HALO Talks

Formerly in finance at investment banks and a hedge fund, Paul O-Reilly-Hyland is currently the CEO and Founder of ZEAMO. Zeamo, "simplifies and enhances the relationship between fitness partners and fitness consumers with a digital-first approach that meets the evolving needs of the fitness industry while staying true industry partners." Currently in 2,000+ clubs, they conducted a test with McKinsey in 2018/early 2019. Currently with 100 employers on the platform (some with 40-50K employees!), an integration with Virgin Plus, and slightly over 1,000 studios on the platform, Zeamo is on track to meet Paul's goal 5,000 by the spring. "Platforms like us weren't necessarily popular. We were thought of as a discounter, and we're definitely not. We're out there to solve a problem for an employer, but it wasn't easy to do . . . We make it easy for a company to subsidize employees healthcare. We pay the clubs in usage and allow employees to actually join, and reward employees every time they go to the gym." Hyland d

We're pleased to announce the recent merger of The Athlete Book into GamePlan!  "This is a huge strategic initiative for us," states Max Wessell, Chairman of the Board.  The industry leader in the space, GamePlan was founded nearly 14 years ago with the idea of helping athletes get jobs. Currently with 300+ athletic departments, over 100,000 athletes averaging ~1,400+ e-learning courses a day, GamePlan counts the NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL and others as partners. "We help an athlete move through their entire journey experiencing campus," states McCaffrey. "What better place is there than the HALO sector for an athlete to land?"  "We are Mission aligned, with Ryan" says Wessell. "We're trying to improve the student athlete experience, and a big part of that means a better outcome after college, and having employers value their athletic experience in college."  Ryan Drummond, Founder of the Athlete Book, has appeared on HALO Talks twice previously (interviews here and here) and is now part of the GP team. He touches o

Many in the HALO sector already know Lee Hillman. What they may not know however is that prior to entering the space, he was a partner in one of the Big 4 accounting firms. He left in 1991 to serve at Bally's as the CFO, even before it was solely a health club business. He worked with Bally's until 2002, helping grow it to nearly a billion dollar company and is now and an Owner/Partner in Power Plate.  Lee has also been a director for public and private companies and is a self-professed "turnaround and distressed assets" guy. He chats with Pete about what he looks for in a new business opportunity, how you stay psychologically motivated in a distressed situation, how much runway you need, and more. Power Plate has gotten incredible traction over the past few years, and he discusses the strategy behind that as well. "I'm not coming to Power Plate as a zealot. I truly believe this is a product that can change people's lives for the better, and those around me are also just as passionate. We're here on a Mission

Dr. Layne Norton jokes, "I describe myself as a meathead who loves science or a geek who lifts heavy things!" A highly prominent figure in the direct-to-consumer fitness and nutrition space, Norton attended the University of Illinois (perennially in the top 5 for Nutritional Sciences) where he earned his Ph.D. He went on to earn his pro card in natural bodybuilding, and became a world record holder in powerlifting, all while authoring, "conservatively over 100,000+ posts on bodybuilding.com and other various forums." With a "six figure business" coming out of graduate school, Norton is currently the founder of Biolayne, Outwork Nutrition,  Carbon diet coaching app, and author of a good number of books. And he does all of this while--much to enjoyment of his very extensive audience-- naming names and calling out the nonsense so utterly pervasive in his space. When asked how nutrition got so complicated for the general consumer he states, "There are tons of voices out there vying for your dollars. If you're doi

Now with 15 years in the HALO sector Founder of YBell Fitness, Aaron Laurence, found his calling and career relatively late at 35 years old.  He jumped immediately into small group training. "The one challenge I faced was around the equipment I was using," he states.  "Setting up a whole lot of stuff in the morning for 30-40 people was quite a bit of a challenge!" Host Pete Moore has stated many times that the best businesses / solutions are often born from a Founder's frustration, and the YBell's genesis (and quick scale!) are proof of that. Industry veteran and seasoned marketing & advertising executive Mark Livingston explains how YBell has managed to actually grow in the middle of COVID and how they've increased business internationally. "We were one of the only companies that actually had product," he states. He continues and chats about how, in certain ways, the pandemic has even made them a better company! This extremely ingenious piece of equipment (with top-notch content provided as well) deserve

CEO & Co-Founder of Boutique Fitness Solutions, Julian Barnes joins a rare club of HALO Talks guests making their second appearance! (First one here.) We're proud to join him at BFS's 4th Summit, April 28-30, 2022 at the Westin Times Square.  In a quick "state of the industry" after 2 years of COVID, Barnes tells us according to IHRSA, 30% of the studio market is now closed unfortunately. He discusses why that is and more importantly, what those studios who've remained (and in some cases, thrived) have done differently.  In terms of some thoughts on the future, Barnes states, "Digital isn't going anywhere. We're very much at the beginning. Virtual is not intended to be a national brand. Most studio owners aren't trying to compete with the Peloton and Daily Burn's of the world. They've realized that the role of virtual in their business model is to support existing clients . . . 80% of the industry is run by studios with 3 or fewer locations."  The BFS 2022 Summit has tracks for CEO's (their invite-only CE

Jared Hanley is the CEO and Founder of NatureQuant, a company that "quantifies" nature in a sense. In a nutshell, their tech assesses and promotes nature exposure. Hanley's background was in finance using big data, analytics, and machine learning . . . but he's always been passionate about the outdoors. "I wondered why do we feel so good when we get outside? I wanted to apply my skill set in that area. Nature never had any real data attached to it, it never had any kind of measurement, and I thought it was a huge opportunity," he states.  They have found very strong associations between certain natural elements and many positive (or negative) health aspects. "Nature prescriptions" have existed for a long time in many Asian and European countries, but only recently are starting to gain traction in the USA.   Listen now to learn what the most influential environmental factor is, possible uses for the HALO sector, their upcoming app (NatureDose), how policy makers, insurance companies, and others are beginning t

Keith began his career in the HALO sector from the ground up working as a commission-only salesman at a Powerhouse Gym in Augusta, GA. He slowly became interested in the tech side of the business as well--which was "pre-Windows" era when you had to connect computers with coaxial cables! Trawick became an evangelist for technology in the sector as the years went on. He states, "Tech companies now are trying to be too many things to too many people . . . Organizations should be allowed to have their own definitions and enact their own business processs around those definitions." He and Pete discuss the always-controversial topic of who owns what data, marketing trends that have come full circle, why we're still in the "bottom of the first" when it comes to tech compared to other industries, pricing trends (thankfully, it's no longer as much of a "race to zero" as it used to be) and more! How an organization should use tech is also critical, and is often overlooked. "Technology enhances and amplifies the core th

Benj has had fascinating career path into the HALO sector. Currently the General Manager of the College Park Athletic Club, he's always been into sports as a kid (thanks in part to his Dad who coached in high school.) He lived in Sweden for a year and eventually became a Pastor for 7 years at a small church in Michigan. After returning east, his friend gave him a job in the club business, and he hasn't left since! On navigating COVID, Ecker states, "We're a program driven club as opposed to membership driven. Programs really drive our revenue. We stuck to the same price model we had all along." He continues on about the current trends in racquet sports (pickleball, tennis, paddle tennis), how they work internally to ensure tennis pros and trainers are on the same page, the lessons he's brought into the space from being a Pastor, the importance of addressing mental health issues in sports, why everyone should "learn how to lose and deal with failure," and more.   Click here to download transcript.

The former CEO of In-Shape, Schuler now serves as the CEO of the California Fitness Alliance, an advocacy organization working to galvanize all subsets of the fitness industry in California.  "It took this crisis to realize how important advocacy is, how hard it is to get heard in an industry that's just trying to get people healthy . . . and how much of a disconnect there is with policy makers," she states. The well-represented Alliance is also looking at other powerful, highly effective organizations (notably the National Restaurant Association) as models. As a life long marketer, Schuler opines on some critical issues which need addressing in our sector. "We need to focus less on vanity, and more on health! Google 'fitness' as an industry and it shows the top of the pyramid, which makes us look very exclusive and less essential," she states.  Anyone with an interest in where the HALO sector is going post-COVID needs to listen to this. Help support IHRSA in their Mission, support the Gyms Act, get involved

Ntiedo has had quite a career both in corporate America and as an entrepreneur. Originally from Nigeria and the Bahamas, he learned six computer languages before age 11, eventually made his way to McKinsey, founded FitGrid (originally called YourGuru) and, along with Julian Barnes (his HALO Talks here), co-founded Boutique Fitness Solutions, Etuk became interested in the HALO sector because his group ex classes helped cured him of his plantar fasciitis! However, he saw a big need that wasn't being met: "From a retention perspective, we believe that if you come to class, you're more than likely to keep coming back if you're connected to other people," he states. FitGrid is kind of an "automatic community builder," he continued. "Nobody had ever created a software that allowed you to leverage your entire community." Ntiedo discusses the challenges of building the platform from the ground up, how software should work with "real life" scenarios ("Software should help 'surface' what you need to do in person!") and

Joining us for his second appearance on HALO Talks (first interview here), Founder and CEO of Flexit--Austin Cohen--chats about rolling out their new virtual personal training platform mid-COVID and how it's been an "absolute game changer" for both their B2B and B2C customers. Virtual personal training "fits into a real white space in the industry," he states. Flexit built out their own system with features specific to the modality. Suffice to say, it's definitely not ZOOM . . . and they did so mid-COVID! Cohen discusses new revenue models he's seeing which are highly effective ("Clubs that compensate trainers the same for virtual that they do for in-person are having really good adoption internally"), as well as other metrics and best practices. "It's important for clubs to embrace how virtual now fits in with the future of bricks and mortar," he says. It should be clear to anyone in the HALO sector at this point that digital isn't going anywhere. It was coming anyway--and COVID simply accelerated that. This

Conor O'Loughlin, CEO & Co-Founder of Glofox, is a former professional rugby player who is taking his lessons learned on the field and finding great success in the business world. Glofox raised a "humble" $2M initially, and recently received another round for a total of nearly $25M. With a fast-growing team of approximately 200, Conor and his (initially) small team bootstrapped everything, started as a basic "professional services" company, and evolved from there.   Any entrepreneur (at any level of growth) can relate to what Conor is doing! He chats with Pete about how they came up with the Glofox name, the challenges of entering a very crowded US market from Ireland ("We came to the USA with a very narrow focus on the type of business we want to serve . . . we went, almost uncomfortably narrow"), and more.  He discusses use of funds ("We have 40% in R&D for long term planning,) thoughts on cash burn, why it's important to learn to stay no to "big fish" even if it's a great revenue opportunity ("You

An industry veteran in the sector since the early 90's, Paula Neubert has been with Club Greenwood for 19 years. A high end, massive, 150,000+ sq foot fitness resort in business for 34 years, Paula and her team have built something extremely unique in the HALO space. "We look at the competition as ways to make us better. I can say with 100% certainty that our club is built on referrals . . . it's like a family," states Neubert. She continues and discusses the critical importance of marketing messages and why, for example, they use words like "resort" or "club" versus "gym." With regards to expanding and remaining "small" she states, "Know what you do well. The more locations you have, the more opportunities you have to spread things thin, and mess up." Club Greenwood is very well known in the space, and Neubert continues to be a critical player in making that happen. This is a must-listen for anyone looking to take their facility-regardless of size-to the next level. Click here to download transcript. 

Pete Moore appeared on Matt's podcast in August, and we're excited to introduce him to the HALO Talks audience if you're not already familiar. Co-Founder of Escape Fitness and host of the excellent, Escape Your Limits podcast, Matt's company started in the UK, progressed into Poland, Germany, and 10 years ago came to the states. He trades stories with Pete about his early trade show days and how to stand out. (Hint: clothes from The Prodigy!) "We always asked ourselves how can we continue to innovate, move our company forward, and help the people we're working with? . . . The more value you continue to provide, the more likely you're going to be the obvious choice," he states. They continue on and discuss why receiving a large capital infusion too early on could be a big mistake in your company's growth, the significant challenges and differences doing business in multiple countries, where Escape is heading in the future, and more!  Click here to download transcript. 

Petra Robinson (aka "Mama ZUMBA!") got into the HALO sector while living abroad because of her passion and desire to help others. She studied with industry pioneers Jacki Sorensen & Judi Sheppard- Missett, became certified by AFAA in 1986, and eventually became their VP and ran their convention for 10 years! Now with ZUMBA since 2005, Robinson runs 100-120 tradeshows a year for them. She and Pete chat about how ZUMBA became one of the most successful companies in the HALO space, and why it continues to thrive and grow. "The DNA is all about joy. The philosophy is to just wiggle and giggle. It doesn't matter if you can do the moves or not! You have to have an easy, basic entry point where people can come in, feel somewhat successful, and then you can keep training and grooming them," she states.  The nuggets of wisdom uncovered from this 30+ year industry veteran make this a must listen for anyone in the HALO sector!   Click here to download transcript. 

Robert's first HALO Talks was in 2019 where he chatted with Pete about the up's and down's of scaling a business-to-business software company. "A B2B SaaS business caught me completely off guard. It's a different totally different ballgame from running a gym!" he jokes. (Jackson also owns the high end Forma Gym in San Francisco.)  Since then, he's sold Fitness BI (which he started with only $100,000!) to ABC Fitness, and chats with Pete about the process of exiting / valuations, working through his deal with ABC, what's involved when going through due diligence, scaling a company, the exciting plans they're cooking up at ABC for the future, having private equity inside the HALO sector, predictions for the future of the industry post-COVID, and more!  Any entrepreneur who is building a company (or is at the stage where they're considering selling!) will find fantastic insights here.  Click here to download transcript. 

As the CEO & Founder of KickHouse, a new boutique franchise currently with 35 open locations, Jessica Yarmey started the company in July 2020 (right in  the middle of the pandemic!) She states, "The value add of the boutique fitness experience is real, and it's priceless to people have that guided experience." A former D1 soccer player, lifelong athlete, and 10+ year industry veteran, Yarmey has always been a bit contrarian. In this wide ranging conversation with Pete, she offers thoughts on the trajectory of the boutique space, pricing, how starting her business during a crisis was actually a positive, and more. She continues, "There's no semi-absentee model now! You've got to be in, fighting, and know your business inside and out!" This is a must listen for anyone in the HALO sector!  Click here for complete transcript. 

Recorded live at the 2021 IHRSA convention in Dallas, Brent has been in the HALO sector his entire career. With degrees in both exercise physiology and exercise science, he's served as the VP of Cooper Aerobic Center, (see Dr. Cooper's HALO Talks here,) owned TELOS Fitness Center, and is recently coming off of a fantastic job having served as the interim CEO of IHRSA prior to Liz Clark's appointment as the new CEO. (HALO Talks here.) "Crisis breeds progress, inventiveness, and creativity," he states. "Clubs are recovering slowly, but well and will be healthier in the long term." Darden also heads up a few REX Roundtables and has his ear to the ground when it comes to what's going on granularly. He chats about what they've been doing to help get the industry get through the pandemic, how clubs have learned to do more with less, thoughts on institutional capital, the increased advocacy efforts of IHRSA, the changing climate in DC around the HALO space, what needs to be done to keep momentum going, a bit about t

A passionate and driven voice for the industry, Andrew Wall states, "For me, being on the front lines in helping to support and to bring education to the industry is one of my passions. It's a dream job, and everyday I get to wake up and do what I like." Wall is the Director of International Business Development for the American Council on Exercise, a long time, industry leader in education for fitness professionals whose Mission is, "to get people moving." Andrew and Pete discuss the current challenges facing the industry, what is next for ACE, ("It's not just a certification. It's about having the education and then getting the experience"), career paths for fitness pros, the business of running a nonprofit, how they're amplifying their Mission in other parts of the world, navigating the pandemic, and more.  Click here to download transcript.