Meet Blake Burnard, owner of Grind Haus in Bakersfield, California!

THE NUMBERS: Revenue: +72% since joining BOS Profit Margin: 23% to 26% Membership: +50% Adult Churn: ~12% down to under 3% (75% reduction) Owner's Workload: Removed ~30 hours per week

KEY MOVES:

- The adult program became the stabilizing engine. Grind Haus moved from essentially zero adult business to 125 adults. Adult revenue now trends near $50K monthly with much higher margins.

- Blake stopped trying to "outsell" churn. Adult attrition fell from roughly 12% monthly to under 3% after building a defensive system: attendance tracking, check-ins, goal reviews, events, exit interviews, gifting and first-100-days onboarding.

- Marketing stayed aggressive and scalable. Paid social, especially Facebook, drove early adult growth, supported by referrals, email and consistent organic social.

- Capacity got smarter. Grind Haus added concurrent adult sessions into previously underused morning hours instead of rushing into another location.

- Hiring became selective. Blake now prioritizes integrity, ownership, work ethic, coachability and character over degrees and polished resumes.

- Leadership layers replaced Blake's workload. The company now has a facility leader, program leaders, coaches and interns with real KPIs and accountability. Blake created a 5-7 stage career progression tied to company growth.

- Better people improved economics. Profit margin rose while the team expanded and Blake's operational burden fell.

LISTEN IN FOR:

- How to build an adult revenue engine from zero.

- Why cutting churn matters more than constantly replacing members.

- The leadership crisis that changed everything and how Blake rebuilt it.

- Moving from salesman to systems-driven CEO.

- Why high standards in hiring create owner capacity, not just payroll costs.

- Building a leadership structure that lets you work less, not more.

Find Grind Haus here: https://www.grindhaus.com

Register for The Gold Medal Standard: https://bosretreat.com

Meet Joe Pearson, owner of The Strength Feed in Raleigh, North Carolina!

THE NUMBERS: Revenue: +22% Membership: +15% Profit: +20.2% Coaching Hours: 3-5 per week Owner's Workload: Down significantly from 2023.

KEY MOVES:

- Budget discipline became a growth lever. Monthly line-item budgeting replaced reactive spending. Equipment purchases are planned. Debt is being paid down.

- Marketing became a real annual system. Strength Feed increased marketing spend, ran more Google advertising and doubled down on proven campaigns instead of inventing a new promotion every month.

- Membership grew 15% without a matching increase in coaching payroll; better economics from the existing facility and team.

- Products got simplified around 2x, 3x and unlimited training. Average attendance jumped, creating an opportunity to align packages with how clients actually train.

- Marketing and sales have one clear owner. Joe controls lead follow-up, calls, email, social messaging and sales. He also personally completes quarterly goal-setting conversations with top members, creating retention intelligence and testimonials.

- Team doubled down. From Joe and one other coach to a five-coach team actively hiring a sixth. Travis owns performance direction and coaching acquisition. Andrew owns client success and key communication systems.

LISTEN IN FOR:

- How budget discipline and line-item budgeting became a revenue lever.

- Why membership grew without adding coaching hours.

- The shift from reactive to strategic marketing and what "proven plays" actually means.

- What happens when you move from financial fear to financial control.

- Building a team deep enough to replace your coaching hours.

- From coach doing everything to operator building systems.

Find The Strength Feed here: https://www.thestrengthfeed.com

Register for The Gold Medal Standard: https://bosretreat.com

Meet Noam Tamir, CEO of TS Fitness in New York City!THE NUMBERS:First-Half Revenue: +18% vs. prior yearQ2: Highest-revenue quarter in company historyProfit Margin: ~22% (up ~21% vs. prior first half)Noam's Workload: ~30 solid hours/week (capacity available for expansion)KEY MOVES:- Right person, right seat. Filip moved into GM/coaching operations. Parker stepped into primary sales leadership. Both owned their domains instead of Noam managing everything.- Team to salary. Moved the full coaching staff from splits to salary. Commitment and continuity improved. Coaches added private training, mentorship, and sales work to their role.- Revenue diversification. High-ticket mentorship, peptide-support coaching, and private training revenue expanded significantly.Sales efficiency. Q2 generated more joins from fewer leads than Q1 — better conversion without higher volume.- Offer clarity. "3-for-$99 Spring Back Into Fitness" sold 39 programs with ~31% conversion — a simple, low-friction entry point that scaled.- Local over paid. Micro-influencers, founder-led social, community events, referrals, and joint ventures replaced reliance on paid acquisition as costs rose.LISTEN IN FOR:- How moving the team to salary actually protected margin while scaling headcount.- Why leadership seats matter more than individual heroics.- The real math behind "owner capacity" and location expansion.- Building a gym that works without you on the floor every day.Find TS Fitness here: https://tsfitnessnyc.comRegister for The Gold Medal Standard: https://bosretreat.com

You asked we answered.

On this episode of the Business of Strength Podcast Dan Goodman answers questions for listeners.

Enjoy!

Information about the retreat.

https://bosretreat.com

In this episode, Dan Goodman shares the key lessons from our recent Business of Strength Mid-Year Reset and the exact systems we're focusing on at Varsity House to finish the year strong.

You'll learn:

- Why success can lead to complacency—and how to avoid it.

- Why retention is more profitable than constant acquisition.

- How to use client attribution to double down on what's working.

- Why consistency, systems, and meeting cadence beat motivation.

- The Keep. Cut. Combine. exercise to simplify your business.

- Why now is the time to review pricing, cash flow, and your marketing plan for Q4.

Simple. Practical. Actionable..

Giddyup!

P.S. Don't forget to reserve your spot for The Gold Medal Standard! September 18th and 19th. Park City, Utah. https://bosretreat.com

On today's episode, Joe Riggio sits down with Zach Even-Esh to unpack the people side of running a successful gym. They cover leadership, employee development, and the Five-Diamond Hospitality framework that turns great coaching into repeatable revenue.

Learn practical systems for meetings, follow-ups, reactivations, referrals, and service-recovery tactics borrowed from restaurants to keep members loyal. If you run a gym or coach athletes, this episode is a playbook for building culture, reducing churn, and turning clients into advocates.

P.S. Don't forget to register for the upcoming Gold Medal Retreat! Located in Park City, Utah on September 18th and 19th. A two-day retreat built around one of the most overlooked advantages in the fitness industry: hospitality.

Link here: https://bosretreat.com

On this episode of the Business of Strength Podcast, Dan Goodman recounts his weekend spent at the Summer Summit hosted by Scott Leech.He breaks down a few lessons all gym owners need to hear from an action packed day in the Ocean State. Park City Gold Standard Registration: https://bosretreat.com

After a freak softball injury forced Dan away from the gym for several weeks, he was faced with a question every business owner should ask: What happens if you can't show up? In this episode, Dan shares why the business has kept moving without him, the importance of building leaders instead of creating dependency, and why developing people, systems, and culture is the ultimate measure of a healthy business. If your business can't operate without you, this conversation will help you identify what needs to change next. 

The Gold Standard - Park City

https://bosretreat.com/

In this episode of the Business of Strength Podcast, Adam sits down with BOS member Mike Rossetti. Mike is an accomplished skill trainer and basketball skill training business owner. 

The private sector sports training business is very similar to private sector health and fitness. 

Mike breaks down all the components that led him to becoming a 7 figure business owner. 

1. Early background and basketball beginnings 

2. Early greenlights he experience to confirm this is what he should be doing 

3. What are Mike’s non negotiables in business 

4. Why serving others is the #1 thing that matters. 

5. Mike’s view on business and where the industry is headed 

Our last event of the year…The Strongest Year Retreat is in Park City Utah this year at the Olympic Training Center. You can learn more here: https://bosretreat.com/ 

In this episode Adam teaches a framework for running a gym business through disciplined measurement, repeatable systems, and active leadership.

Quick Announcement: Weight Room Wealth seminar on June 4–5. Register Here: https://wealth.businessofstrength.com/

The 3 Part Framework for playing Point Guard Metrics and measurement:

The group stressed tracking product-level KPIs (attrition rate, capacity, EFT members, attendance trends) and sales KPIs (call volume, pickup rate, time on call, consults/trials booked, show rate, script adherence) so revenue changes can be tied to specific operational causes rather than misdiagnosed problems.

System building: A four-part approach to systems — define success with data, build a scorecard, create a meeting document with an owner, and speak from systems instead of about people. Weekly scorecards and regular accountability check-ins were cited as essential practices to surface trends and required adjustments.

Leadership practices: The team outlined three leadership behaviors: set regular thinking/review time (e.g., a weekly focused hour), protect company goals by framing feedback through systems and clear action language, and be visible by working alongside teams and stepping into departments as needed. The "point guard" role was defined as a multi-functional leader who enforces scorecard completion, aligns departmental actions, and maintains communication across functions.

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Sign up for our next event, Gym Business Sprint: https://sprint.businessofstrength.com