WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness

Full schedules, waitlisted classes and a bell that rings every time a membership sells. Plenty of fitness businesses look busy and still lose money. In this episode we talk about why the industry keeps rewarding activity over profit and what gym, club and studio owners can fix this week.

Erin shares the instructor VIP-code campaign that brought in 50 people, got celebrated at the staff meeting and made zero dollars because nobody built a follow-up process. Annie draws on her years as a general manager at Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs to explain how commissions on 30-day “annual” memberships drain a club. She also tells the story of pulling racquetball courts to expand cycle and add pickleball before most clubs had it, and what the backlash looked like.

We also cover the panel where a studio founder admitted he caps coaches at six classes a week so members won’t follow them out the door. Then there’s the towel-folding contest that turned into serious payroll savings, along with the sacred cows in your business that everyone is afraid to touch.

In this episode

• Why free passes, discounts and VIP codes cost you money when there’s no conversion funnel behind them, and how constant sales train members to wait for the next deal
• Sales commission guardrails: chargebacks on early cancellations, minimum terms and pricing short-term memberships for what they cost you
• Making programming and scheduling decisions from utilization data instead of attachment, including what to do with a loyal coach who isn’t your strongest and a top performer you’re afraid to grow

Connect with WELL RUN
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellrun.podcast/
Book a Pick Our Brain session with both of us: https://stan.store/wellrun
Email: [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

Fitness brands love to say their coaches are everything. The harder question is whether the business model reflects that.

In this episode of WELL RUN, we sit down with Bobby Westside to talk about what a real career in fitness can look like now. We get into compensation, ClassPass, restrictive contracts, personal brands and the growing tension around who owns the relationship with the customer.

Bobby has seen the industry from several sides, first as a coach and instructor and now as an entrepreneur. That gives us plenty to work with. We talk about where operators fall short, where coaches need to take more ownership of their careers and what changes when an instructor can build an audience outside the four walls of a studio.

We also get into Adonis and why Bobby decided to build something around the problems he kept seeing.

What we're talking about:

• Why it can still be difficult to build a long-term career as a fitness professional
• What operators may miss when strong coaches start looking elsewhere
• Why compensation matters, but career path and ownership matter too
• The ClassPass argument from the operator side
• How social media has shifted leverage between fitness brands and instructors
• Who owns the customer relationship when people are showing up for a specific coach
• Why Bobby built Adonis and how he sees the role of the independent fitness professional changing

There are some strong opinions in this one, including a few places where we push back.

For owners and operators, this is really a talent question. If great coaches are driving retention, experience and demand, what makes them want to keep building inside your business?

Send this one to an owner, operator or coach who has an opinion on where the industry is headed.

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

You love your fitness business. So why does running it sometimes feel so exhausting?

For many gym owners, boutique fitness studio founders and wellness operators, burnout becomes part of the job. You're covering instructor callouts, managing payroll, responding to member issues after hours and making decisions that nobody else seems able to make.

At some point, it's worth asking whether the problem is your workload or the way your business operates.

In this episode of WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness, co-hosts Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack get personal about their own experiences with burnout and what they've learned working with fitness and wellness business owners who are stretched too thin.

We explore how passionate founders become bottlenecks in their own businesses, why delegating can feel harder than doing the work yourself and what happens when your team becomes dependent on you for everything.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• Why fitness studio owners and club leaders experience recurring burnout
• How doing everything yourself can limit business growth
• The hidden costs of poor delegation and unclear leadership responsibilities
• How hiring, onboarding and compassionate accountability can reduce owner dependency
• Why understanding the value of your time matters when growing a fitness business
• When fractional leadership or an outside business perspective may help
• How to stay connected to the work you love without carrying every responsibility

We also challenge the idea that profitability automatically means a business is operating well.

Sometimes burnout follows a demanding season. Other times, it's the check engine light telling you that something within the business needs attention.

If you own a boutique fitness studio, operate a health club, lead a wellness business or manage a growing fitness team, this conversation might change how you look at your workload and your leadership.

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

Sebastien Lagree has spent decades building a fitness method, an equipment platform and a global licensing business around one central idea: the machine is only a tool. The method is what matters.

In this episode of WELL RUN, Erin Schirack and Annie Adragna sit down with the founder of Lagree Fitness and creator of the Megaformer for a conversation that goes well beyond Pilates comparisons.

Sebastien takes us back to the early days of Lagree and explains how circuit training, biomechanics and client outcomes shaped the method long before the Megaformer became recognizable around the world.

We also get into something operators should pay attention to: what happens when a category gets popular enough that everyone wants a version of it.

Sebastien shares his perspective on imitation, why not every reformer-style workout is Lagree and why he believes programming and execution matter more than the equipment sitting in the room.

The conversation moves into where Lagree is headed next, including digitally enhanced machines designed to coach tempo and range of motion in real time. Interestingly, Sebastien sees some of that technology as a way to create greater focus and mindfulness during training, not more distraction.

We also talk about the business behind the brand.

Why licensing instead of franchising? How do you continue innovating without making every studio owner replace equipment every time something changes? What does product development look like when your roadmap extends years into the future?

Sebastien also gets personal about the realities of being a founder, hitting periods of burnout and finding his way back to the work with a different relationship to fitness, wellness and life outside the business.

Key Takeaways

• Why Sebastien separates the Lagree method from the machine it is performed on
• What operators should understand about programming, biomechanics and client outcomes before chasing equipment trends
• His perspective on the growing number of reformer and Megaformer-adjacent concepts entering the market
• How digital guidance, tempo and range-of-motion technology may change the Lagree experience
• Why Lagree chose a licensing model and how that supports continued product innovation
• What is coming next across Lagree equipment and programming
• The founder side of building a global fitness brand and what Sebastien has learned about burnout, recovery and longevity

This is a conversation about fitness, but it is also about intellectual property, product strategy, category ownership and what it takes to keep evolving after your original idea becomes an industry.

Connect with Sebastien Lagree

Want to learn more about Sebastien, the Lagree Method or the business behind the brand?

Sebastien Lagree
Website
Instagram

Lagree Fitness
Website
Instagram
TikTok
YouTube
Facebook

Interested in the business side of Lagree?

Explore Lagree Licensing
Explore Lagree Certification
Contact Lagree Fitness

For licensing, certification, press and general inquiries: [email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

WELL RUN is back.

In the first episode of the newly relaunched podcast, Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack take on one of the more interesting shifts happening inside fitness right now: Pilates-adjacent programming being built into the membership experience.

The conversation starts with Life Time’s CTR, Core, Tone and Reform, a reformer-based class included in its Signature Membership, then gets into the bigger business question.

What happens when an experience consumers associate with premium Pilates becomes part of the membership?

Erin and Annie look at it from both sides. There is a strong case for programming that increases participation, gives members another reason to use the club and strengthens retention. There are also legitimate questions around positioning, instructor standards, safety, revenue and what happens to an established Pilates business when the lines between methods start getting blurry.

The bigger issue is not whether every club should build its own version.

It is whether operators understand what problem they are solving before they copy what someone else is doing.

Key takeaways:

• Why Pilates, Megaformer and reformer-style fitness should not automatically be treated as the same product

• How included programming can increase perceived membership value and become a meaningful retention tool

• The revenue tension between making a format more accessible and protecting a premium Pilates department

• Why instructor qualifications, coaching standards and class design become more important as these programs scale

• What operators should evaluate before adding a Pilates-adjacent format to their own programming mix

• Why strengthening the Pilates business you already have may create more value than chasing the newest format

• Where Annie and Erin disagree on whether this model is worth pursuing

This episode is less about CTR itself and more about a decision operators face constantly: when do you follow a market shift and when do you protect what already makes your business valuable?

Welcome back to WELL RUN.

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

HYROX is everywhere right now.

But for gym owners and operators, the more interesting question is not whether HYROX is having a moment. It’s what the rise of HYROX tells us about where fitness programming is going and what members increasingly want from their clubs.

Annie Adragna and co-host Erin Schirack sit down with Heli Wiener, Commercial Sales Manager at Centr, to talk about HYROX, group fitness programming, community and the business opportunity behind training for something bigger than another workout.

Before joining Centr, Heli spent years leading programming for large health clubs, developing group fitness and training programs, coaching teams and creating member experiences. Today, she works with clubs, studios and fitness operators to create strength and functional training environments with a particular focus on HYROX.

The conversation goes beyond the race itself.

They talk about what happens when programming stops being treated as another amenity on the schedule and starts being viewed as part of the club’s retention, engagement and revenue strategy.

They also get into one of the harder programming questions for operators: how much structure is enough? Strong brands need standards and consistency, but great instructors also need enough room to create energy, connection and community.

And then there’s HYROX.

The rapid growth of HYROX has brought competitive functional fitness to a much broader audience and created something clubs are constantly trying to build: members with a reason to train, a goal to work toward and a community they want to stay connected to.

Heli shares how Centr and HYROX are working together to create authentic race-training environments and why clubs don’t necessarily need to transform their entire facility to participate.

For operators, the opportunity is bigger than adding another program.

It’s understanding whether a programming concept can increase utilization, strengthen retention, create incremental revenue and give members another reason to choose your facility.

A few things we get into:

• Why group fitness programming should be evaluated as a business driver, not just a member amenity
• The balance between brand standards and instructor creativity
• Why training toward a goal or event can change member behavior
• What HYROX is doing differently from traditional functional fitness
• Where CrossFit, group fitness and HYROX overlap
• Why the actual training environment matters when members are preparing to race
• How operators can approach HYROX without immediately making a massive investment
• The role of simulations, events and community in creating revenue opportunities
• What operators should think about before deciding how far to take HYROX inside their facility

About Heli Wiener

Heli Wiener is passionate about helping gyms and fitness facilities create spaces where people love to train.

Before joining Centr, she spent years as a programming manager for large health clubs, developing group fitness and training programs, leading teams and creating exceptional member experiences.

Today, as part of the Centr commercial team, Heli partners with clubs, studios and fitness operators to deliver strength and functional training solutions with a special focus on HYROX. Her operational background gives her a unique perspective on how facilities can create high-performance training environments that support member engagement, retention and long-term business growth.

Connect with Heli + Learn More

Heli Wiener: Connect with Heli on LinkedIn

Centr x HYROX Affiliate Equipment:
https://shop.centr.com/pages/hyrox-equipment-affiliate

Centr Commercial: Commercial equipment and facility solutions for gyms, clubs, studios and HYROX training environments.

Topics

HYROX, HYROX training, HYROX gyms, HYROX race training, HYROX affiliate, Centr HYROX, HYROX equipment, functional fitness, hybrid fitness, group fitness programming, gym programming, fitness programming, gym revenue, health club revenue, member retention, member engagement, fitness community, gym community, fitness events, CrossFit, gym owners, fitness operators, health club operators and commercial fitness.

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

Infusing Wellness into Hospitality with Erin Schirack

In this episode of Well Run, Annie Adragna sits down again with Erin Schirack, founder of HIGH SOCIETY, for a conversation about what hospitality brands are getting right and wrong when it comes to wellness.

The two discuss why consumers are no longer looking at wellness as a bonus amenity and instead are expecting it to be woven into the overall experience. From sleep support and calmer environments to fitness programming, recovery offerings and thoughtful food and beverage options, Erin shares why the future of hospitality is about helping people genuinely feel better, not just offering trendy activations.

They also talk about where operators miss the mark by adding wellness language without fixing operational issues underneath it. Staffing, leadership, team training, execution and ownership all play a major role in whether wellness experiences feel elevated or disconnected.

Throughout the episode, Erin shares practical ideas hospitality brands can implement now, including on-demand trainers, guided walks, meditation, recovery experiences, Pilates, sauna, contrast therapy and ways hotels can create experiences that attract both travelers and local communities.

This conversation is especially valuable for hospitality brands, hotels and wellness-focused businesses looking to integrate fitness and wellness in a way that feels intentional, operationally sound and commercially smart.

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

Many health clubs say they personalize training. Few actually systemize it.

In this episode of the Well Run Podcast, Annie sits down with Nile Bratcher, certified performance and health coach, Certified Surgical Technologist with University of Colorado Health, creator of REFORM and host of Reform – Health, Performance, Recovery with Nile.

Nile shares what nearly two decades of coaching, combined with clinical surgical experience and 25 years as a B-boy and martial artist, have taught him about programming integrity. He explains why most trainers are operating as exercise pickers rather than strategic programmers, and how that gap shows up in member results, recovery outcomes and brand consistency.

They also address the explosion of recovery services in health clubs. Cold plunge. Compression. Infrared. Breathwork. Nile outlines why recovery must be integrated into programming through physiological understanding rather than trend adoption. When recovery tools are used without education, risk increases and results plateau.

This episode challenges club owners, general managers and training directors to rethink education as a core operational strategy. 

If you lead a club, studio or wellness space and want scalable personalization, stronger retention and consistent coaching standards, this conversation will sharpen your lens.

Key Topics Covered

• Why cookie-cutter programming creates operational risk
• The difference between exercise selection and true programming strategy
• How copycat coaching erodes team standards
• Building scalable personalization inside a commercial fitness model
• Integrating recovery into programming with physiological precision
• Auditing knowledge gaps across your coaching team
• Defining non-negotiables for high-integrity training departments
• Education as a retention and brand protection strategy
• Preparing your club for the continued rise of recovery services

Who This Episode Is For

• Health club owners
• Investor-backed fitness operators
• General managers
• Directors of personal training
• Studio founders
• Performance and recovery leaders

If you influence hiring, compensation structure or programming standards, this one is for you.

Connect with Nile Bratcher

Podcast: Reform – Health, Performance, Recovery with Nile
Nile on Instagram
 

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

It’s Personal and It’s Business: Why Great Fitness Leaders Stop Pretending Otherwise

There’s a common belief in the fitness industry that being professional means being emotionally detached. If you care too much, lead with heart or allow your work to feel personal, you’re crossing some invisible line. This episode pushes back on that idea.

No one ends up owning a club, running a studio or leading a team in this industry by accident. There’s always a reason... a moment, passion, personal experience that pulled you in and kept you here. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make you more professional; It usually just makes leadership feel colder than it needs to be.

In this solo episode of Well Run, Annie explores why allowing your “why” to be personal is not only normal, but often the difference between leaders who build strong, loyal teams and those who struggle with disengagement and turnover.

She shares how, earlier in her career, she believed she had to show up a certain way to be taken seriously. More guarded. More neutral. Less human. That approach may have looked polished on the surface, but it created distance and misunderstanding she never intended.

This conversation is about the middle ground many leaders miss. The space where you can lead with who you really are while still holding high standards, clear expectations, and professional boundaries.

You’ll hear reflections on:

• Why “it’s just business” often disconnects leaders from the very reason they started
• How overcorrecting toward professionalism can flatten culture and trust
• What personal leadership actually looks like when it’s done with maturity and discipline
• How to integrate care, accountability, and boundaries without blurring lines
• Why the most successful fitness leaders allow their work to matter to them

This episode is an invitation to stop forcing yourself into leadership molds that don’t fit and start leading in a way that feels aligned, grounded, and sustainable.

In this industry, it’s personal and business
 

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.

Well Run Podcast

In this episode of the Well Run Podcast, Annie Adragna sits down with Victor "V-Man" Verhage, a leading strategist in the recovery, wellness, and longevity space, to explore where member experience is truly headed and why personalization is no longer optional for gyms, studios, and boutique fitness brands.

This conversation looks beyond trends and technology to address a growing reality in the industry: members are overwhelmed, operators are guessing, and retention suffers when experiences are not intentional. Victor shares how integrating DNA data, recovery, wellness, and training into a cohesive ecosystem helps clubs move from reactive programming to personalized journeys members can trust.

Rather than adding more services or chasing the latest modality, this episode focuses on how personalization improves confidence, consistency, and results for members while helping operators create solutions they may not even realize their business needs yet.

Together, Annie and Victor unpack how recovery, sleep, emotional connection, and data-informed decisions are shaping the next era of fitness and wellness, and why brands that fail to address this shift will struggle to keep members long-term.

This episode is a must-listen for owners and operators who care about retention, differentiation, and building environments members never want to leave.

Key Takeaways

• Why personalization has become a retention necessity in fitness and boutique studios
• How DNA and data can guide safer, more effective training and recovery decisions
• The difference between adding recovery services and building a true wellness ecosystem
• Why emotional connection and trust are central to modern member experience
• How personalization helps solve problems members struggle to articulate

About the Guest

Victor “V-Man” Verhage is a leading strategist in the next evolution of member experience, helping fitness clubs and boutique studios integrate DNA, data, and high-ROI recovery, wellness, and longevity solutions. He champions a future where personalization drives deeper results, stronger retention, and true differentiation in a crowded market. His work empowers operators to transform their spaces into performance-driven wellness ecosystems members never want to leave.

🔗 Learn more: https://www.roiinwellness.com

🔗 Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-verhage-77175014/

Send us Fan Mail

WELL RUN: The Business of Fitness + Wellness
Hosted by Annie Adragna and Erin Schirack.

Connect: @wellrun.podcast
For more information or to work with us, visit WELL RUN on Instagram and send us a DM.

Email us: [email protected]

Annie Adragna | Oasis Consulting Firm
25 years in fitness leadership. Advises owners and investors on profitable operations, talent strategy and product development.
Website | Instagram

Erin Schirack | HIGH SOCIETY
Luxury wellness consultant and Pilates educator turning distinctive programming and brand experiences into revenue.
Website | Instagram

Enjoying WELL RUN? Follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify. Share an episode with a fellow owner or operator.