595: Anne Mahlum [Founder of solidcore] - How To Bet on Yourself, Build Confidence, Smash Your Goals, Scale a Business, and Earn $100m
Aug 11, 2024
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Anne Mahlum, founder of solidcore and advocate for empowerment, shares her journey from corporate life to helping the homeless. She discusses how her father's gambling addiction inspired her mission-driven mindset. With high expectations and community support, she created a transformative running program for homeless men. Aiming for success, she reflects on launching solidcore, balancing personal values with business growth, and the importance of resilience. Mahlum emphasizes the power of community and believing in others' potential to drive change.
The speaker's journey highlights the transformative power of high expectations and community support in empowering individuals to achieve excellence.
Creating a sense of belonging and positive reinforcement can significantly impact the lives of marginalized individuals and foster meaningful change.
The importance of resilience and playing offense during challenging times is essential for entrepreneurs to adapt and achieve growth in their ventures.
Deep dives
The Journey to Leadership and Community
A significant turning point in the speaker's life involved leaving a secure corporate job to help the homeless, which required a leap of faith and trust in her instincts. She established a running club for homeless individuals, understanding that running could serve as a transformative vehicle for building community and fostering positive change. The club was not just about running, but about creating a sense of belonging among participants, emphasizing that nobody runs alone. This desire to be seen and valued became the foundation of the supportive environment she cultivated, where each member felt appreciated and integral to the group's success.
Demanding Excellence and Building Confidence
The speaker emphasized the power of setting high expectations for those in her community, particularly the homeless individuals she worked with. She created a culture of excellence by requiring consistent attendance and positive attitudes from the participants, effectively challenging them to rise to the occasion. This approach revealed that many individuals were waiting for someone to believe in them, and once they experienced this belief, they began to surpass their own expectations. The act of demanding excellence not only improved performance but also instilled a profound sense of self-worth among the group members, highlighting the transformative impact of effective leadership.
Expanding the Vision and Scalability
After realizing the success of her initial running club, the speaker envisioned the potential for replicating the model in shelters across the country, effectively scaling the program. She faced skepticism from others about her ambition to transition from a corporate career to establishing a national organization aimed at helping the homeless. However, with a clear business model and a commitment to positive reinforcement, the program grew significantly, expanding to 12 cities within six years. This experience served as a vital lesson in believing in one's vision and the importance of taking calculated risks to create lasting change.
Solidcore: A New Chapter in Fitness
The speaker transitioned to another entrepreneurial venture by founding Solidcore, a boutique fitness concept that emphasizes athletic Pilates as a unique training method. After experiencing personal transformation through the workout, she recognized the potential for a thriving fitness business, driven by strong branding and an emphasis on community. Within a short time, Solidcore expanded rapidly, opening numerous locations and solidifying its position in the market. The approach combined her previous experiences with community building and her innate understanding of customer needs, creating an engaging and effective fitness environment.
Lessons in Resilience and Leadership
Throughout her journey, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the speaker learned invaluable lessons in resilience, strategic decision-making, and the importance of maintaining focus on a clear goal. By choosing to play offense rather than retreat in uncertain times, she set her organization up for unprecedented growth, opening numerous new locations against the odds. She acknowledged the significance of surrounding oneself with capable individuals and delegating responsibilities to enable scaling. Ultimately, this journey reflects the power of taking risks, believing in a vision, and remaining adaptable in the face of challenges to achieve long-term success.
This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent.
“I looked at these guys (homeless) and demanded nothing but pure excellence from them. And it was almost as if they were waiting for someone to do that.” Set high expectations for people. Believe in them. Care for them. Support them. Love them. And watch what happens. This is leadership.
Nobody runs by themselves. What a great life motto. We all need people. Anne believes in the importance of community and doing hard things together.
Her mindset was fostered, in sometimes complicated ways, by her childhood home life, she says. At age 16, her parents divorced after her father gambled away their family savings. To cope, Mahlum started running and became hyper-focused on the idea of controlling her own life.
When others are playing defense, go on offense. When others are scared, get aggressive (easier said than done). Anne did it.
"Running is the vehicle we're using to create community and positive reinforcement."
"If you want to make change, you have to help others see that they can do it. You can't force it on them."
How to build a great non-profit:
Identity - Each group had team names
Need team leaders, people to map out logistics, and volunteer coordinators
Need to make day 1 incredible. Launch BIG.
Target the right people - In Anne's case, it was executives who were runners... Decision makers who appreciated running.
Goals - Work backwards. Set a date and then do whatever it takes to hit that launch date.
solidcore -- Anne thought big from the beginning. She was opening her second location almost the same time her first location went live. She always wanted to scale it and thought about it from Day 1.
Important to hire great coaches. They needed a great personality and had to make every member feel welcome. Learn everyone's name. Say their name.
Anne learned from How to Win Friends and Influence People
Risk-Taker - Step into uncertainty. That's how you build confidence.
"I always bet on myself."
Action builds confidence. Push past the uncertainty. Create evidence for yourself. Make the things that were previously uncomfortable for you more comfortable now by taking action. When others are playing defense, go on offense. That creates your edge…
Anne's plan was always to sell Solidcore... Her strength is in bringing concepts to life and building communities, rather than sustaining them over time. The same month she exited the company, she opened her next venture, a New York-based fitness studio chain called Ambition.
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