"54D" - Emerging From Latin Markets to The Global Stage - Omar Yunes

Omar Yunes Marquez has developed and grown businesses in the US and Latin America since 2000. He is currently Partner and CEO at 54D, an international wellness brand aimed at changing personal habits and empowering its members through a focus on exercise, nutrition, and recovery. He has an entrepreneurial background and experience as a multiple-franchise restaurant owner and real estate investor. 

In the past he has also acted as CEO for the Union de Credito Mexicano, a regulated financial entity in Mexico focused on providing financing to small and medium companies. 

What are the hallmarks of success for 54D (8:26)

• 54D is always striving to achieve new goals. 
• Their entire business model is designed around members achieving their goals. 
• They are not a gym with a monthly or yearly membership or even pay by the class. 
• They want you there for a specific time long enough to achieve the result that you want. 
• Their program started as a program that really went against the grain of the fitness industry, which was focused on having a consistent, measurable revenue in the long term.
• 54D went for a 9-week program. 54 Days of training broken into 6 days a week. Which is how they got the name 54D
• Instead of breaking up everything like most fitness programs where you would for example maybe do 20% training and 80% nutrition you have to do 100% for Training, Recovery, and Nutrition. 
• Focusing on achieving that goal over a 54 day period and every time their clients achieved that goal and saw the results they would spread the word of 54D to their friends.
• That’s what Omar attributes to their success. 

What were some challenges that Omar faced? (18:37)

• Even though 54D is in Latin America, Columbia, and the US, Omar said that everybody who is a client in the business has the same drive to feel good about themselves. 
• So Even though the people are very different across the countries, they knew that the basic wants and needs, fears, and love were the same for their clients and that was to feel accomplishment and to get rid of what was physically or mentally bothering them with the 54D Program.
• This allowed 54D to have some certainty when they moved to the US as well. However, they also chose a good spot, Miami, to start off with because of how big the Latin American community is there.
• They originally invited 90 random people into the program for free, which was surprising as their program usually costs $3900.
• So while it was challenging expanding their franchise to the US, they found that business was roughly the same. 
• Even now with COVID, they have members in 57 different countries and all of those members are striving towards the same goal. 

How have they changed their business this year? (27:46)

• The main thing is, is that 54D went online.
• At the start of the lockdowns around March in Miami, they were streaming online classes for free. 
•  That was their first time online as they have never before been on YouTube or Instagram. 
• They started online wanting to help people cope with being at home for such extended periods of time. 
• They decided to offer these classes for free people they felt that it wouldn’t be fair towards people will less money to go crazy at home with nothing to do. 
• So even though they could make a lot of money from these online classes, but they decided to help people out rather for about 4 months of free classes.
• After reestablishing the price of the classes, they were pleasantly surprised to find that most of the members stayed. 

54D

54D is a program of human transformation which aims to align patterns of behavior, achieving physical, mental, and emotional changes in only 54 Days.

Resources

Connect with Omar: LinkedIn

54D: Website

Connect with Eric: LinkedIn