Future of Fitness

Joel is a best-selling author and one of the world’s foremost authorities on strength, conditioning, and energy programs. His strategies have been used by thousands of elite performers and top athletes worldwide, including the Navy, SEALS, UFC Champions, and dozens of teams from the NFL, NBA, MLS, NCAA, and more. What’s been different for Joel these last 2 years? (4:20) Joel’s personal goal has always been to help as many people as he could on the conditioning side of coaching.  He says this goal has grown quite a lot in the last two years. Back when COVID hit Joel thought that it was going to be a very hard period for his business. However, things actually picked up significantly for online education as more and more people were looking for certification.  People have realized the industry is changing and that remote training is going to become a large part of training in the coming years.  People will have to apply themselves more than ever and try and learn as many new skills as possible.  How does Joel’s certification equip coaches to kind of deal with the new world with remote coaching and things like that? (7:05) Joel was receiving a lot of emails at the start of COVID lockdowns from people who couldn’t access their gyms and wanted to stay in shape.  Sending out a mass email asking if anyone would be interested in a free 30-day conditioning training video, he received a massive response.  Keeping a limit of 300 people to ensure quality support for everyone involved, they sold out spots in two days. Conditioning training is a good skill for online coaching because you do not need a whole lot of equipment like if you’re doing something like strength training.  Joel received many positive reviews from people saying that they have managed to stay fit and healthy thanks to his conditioning training.  What has surprised Joel within his specific niche? (16:40) Joel was surprised that so many people use conditioning for the goals they are working towards.  The more people you encounter the more you learn about niche sports that are often overlooked that other people might take super serious.  Seeing his training being implemented in these sports surprised but pleased Joel.  How is the fitness industry going to be different? (32:56) Joel believes all of the new technology is going to help people make better decisions, have better habits, and a better idea of how to improve their fitness.  He believes we are going towards better personalization through technology and more of a holistic approach to health and fitness.  The reason fitness use to break down for so many people was that there was little personalization within the programs. 40-50 people were doing the same program and now with remote training, it’s easier to work out individual programs for people as they can enter their nutrition, medical histories, and physical disabilities for the coaches to see.  Morpheus Morpheus is the first fitness technology guaranteed to accelerate your recovery and make you more fit, It helps you shift your body into the recovery zone and accelerate your results when training.  Resources Connect with Joel: LinkedIn Morpheus: Website Connect with Eric: LinkedIn

Shane is the founder of Dark Horse Rowing, the leading educator of indoor rowing education and career training for fitness professionals and athletes.  Shane has a BA in Business Administration, a certified CrossFit Kettlebell Certificate, a CrossFit rowing certificate and is CrossFit Level 1 Certified, Concept 2 Master instructor, and a certified ACE Group Fitness Instructor.  How did Shane get to be where he is now in the business that he created? (3:26) Shane was never the best student or athlete in high school.  But he loved sports too much to give it up and eventually his grades and sporting abilities approved.  When Shane started University he overslept for baseball tryouts and ended up trying rowing and fell in love with it instantly.  Going to championships during his university years, Shane ended up being introduced to CrossFit through Stefan Rochet. So from there, Shane’s rowing team was using CrossFit as strength training for their rowing. Coming out of University, Shane was too light to be a heavyweight rower and too heavy to be a lightweight rower so he was stuck in purgatory so to speak for a bit.  Jumping over to CrossFit, Shane says he luckily fell into the lap of Invictus a decently competitive gym.  Competing in CrossFit and simultaneously coaching rowing made Shane realize that there was a desperate need for people to learn how to use the rowing machine.  This led him to teach several CrossFit Rowing seminars over several years and through that and enough exposure he ended up creating Dark Horse Rowing.  The Business of Rowing (8:15) There has truthful not been a lot of research done on the rowing market.  British rowing did some market research three or four years ago which was more to show what their future goals were. But looking at the number of machines sold, it’s about 4 million and that’s just Shane’s guess.  These machines last forever, Shane calling them lifetime machines. But then there’s the water rower and hydro which are new players to the game and all of the inexpensive amazon rowing machines, Shane estimates that they’re actually sitting at close to the ten million. And that was talking pre-COVID, which has essentially now cause the purchases in rowing machines to spike. So the rowing industry is growing in popularity swiftly.  Is rowing a standalone fitness offering? Can people completely devote themselves to rowing alone and stay healthy and fit for the majority of your life? (17:18) Shane says rowing is such a diverse exercise.  It is low impact and risk-averse. Meaning there is little risk of anything negative happening to you.  You can train your strength, your conditioning, your lactic threshold, and even your coordination. Is it the one thing you should choose? That depends because the thing you choose to stay healthy and fit is ultimately the thing that you will love doing every day for the rest of your life.  Shane says yes it can keep you healthy and fit for however long you pursue it, but so many other things could also do that for you.  So find what works for you. What does Shane envision gyms are going to be like in 2 years? (34:10) Any gym that physically exists is going to realize that an online feature will become a wholly integrated part of their business.  This is because too many people at this point have tasted what home fitness can be.  Many people however will still enjoy that experience of going to the gym and engaging with people.  So, therefore, physical gyms will still exist but will start to rapidly integrate online and digital training into their business models.  Dark Horse Rowing Dark Horse Rowing was the pursuit of Shane Farmer’s passion for fitness and rowing. They strive to create the best possible experience for athletes so they can continue to provide support for a lifetime.  Resources Connect with Shane: LinkedIn Dark Horse Rowing: Website Connect With Eric: LinkedIn 

Jonathan Goodman is the founder of the Personal Trainer Development Center and author of multiple bestselling books for personal trainers.  In addition, Jon founded the first-ever certification for online fitness trainers, the Online Trainer Academy. When Jon started Online Trainers Academy, how did he know we were going to have a pandemic in 2020 that would turn every one online? (1:18) Jon thought this was funny but says he did not know. However, it is not inconceivable to assume that there was going to be some large scale interruptive event in the future. The world changes very quickly and historically, in unpredictable ways.  Anyone who was paying attention from a few years ago would’ve noticed the upward trend in technology-driven business. But what ultimately led Jon to turn towards online himself was an injury that put him off his feet for two weeks, effectively killing his income for that time period, and that got him thinking that he had to build something else.  The Concept of Anti-fragility. (3:48) One of the key elements of anti-fragile is the concept that the more chaos ensues, the stronger things that are anti-fragile get.  Jon encourages making yourself familiar with the concept of anti-fragility if you want to set yourself up for the future.  You need to understand anti-fragility, asymmetrical risk and you need to understand how to mitigate loss and maximize gain. What’s going on in the online training game? (16:38) There are a lot of people doing it that have no idea what they are doing. These people are hacking together not well thought out solutions and doing horribly because of it.  Jon relates it to you going to a gym after googling a bit and bringing a video camera and now you’re going to train people.  Big training companies have thrown together online training programs and Jon’s own clients have said that the models fall short and are terrible.  You have to really do the research and spend the time to understand the core of online training for example: What works from a financial and business standpoint. What works for actual training clients as humans. How to get people to want to do the workout and to continually adhere to the workout? What does Jon think is going to be centralized within actual gyms? (22:26) Gyms are going to radically change, there is no doubt about that. The fitness industry is relatively young. In the past gyms have sold personal trainers as people who are not commoditized but treated and paid them like they were commoditized people and the truth is more personal trainers are commoditized.  To be a truly great personal trainer you need to exhibit a lot of traits that are very hard to find in any single human for example: You need to be in good shape, energetic, motivational, empathetic, great at science programming, and interested in entrepreneurial aspects along with about 15 other things.  However, with collaborative pairing and work, you can take multiple people with different skillsets and put them together to form something unique and powerful.  The PTDC The Personal Trainer Development Center creates solutions for fitness and nutrition professionals. They do this by helping you do a better job, build a better business, and live a better life at every stage of your career.  They have the World’s Premier Certification for online training and are an internationally recognized leader for education and guidance within the fitness industry.  Resources Connect with Jonathan: LinkedIn The PTDC: Website Connect with Eric: LinkedIn

Vanessa Severiano has been a leader in the fitness industry for 18+ years. She has extensive experience in creating, managing, and developing brands in areas of sales, marketing, branding, and operation. Vanessa understands firsthand what is required to ensure a successful outcome for a wellness business. How did Vanessa get to where she is now? (1:19) Vanessa started out about 19 years ago just after graduating from college. She had two degrees in English Literature and interpersonal and organizational communication. Interpersonal and Organizational Communication is about how to speak to others and clearly communicate management styles. Burnt out from School, Vanessa didn’t want to work in a cubicle and started researching cool companies. Her first job was at The Crunch in 2001 which was a very work hard/play hard environment. In 2005 she moved to Miami and started the first two Equinox locations in Florida. Being a single move of two kids at the time, Vanessa pushed herself to limits she never thought was possible. After that, she ended up working for David Barton Gym for several years and then got a great opportunity to be a part of a start-up in Miami. Starting from zero members, zero-brand and zero identity was thrilling and took several years to build up but now she is where she is today. How does Vanessa tackle problems while helping businesses build themselves? (9:41) When coming into an organization that already exists you need to understand the history, understanding what’s been happening and what has been successful.  And then you can start focusing on what needs to happen and change to make the unsuccessful portions of a business successful.  Coming into a new organization also poses the problem of people resisting change whether it is beneficial or not. You have to create that relationship and comfort level with those people.  Connecting with other people, empowering them, and learning from them too. Solving problems in a business is a very collaborative process.  Having good communication and speaking to the clients about what they also want is very important.  Where most fitness professionals fall short withing their sales and marketing tactics and strategies.  (11:56) Talents are individual and what you’re good at is what you’re good at but others might not be but they are good in something completely different that you are not good at.  It’s important to focus on yourself and your talents, no one is good at everything.  It’s important to collaborate with others to combine different strengths together. Business owners should invest in themselves and in a mentor to try and bring as much value as they can to clients. The key to having great relationships. (22:08) Effort, value, and respect are important to bring into a hopefully long term relationship, whether it’s a business or romantic relationship. Nobody likes a one-sided relationship so you have to be willing to give, to provide value and support for the other person.  Recognize that people communicate differently and adjust your way of communicating with individual people. Meeting people halfway is a big part of forming healthy relationships. They don’t maintain themselves and putting in equal effort is important.  What is something positive that will come out of this pandemic for the fitness industry? (25:11) Brands will be forced to provide more value to clients and the members and consumers of fitness technology. This is because there is a lot more competition out there at the moment from lower-priced options.  Clients stick with a certain service or product because it gives them tremendous value and therefore as a company you have to make sure to maintain that value for your consumers.  With the recent and rapid growth in fitness technology, Vanessa hopes and believes that it will get more people moving and being active.  VannesaSeveriano.com Vanessa Severiano aims to help fitness and wellness businesses create outstanding brand experiences. Resources Connect with Vanessa: LinkedIn Vanessa Severiano: Website Connect with Eric: LinkedIn

Max Shank is the owner of Ambition Athletics, he is also the author of Ultimate Athleticism, Simple Shoulder Solution, and Master The Kettlebell. Max studied economics and Spanish. He uses his knowledge in economics to make training and life easier and more efficient for his clients.  Max wants to see everyone succeed and live a healthy and active life and therefore trains people to sustainably move daily without getting injured.  What does Max’s daily practice look like? (2:48) Max likes focusing on breathing to start off with, followed by a controlled pause. During this stage, you are practicing drawing the abdomen in and rolling it in waves. Really building that core control. People tend to hold their core stiff to exercise it but one should rather learn to balance the tension in their core, thus teaching them to breathe diaphragmatically.  He then moves on to the vision and vestibular exercises to stimulate your vestibular system (your inner ear). They then move on to juggling, rolling on the floor, and shoulder rolls. They top this off with some self-massage and Isometrics bringing it to a full spectrum balanced muscle movements.  Max also advises to be slow and deliberate in your movements and to build up speed over time, because if you’re in too much of a hurry you end up missing the gains you would’ve gotten from deliberate slow movements.  What will be a good thing to come out of the fitness industry? (41:24) There will be less competition for gym owners because many will be leaving the business forever.  People in the industry like trainers are craving human connections. The more comfortable they can make their clients, the more clients you will eventually have. People are going to be slow coming back to physical gym sessions, however, people are open to online coaching and prefer it more than live training sessions.  Time Management (53:07) Max believes that meditation does not really count unless you do it for an hour at a time. He thinks the same of exercise if you didn’t do it for at least an hour, you did not really exercise. You need to try and fit these times into your schedule if you want to see any noticeable changes in your mood and productivity. Constant motion is important, but helping each other is more important. Figuring out the best way to thrive together. The world is your oyster, you just have to work hard.  Ambition Athletics  Ambition Athletics  Their goal is to help people live a better, more active life without the stress of injury. With the belief that exercise should always build you up and not tear you down. Their exercises aim at sustainable and safe exercises that invigorate people and ready them for the day ahead of them. Resources: Better Every Day www.maxshank.com (Mobility) www.5minuteflow.com (Athleticism) www.ultimateathleticism.com The best gym in Encinitas: www.ambitionathletics.com (Healthy Shoulders) www.simpleshouldersolution.com Connect with Eric: LinkedIn Future of Fitness: Website

Today, we celebrate our 200th episode by taking a walk down memory lane and listening to some key moments in the last few episodes. Eric Malzone started this podcast almost 3 years ago because he wanted to help modernize the fitness industry. He tries to make the episodes as relevant and frequent as possible to keep up with current events and wants to help play a part in making the value of the fitness professional rise. Eric loves hearing from the fans and uses the feedback he receives to help add even more value right back into the podcast.  Starting Businesses (3:50)  Building a brand, company, or network is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to really believe in yourself and what you are trying to put out into the industry.  Try and focus more on the bigger picture of what you yourself are trying to do for people and the world around you. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something if you believe and work hard enough, anything is possible. Ask the people what they want, ask people what makes them happy, and adapt your business constantly to meet these criteria to the best of your ability.  Don’t be afraid to challenge the norms of others. That difference might be what sets you apart from the rest. However, don’t see everyone as competition, be open to collaboration with others because your weak area might be someone else’s strong area, and by working together, you can both reach higher and further.  Making a difference (8:25) It’s the little things that make a big difference to peoples’ days like knowing people’s names and saying hello and goodbye as they come and go.  For some people coming to the gym or fitness club, is the best part of their day and, fitness professionals should strive to make those spaces as inclusive and safe for these people.  To be happy, you need to find things that are constructive and good for you. We want people to smile more, we want people to move a bit more and ultimately, it comes down to mental health more than anything.  Thoughts are uncontrollable, but your reaction to your thoughts is completely in your control.  Fitness and Health during Covid-19 (24:48) Corona has acted as a catalyst and has accelerated the modernization of the fitness industry. It’s also helped people become more health conscious as it directly relates to people caring for their bodies to build up that healthy immune system.  Professionals are hoping and believing that the virus has changed the industry and people’s outlook on health for the better.  People have leaned on the fitness industry more than ever as an outlet for physical and mental wellness in uncertain times. Resources: Reach out to Eric: LinkedIn Future of Fitness Website: Website Contact:  Erica Suter Mark Fisher Justin Devonshire Kate Jaramillo Ken Andrukow Mel Tempest Tony Gentilcore Adam Zeitsiff Andy Swansburg Steven Webster Kresten Jensen Max Coleman Jen Zygmunt Eric Chessen Dr. James Hardt Hewitt Tomlin Mike Hansen Shannon Hudson Dr. Sean Pastuch EC Synkowski

EC Synkowski runs OptimizeMe Nutrition, a company whose goal is to provide solutions for anyone to improve their weight, health, and overall well being through sustainable diet methods. EC has extensive education in the life sciences with a BS in biochemical engineering, a first MS in environmental sciences (with a focus in genetics), and a second MS in Nutrition & Functional Medicine. She has also trained others for two decades and has over 600 hours of public speaking experience teaching fitness and nutrition all over the world. How did EC get to where she is now? (1:36) EC originally started in environmental engineering and did some CrossFit seminars on the side before professionally starting in fitness. It was only when CrossFit started growing exponentially around 2010 that she started working full time for them.  She continued to build her skills that she had accumulated over a decade by doing weekend training regimes and meeting other fitness professionals and designing new CrossFit programs, implementing them, and scaling them. It wasn’t until around 2016 that she needed to do some continuing education for CrossFit, gaining a second master’s degree in nutrition and functional medicine. As she finished her degree she resigned from CrossFit and started her own company.  Why is nutrition so confusing and complicated? (11:09) EC states that people think too deploy about their diets and the “changes” that happen to them when we eat healthier.  People focus on the details like oh I’m eating salmon now instead of chicken. Or I’m eating fewer tomatoes but more strawberries. These differences are minuscule and what is actually important is that people are eating less processed foods like ice-cream and chips.  Diets contribute largely to overall health but for optimal results combine healthy eating habits with healthy life habits like family, community, and fitness It’s healthier and easier to not go too extreme and rather moderate your intake of unhealthy foods instead of try and cut them out completely.  People tend to follow popular trends instead of focusing on the actual research behind certain diets.  Meat vs Plant-Based. (23:35) People are moving from saying Vegan due to the negative connotations it has gathered to saying plant-based.  EC sees the plant-based as being an improvement on veganism. She doesn’t believe that only plant-based nutrition is necessary for optimal health.  EC recommends animal sources due to the lower calorie to protein intake than plant-based protein.  Plant-based proteins have people eating too many carbs and fat to reach their needed protein levels. Even if you choose supermarket meat that’s probably been factory farmed, it is still healthier than eating processed foods like chips and pizza.  EC states that it doesn’t matter whether you buy pastured beef or factory-farmed beef if you’re actively trying to be a healthier person you are saving on environmental and medical costs elsewhere. Life Stress and its impact on health. (32:23) EC states that life stress and some other psychological factors are as important as nutrition. When people are feeling less than optimal they generally look at correcting their diets because it seems within their control when stress isn’t.  She points out in her Blue Zones that when you start asking which protein powder is better, it’s laughable because 6 out of the 9 factors people use to reach 100 have nothing to do with nutrition.  If we build our bodies up to be resilient with certain nutrition programs we have more freedom within our lives. People need to focus on the big picture more instead of all the smaller details. Don’t be obsessive about every little aspect and ingredient of your diet and workout and rather use that energy to right other factors in your life, like getting enough sleep.  Start simple, get intricate. (39:21) EC thinks focusing on the bigger picture, like eating 800g a day, and getting that right first is very important before going into the intricate details.  People struggle the most with the consistency of it. It’s a lifestyle change, its how you choose to live your life for forever. She offers her clients a leaderboard where people can check in on four things a day; did they hit their protein target? Did they hit their fruits and vegetables? Did they exercise? Did they sleep enough? You need less precision than most people think, it’s just that you need to keep doing them in the long term.  EC’s Company OptomiseMe Nutrition OptimiseMe Nutrition is a company dedicated to making nutrition easy through B2B/B2C digital education and corporate wellness programs. Their mission is to provide easy solutions for anyone to improve their weight, health, and overall wellbeing with sustainable diet changes.  They have helped thousands to live a healthier and happier life.  Resources Connect with EC: LinkedIn Check Out OptimiseMe Nutrition’s Website: Website Connect with Eric: LinkedIn

Jason Ackerman finished his Psychology masters in 2006. After graduating, he realized that he needed to find a ‘real’ job, something different from where he would be stuck in a gym for 16 hours a day and ending up with no energy.  Jason decided to become a Crossfit coach and is one the founders of Own Your Eating. He  is also the author of the book titled “Best Hour of Their Day.”  How does Jason feel about the CrossFit community right now?? Jason believes CrossFit is in the right place. The community went through difficult times, but they pulled together and came out stronger.  He also believes Crossfit will continue to grow, and it is headed in a positive direction.  How does he see CrossFit changing over the next year? Jason believes there will be more communication from the top, more events, and more activity.  There will be a push to a digital route, such as virtual workouts or a CrossFit app that people can use at home.  Jason is teaching people to work with failure. What exactly is he working on?  For many people, it is not all about training.t is more focused on what they are eating.  The focus of Jason’s training is on their mindset and the emotions behind that.  People often try to hide their failures. Go onto social media, and you’ll see that people portray all the good and none of the bad.  Jason says that there is a gap between people’s lack of speaking about their failures and their method to overcome it. He wants to show people that you can overcome it.  How does Jason’s relationship with failure look, and how it has changed over the last three years?  He used to be afraid of failure. He viewed it as the end, with the worst-case scenarios attached to failure.  We need to realize that you can do something to change and alter the course with every step of the way and prevent failure.  Jason has gone through many failures and has come up with three actions to help avoid failure.  An excellent example of a company that could have tried to overcome failure was Blockbusters; with the introduction of streaming apps, they closed down. There were a gap and an option for them to make different decisions and succeed, and individuals face similar situations.  What is an example of where Jason failed,  that led to something better because he changed his mindset about failure?  Jason says it would be something that he innovated or pivoted.  Innovation wise, he was going through a burnout with his clients and barely made ends meet. He was in the gym for 16 hours a day; some hours, he had clients, and other times he had none.  Quitting the fitness industry was firm in his mind; it was 2006. He had just finished his Masters in Psychology but did not want to go into that direction, so he saw a gap and opportunity to get into and instruct Crossfit.  Resources: Instagram: @thejasonackerman Instagram: @ownyoureating Linketree: Jason Ackerman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonackerman78/

Dr. Sean Pastuch is an entrepreneur, coach, medical professional, and is leading a tribe. He has hit a lot of adversity through the process but has managed to work through it and create Active Life Professional.  Dr. Pastuch now focuses all his time, effort, and energy on being an entrepreneur. A year ago, he had 18 members on his team, but he now has 41 people helping him reach for success.  What are the rules of 3’s and 10’s?  This is a business rule that every time your revenue starts with either a three or a 10, it is time to change your entire business - if you are making $100,000 a year, but you want to make $300,000 a year, you will need to change some things.  Things will need to change, from who your clients are, how you find them, what you’re charging, and anything else that needs to be altered for you to reach the next three or ten. Can you describe your business’s qualities from two months ago and then explain what you are working towards two months from now? What does that transition look like? Dr. Pastuch says two months before this recording; they were willing to take on whatever punches that were going to be thrown their way and take any challenge head-on. The business is now moving more towards martial artistry, where everything happens on purpose and through patterns, which ensures there are reasonable next steps to take.  They had to build a corporate structure because there was a lack of accountability and responsibility. After someone goes through your pro-coach program, how do they start those relationships with the medical profession? Are you helping them facilitate that? Dr. Pastuch helps people by giving them a vocabulary that is backed by substance and is working towards bridging the gap better in the future.  Dr. Pastuch had a client that was in a coma and lost 80lbs, he came to Dr.Pastuch to help return him to his former body and increase his muscle mass. Dr.Pastuch then wanted to speak to every doctor that worked with his client, and together they worked together for a year.  How do you think the fitness industry is going to change over the next year? Dr. Pastuch hopes that a year from now, hobbyists in the fitness space will be worked out because they are not professional trainers. Professional trainers realize the way they work needs to change.  The people who have the most skills with marketing and sales will win, and it might not have anything to do with their ability to coach.  There may be many professionals that will be left out because they refused to learn those skills.  Resources: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-pastuch-02ba88109/ Instagram: @drseanpastuch @ActiveLifeRx, @ActiveLifeProfessional Websites: Active Life Professional    

Shannon Hudson grew up in the Martial Arts Industry. As a child, he picked up amateur boxing and kickboxing and did Karate tournaments, which led to a professional career in 2003 as a kickboxer and boxer. He got the opportunity to fight on Chuck Norris’s World Combat League in 2003. Hudson has managed to fight all over, he has fought in France, the US, and Switzerland. In 2011 he received an opportunity to fight for the IPF World Title, where he won the title. His experience and love for Martial Arts led him to open 9Rounds.  What do you think attributed to that fast growth - when you got 100 members in 30 days - to?  There is no class time tied to the classes, so the members can never be late. They can just come in and get started in a class when they have time.  Each session is a full-body workout in 30 minutes.  The workouts change every single day, this meant members did not do the same thing every time they came in.  People enjoy having someone there to instruct them and help them through the sessions.  Do you think there is a flip side to this model - some challenges that come along with it? Hudson says that there are definitely a few challenges that they face with this model, during COVID they had to switch to a schedule to keep the capacity low.  Everyday Hudson comes across complaints surrounding the introduction of the schedule, people are not happy about scheduling.  What was your mindset to approaching 9Rounds and building it from a bootstrap method? Hudson says when they reached 40 locations, they took on a partner and a minority partner.  Big mistake entrepreneurs have the tendency to do is to try to raise capital too early, instead, they should be disciplined with the money and grow their business through that.  Hudson says that the difficult times they went through living on a budget taught him valuable lessons that he would not replace for anything.  How many locations do you have globally now? 9Rounds has 750 locations across 19 countries.  What markets have you picked up growth on that you did not see coming? Hudson says that Saudi Arabia and the Middle East locations were the most surprising to him.  There are locations in Middle Eastern places that have 600 members.  What has been one of the more challenging markets for you? Japan was found to be difficult as most people do not speak English, the culture is very respectful and conservative.  Opening locations in Japan were slower than anticipated. Are there any competitors you run into the most? Secondary competitors are Orangetheory and F45 - which are growing rapidly.  Primary competitors to Hudson would be anyone that punches and kicks for fitness.  Mayweather Boxing, Title Boxing, iLoveKickboxing, and Beachbody are amongst the names Hudson keeps his eyes on.  What are the dimensions you are looking for space-wise? 1200 - 1500 square feet is the desired size, the room needs to be controllable.  These dimensions make it possible to keep sessions intimate.  How do you put people through on ramping so they can get to workouts? 9Rounds created an online training system that has a test behind it, it is over 6 hours of training modules to get a trainer certified by brand standards.  9Rounds has taken their Kickboxing program and have turned that into an accredited course.  How are you adjusting and coping with COVID? Hudson found the transition to be challenging but believes it ultimately brought people closer.  The crisis forced 9Rounds to think about the different types of customers in the marketplace - the old fashioned, the homebody, and the retail customer.  The business model had to be shifted to accommodate these customers and shifted to an online program - with over 140 filmed.  9Rounds’ goal is to get more people, and helping all three types of customers.  Are you looking at any solutions to how people may get equipment at home?  There is a shortage of kettlebells, but not boxing gloves, 9Rounds is looking at designing a workout bag for home.  Hudson says the required equipment is not disrupted for them.  How do you think the fitness industry will be different with this new normal?  Hudson believes that 20 - 25% will not reopen, 9Rounds has even lost a few locations.  The offerings to consumers will be different, catering to a wider variety of customers.  What has been one of the biggest personal challenges you face as an entrepreneur?  There are not many people Hudson finds that thinks as he does, therefore it can be lonely.  Poor communication is a big cause of Hudsons challenges.  What is one of the biggest needs do you have as a business right now?  Hudson is in the search for talented executives.  A new VP of ops is desired.  Are there any last thoughts you would like to share with the audience? Being an entrepreneur can be very stressful.  Go and move around, exercise, change your state physically.  Resources: Website: 9round LinkedIn: Shannon Hudson Facebook: 9Round Fitness