170. Anne Mahlum, Founder of [solidcore] & Ambition

Today, I’m joined by Anne Mahlum, founder of boutique fitness concepts [solidcore] and Ambition.

A 3x founder, Anne Mahlum launched Back on My Feet, a nonprofit combatting homelessness through running and fitness before scaling Pilates-style boutique studio [solidcore] to 95+ locations nationwide. Since stepping down as CEO, Anne created Ambition, a multimodality fitness brand based in NYC.

In this episode, we discuss building a successful boutique brand from scratch, Anne’s advice for fitness entrepreneurs, and how her most recent venture Ambition is targeting holistic wellness.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Anne’s learnings from founding three fitness-based companies • How Anne continues to scale [solidcore] as executive chair  • How Ambition addresses the mental and physical of today’s exerciser

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Chapters: (00:00) Intro (01:27) Anne’s Background (03:24) Founding Back on My Feet (04:49) Getting the idea for [solidcore] (07:37) Anne’s founder journey (12:14) Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs (15:21) Running [solidcore] through Covid (18:02) Passion for fitness and running a business are very different (22:21) [solidcore] before Covid (24:24) Are in-person fitness classes dead? (26:58) Retail strategy for fitness studio businesses (28:43) Background on Ambition (30:05) Anne’s views on alcohol and wellness (36:03) Ambition’s programming and strategy (37:54) Ambition’s roadmap (38:42) Conclusion