At just five months old, Emilie Towns’ gym is already averaging more than $450 per member per month.

Instead of offering big group classes, Emilie built Ardent Fitness on a high-value foundation by focusing on semi-private and small-group training.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Emilie shares how her mentor helped her launch with clarity and confidence, and she lays out the systems that drive her success.

She breaks down her onboarding process and pricing strategy, and she explains how the Prescriptive Model has helped her retain clients, reinforce value and consistently deliver results. She also shares how she overcame early sales fears to find high-value clients.

If you've ever wondered how some gyms can charge so much more than others, dig into this episode!

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"Help First"

The Prescriptive Model

Gym Owners United

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0:01 - $454 ARM in 5-month-old gym

3:32 - Small group vs. semi-private

11:24 - Running a semi-private program

14:27 - How to find high-value clients

22:18 - The Prescriptive Model

What if every client in your gym happily paid you $20 more per month? What about $50 more? Or even $100 more?

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper presents the Top 10 leaderboard for average revenue per member (ARM), with the No. 1 gym earning $724 per client per month.

He explains how these elite gyms have boosted their revenue by prioritizing client value over headcount.

In fact, one gym on the leaderboard increased its revenue by 38 percent while reducing its client base by 20 percent.

Chris also breaks down the Prescriptive Model, a client-centric strategy that aligns gym services with individual goals to produce better results.

Focusing on measurable results—instead of just workouts—builds trust, boosts retention and justifies premium pricing.

Tune in to hear why “more clients” isn’t always the answer and then start scaling your gym’s average revenue per member.

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The Prescriptive Model

Gym Owners United

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00:28 - Top 10 gyms for ARM

04:30 - Why you must be profitable

09:03 - Fewer members, more revenue

11:54 - Quotes from top gym owners

16:30 - Method versus model

When Theresa Straight signed up for mentorship, she was working 70-80 hours per week—coaching for 30-plus of those—and barely scraping by.

Seventeen months later, she’s doubled her client headcount, doubled her average revenue per member and quadrupled her revenue.

Theresa raced through the stages of Two-Brain mentorship and has reached the elite Tinker level, where gym owners are earning over $100,000 per year. Her focus now is on using her gym to support her family’s lifestyle and create a bright future.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks with Theresa about the exact steps she took to grow a thriving business and get her time back.

Theresa breaks down the mindset shift that helped her transition from “coach” to “CEO” and shares key actions that fueled the gym’s growth: developing onboarding and retention systems, implementing goal reviews, and hiring staff.

Ready to grow without grinding yourself into the ground? This episode is for you. 

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The Stages of Mentorship

"The Golden Hour"

Gym Owners United

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0:01 - Theresa’s 17-month transformation

3:57 - Pre-mentorship struggles

9:34 - Quick wins in Stage 1

13:12 - Moving from coach to CEO

21:29 - Becoming an elite gym owner

Struggling to turn gym leads into paying members? Your sales funnel might need some first aid.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” marketing experts John Franklin and Matt Temby break down sales data from three gyms, identify gaps in their sales processes and explain how to fix them.

The pair dial in on three key lead-tracking metrics: set rate, show rate and close rate. They explore why one gym has trouble getting leads to set appointments, why another has so many no-shows, and why a third struggles to close high-ticket sales.

John and Matt walk through changes each gym could make to improve their sales, such as contacting leads faster and asking better questions during the sales consultation.

Tune in to hear real-world examples of sales-funnel remedies, then find and fix the weak points in your gym’s funnel.

To learn more about improving your sales process, check out Matt’s last two appearances on the show, linked below.

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Sales Process Overview

Handling Objections

Gym Owners United

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0:01 - Intro

0:39 - Setting more appointments

5:13 - Getting leads to show up

6:07 - Closing more sales

8:28 - Increasing high-ticket sales

If you own a gym, you must sell.

That probably makes you uncomfortable, but Chris Cooper is here to remind you that selling is actually the first act of coaching. If you can't get people to sign up, you can't coach them to improve their health and fitness.

Still, no fitness coach wants to feel pushy or slimy. In this episode, Coop explains how to sell while maintaining a philosophy of generosity and service.

He lays out the Help First funnel, which has four sections:

• Introduction
• Conversation
• Invitation
• Conversion

It's a system characterized by honesty, and it allows gym owners to move from "selling" to "helping":

• If you are trying to get only what you want, you are selling.
• If you are trying to supply what they want and need, you are helping.

This mindset shift will make all the difference when a desperate person is asking you how to lose 20 lb. As a coach, it's your duty to tell that person exactly how to solve the problem and offer your expert help. 

If you remember that, you'll change more lives and close more sales.

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Gym Owners United

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0:01 - Intro

0:33 - The Help First strategy

3:29 - How to start conversations

6:35 - How to extend an invitation

12:22 - Sales: the first act of coaching

14:30 - The Prescriptive Model

How can gym owners achieve financial freedom and retire comfortably? Traditional retirement plans are not always the best answer for gym owners, and relying solely on gym income can be risky.

To tackle this question, Chris Cooper sits down with Joey Mure from “Wealth Without Wall Street,” a podcast and online community designed to educate people on how money truly works.

Chris and Joey discuss how gym owners can become financially independent, invest wisely and build wealth beyond their gyms.

Joey introduces alternative wealth-building strategies such as syndication, land flipping and infinite banking. He also breaks down legal ways to minimize what you owe in taxes and keep more of your hard-earned money working for you.

Gym owners, it’s time to start planning for your financial future—tune in to hear how.

Use the link below to access free resources and take the financial freedom quiz.

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Free Resources

Gym Owners United

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05:24 - Where to invest your money

12:45 - Passive income from your business

19:05 - Small ways to get started 

22:29 - How syndication works

25:28 - Infinite banking breakdown

32:41 - Free resources for listeners

Economic uncertainty is coming, but that doesn’t mean your gym has to struggle.

In fact, the best gym owners use challenging times as an opportunity to grow, refine their businesses and come out stronger on the other side.

In today’s episode, Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper lays out the exact steps gym owners can take to thrive during an economic downturn.

Slashing membership rates is the wrong move—Chris shares smarter strategies for growing top-line revenue, from prioritizing high-value services to improving retention by strengthening relationships with existing clients.

He also explains how to cut unnecessary costs before you’re forced to and optimize your sales process to convert more leads.

Tune in to learn how to build resilience, stay ahead of financial challenges and run a profitable gym—no matter what the economy brings.

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Gym Owners United

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01:19 - Go upmarket, not down

05:34 - Market for retention

08:44 - Improve your weakest metric

10:38 - Grow top-line revenue 20%

13:17 - Plan for the worst, hope for the best

16:26 - Cut spending & maximize ROI

19:42 - Lean on your network

Struggling to pay yourself enough as a gym owner? James Harris of Brentwood Barbell went from barely scraping by to generating $30,000 a month in revenue—and today, he’s sharing exactly how he did it.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with James to unpack his journey from burnout to six-figure success.

A former physical therapist turned gym owner, James reveals how Two-Brain Business helped him triple his revenue in less than three years.

He also shares how ego nearly cost him his business and explains why “going out of business isn't the worst thing—staying in business and not making money is.”

James breaks down the key tactics that transformed his business, including tracking his metrics, planning his year, raising rates and building “gap strategies” to overcome revenue shortfalls.

Tune in to hear how to systemize your gym and boost your income, just like James did. Then, shoot Chris Cooper a DM to get free copies of his sample profit-and-loss statement (P&L) and annual plan.

You can find Chris—and thousands more supportive gym owners—in Gym Owners United, linked below.

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Gym Owners United

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02:17 - Journey with Two-Brain

05:26 - Overview of James’ gym

09:37 - Low points to $100k NOB

13:28 - Paying yourself more

21:21 - What’s next for James?

First-time entrepreneur Natalie Winslow opened her gym with the support of a Two-Brain mentor and brought her income from $0 to $100,000 in under a year.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym” host Mike Warkentin talks with Natalie, owner of The Gym at Tierra Verde in Florida, to find out the exact steps she took to build a profitable gym fast.

Natalie shares how her mentor guided her to develop a solid plan for her business, including standard operating procedures that ensured the gym ran smoothly from Day 1.

Another key aspect of this plan was the Two-Brain Founders Club, which allowed Natalie to hit the ground running with 45 members on opening day—and 75 percent of them are still clients today!

Mentorship also helped her avoid costly mistakes gym owners make when structuring their businesses and hiring new employees.

Tune in to hear about Natalie’s journey from stay-at-home mom to six-figure-earning gym owner—then book a call via the link below if you want to talk about how mentorship can help you, too.

Links

Gym Owners United

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00:53 - Journey to $100k NOB

04:10 - Summary of Natalie’s gym

06:56 - Starting a gym with a mentor

11:42 - Setting goals with a mentor

15:30 - Where gym owners can start

CrossFit founder Greg Glassman is back with a new project: MetFix.

In this exclusive interview on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain Business CEO Chris Cooper gets the inside story on Glassman’s latest venture—a program designed to attack chronic disease through its focus on metabolic health.

Glassman explains why he believes sugar is public enemy No. 1, how broken science has misled the fitness industry and why MetFix is in a position to address problems that CrossFit can’t.

He also shares his thoughts on the failures of modern education and why changing one life at a time is the only way to win the war on metabolic dysfunction.

Greg discusses MetFix’s potential applications in hospitals, schools and CrossFit affiliates, and he clarifies the relationship between MetFix and CrossFit.

This is a conversation you can’t miss. Tune in to hear more about MetFix and get Greg Glassman’s unfiltered take on health and nutrition.

To learn more about MetFix, visit the link below.

Links

MetFix

Gym Owners United

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00:11 - How to teach nutrition to a 6-year-old

21:50 - Getting proactive about health

38:04 - How Greg teaches his kids science

48:11 - Joy from teaching

01:17:45 - Greg’s closing thoughts