HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness

We're excited to release our Oct 14th conversation with Liz Clark, the newly appointed CEO of IHRSA. She joined Pete for a HALO Talks live during the IHRSA 2021 convention in Dallas. Liz grew up in Montana, played 3 varsity sports and is an avid outdoor fan, "but I'm a city kid now and live in DC!" she jokes.

When asked about the advocacy role IHRSA plays she states, "Yes, we have a trade show and publications, but we were never an advocacy focused organization. We did do a lot of advocacy at the state level, but nothing federally. We just weren't structured that way. That wasn't the Mission of the Board . . . but obviously over time it became much more critical." She continues, "We know we lost a lot of members over the years because we weren't focused on advocacy . . . I was very intentionally chosen for this position to pivot the organization to focus on advocacy and communication. That is the first thing we're doing out of the gate."

She discusses the need for IHRSA to reevaluate "our value for membership," the actual name of the organization itself, the value proposition, and much more. She also provides immediate, easy-to-follow advice for what health clubs (and members) can do to continue to get their voices heard, talks about how PAC's work, other concerns which are at the top of her list, what drew her to IHRSA, and more. This is a must listen for anyone in the HALO sector!

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Jonathan is the CEO of Ingenuity Brands, which has Brainiac as their flagship product. He states, "I got into this space unintentionally. I always wanted to do things to help people and the planet." His background was founding a company focused on renewable energy. Listen to learn more about how (and why) they ended up in the "brain health" space, and a some tips on balancing entrepreneurial energy with discipline, planning, excitement, and focus. ("It's about planting seeds, harvesting relationships, it's about working your butt off ultimately, and following the opportunity.") Jonathan's story and how he ended up doing what he does currently is a wild, fun ride and a must-listen for any entrepreneur!

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Darryl and David Bailey have been in the HALO sector for 40 years. The family business began in 1979 and they were way ahead of the curve with with regards to using software to manage their clubs. They even developed their own, a system called PSI Power Software.

Currently at 17 locations, they started small and eventually grew them into 20-40,000 square feet facilities and now completely dominate the Jacksonville, Florida area. Among many other topics in this wide ranging discussion with Pete--they discuss about how their demographic has skewed toward women versus when they first started, how the first four days back after they were allowed to reopen were the largest in the club's history, building brand loyalty, what their future plans are, advice for newer club owners, and more!

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Lynn Cherry picked up a pickleball racquet about three years ago and, a month later, she got hooked and quickly started the Pickleball Fire podcast and website. Pickleball started back in the 60's, and is now one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. "Anyone can get on the court and play immediately! I've met so many people who've never played any other sport in their life, but they get on the court and can get started easily!" she states.

We are still in the "top of the first" when it comes to pickleball and many people in the industry want to get it into the 2028 LA Olympics. Lynn chats about the sports explosion, RV parks/pickleball concepts, how the demographic is moving to the younger generations, why this is a must for anyone in the HALO sector to consider, and more!

Download complete transcript here.

As a serial entrepreneur (who also was on the founding team of Audible in addition to other start ups,) CEO of Halotherapy Solutions Steve Spiro states, "I kind of just stumbled onto the Halotherapy industry. It's been great, and business is absolutely exploding now!" Halotherapy began about 150 years ago in Poland and Russia, made its way to the USA about 10-15 years ago, and has been slowly growing since. Pete and Steve chat about the powerful benefits of implementing this in your facility, pricing structures, how "localized wellness and 'staycations' are going to be huge," the response from the medical community, their partnership with Clearlight saunas, and more!

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Upper Hand makes running studios, facilities, and academies easier and offers best-in-class scheduling experiences for clients and better access to data for staff. Kevin MacCauley, CEO, initially began the company as a market place to help connect parents with youth coaches. Upper Hand has changed quite a bit over time and is now at the "nexus of sports and technology."

"How do you start thinking about athlete progression? How is software helping that business owner? How does it help them deliver the value of what they're doing to help the athlete know they're getting better? Something like 20% of US income is spent on youth sports and fitness," states MacCauley. He chats with Pete about what made them pivot, offers some case studies with D-BAT (Baseball and Softball Academies,) Athletic Republic, Modern Goalkeeper, why it's critical to be a partner to your customers and not, "a vendor" and more.

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Co-Founder of The Axle Workout, Andrew Page has been a sports performance coach and fitness trainer since 19. He's worked with NBA players in the Euro league, the Hospital for Special Surgery, and has a long history with injury recovery and injury prevention. "A 7 foot long, 45 pound bar isn't really that big for guys 6'6 and up, but when you put it in the hands of someone who has never lifted weights before, it becomes a different challenge," states Page about the origins of the company.

"We saw an opportunity to create something much more practical for someone who has never lifted," he continued. Staring with a Crunch rollout, they now sell on Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Wayfair, and many others. He chats with Pete about the importance of staying lean, how it's possible to start a business without a lot of money, getting a "digital marketing education," and more!

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"Scenting is something luxury brands have always done, and paid attention to. Sense of smell has always been pivotal in the HALO market--two of the most famous brands that focus on it are Equinox and SoulCycle," states Daniel Zimmon, Founder of NatScent. He and Pete discuss the strong use case for creating a unique scent, empirical data behind the effectiveness (and very high ROI!) of scenting, the results of a famous NIKE experiment, and some examples of how this is used by companies like Wynn hotels, Aveda, Apple, Mercedes, Rolls Royce and others. This is something that should be strongly considered by any HALO company.

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Pete McCall is a respected industry veteran with 15+ years in the HALO sector. He recently published his second book with Human Kinetics titled Ageless Intensity: High-Intensity Workouts to Slow the Aging Process. "My definition of fitness is having the ability to do what you want to do, when you want to do it," he states.

He discusses his motives behind the book, provides thoughts on where fitness is going (virtual reality!), chats about the increased importance of technology at the club level--especially for those 25 and younger, building out co-working/remote working facilities in the clubs, reviews recent studies around aging and testosterone, and more. Grab the book, leave a review on Amazon, and "get after it!"

Finally, if you're not familiar with that fantastic commercial discussed in the podcast, you can see it here. (But don't say we didn't warn you!)

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As a "typical entrepreneur" who dives head first into everything, Dan did the same with CrossFit, ". . . after doing nothing for 10 years. I went down the rabbit hole, realized the software in the space was sub-par. Now, here I am 10 years later!" he jokes. He discusses how PushPress differentiates itself in a very crowded field ("We built it on the concept of integrations & expandability like the concept of app store, so you can make it your own") and more.

PushPress also tends to focus on the single owner-operated facilities as well--a space where others may have left. As a self-professed "tech nerd," he offers up thoughts on where the market is going (data driven decisions, AI, automations) as well as pricing discussions, sales (top-down or bottom-up shoppers), the importance of failure, and more!

Click here to download transcript.