.com/twobrain2017The second thing is the Two-Brain Summit 2017 video recording series. If you sign up for the 2018 Two-Brain Summit before December 31, you'll get these FREE. These videos are filled with lots of information from Dave Tate, Two-Brain mentors and more. Additionally, the coaching side is also included which includes the likes of Jason Brown, Lacey Rhodes, Sara Benson and almost a dozen more SMEs!Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and I hope you make 2018 the best year of your life!Our friend and partner Nicole Aucoin's new book is out today! If you want to add a nutrition practice to your gym, you NEED THIS BOOK! Click here to grab it.In this episode:My annual "State of the Industry" report: Where has the Movement progressed in 2017? Where are our biggest opportunities, and what will be our biggest challenges in 2018? Then: THE FUTURE. What are my predictions for 2018? On this podcast, I share five predictions that will help you guide your fitness company to larger-scale success next year. 

Episode 99 – Josh MartinThis year has truly been amazing for the Two-Brain Family. As a thank you for your continued support, I have two gifts for listeners to this podcast. The first is Two-Brain 2017, which is a collection of all the blog posts from the last year. We have compiled these into a book format that is over 300 pages! Click the link here to get this book: twobrainbusiness.com/twobrain2017The second thing is the Two-Brain Summit 2017 video recording series. If you sign up for the 2018 Two-Brain Summit before December 31, you'll get these FREE. These videos are filled with lots of information from Dave Tate, Two-Brain mentors and more. Additionally, the coaching side is also included which includes the likes of Jason Brown, Lacey Rhodes, Sara Benson and almost a dozen more SMEs! Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and I hope you make 2018 the best year of your life!Today, Josh Martin of CrossFit for Glory talks about building and protecting the culture in your gym. He is one of the most positive people you will ever hear from, and he has a very family-friendly and faith-centric focus to his business. We are going to get into all kinds of topics today as well as Josh’s amazing story of how he become involved with CrossFit. Josh went to the University of Florida where he pursued exercise science. He fell in love with this area of study and soon began practical implementation of what he was learning at a local training performance institute. After finishing up his degree at Florida, Josh worked at the International Performance Institute where he had the opportunity to coach some of the top athletes in the country. Soon after this he was appointed the assistant strength coach for the New York Yankees. It wasn’t until another position after the Yankees that Josh decided to make a career change and move into CrossFit.Josh is a mentor with Two-Brain and after receiving help from Two-Brain with his own business, he wanted to also give back and help those needing help with their box. Becoming a mentor with Two-Brain is a very humbling experience, according to Josh. Two-Brain mentors go through rigorous training before their first call and participate in lifelong education after they become licensed. Josh gives us a little peek into that training. Then we'll talk about defining culture, getting employees to buy into your vision and more on this awesome episode!Links:https://twobrainbusiness.com/mentor-item/josh-martin/https://crossfitforglory.com/https://twitter.com/crossfit4gloryhttps://www.facebook.com/crossfitforglory/Contact: josh@twobrainbusiness.com Timeline:3:33 – Josh Martin introduction.8:05 – Josh’s experience working for the New York Yankees.11:54 – Influencing your children to set big goals.14:58 – What it is like to become a mentor for TwoBrain like Josh.21:08 – Experiencing being a mentor for the first time.22:02 – What is it like carrying the stress of an affiliate as their mentor.24:15 – Setting up and defining culture in the gym setting.28:52 – How to get your coaches to buy into your vision as a gym owner?35:15 – Dealing with tough clients.38:40 – The importance of family in Josh’s life.41:09 – Josh’s start into strength-and-conditioning coaching.

Julie Johnston of Camp Rhino created the first bootcamp in Vegas (maybe the world!), had a Ninja Warrior course before anyone else, and now combines OCR, CrossFit and her giant bootcamp under two enormous roofs in the desert.Just listening to Julie on this episode will make you smile. It's a great kickstart to your week--and the way she kickstarts all of her bootcamps--a two-hour lesson called "The Happiness Workshop"--will kick your BRAIN into high gear! It's a perfect interview for a Monday!We'll talk about how Julie grew her businesses to where it is today through some ingenious techniques, crazy risk and massive personality.Julie comes from a long line of business owners. Seeing the stress that so many of her relatives went through to own their own business motivated Julie to steer clear of ever owning her own business. It wasn’t until she was in college that her entrepreneurial spirit took root and she soon abandoned her initial impression of what it was to be an entrepreneur. After much stress in her first entrepreneurial adventure, Julie began gaining a lot of weight and she knew something had to change to get her health in order. Julie decided it would be best to join a boot camp class and within a few weeks she was teaching her own class. It wasn’t long before July wanted to start her own boot camp even though her friends and family thought she was crazy. For the first year, it was not very successful. Julie was determined to succeed however and she not only lost the weight that she needed to lose but she was slowly gaining clients for her new business. It was at this time that Julie came up with an ingenious idea to generate some buzz around her new business when she challenged two news stations to battle it out in a boot camp competition. This gained her the publicity she needed to really push her business to a new level. One of Julie’s keys to success is her supportive family surrounding her business. Julie’s brothers have been trainers at her gym since the beginning and have gone along with all of her crazy obstacle course ideas. In addition to CrossFit, Camp Rhino offers some outrageous obstacle courses. Julie even built an obstacle course out in the desert at one point in time. Family is extremely important to Julie and she will always make time for them no matter what. Being a successful gym owner can take a large investment of time. Despite this, Julie makes time every day to train and stay in shape. She has learned that no one likes a fat gym owner and the fear of gaining weight like she once did keeps her motivated to set the pace and lead by example in her gym. Another important component of Julie’s gym is running something she calls, The Happiness Workshop. Julie takes creating a positive and happy environment very seriously. This allows Camp Rhino to be a positive place without whining, excuses, and complaining. Loving others and being the best version of yourself is what it is all about and what Camp Rhino is all about. 

Episode 97 – Getting Retail-Ready with Matt Albrizio of Forever FierceOn today's episode, Matt Albrizio of Forever Fierce shares his best practices for selling retail items at Christmas; how to buy gifts for your coaches; and how to create a Retail Plan for 2018.

Episode 96 – Mentoring Your Staff with Ken AndrukowKen Andrukow, a senior Two-Brain Mentor and owner of Reebok CrossFit Ramsay, joins us on the show today.  Ken's gym one of the top gyms in the world, and he attributes his success to his staff.As we identify the "gold standards" in the gym industry, Ken is at the top of the leaderboard in many categories (including profit). One of these gold standards is staff retention. Ken's metrics are great because his relationships are great.We all know that money alone does not keep a staff member satisfied. You must also find out how to deliver on their perfect day to keep them around. In this episode we talk about how to mentor your staff, how to setup goals with your staff, make sure they are on the right track, and how to make sure they can see a clear path to their perfect day.  Ken has done a remarkable job growing his gym from 300 members when he started as a TwoBrain client, to now reaching 500. His metrics (ARM, LEG and profit) are even more impressive. But from a staffing perspective, this can present quite a few challenges for a gym owner. At about the 200-member mark, Ken realized that he could not manage the gym alone anymore. It was at this time that Ken had to step away from coaching and focus on growing his businesses full time. Ken also realized that he had to completely replace himself in all roles to have time to grow the gym. According to Ken, “It’s about making sure all of your staff react to every issue the way you would.”Ken's core values include integrity, empathy, loyalty, and tenacity. Ken puts every one of his prospective employees through a training program on these core values to ensure they match up and will be a good fit.  One of the ways that Ken conveys these core values to his employees is through stories. Stories about his childhood and life challenges are really important and meaningful in showcasing these values.Another key item to have when operating a large gym is to have systems in place for your staff to follow. As Ken’s gym grew he assumed everyone else could read his mind and know what he wanted. He soon found out, however, that this was not the case. As more and more members were asking Ken directly for help, he knew that systems must be developed for his staff to handle. It wasn’t until he put systems in place and gave people the authority to solve problems that he had the time to grow his businesses.Above all else, he says,  staff really want to know they are making a difference in people’s lives. A large part of success is about mindset and if your staff can have the same positive mindset that you have the opportunities are limitless. Join us today as we dive into staffing questions and much more!Timeline:2:53 – Ken Andrukow Introduction4:38 – Ken on growing his gym from 300 to 500 members8:32 – The core values are important to Ken and his staff12:42 – Mentoring your employees through one on one meetings19:41 – How often should mentoring meetings be taking place?23:05 – How does a typical mentor meeting go?27:20 – What is it that truly motivates staff and keeps them around?30:52 – What it is like to lose a team member to another gym?34:03 – Helping another team member start out at a new gym38:34 – How to properly give feedback to your staff42:18 – The people that got us here are not going to get us where we want to goContact Ken:https://www.reebokcrossfitramsay.com/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO6WJ_wZsiprvV5JldxapnQhttps://www.instagram.com/reebok_crossfit_ramsay/https://www.facebook.com/CrossFitRamsay