Run a Profitable Gym

Two-Brain Radio With Sean Woodland, Episode 11: Mekenzie Riley On today’s episode, Sean Woodland talks with four-time CrossFit Games athlete Mekenzie Riley. This week, Mekenzie will make her fourth career appearance at the CrossFit Games and her third as an individual, which she qualified for with an 11th-place finish in the worldwide CrossFit Open. She talks a lot about overcoming adversity. Meke...

Two-Brain Marketing Episode 19: Mauricio Leal On today's episode of the Two-Brain Marketing podcast, Mateo Lopez speaks with Mauricio Leal, head coach and co-owner of CrossFit Cypher in Richmond, California. Mauricio was one of Two-Brain Business' first clients and had been running CrossFit Cypher for four years by the time Two-Brain came along. Still, the gym was barely making ends meet...

 Episode 177: Handling Difficult Conversations With Per Mattsson In this episode, Greg Strauch speaks with leader, entrepreneur and Two-Brain Business mentor Per Mattsson.  When it comes to leadership and entrepreneurship, Per has done it all. He spent more than a decade working in the education system—starting as a high-school teacher before advancing to vice principal and then principal—and has...

Two-Brain Radio With Sean Woodland, Episode 10: Scott Thornton On today’s episode, Sean speaks with former NHL player and current CrossFit coach Scott Thornton. Scott spent 18 years in the NHL after being drafted third overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1989 Entry Draft. He played nearly 1,000 regular-season games during his career, spending time with the Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Ca...

Episode 176: Mike Flynn Today we are joined by Mike Flynn: entrepreneur, author, podcast host and all-around good human being. Mike and Chris met through their mutual publisher, Scribe, and soon discovered they shared a connection: Mike's CrossFit coach, Greg Amundson—aka one of CrossFit's "original firebreathers"—was the very first Two-Brain Radio guest. He also worked with Ch...

Two-Brain Radio With Sean Woodland, Episode 9: Alexis Johnson On today’s episode, Sean speaks with two-time CrossFit Games athlete Alexis Johnson. After competing as an individual at the 2016 and 2017 CrossFit Games, Alexis will return to Madison this year as a member of the Misfit team alongside Jen Smith, Travis Williams and Roy Gamboa. She also recently earned a Ph. D. in algebraic geometry fro...

Two-Brain Marketing Episode 18: Ryan O'Shaughnessy Today we are joined by Ryan O'Shaughnessy, the former operator at Bowery CrossFit in New York City, one of the most competitive fitness markets in the world. In his nearly two years at Bowery CrossFit, Ryan honed and systematized the gym's lead nurture and sales strategies. Last year, he spent $10,000 on ads that resulted in a whopp...

Episode 175: The Green Light Program With Vaughn Vernon Today we are joined by Vaughn Vernon, owner and director of Affiliate Guard, an industry-specific company that provides insurance coverage for CrossFit affiliates. In this episode, Vaughn discusses the Green Light program, a new Affiliate Guard service designed to help gym owners ensure their businesses are compliant with the Safe Sport Act—w...

Two-Brain Radio With Sean Woodland, Episode 8: Brian Chontosh On today’s episode, Sean speaks with Brian Chontosh, retired U.S. Marine and founder of Crooked Butterfly. Brian—aka "Tosh"—served 21 years in the United States Marine Corps, where he rose to the rank of Major. He received two Bronze Stars and the Navy Cross for his actions in March of 2003 during the Iraq war. He is also the...

Two-Brain Marketing Episode 17: Dan Visentin Today we are joined by Dan Visentin, Two-Brain Business mentor and marketing team member and owner of CrossFit 416 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dan opened his gym eight years ago in a 1,200-square-foot space with just $25,000. Since then, the gym has moved twice and managed to not only survive, but thrive. But it wasn't easy. Dan takes us through t...

Founder, Farmer, Thinker, Thief

Two-Brain Radio With Sean Woodland, Episode 7: Tim Paulson On today’s episode of Two-Brain Radio with Sean Woodland, Sean speaks with two-time CrossFit Games athlete and co-owner of CrossFit Pallas in Ithaca, New York, Tim Paulson. Paulson made his CrossFit Games debut in 2017, finishing 19th his rookie year. He returned in 2018 and will be competing again in Madison this year. He spoke with Sean...

Two-Brain Marketing Episode 16: Tyler Lee and Jonathan Gibbons Tyler Lee and Jonathan Gibbons own CrossFit Resurrection in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The pair bought the gym three years ago, navigating the sticky situation of raising membership prices and firing the previous owners after they began sowing discord. Neither Lee nor Gibbons had any prior business, sales or marketing experience and felt...

How Excellence Makes You Money (Originally published on September 11, 2018) The Pursuit of Excellence is a CrossFit hallmark, but it is not unique to the fitness industry. From the start, we’ve written that excellence in coaching means great results for your clients. Excellence in business means great results for your family, your clients and your staff. Excellence in coaching does NOT make you ex...

Two-Brain Radio With Sean Woodland, Episode 6: Craig Howard On today’s episode, Sean Woodland sits down with two-time CrossFit Games competitor and owner of Diablo CrossFit Craig Howard. Howard won the 50-54-year-old division at the CrossFit Games in 2013, and his affiliate in Pleasant Hill, California, is in its 13th year of operation. Sean talks with Craig about the keys to competing and trainin...

Two-Brain Marketing Episode 15: Dr. Ashley Mak Today we are joined once again by Dr. Ashley Mak, physical therapist and owner of Hudson River Fitness in Hoboken, New Jersey. Through a detailed marketing and email nurture campaign, Ashley signed 50 paying clients in just the single month between when he signed the lease in December 2016 to when he opened the doors in January 2017. Since then, he&ap...

Episode 173 - Replay of Episode 48: What To Do When It All Goes Wrong ( Originally published on October 3, 2016) "Nobody wants our job. But everyone thinks they do." These are the words Two-Brain Mentor Jay Williams texted me on Friday night. After a rough week in which even my podcast interview didn't happen on schedule, I reflected on how well I handle stress NOW than I did five y...

Episode 5: Kirsten Pedri On this episode of Two-Brain Radio with Sean Woodland, Sean talks with former CrossFit Games competitor and current owner of CrossFit Davis in California, Kirsten Pedri. Kirsten has competed at the CrossFit Games as an individual in 2017 and as a master in the 35-39-year-old division in 2018. She joined Sean on the phone to talk about her long road to the Games, what motiv...