WTF Gym Talk

This has been one of my main mantras for years now.... You can't control your community.  You can only control your culture. So many microgym brands want to jerk themselves off about how amazing their community is...and I'm not doubting their claim.  But when they realize that community and culture are two different things and that community is actually the item you want to spend the lea...

It's been 10 days since I dropped a podcast and a lot of shit has gone down since then.  Time to catch up.

Joe Tebaldi and I kick off another episode by addressing the current CrossFit HQ meltdown that has transpired over the past few weeks and then we get deep into Joe's effort at creating a startup incubator for online fitness companies.  Check out all the awesome shit that Joe and his companies are doing within the microgym community: www.flexx.co @studiobyflexx www.joetebaldi.com @joetebaldi

So we are deep within the COVID pandemic and gyms are starting to come back online...but what does that messaging look like?   Boris and I jam on a plethora of topics that are all very relevant for any microgym that is close to opening or early on in their re-opening as it relates to brand storytelling.  If you think Boris sounds like a smart motherfucker and you'd like to talk to him ab...

If you're one of the many CrossFit affiliates that are considering re-branding in light of the recent CFHQ shitstorm, I have a few things you should consider...

So the big news...in addition to COVID, space shuttles, George Floyd, riots, etc - the PR meltdown that occurred with the CEO of CrossFit, Greg Glassman. Here are my initial thoughts.  

Jason Fernandez is the owner of CrossFit Rife, a senior member of CFHQ seminar staff and the co-host of The Best Hour of Their Day Podcast....he's also a dude a respect tremendously. Mainly, because we don't always agree on every topic, but we are both able to hold our position and respect our counterparts opinion and engage in some seriously valuable conversation. While Jason and myself are fucki...

Many of you are still under a state mandated phased plan where you are having to operate outdoors to scale your service offering, myself included. So for now, let's talk a bit about how I'm thinking about conducting these outdoor workout sessions. 

12 months ago I announced that I was going to be making a 'Pick Your Spot' model at Urban MVMNT (my microgym) and placing numbered, vinyl squares on the floor to create a new type of floor layout + higher operational capacity. I was fucking ridiculed.   "You're insane.  That's never going to work!" "Why would you do that?  It makes no sense." Fast forward to COVID.... How ya like me...

I think it's about time we start discussing the macro-level strategy that I believe is going to be crucial in acquiring new leads once your microgym is re-open after mandatory COVID shutdown.    

An insight into what's been going on in my mind regarding the future of Urban MVMNT, creating more rent roll income in my building, how we are going to franchise/license and just some other things that I'm working on now. 

Coming up on the closing of the 2nd quarter in 2020 has me thinking about the overall timeline that microgym owners have experienced in COVID and wanted to share some of my observations and thoughts leading into the future.

Seriously, don't under-think this and gloss over it.   This is going to be a crucial play for you when it comes to new client acquisition in a post-COVID world. 

An impromptu jam sesh with a good friend of mine, Dave Hurt.  Dave is a former franchise owner in the bar industry, work a full 9-5 job, a father, husband and sponsored 1st Phorm athlete. His micro-influencer popularity surrounding bodybuilding, nutrition, goofing off, family and business has grown over the years and now he's ready to step out on his own and finally turn his personal brand in...

Enough COVID talk for a minute, let's get back to businesses and discuss copywriting for your microgym. 

For the microgyms that are opening up without having these 3 items in alignment, please go fist yourself. 

My man Mike Arce, founder of Loud Rumor , and myself jam on the microgym scene as we slowly start to transition into this new phase of COVID where states are slowly starting to release restrictions and open up fitness facilitates. 

I know microgym owners are all foaming at the mouth to get open, but make sure you're considering these three items before you do so.

Not gonna lie, this whole COVID thing isn't all that bad from where I'm standing. Yes, the deaths and sickness and economy taking a shit and the hardship and all those other things are horrible. But from my view of the world - that exists primarily in the microgym industry - I'm seeing some positives come out of this whole thing.

Jeff Binek owns two successful CrossFit affiliates in Columbus, OH and has also made the move to purchase one of the buildings his gyms are located within.  Sounds like a smart guy, right? He is.  I've had the pleasure of working with Jeff when he was wanting to develop and establish a LBE model inside of his CrossFit business and on today's interview we dive deep into how that looks, wh...

So the president has laid out a rough plan for how gyms can open back up during coronavirus-mania. I am as excited as anybody to get life back to out was, but I think we need to be thinking of a few things first

Studio is now live.  Not sure what Studio is?  It's a free platform that is going to change the way you deliver your remote /digital services.  Interested in Studio.  Check it out here .

During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a ton of fuckfaces are coming out of the woodwork claiming to know exactly how to handle this situation and through their tried-and-true methods, they can navigate these scary times for microgym owners. Fuck that.  Here's why...

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Boris and I jam on what it looks like when you can't lead with the material elements that made your brick+mortar fitness facility sellable. What do microgyms do when sales are significantly halted and retention becomes the biggest play? We look at other global brands and analyze how they are handling their messaging during this pandemic. Also, how to start thinking about...

A recent keynote I did for the Fittest of the Coast competition in Charleston, SC in early March, 2020.    Big thanks to the Fittest of the Coast and Iron Bridge CrossFit  for having me down! *note: this keynote was delivered pre-COVID-19-palooza, but damn what a timely occurrence to deliver a "Future of the Microgym Industry" presentation.