Awesome Office: Lead. Create. Inspire

How to Create Massive Value by Living Your Core Values w/ Iron Tribe Fitness' Jim Cavale


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Awesome Officers… get pumped.

Yes pumped, because this week we’ve got a phenomenal interview with Jim Cavale, the president of Iron Tribe Fitness.

Jim is a passionate, purpose-driven entrepreneur and leader who believes that culture and values are the key to building strong organizations and lasting relationships with customers.

In this episode, Jim walks us through the journey that brought him to that realization - from the baseball fields of upstate New York where he was a standout high school athlete, to the University of Montevallo in Birmingham, Alabama, where he founded the school’s broadcasting program while playing on the baseball team, to Iron Tribe, where, before he was president of the company, Jim was actually one of Iron Tribe’s very first clients.

Today, Jim has helped Iron Tribe expand to more than 41 locations in markets spanning from Seattle to Miami, and the company is on a mission to transform 15,000 lives by 2017.

Through it all, Jim has learned that core values should never be abstract, but real principles that permeate the organization and drive decision making every single day. This, he believes, is the key to creating lasting value for customers, and is a truism that applies to virtually every business, not just those in the fitness industry.

Jim also tells us about one of the most influential figures in his life, his legendary high school baseball coach Tom Dotterer, who taught Jim lifelong lessons about perseverance that he applies to his business today. 

Key Takeaways

  • Jim tells us why he ventured from New York to Birmingham, Alabama, and why being a big fish in a small pond can be a major advantage for some entrepreneurs.
  • Jim dives into some of the challenges of attracting talent to a smaller market like Birmingham, and tells us how to overcome them.
  • Jim explains how to build a community-focused organization, and why doing so is essential for any business.
  • Jim reveal the one commonality between his top performing franchises.
  • Jim explains the differences between certainty and confidence, how the two are often conflated - and why that’s bad for any business.
  • Jim talks about the role of big data in organizations, and how he leverages data to innovate at Iron Tribe.
  • Jim tells us about one of the most influential figures in his life - his high school baseball coach - and what he taught Jim about life and business.
  • Finally, Jim reveals the biggest challenge he faces as a leader of people, and how he’s overcoming that today.
  • Links

    • @JimCavale on Twitter
    • Jim’s blog JimCavale.me
    • Iron Tribe Fitness
    • Iron Tribe Franchising 
    • Iron Tribe’s Missions and Core Values
    • Gary Vaynerchuck
    • Dave Ramsey
    • Seth Godin
    • Recommended Reading

      • By Invitation Only by Alexis Maybank 
      • Don’t Disregard the Turtle (Jim’s blogpost on baseball coach Tom Dotterer) 
      • Beyond Entrepreneurship By James Collins
      • The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
      • As always, if you haven't yet, please subscribe to, rate, and review the show in iTunes. This show grows by word of mouth, and the more we grow, the more Awesome we can all create together.
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        Awesome Office: Lead. Create. InspireBy Sean Spear