HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness

"I'm a tech guy / ex-athlete who became a big believer in this idea that food can get you sick, and food can also become the best medicine that you have," states Ari Tulla , CEO and Co-Founder of Elo . On their site they mention their vision is to "transform food from the cause of disease to medicine."  Ari is a serial entrepreneur and was an early investor in the (now very popular!) Oura ring . ...

Robbie Bent is the CEO and Co-Founder of Othership . As one of the first employees with Ethereum, Robbie is extremely well versed in community building and galvanizing people around a particular cause. When it came to what is now Othership (with a brick and mortar location in Canada and a highly successful app,) he built this community initially in his backyard which grew to 400 people (and then a...

In one of our most important podcasts released to date, we're proud to talk with Dr. Laurie Whitsel , Vice President of Policy Research and Translation of the American Heart Association & Senior Advisor to the Physical Activity Alliance, a non-profit that, "Brings together stakeholders in the physical activity communities for us to speak with one voice on significant policy and systems changes," s...

A veteran of Techstars in 2019 with an app that has 10,000+ five star reviews (along with the the US Air Force as a client!) Tom Kiss, Co-Founder and CEO of Ate-The Mindful Food Diary and Coach , has made tremendous strides in a relatively short period of time.  Formerly a consultant who was often on the road, he entered the HALO sector out of a personal need and frustration. "I had a wakeup call...

Integrity Square and TSG go back a long way. . . and we're excited to finally welcome Pierre LeComte , a highly seasoned private equity executive to HALO Talks. TSG began in consumer packaged goods but, "Just realized over time, what we were was brand investors. We really liked to back brands that were on trend and were riding consumer demand waves," states Comte. He continues, "We realized that c...

Mohammed Iqbal is the Founder & CEO of SweatWorks . . . the company quietly behind the tech of a lot of larger companies you're no doubt familiar with--CrossFit, Spartan Race, and many more. They are, "The leading digital agency in fitness design and technology to create meaningful wellness journeys for everyone." Iqbal spent 7 years at Sharp and, while there, worked on the iPhone with Apple's tea...

Carolyn and her husband Paul owned three private training facilities in Orange County, CA which catered mostly to higher level athletes. Nutrition was (obviously!) a significant part of that, and in 2013 they founded Balanced Habits™ as a way to bring scalable, personalized nutrition programming to the fitness industry. "It became something we were known for. It carried us through the financial cr...

Becky initially began her career in ocean conservation focusing on coral reefs. "I wanted to save the world and see the world. . . and when I found Joyride, I found this authentic community and wanted to be a part of it!"  After moving full time into the HALO sector, she quickly realized there were no cycling studios in the San Antonio / south Texas region. She saw a need, jumped in, and become th...

"Culture can never be something where you just check the box. Once you've built that culture, you're not done! It takes every single day," states Joel Goldberg , speaker, broadcaster and author of Small Ball, Big Results .   The parallels between sports and business are undeniable, and Goldberg shares some 'in the trenches' stories with Pete on everything from recruiting, finding the right roles f...

Wellness 4 Every 1 aims to increase awareness of the inequalities in the wellness industry and provide opportunities for diverse communities to have access to quality arts and wellness programming, as well as a space for social and emotional well-being. Their programs are currently in 100 public schools nationwide, with 150 classes weekly (new programs are added all the time) and impacting over 10...

Kory Angelin has been in the HALO sector for over 10 years. He began as a trainer and worked his way up with organizations like 24 Hour Fitness, Lifetime, Equinox, F45, and is currently the COO of Volofit . "I think I've been in every position along the way," he jokes.  On the culture of an organization, he says, "A business is made or broken starting with the owner or ownership group. You're sett...

Katie Webb was in digital partnerships for 11 years while also working as a fitness trainer and group exercise instructor. She ending up spending a lot of time at GNC and slowly started to learn the supplement industry. "I couldn't really find any formulas that were leveraging food ingredients over ingredients I've never heard of (never mind the 300 grams of caffine!) and a lot of my female client...

Rachel Raymond served as COO for five years at Indigo Ag --one of the fastest growing companies in the space--and it was there where she found inspiration to start Purpose , "A mental wellness company that leverages the science of the microbiome to help us improve our mood." One of their biggest goals is to help the consumer gain visibility into their mental wellbeing in a way that best serves the...

A computer scientist by training, Ross Lauder , Founder of Single Focus Talent , went through an IPO with Hubspot and has ". . . worked the roles I hire for!" he states. Single Focus is a boutique executive search & career specialist for the SaaS / computer software & technology driven industries, with a focus on sales, operations and leadership roles across the EU and USA. Lauder also hosts the G...

Dr. Michelle Segar is author of the forthcoming The Joy Choice-How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise which will be released April 26, 2022. Her extensive academic research (and time "in the trenches" as a health coach) focuses on creating and maintaining sustainable "self-care" behaviors such as exercise, eating well, getting enough sleep, etc. Anyone who is in any way conn...

Formerly in finance at investment banks and a hedge fund, Paul O-Reilly-Hyland is currently the CEO and Founder of ZEAMO . Zeamo, "simplifies and enhances the relationship between fitness partners and fitness consumers with a digital-first approach that meets the evolving needs of the fitness industry while staying true industry partners." Currently in 2,000+ clubs, they conducted a test with McKi...

We're pleased to announce the recent merger of The Athlete Book into GamePlan !  "This is a huge strategic initiative for us," states Max Wessell, Chairman of the Board.  The industry leader in the space, GamePlan was founded nearly 14 years ago with the idea of helping athletes get jobs. Currently with 300+ athletic departments, over 100,000 athletes averaging ~1,400+ e-learning courses a day, Ga...

Many in the HALO sector already know Lee Hillman . What they may not know however is that prior to entering the space, he was a partner in one of the Big 4 accounting firms. He left in 1991 to serve at Bally's as the CFO, even before it was solely a health club business. He worked with Bally's until 2002, helping grow it to nearly a billion dollar company and is now and an Owner/Partner in Power P...

Dr. Layne Norton jokes, "I describe myself as a meathead who loves science or a geek who lifts heavy things!" A highly prominent figure in the direct-to-consumer fitness and nutrition space, Norton attended the University of Illinois (perennially in the top 5 for Nutritional Sciences) where he earned his Ph. D. He went on to earn his pro card in natural bodybuilding, and became a world record hold...

Now with 15 years in the HALO sector Founder of YBell Fitness, Aaron Laurence, found his calling and career relatively late at 35 years old.  He jumped immediately into small group training. "The one challenge I faced was around the equipment I was using," he states.  "Setting up a whole lot of stuff in the morning for 30-40 people was quite a bit of a challenge!" Host Pete Moore has stated many t...

CEO & Co-Founder of Boutique Fitness Solutions , Julian Barnes joins a rare club of HALO Talks guests making their second appearance! ( First one here .) We're proud to join him at BFS's 4th Summit, April 28-30, 2022 at the Westin Times Square .  In a quick "state of the industry" after 2 years of COVID, Barnes tells us according to IHRSA, 30% of the studio market is now closed unfortunately. He d...

Jared Hanley is the CEO and Founder of NatureQuant , a company that "quantifies" nature in a sense. In a nutshell, their tech assesses and promotes nature exposure. Hanley's background was in finance using big data, analytics, and machine learning . . . but he's always been passionate about the outdoors. "I wondered why do we feel so good when we get outside? I wanted to apply my skill set in that...

Keith began his career in the HALO sector from the ground up working as a commission-only salesman at a Powerhouse Gym in Augusta, GA. He slowly became interested in the tech side of the business as well--which was "pre-Windows" era when you had to connect computers with coaxial cables! Trawick became an evangelist for technology in the sector as the years went on. He states, "Tech companies now a...

Benj has had fascinating career path into the HALO sector. Currently the General Manager of the College Park Athletic Club , he's always been into sports as a kid (thanks in part to his Dad who coached in high school.) He lived in Sweden for a year and eventually became a Pastor for 7 years at a small church in Michigan. After returning east, his friend gave him a job in the club business, and he...

The former CEO of In-Shape, Schuler now serves as the CEO of the California Fitness Alliance , an advocacy organization working to galvanize all subsets of the fitness industry in California.  "It took this crisis to realize how important advocacy is, how hard it is to get heard in an industry that's just trying to get people healthy . . . and how much of a disconnect there is with policy makers,"...