Fitness Business Podcast: Leadership, Innovation, and Profit

Francesca Schuler is the Chief Executive Officer at In-Shape Health Clubs, a California-based chain of over 65 full services health clubs. Prior to her role as CMO and then COO at In-Shape, Francesca held executive positions as BevMo!, Treasury Wine Estates Americas, Method Products, Inc. and The Gap. She has an M.B.A. from Wharton and lives with her family in Sonoma.

Raj Sareen is an entrepreneur, scientist, and inventor who currently leads a fast-growing wellness technology start-up Styku. With a BS in Space Sciences, and an MS in Physics, Raj spent much of his academic career focused on learning about the physical world we live in and the universe above.

Since joining Excel Fitness as the Director of Strategy, Jeff Helfgott has been responsible for scaling the people, process and technology to support its growth from 18 clubs to 62 Planet Fitness clubs across six states. Prior to Excel Fitness, Jeff was an Army combat arms officer before assuming technology and strategy roles at USAA, McKinsey and a variety of start-ups.

Mike Beeney is the Director of Myzone Asia Pacific, a wearable technology company who work with over 6,000 facilities across 65 countries. Mike holds a Masters degree in exercise and health sciences and has worked in the health and fitness sector for over 20 years both in the UK and across the Asia Pacific region.

During this episode Mike talks us through the current landscape of wearable tech in the fitness industry, what the future looks like plus how wearables can enhance member retention and adherence.

Katie Bossie is the Senior Business Manager, Health & Fitness for Listen 360. She joined the Listen360 team in 2015 and oversees business development and service delivery of Listen360's member feedback and reviews management system for all health and fitness clients. Having worked with clubs and studios of all types and sizes, Katie is keenly suited to share insights and best practices on what drives member loyalty in the health and fitness industry.

Before launching her own company, FORTË, Lauren Foundos spent a decade working on Wall Street, with the last five years in finance on the trading floor as an Institutional US Government Bond Broker at Whitaker Securities where she helped to dramatically increase UST Short Coupon and Bill desk revenues. Prior to that she worked at Deutsche Bank in Synthetic Equities and Cloudview Capital Management, a global-macro hedge fund, on their trading desk. Lauren graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006, with a BA in communications and concentration in business. She earned ACC Academic Honor Roll, and Intercollegiate Athletic Honor Roll during her time at Maryland.

David Steel is the Chief Viral Officer of Sneeze It, a division of The Steel Method. In his role, he educates companies on how to attract prospects, build a lead pipeline, and convert those leads into customers. He is a best-selling author and online marketing expert who has given speaking engagements in the United States and abroad on how to create successful—and lucrative—digital and social marketing campaigns.

Amanda Bond is owner of The Ad Strategist and the creator of the StrADedy System.

Entrepreneur Magazine calls her a "Facebook advertising genius", Social Media Examiner named her "the brightest mind in Facebook advertising today" due to her unique mix of creativity and her vast analytical experience from analyzing hundreds of millions of client ad impressions.

Amanda joins us in this episode to talk about conversational selling on Facebook.

Josh Leve is the Founder & CEO of the Association of Fitness Studios (AFS). AFS is the most trusted and fastest growing business association, dedicated to current and aspiring fitness owners.

Josh has been featured in all major news outlets and is a featured speaker for all major fitness events such as IHRSA, Athletic Business, Club Industry, NSCA, NASM Optima, EMPOWER!, and ZUMBA.