Fitt Insider

Today I'm joined by Ara Katz, co-founder & co-CEO of Seed Health — a microbial sciences company.

In this episode, we discuss the microbiome and the many ways it impacts well-being. Ara explains Seed's approach to building a platform around studying and commercializing probiotics. And we talk about the differences between wellness, healthcare, and consumer life science.

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A serial entrepreneur, advisor and angel investor, Ara Katz has eclectic experience at the intersection of health, tech, environment, media and design.

She founded Seed Health to pioneer applications of microbes for both human and environmental health. Her work encompasses the translation of breakthrough science for a pipeline of probiotic innovations from discovery through commercialization across product, brand, insights, design-thinking, delivery technologies, industrial design, international DTC, new retail strategies, community, fundraising, channel expansion, business development and science communication.

She spearheaded the company's $40MM fundraising to accelerate R+D and accelerate the company's pipeline beyond gut microbiome into microbial applications across dermatology, oral hygiene, pediatrics, women's health, infant health and nutrition. She brought the company carbon negative, to profitability, and led the acquisition of digital health ML company, Auggi.

Ara is also a co-founder of Seed Health's environmental division, SeedLabs, and its first partner biotech company focused on women's health, LUCA Biologics. Their first therapeutic for rUTI enters the clinic in September 2021 followed by interventions for BV and Preterm Birth.

Previously, Ara co-founded mobile commerce startup Spring, where she helped launch ApplePay on iPhone, and has invested in and advised companies across consumer, health and tech such as: RXDefine (TeleMed), C16 Biosciences (Sustainability), MindBodyGreen (Wellness), Mahmee (Maternal Care), Stadium Goods (Consumer / Marketplace), and Unicycle (Ed Tech).

Ara was a Visiting Fellow at the MIT Media Lab, where she helped create the Center for Future Storytelling and CCA's Design Thinking MBA program. She has appeared on numerous podcasts like Rich Roll, Girlboss Radio, Welltodo, Commune and Broken Brain. She has been named in Marie Claire's 'The New Guard: The 50 Most Influential Women in America,' Business Insider's Silicon Alley 'Top 100' and '36 Rockstar Women in NYC Tech,' Create + Cultivate's '100 List for STEM,' and Women We Admire's 'Top 100 Women CEOs of 2021.' Her work has earned accolades such as Fast Company's World Changing Ideas 2019, 2020, and 2021,TIME's Best Inventions 2018, and a Webby Award for Best Use of Stories in 2020.

She lives in Venice, California with her husband and five-year-old son, Pax (the reason Seed Health exists). She is passionate about the communication of science, the interplay of the environment and physical space, and the connecting of never before connected dots. Lastly, she's the proud owner of several tardigrades who live at Harvard's Museum of Natural History.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a platform for entrepreneurs, executives, and investors redefining the business of fitness and wellness.

From our newsletter and podcast to our industry-specific jobs board, we create content and resources to drive the industry forward. We also invest in early-stage health and fitness companies.

For more, visit: https://insider.fitt.co/

Today I'm joined by Tom Aulet, co-founder and CEO of Ergatta — a game-based connected rower.

In this episode, Tom lays out the opportunity in creating fitness offerings that go beyond instructor-led, boutique-style classes. We talk about the company's approach to designing game-based content. And we discuss the potential for Ergatta to enter new categories in addition to rowing.

More from Tom

Tom is a teacher, turned economic analyst, turned enterprise software revenue leader, turned tech entrepreneur. After graduating from Vanderbilt with a degree in Spanish & Economics, Tom spent a year teaching English to high schoolers in Spain and then two years as an economic consultant at Cornerstone Research. Wanting something completely new, he then jumped to marketing software platform MediaMath where he did global enterprise deals, ran an EMEA & LATAM revenue team out of London, and eventually built and ran a global sales team. While struggling to find a practical and enjoyable fitness routine with a demanding job, Tom got the idea for Ergatta, partnered with his two favorite ex-colleagues and built the world's first game-based cardio machine.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a platform for entrepreneurs, executives, and investors redefining the business of fitness and wellness.

From our newsletter and podcast to our industry-specific jobs board, we create content and resources to drive the industry forward. We also invest in early-stage health and fitness companies.

For more, visit: https://insider.fitt.co/

Today I'm joined by Joey Gonzalez, the CEO of Barry's — a premium boutique fitness brand.

In this episode, Joey shares his experience with the company, from customer and instructor to chief executive. We talk about Barry's X, the company's new digital platform, as well as Joey's vision for an omnichannel offering that includes partnering with connected fitness brands. Plus, we discuss the importance of building a values- and mission-driven company culture.

More from Joey

Joey Gonzalez is the CEO of Barry's, the original cardio and strength interval workout that began a global boutique fitness movement.

His Barry's journey started in 2003, as a client in the iconic Red Room. He became an instructor soon after working his way up the ranks before finally taking the helm of the business as CEO in 2015.

Since then, Gonzalez has dedicated his life to expanding the Barry's brand across the country and around the world, fostering diverse communities across 4 continents. Barry's now has 80 studios in 30 cities and 14 countries across the US, UK, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Mexico, Australia and South East Asia, and welcomes 150,000 people globally through its doors each week.

In 2020, Gonzalez oversaw the creation of Barry's At-Home, an innovative virtual concept that allowed Barry's members to experience a digital workout with Barry's instructors from around the world, from the comfort of their own homes. Since launching, Barry's At-Home has held over 20,000 digitally streamed classes and seen over 800,000 faces on the screen. He also oversaw the opening of 18 outdoors studios in select markets across the country including New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, DC, Mexico City, and Miami.

Under Gonzalez's stewardship, the brand has become known for its values of diversity and inclusivity, celebrating every member of Barry's global community through weekly diversity, inclusion and belonging workshops and initiatives such as United We Sprint, an annual celebration of World Pride month.

In 2018, Gonzalez was named to Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business list and received CEO Award of the Year from North Castle Partners. He sits on the board of the Family Equality Council and is currently studying at Harvard Business School to earn his OPM degree. In 2020, Gonzalez was named EY Of The Year Greater Los Angeles' Entrepreneur of the Year.

He currently resides in Miami, FL with his husband, daughter and son.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a platform for entrepreneurs, executives, and investors redefining the business of fitness and wellness.

From our newsletter and podcast to our industry-specific jobs board, we create content and resources to drive the industry forward. We also invest in early-stage health and fitness companies.

For more, visit: https://insider.fitt.co/

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

My guest today is Trinity Mouzon Wofford, the Co-Founder of Golde – which she launched with her high school sweetheart at the age of just 23. Golde is a wellness brand that seeks to make self-care easy, accessible and fun… and in our conversation, Trinity shares the experiences of her childhood that shaped both the vision and the products that Golde sell.

We talk about the challenges of rapid growth, how Golde has forged partnerships with some of the biggest US retailers, including Target, all with a fundamentally bootstrapped approach and single-minded focus. In this episode, we’re exploring the highs and lows of scaling a product-based business, one that takes a stand for its values… plus, who Trinity turns to for advice along the way.

Thank you to our sponsors:

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

Find out what trends are driving the growth of the wellness industry in our 2021 Consumer Wellness Trends Report. 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.

Today I'm joined by Jonathan Wolf, the co-founder and CEO of ZOE — a personalized nutrition company.

In this episode, we talk about the gut microbiome, at-home test kits, and how ZOE helps people understand the impact different foods have on their well-being. We also discuss the benefits and challenges of a direct-to-consumer model versus seeking FDA approval for companies in the health diagnostic or wearables space.

More from Jonathan

Jonathan is the cofounder of health technology company ZOE. ZOE teaches you how your own body responds to food, based on personalized tests, AI and the largest in-depth nutritional study in the world carried out with Mass General Hospital, Stanford Medicine and King's College London. He is also the cofounder of ZOE's COVID Symptom Study, the largest study of COVID in the world with over 4 million users. The study is now funded by the UK government and provides real-time monitoring of COVID cases, support for vaccine trials and crucial scientific research with KCL such as papers in Nature Medicine on which symptoms predict COVID, the importance of anosmia and the first systematic study of long COVID.

Previously he was Chief Product Officer at Criteo which was a 30 person start-up when he joined. Seven years later when he left it was public on NASDAQ, with over 2,000 people and over $1Bn revenue of revenue. In that time Jonathan built the product organization, created the publisher and midmarket sales organization, and opened the New York office. Prior to this Jonathan worked at Yahoo!

Jonathan attended Oxford University where he received the Gibbs prize for Physics and was President of the Oxford Union, and was then at Harvard. He has been a Foundation Fellow at Corpus Christi College Oxford since 2015.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a platform for entrepreneurs, executives, and investors redefining the business of fitness and wellness.

From our newsletter and podcast to our industry-specific jobs board, we create content and resources to drive the industry forward. We also invest in early-stage health and fitness companies.

For more, visit: https://insider.fitt.co/

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

My guest today is Holly Thaggard, the founder of Supergoop, a business with a mission to change the way the world thinks about sunscreen. As you’ll hear, Holly’s vision was sparked by a close friend being diagnosed with skin cancer – an experience that has motivated her over the last 15 years to continually disrupt and innovate in the sunscreen category.

Holly shares her approach to innovation, why it’s the little steps that matter, and how she determines the right time to launch (spoiler: it’s before you’re ready).

We talk about the early days of founding a brand with a non-negotiable agenda, convincing retailers to do things differently, and how education is the critical element for any consumer brand. So, let’s go ahead and dive in.

Thank you to our sponsors:

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

Find out what trends are driving the growth of the wellness industry in our 2021 Consumer Wellness Trends Report. 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.

Today I'm joined by Echelon Fitness CEO Lou Lentine.

In this episode, we discuss the company's growing connected fitness platform — including smart bikes, treadmills, rowers, and interactive workout mirrors. Lou explains how Echelon was able to build partnerships with 12K retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Costco. Plus, he talks about the company's plan to release gaming-inspired content and strength training equipment in an effort to become the hub for at-home fitness.

More from Lou

Lou Lentine embodies the very definition of an entrepreneur. By the age of thirty, he built a $30 million dollar consumer products business. Today, he stands as the CEO of Echelon Fitness and President and founder of Viatek Consumer Products Group.

Echelon Fitness, is raising the bar on at-home connected fitness by making wellness accessible and affordable for everyone. From state-of-the-art indoor cycling bikes to first-in-class touchscreen fitness mirrors, auto-folding treadmill and smart rowers, Echelon incorporates thoughtful design and smart innovation into personalized workouts that fit into your active life, when it's convenient for you. Members can join a variety of live and on-demand classes led by down-to-earth personal fitness instructors who are there to help you stay balanced and reach your wellness goals. You can even track your performance against Echelon's live leaderboard and beat your personal best while cycling, boxing, strength training, cardio, yoga and more.

Viatek Consumer Products Group is a company that has developed solution-oriented merchandise that has attracted major retailers and TV Shopping Networks. His high level of corporate citizenship and exemplary talent within the sales industry has allowed Viatek to establish partnerships around the globe and distribute products in seventy countries spanning five continents. Some of his numerous honors and recognitions include: the World Trade Book of Honor Award, Exporter of the Year Award, Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 for Central Florida & Fast 500 USA, University of Central Florida Alumni of the Year, and a Nomination for the Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.

Lou Lentine believes that the frontier of innovation starts with an idea. Developing products that make sense or solve a common problem is one of his biggest passions. In his opinion, watching a product blossom from an idea to a reality, to ultimately landing in the hands of a happy customer is the biggest success any inventor can reach.

No stranger to direct response TV, Lou Lentine developed some of the most popular items on TV including the Hurricane Spin Mop, a revolutionary mopping system that cleans floors throughout the home without the use of harsh detergents which then landed on the shelves of major retail giants including Walmart, Target, Walgreens, and CVS. The Hurricane went on to be distributed in over 30 countries. Among his other notable inventions, the patented Renu-it Battery Regenerator, a Home Shopping Network's special, sold nearly 2 million units worldwide; Mighty Jump — an emergency car jump starter sold millions of units globally.

Lentine and his affiliated companies have been developing and inventing products since 1992. He began promoting his products on television in 1996, including on HSN, the Shopping Channel Canada, QVC, USA, QVC UK, QVC Germany, and Shop TV Japan. He moved his business to Chattanooga in 2011. He has filed for more than 100 patents.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a newsletter and podcast on the business of fitness and wellness.

Join industry-leading operators and investors by subscribing: http://insider.fitt.co

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

My guest today is Alec Mills, the Co-Founder of DAME, a sustainable personal care brand which found fame by launching the world’s first reusable tampon applicator. Along with his business partner, Celia Pool, Alec reflects on the journey the duo have been on from idea to scaling up – and the various iterations, mistakes, and challenges overcome along the way.

In this episode, we’re talking about how startups in the wellness space are challenging convention AND big business, to do things differently, and to shape a future that is more consumer-friendly, more conscious and for Alec, paves the way to a more sustainable market for period-care for his own daughters too. The conversation is full of practical insights on how to get PR traction with little to no budget, why innovation matters, and how to be truly disruptive.

Thank you to our sponsors:

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

Find out what trends are driving the growth of the wellness industry in our 2021 Consumer Wellness Trends Report. 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.

Today I'm joined by Juliet and Kelly Starrett, the husband and wife team behind The Ready State – the company that pioneered mobility training.

In this episode, we talk about the evolution of their business, from a CrossFit gym to a Youtube channel and a variety of coaching products, including a digital subscription, educational courses, speaking, and consulting. We also discuss the fitness industrial complex as it relates to the booming fitness industry but widening health gap — along with how Juliet and Kelly think about increasing access and improving outcomes.

More from Kelly and Juliet

Kelly Starrett:

Kelly is the co-founder (with his wife Juliet) and Chief Creative Officer of The Ready State Inc., which pioneered musculoskeletal self-care and recovery. Kelly is also the co-author of the New York Times bestsellers Becoming a Supple Leopard and Ready to Run and the Wall Street Journal bestseller Deskbound. Kelly was also the co-founder of San Francisco CrossFit, the 21st CrossFit affiliate. Kelly consults with athletes and coaches from the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB the US Olympic Team and CrossFit works with elite Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard forces, and consults with corporations on employee health and well-being. Dr. Starrett's work is not limited to coaches and athletes; his methods apply equally well to children, desk jockeys, and anyone dealing with injury and chronic pain. He believes that every human being should know how to move and be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves.

Juliet Starrett:

Juliet Starrett is an entrepreneur, attorney, author, and podcaster. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Ready State Inc, which has pioneered musculoskeletal self-care and recovery. She is also the former co-founder and CEO of San Francisco CrossFit, one of the first 50 CrossFit affiliates. Juliet is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Bestseller, Deskbound and co-host of The Ready State Podcast. Before turning her attention to The Ready State and San Francisco CrossFit full-time, Juliet was a professional whitewater paddler, winning 3 World Championship and 5 national titles. She also had a successful career as an attorney, practicing complex commercial litigation at Reed Smith for nearly eight years.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a newsletter and podcast on the business of fitness and wellness.

Join industry-leading operators and investors by subscribing: http://insider.fitt.co

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

My guest today is Chris Sanborn, COO of cult workout concept The Class. He’s the man responsible for leading the business’s digital transformation and bringing The Class to homes right across the world. Previous to joining The Class, Chris was the Founder and President of a digital creative agency called Sanborn where he helped clients across various sectors leverage new media to grow their business.

In this episode, Chris shares the true purpose and mission of The Class, and why it’s not a concept that’s been built to make you shed weight or build an 8-pack, but to help people re-balance and find happiness. We hear his fresh perspectives around why data is only useful if it’s intertwined with magic - magic being creativity, intuition, and ideas - and why he employs a culture of ‘fail fast’ within his team. 

Thank you to our sponsors:

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

Find out what trends are driving the growth of the wellness industry in our 2021 Consumer Wellness Trends Report. 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.