Fitt Insider

Today I'm joined by Jim Crowell.

Jim is the CEO of OPEX.

On today's episode, we talk about Jim's experience as a gym owner, his journey to becoming the CEO of a fast-growing fitness company, and his thoughts on the future of the fitness industry.

I had a great time chatting with Jim and hope you enjoy listening.

More from Jim & OPEX >>

Jim is a CEO, a business investigator, and a communication strategist in the fitness industry. His work ethic, experience and vision allow him to help fitness businesses in multiple verticals grow and protect their businesses at scale.

Over his 15 year career, Jim has successfully traded energy commodities at $750M hedge fund, he's owned and sold 2 gyms with over 500 clients under his coaches' tutelage, and he's helped build and grow OPEX Fitness, Brand X, Big Dawgs Athlete and numerous other coaching companies within the chaos of the ever-changing fitness industry.

Along the way, he's never stopped learning. Jim graduated Harvard's Core Course with honors and then went on to earn his MBA from The University of North Carolina all while working full time with OPEX. He's got a ferocious interest in understanding how systems works, and he couples that with his love of simple communication to support his team, gyms, coaches, and clients.

Get in touch

• opexfit.com
• [email protected]
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-crowell/
• https://www.instagram.com/crowelljim/

More from Fitt Insider >>

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

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, lululemon, Peloton, Beyond Meat, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing at http://insider.fitt.co.

Today I'm joined by Jim Huether.

Jim is the CEO of Hyperice.

On today's episode, we talk with Jim about the company's innovative and technology-focused approach to recovery, how he thinks about leadership and team building, and why Hyperice got into the world of e-sports.

I had a great time chatting with Jim and hope you enjoy listening.

Let's get into it.

More from Jim and Hyperice >>

Jim is an Executive Leader with expertise within the health technology and medical industries. After joining HYPERICE in 2014, Jim and Team have landed the company on the Inc. 500 fastest growing company list three times, as well as being named one of the 5 most innovative companies in America.

Prior to joining HYPERICE, Jim was Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Xenith, LLC, a cutting-edge sports health / technology company at the forefront of head injury protection for athlete populations. Jim brings additional Marketing and Finance experience from roles at Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and Smith Barney, Citigroup. Jim received his MBA in Finance and Marketing from Loyola Marymount University.

https://hyperice.com/

More from Fitt Insider >>

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

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, lululemon, Peloton, Beyond Meat, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing at http://insider.fitt.co.

Today I'm joined by Lisa Blau.

Lisa is a co-founder of Able partners.

On today's episode, we talked to Lisa about the boundless nature of the wellness industry, how startups can find success by breaking down land-held stigmas, and the importance of building a strong brand.

I had a great time chatting with Lisa and hope you enjoy listening.

Let's get into it.

More from Lisa Blau and Able Partners >>

Lisa Blau​ has spent the last decade as an active angel investor focused on consumer businesses, often in the health, wellness and active lifestyle space with a particular interest in supporting women-led entrepreneurial ventures.

Together with Amanda Eilian, she is the founding partner of Able, an investment fund focused on funding early-stage startups in the healthy living and lifestyle space, with a focus on female founders. Some of their investments include Juice Beauty, Daily Harvest, The Wing, Primary Kids, Moon Juice, Goop and Chief. Previously, Lisa co-founded VitalJuice.com, a daily email newsletter on healthy living tips and trends that was acquired by Tasting Table. She also helped build and launch Portero, an online luxury goods auction platform sold to Richemont.

She has experience building businesses from the ground up with partners such as AOL, Amazon, Kleiner Perkins and The Pilot Group. Lisa started her career as a producer at CNN. She is a Board Member of The New York Public Library, KIPP New York, and The Mount Sinai Parenting Center. Lisa also chairs the Investment Committee of the Leadership Now Project, a membership organization of business professionals committed to renewing democracy. She has a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Lisa lives in New York City with her husband and three children.

More from Fitt Insider >>

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

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, lululemon, Peloton, Beyond Meat, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing at http://insider.fitt.co.

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

Sarah Larson Levey is the Co-Founder of US boutique fitness brand Y7 Studio. Born out of her own frustration with disappointing yoga experiences, Sarah and her then fiance Mason Levey launched Y7 Studio in New York back in 2013 as a popup. Since then they’ve grown their progressive brand of ‘sweat drippin’, beat bumpin’, candlelit yoga into a 14 studio operation - the latest of which opened just yesterday (November 2019) in Brooklyn.

Last year, the business, which now employees over 300 people, turned over a revenue of $9.8 million –– its explosive growth earning the brand the title of one of Inc’s fastest-growing companies in America.

In this episode we talk about the challenges of commercial real-estate, why Sarah chose to surround herself with a team of incredible experts, and how the business self-funded up until studio no. 6! Sarah also shares the importance of consistency when it comes to scaling the business, and why you’ll never see her name on the schedule - this studio isn’t about her, it’s about each and every person that walks through the door looking for their own experience. 

Do you want to stay ahead of the trends driving the growth of the $4.5 trillion wellness industry? Subscribe to this podcast and receive 10% off all Welltodo Trends Reports. Use code: PODCAST10

Thank you to our sponsors:

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

Software booking experts, MINDBODY.

Creative agency for all your wellness business needs, Skipper & Skipper.

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 Khalil Zahar.

Khalil is the CEO and co-founder of FightCamp.

On today's episode, we talk with Khalil about the evolving definition of wellness, the disruption taking place in the fitness industry, how FightCamp plans to own the boxing vertical, and what it takes to stand out in the connected fitness category.

I had a great time chatting with Khalil and I hope you enjoy listening.

More from Khalil & FightCamp >>

An engineer by profession, Khalil Zahar was completing his master thesis in Microelectromechanical Systems when he discovered his passion for boxing. Training with some of the best boxing coaches in the region, Zahar realized that quantifying his progress in the ring was a near impossibility. He saw the need for an interactive device that would provide users real-time stats and accurate feedback on each of their punches, and it was then that the idea of FightCamp was born.

Zahar has since grown FightCamp from a tracking system loved by MMA and the UFC's biggest stars into an at-home fitness experience that enables everyone, no matter where they are on their boxing journey, to enjoy the mental and physical effects of the sport.

In addition to creating FightCamp and its parent company, Hykso, Zahar is also a mentor at the Founder Institute, where he was a top graduate and was selected as the International Startup Festival's Best On-Stage Pitch. Zahar is an alumnus of Y Combinator, a prestigious Silicon Valley startup incubator that accepts less than 1% of the hundreds of applicants that apply to its program.

With FightCamp, Khalil Zahar has grown the venture into an expansive and nurturing community and has made boxing an accessible and convenient workout for everyone.

Website >> https://joinfightcamp.com/

Instagram >> https://www.instagram.com/fightcamp_/

More from Fitt Insider >>

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

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, lululemon, Peloton, Beyond Meat, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing at http://insider.fitt.co.

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

Jack Tang is the Co-Founder & CEO of Urban (formerly known as Urban Massage). An app on a mission to empower people through wellness. 

Founded in 2014. Jack and his team have built a network of 2500 wellness professionals, offering at home massage physiotherapy, osteopathy, beauty treatments and very soon personal training too. To date Urban has enabled the delivery of more than 300,000 treatments, generating an economic value of £25 million+. Urban currently operates in London, Paris, Birmingham, Manchester, and is backed by leading VC funds Felix Capital, Passion Capital, and LCIF. 

In this episode, Jack shares why his greatest learning at school was dropping out to launch his first business, why they chose to launch Urban at a time when wellness as an industry was still very unknown, and why building trust is integral to the business. Jack also dives into the mindset behind building a successful brand, why there is “no worse failure than not actually trying”, and how three questions keep him on the rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship: ‘Am I still enjoying it? Am I still learning? Do I still have the same intent and purpose (to make a positive impact?’

Do you want to stay ahead of the trends driving the growth of the $4.5 trillion wellness industry? Subscribe to this podcast and receive 10% off all Welltodo Trends Reports. Use code: PODCAST10

Thank you to our sponsors:

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

Software booking experts, MINDBODY.

Creative agency for all your wellness business needs, Skipper & Skipper.

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 Will Ahmed

Will is the founder and CEO of WHOOP.

On today's episode, we talk with Will about unlocking human performance, how alcohol affects recovery, and the difference between wellness and what Will refers to as a Performance Lifestyle.

I had a great time chatting with Will and I hope you enjoy listening.

Let's get into it.

More from Will and WHOOP >>

Will Ahmed is the Founder and CEO of WHOOP, which has developed next generation wearable technology for optimizing human performance. WHOOP today works with professional athletes across every sports league, college athletes across every conference, Olympians and the U.S. military; the company more recently released its first consumer product.

Ahmed has raised more than $50 million from top investors and has an active advisory board that consists of some of the world's most notable cardiologists, technologists, marketers, and designers. Ahmed wrote "The Feedback Tool: Measuring Fitness, Intensity, and Recovery," which sparked the underlying physiology and engineering for his work today.

Ahmed was named a 2011 Harvard College Scholar for finishing in the top 10% of his class and a CSA Scholar Athlete; he captained the Harvard Men's Varsity Squash Team. Ahmed was recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40.

More from Fitt Insider >>

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

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, lululemon, Peloton, Beyond Meat, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing at http://insider.fitt.co.

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

Created out of a love of peanut butter on toast after a long run, Pip Murray founded Pip & Nut with the aim to offer a natural alternative to a stagnant nut butter market. As the sole founder of the UK’s fastest growing nut butter brand Pip was recently awarded Natwest’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2019. 

In January 2020 Pip & Nut will celebrate their 5th birthday. A poignant moment in the life cycle of the business, Pip has always had at the back of her mind: ‘1 in 3 businesses fail within their first 5 years’. A landmark year for the brand, Pip still continues to raise the standards when it comes to the business. A recent B Corp certification, a significant increase in headcount, and expansion of the product line have all supported the growth of this incredible business.

In this episode Pip shares the journey of Pip & Nut; from her kitchen table to the supermarket. She discusses frankly the importance of finding a mentor (Giles Brooks, CEO of Vita Coco is hers), the challenges of expanding your product range too quickly and why trusting your instincts is vital when building a brand. 

Thank you to our sponsors:

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

Software booking experts, MINDBODY.

Creative agency for all your wellness business needs, Skipper & Skipper.

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 Caitlin Landesberg.

Caitlin is the founder and CEO of Sufferfest Beer Company.

On today's episode, we talk with Caitlin about what makes Sufferfest a happy accident, how she's creating the go-to beer for sweaty experiences, and why there's no such thing as luck.

I had a great time chatting with Caitlin and I hope you enjoy listening.

More from Caitlin & Sufferfest >>

Driven by her desire to have the best "finish line" beer in the world, Caitlin Landesberg took matters into her own hands. In 2012 she began to develop the beer she wanted to see in the world, and as fellow runners and endurance athletes rapidly drove demand, she launched Sufferfest Beer Company in Spring 2016.

Based in San Francisco and a Certified B Corporation, Sufferfest inspires active, healthy and passionate humans with award-winning, purpose-brewed craft beer. As the company's Founder and CEO, Caitlin brings 14 years of consumer marketing experience to the company, with prior positions including Director of Marketing at Strava—a social network for athletes. Three successful years into business, Sufferfest was fully acquired by Chico-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Spring 2019.

Caitlin is an avid trail runner, proud mom, member of the San Francisco Brewers Guild, and a graduate of Kenyon College.

More from Fitt Insider >>

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

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, lululemon, Peloton, Beyond Meat, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing at http://insider.fitt.co.

Let's talk about the business of wellness...

Founded in the UK’s South West, Myles Hopper is the Co-Founder of Mindful Chef, the UK’s favourite recipe box (as voted on Trustpilot). With turnover expected to reach £20 million by the end of 2019, the brand has a loyal customer-base including pro tennis star Sir Andy Murray, and Olympic gold winner Victoria Pendleton CBE - both investors in the business. 

In this episode, Myles shares that ‘eureka moment’ when the business idea was formed, the art of negotiating with suppliers, and how to execute a successful crowdfunding campaign. We also dive into the idea of competition as an opportunity, taking a closer look at the industry leaders and how they are expanding the category and driving consumer appetite.

Thank you to our sponsors:

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

Software booking experts, MINDBODY.

Creative agency for all your wellness business needs, Skipper & Skipper.

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