When you first opened your gym, the goal was simple: Survive. And you did. You grew, hired some staff, and have a profitable business. Now what? Unless you're happy just working the job you've bought yourself for the rest of your life, you've got to level up. At Two-Brain Business, we call that "Tinker Phase," or when entrepreneurs have grown their businesses and mentored their staff so well that they don't need to run it anymore, leaving them free to invest their time and resources into other things and help even more people. Here, Two-Brain Founder Chris Cooper will tell you exactly how to get there.Links:ArboxAGuardReal Estate: The Secret to Wealth for Gym Owners?"Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief"Timeline:2:52 – The phases of the entrepreneurial journey.4:46 – Don’t slide backward.7:31 – Re-invest your wins.8:23 – Hit “save game.”8:53 – Hire a manager.9:10 – Don’t repeat your mistakes.9:33 – Mentor your staff.9:59 – Become antifragile.10:21 – Keep your hands out of the machine.11:19 – Growing your assets.11:54 – Test one thing at a time.13:38 – How to leverage your audience.16:55 – How to leverage your cash.18:41 – How to leverage your time.20:55 – The Two-Brain Tinker program.22:42 – Why you need to mentor your staff.23:43 – How to mentor your staff.27:37 – How to light your staff on fire.

Your clients are burned out. They've been working from, schooling from home, and ordering lots of take-out. Now, they're looking to you for help.  Where do you begin? Should you have them track macros and meal-prep every week? Or is it more realistic to focus on one simple change they can make today?Registered dietician and Nutrition Rx founder Jen Broxterman — also the creator of the Two-Brain Nutrition Coaching course — joined Two-Brain Business mentor Josh Martin to answer those questions and more.Tune in to learn how to take a client-centered approach to nutrition coaching that gets results. Links:Beyond the WhiteboardDrink O2Two-Brain Nutrition CoachingTimeline:2:43 – What your clients are struggling with right now.7:00 – Look out for “shoulds.”8:55 – How to be honest, but not mean.13:17 – Getting emotional is a good sign.15:19 – Beginners complicate, experts simplify.20:17 – Why coaching the simple things is still a valuable service.23:56 – Group nutrition coaching.28:26 – Letting clients — and the scarcity mindset — go.34:42 – Coaching to the client’s goals, not yours.39:41 – There are plenty of people that need your help.43:57 – Accountability or codependence?

Are you an accidental fat-shamer? On July 1, Pinterest released a press release banning weight-loss testimonials, products and before-and-after pictures.  Pinterest isn't the only company to move in that direction; online, the debate rages: If you're selling nutrition and fitness coaching, are you body shaming? Or helping people get what they want? It's a complex subject, so Two-Brain Radio host Mike Warkentin brought in an expert, psychotherapist Bonnie Skinner. In this episode, she explains how triggers — like before-and-after pictures — work, the difference between self-worth and weight, and how gym owners can use language to clarify exactly what they're selling. Links:Drink O2Level MethodGym Owners UnitedTimeline:2:17 – What’s the problem with before-and-after pictures?4:19 – What happens beneath the surface when someone looks at your ad.6:33 – “Nobody can make you feel anything.”9:25 – Self-efficacy and self-improvement. 10:59 – The messages we’re sending our brains.13:19 – How to connect with people without triggering shame.16:57 – How to advertise weight loss.20:53 – Responding to backlash. 23:26 – How to use before-and-after pictures responsibly.26:16 – What are you actually selling?31:54 – All about reframing. 

Jordan Fink quit his day job and bought a gym in early 2020.  No sooner had he signed the papers than came the mandatory COVID-19 gym shutdown.  He didn't even meet his new staff until months after he'd become their new boss.From there, Jordan endured multiple member mass exoduses and roller-coastering revenue. At one point, he even started dusting off his resume. Today, after starting mentorship with Two-Brain and learning to sell high-value packages to give people the help they need, Jordan's posting the highest revenue numbers he's ever seen. Get to know the winner of Two-Brain's 2021 "Comeback of the Year" award in this episode.Links:Clearlake CrossFitChalk It ProTwo-Brain CoachingGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:21 – Buying a gym at the start of a pandemic.4:00 – ”What have I done?”7:51 – Mass exodus.10:10 – Seeking mentorship.16:13 – Initiating the comeback.20:43 – Diversifying revenue streams.21:40 – The second mass exodus.23:56 – Learning to sell high-ticket services.29:25 – Embracing being the comeback king.33:54 – It’s easy to get advice. The hard part? Acting on it. 

At the 2021 Two-Brain Summit, psychotherapist Bonnie Skinner spoke about fear. And when she asked gym owners to share one of their top fears, Justin Keane shared a big one — in front of thousands of other entrepreneurs.Doing so went against his very nature. Justin would much rather stay silent than show vulnerability. But as he learned from Bonnie's presentation and through practice with his own staff and members at Woodshed Strength and Conditioning, being open, honest and vulnerable can increase your team's trust in you and make your business stronger.Links:Bonnie SkinnerJason Cohen: How Embracing Vulnerability Improved My Gym BusinessWhy You Feel Like an Imposter: And What You Can Do About ItIncite TaxTwo-Brain ProgrammingGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:43 – Why Justin shared his fear at the Summit.4:58 – How to balance showing vulnerability with being a leader.10:11 – Examining yourself.15:14 – Learning about the shadow self.19:33 – One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make.23:56 – Find your Cordelias.29:02 – One thing you can do today to be a better, more communicative leader.

Mike Collette is the winner of Two-Brain Business' 2021 award for metrics (he won it in 2020, too). His secret to getting great numbers? Build great staff members.Here, he joins Mike Warkentin to talk about leadership: how to develop it in yourself and cultivate it amongst your staff through mentorship.Links:Prototype Training SystemsBeyond the WhiteboardIncite TaxFree Resources!Gym Owners UnitedJason Cohen: How Embracing Vulnerability Improved My Gym BusinessHandling Difficult Conversations, With Per MattssonPerks at Work free online classesTimeline:1:38 – Why you should mentor your staff.4:13 – Where gym owners go wrong when trying to lead.5:57 – How to let your staff fail.9:34 – Why you need to meet one-on-one with each staff member regularly.11:21 – Small changes lead to big results.13:18 – Learning to lead with Next Jump.20:32 – The first step to becoming a better leader: self-awareness.23:31 – What happens when you invest in mentoring your staff.25:40 – Getting better at tough conversations.28:52 – Two steps to take today if you want to be a better leader.  

We don't sell mentorship to burn a hole in your pocket. We sell mentorship to help you make even more money than you spent on it in the first place. With a return on investment of $10,000 per month, Charlie Lima of BoomFit in College Station, Texas, is doing just that — plus some. Here, he shares how the lessons he's learned from multiple Two-Brain mentors have helped him earn more, develop his staff and improve his own leadership skills. You'll also learn the two key things you can do today to make sure you get great ROI on calls with your mentor. Links:BoomFitGym Lead MachineForever FierceGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:16 – Justifying the cost of mentorship.4:35 – How mentorship has transformed and improved Charlie’s business.8:43 – Working with multiple mentors.15:39 – How to get value out of sessions with your mentor. 19:06 – Mentorship, accountability and vulnerability.21:33 – Setting ego aside.24:31 – Career roadmap sessions for staff.30:28 – How to get a good ROI on staff meetings.36:22 – Combing staff development and sales.39:40 – The most important thing you need to do to get a great ROI from mentorship.

Josh Nimmo owns CrossFit MetroEast in Illinois, and he's the winner of Two-Brain's 2021 award for coach education and opportunity. Here, Mike Warkentin digs into how he earned it — and Josh shares how he went from being a micromanaging Jack of all trades to mentoring to his staff, helping them develop personally and financially rewarding careers and building a strong, successful team that's in it for the long haul.Links:CrossFit MetroEastArboxDriven NutritionGym Owners UnitedTimeline:3:26 – Learning to pass roles onto staff (and teach them how to fill them). 6:22 – Stepping into the CEO role. 8:50 – Learning how to develop staff.11:58 – Teaching staff to sell.14:13 – Becoming a mentor. 18:22 – Teaching staff to charge for their time.20:33 – Leveling up even more with Two-Brain Business.22:44 – Implementing staff contracts.26:26 – Full-effort failure.31:33 – Career roadmap sessions with staff.35:50 – Being OK not being the best at everything. 

When Bryan McDowell joined the Two-Brain Mentorship program in April 2020, his gym was making $6,700 a month. Less than a year later, that number ballooned 400% to $45,000 a month. He also stopped wearing all the hats in the business, passing coaching, personal training and lower-value roles off to staff so he could focus on growing the business. The result? Both Bryan and his staff are happier in their careers and making more money.Here's how he did it.Links:AGuardDrink O2Gym Owners UnitedFree ToolsTimeline:1:26 – Following the plan.2:35 – Getting burned before joining the Two-Brain family.5:32 – Revenue explosion!9:17 – Game-changing changes.13:38 – Climbing the value ladder.16:39 – Developing staff members.18:44 – Next steps: $500,000 and a six-figure nutrition business.23:08 – What to do if you’re struggling (hint — take the advice you give to your clients every day: Get a coach).25:35 – The ROI of mentorship.

How do you decide what your prices should be? Or which marketing tactic to try? Or even what size building you should get? If you're like most microgym owners, you guess. Or you do a social-media poll and make business-altering decisions based on the opinions of 10 keyboard warriors. There's a better way — and it's based on data. Two-Brain Business has spent years and thousands of dollars compiling critical data from microgyms all over the world. Then our mentors use that data to help gym owners make decisions that have been proven to work.  Chris Cooper and Mike Warkentin get geeky and explain the magic behind the numbers.Links:Level MethodTwo-Brain ProgrammingGym Owners UnitedThe State of the IndustryFree ToolsTimeline:1:31 – Why the microgym industry needs data.5:44 – How Two-Brain built its dataset.10:55 – How data helps gym owners make better decisions.18:57 – How data saves gym owners’ time.20:31 – What are the metrics that matter?26:48 – Gym owners who track metrics make more money. This is why.29:48 – Why Two-Brain won’t ever publish the first guide to the next big thing.31:41 – How Two-Brain’s dataset is going to get even better.