Episode 144 - How to grow your business in any economy with Eric Posner

Customer experience can make or break a brand. As Judy Turchin, founder of JPT Partners LLC and former COO of Eqinox puts it, “if you are not in touch with your customer, you've lost your way on the journey.” Today on The Business Side of Fitness Podcast we chat about all things related to customer experience including: What separates an outstanding customer experience from an okay one How organizations can measure their success (hint: it’s not just about revenue) How often businesses should recalibrate their customer journey The first thing she looks at when reviewing a marketing strategy Tips on building your own business Opportunities for the fitness/wellness world in 2023 and beyond Tune into the conversation here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has more than two decades of experience creating, developing and growing healthy lifestyle brands. Learn more about mentorship with Vanessa here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Judy Turchin is a dynamic, people-centric executive with expertise in omnichannel customer experience and engagement, global operations, sales and marketing. Judy has a 25+ year track record in direct to consumer health/wellness/fitness, financial services, real estate and law. Over the past 10+ years Judy has held various C-suite roles including Chief Operating Officer, Office of the CEO, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for various global businesses. Ms. Turchin is the Founder of JPT Partners LLC, a global advisory firm that partners with companies and leadership teams to tackle their most critical strategic issues including customer experience, brand/marketing, operational excellence, real estate growth and programmatic employee wellness. Learn about Judy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judyturchin **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

Gyms and studios can be hesitant to work with aggregators and marketplaces. The concern is often cannibalizing their current membership base, when really the role of these marketplaces is audience development. Today on The Business Side of Fitness Podcast, Massimiliano Sardi, Vice President & Head of Partnerships at Gympass shares, “90% of the time, it's a new customer, a new member going to them.” Gympass helps the fitness and wellness industry access a new group of people while bringing incremental revenue to gyms. Massi goes further to explain: -The strategy for bringing Gympass to the US market and how it was received -How corporate wellness has changed over the last few years -Which markets have rebounded the fastest (may surprise you) -How to structure valuable partnerships -The KPI that’s impacted the most by Corporate Wellness programs Tune into the conversation here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has more than two decades of experience creating, developing and growing healthy lifestyle brands. Learn more about mentorship with Vanessa here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Massimiliano Sardi  hails from Italy. He’s a Columbia alumni. The first part of Massi's career was at Google's EU HQs in Dublin Ireland. Later he moved to management consulting in the US, where he started to work with HR clients; in late 2017 when Gympass expanded to the US, Massi joined Gympass to work on the US launch, building the team both on the client side working with HR clients and on the partnerships side working with fitness partners - Currently Massi leads the US partnerships organization and digital partnership globally as Gympass moved it global HQs to the US. Learn about Gympass here: https://www.gympass.com **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

We’ve all heard that content is king, but let’s face it; content without a solid strategy behind it is just noise. Erika Shannon-Hathaway knows all about laying out a content strategy that works.  On todays episode of The Business Side of Fitness Podcast, Erika shares the same methodology she used, which helped to take MYXfitness from 0 to favorable acquisition by BeachBody and then public via SPAC  in under two years.  Wow! Tune into today's episode to learn more about the relationship between content, product and brand along with: What startup life is REALLY like Shifting from in front of to behind the camera The early days at Soul Cyle Tune into the conversation here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has more than two decades of experience creating, developing and growing healthy lifestyle brands. Learn more about mentorship with Vanessa here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Erika is a seasoned fitness expert who has been in the industry for over 16 years. A former professional dancer and theatrical General Manager, she got her start in fitness as a General Manager of Teacher training for Patricia Moreno’s intenSati method, eventually becoming an instructor herself. She grew into fitness production and content strategy as the industry landscape shifted and moved toward streaming and connected fitness. Erika has worked for Equinox, SoulCycle, Daily Burn, MYXfitness and Beachbody, and is driven by her passion to instill connection and confidence through the power of movement. Learn about Erika here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikashannon/ **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

Every startup dreams of becoming a global brand, but not many make it. Today on the Business Side of Fitness Podcast, Star Sage, Director of Business Development at Hyperice shares what it’s been like to go from startup to megabrand over the last 8 years. Star attributes some of the success to relationship selling.  She says, ” I think in our industry,  we have such a luxury that we are selling something that is good for people. I think we forget that sometimes. And that's something that I remind my team, I remind myself daily, and then that enthusiasm is exuded into when I am selling the products and building those relationships.” In this episode you’ll learn: What it’s like to scale a startup brand How the company established credibility before wellness became mainstream When the time was right to shift from education oriented marketing to brand marketing How Hyperice plans to continue innovating in the future Star’s sales tips Tune into the conversation here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has more than two decades of experience creating, developing and growing healthy lifestyle brands. Learn more about mentorship with Vanessa here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Star Sage’s  passion lies in the health & wellness and consumer technology. Currently, Star is the Director of Business Development for Hyperice. Star joined the Hyperice team over seven years ago, before Hyperice launched its first product in market. Since then, Star has focused on Hyperice’s brand and product(s) positioning, through B2B&B2C marketing, PR, and strategic planning across industries worldwide. A firm believer in the power of partnerships, Star formed integral relationships in fitness (Equinox, Barry’s Bootcamp, Orangetheory), hospitality (AMEX Lounges, Marriott), Corporate Wellness (EXOS, Google), Esports (NRG, OWL), Premium retailers (Best Buy, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s), Star focuses and develops the relevant engagement for companies to the everyday consumer. Based on the valuable partnerships Star has formed and continues to develop, her true skills lies in finding potential sales opportunities, igniting a fast-paced focus for a team, and delivering valuable return to businesses and entrepreneurs. Learn about Hyperice here: https://hyperice.com/ **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

“Life is a game. And the best storyteller wins. That simple. If somebody tells me that their sales are slow, then I tell them, well tell a better story. “ Storytelling really is the name of the game - in business and life! And nobody tells a better story than today's podcast guest, Roger Harvey. This man has impacted so many people and molded many careers in the fitness industry including mine. We have known each other for over 20 years and I’m still learning so much from him! Today’s episode is jam packed with stories everyone can learn from: Crisis management Using the word family in business What is means to truly be a leader Understanding and managing expectations Developing staff The role of vulnerability Tune into the conversation here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has two decades of experience creating, developing and growing brands in the fitness & wellness industry. Learn more about 1:1 mentoring with Vanessa: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/consulting ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Roger Harvey is an experienced Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the health wellness and fitness industry. Skilled in Operations Management, Coaching, Team Building, Leadership, and Marketing. Strong consulting professional with a Bachelor’s Degree focused in Movement Science from University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. Past roles include, but are not limited to: 13 years Chief Operating Officer at Crunch 2 years Chief Operating Officer at Shecky's Media 5 years Chief Operating Officer at Cyc Fitness 18 months Chief Executive Officer at Switch Playground 14 months Chief Executive Officer at NYSC Learn about Roger here: www.whatisrogeRradio.com **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

The fitness business is a passion fueled business, but…there's a big difference between a hobby and a business. Not many people can turn their passion into a viable business, but Eric Posner, CEO and Co-Founder of Swerve is one of those people. Today on The Business Side of Fitness podcast, Eric shares the grit that got him and his team within striking distance of their 10th year in business.  While several virtual fitness brands are laying off workforces and recalibrating projections, Swerve is raising capital. “Ultimately, the reason why we started Swerve in the first place was not because of the dollar. We did it because we love bringing people together and harnessing community and connecting one another in a way that's positive for your life. That's why we chose this path of uncertainty, over being in a corporate job that paid really well.” Tune in to today’s episode to hear Eric dish on: -Innovating from a brick and mortar model to a digital b2b model -What it takes to have staying power in this industry - How the team approach to fitness positively impacts utilization And much more. Tune in here: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has two decades of experience creating, developing and growing brands in the fitness & wellness industry. Learn more about 1:1 mentoring with Vanessa: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/consulting ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Eric Posner is the driver of Swerve’s finances, investor relations, sales, and partnership growth strategy. Eric has a degree in Psychology and Economics from Harvard, and experience as a Division I Lacrosse player under his belt. Posner previously held a position at Investment Bank HSBC. In 2019, Eric was named by Industry Wired among the most influential people in the health & wellness industry. Learn about Swerve here: https://swervefitness.com **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

“There's this terminology that sounds cool to talk about: series A series B, who cares? Build a product that changes the world.” Hot diggity dog.  Brian Chappon, CEO & Founder of CENTRED just gets it. Today’s podcast episode of The Business Side of Fitness is worth your time! Sugar coating is so lame. “I lost the weight by chasing my kids around” “I build this business with hard work and determination” Oh, come on….YOU KNOW there’s got to be more to the story. Today, Brian peels back the layers and dives into what it really takes to build a wellness empire including: - The entrepreneurial operating system that changed his business - Details on the marketplace his team is building - Revenue diversification - The good, the bag and the ugly parts of building a brand - His journey of self discovery We’re coming in hot off summer vacation with tons of value. Tune in now by visiting: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast and let us know what you think! ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has two decades of experience creating, developing and growing brands in the fitness & wellness industry. Learn more about 1:1 mentoring with Vanessa: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/consulting ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Brian Chappon is the definition of a scrappy social entrepreneur and global citizen. A competitive athlete and seasoned expert in capital markets around the world, he takes an international perspective to building economic ecosystems and promoting health & wellness. Brian founded his career as a volunteer and intern with NGOs providing disaster relief. Seeing the economic impact of those environmental events led to a new focus on the need for sustainable entrepreneurship and investment ecosystems in developing countries. As a consultant and head of capital markets, he raised funds and created models to analyze high-return projects and de-risk public-private partnership investments. He built networks of insurance companies, PE/Financial service providers, governments, NGOs, and innovative projects to build wealth, jobs, and opportunities in new markets  in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The mix of extended international travel, stress, and commitment to marathon training took a toll on his health. After the recession of 2008 he hit max burnout and went from what felt like being on top of the world to becoming homeless and living in a 24hour Starbucks in New York City. After shaking off the pain of failure Brian took a sabbatical to teach spinning in a high-end studio. During his time of reflecting he heard of the mental and physical health issues that fellow road warriors faced while traveling, and the idea to create a health studio in an airport was formed. He is now combining his passion for fitness, experience in entrepreneurship, and vision for global health to launch CENTRED-Wellness.com, the first travel health and wellness platform changing the way the world will travel during and after the global Covid-19 crises. [email protected] Learn about CENTRED here: https://centred-wellness.com/ **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

What or who would you say is the biggest underdog in fitness? In my opinion, it’s pilates. Pilates is incredibly versatile, effective and valuable, but it hasn’t really gone mainstream. Today, Kim Maugeri,  co-founder and CEO of Skōp joins us on The Business Side of Fitness.  Kim and her team are on a mission to redefine Pilates as a category and introduce it to the world in a new and exciting way. Tune in to the conversation to hear Kim share: -Connecting the dots between form and injury and how Skōp can help -What it’s like to be a female founder in fitness/tech -The brands B2B strategy -How Skōp has changed since it’s inception Listen to the full episode by visiting: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has two decades of experience creating, developing and growing brands in the fitness & wellness industry. Learn more about 1:1 coaching with Vanessa: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/consulting ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Kim Maugeri is the co-founder and CEO of Skōp as well as a certified athletic trainer and chiropractor whose specialties are sports medicine and pre and postpartum care. Between her experiences teaching group fitness for +10 years and her clinical expertise, Skōp’s mission is to redefine Pilates as a category and introduce it to the world in a new and exciting way. Learn about Skōp here: https://www.skop.me/ **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

Looking to get that competitive edge? Partnerships are a great way to offer more value to end users without stressing over high acquisition costs. Today, on The Business Side of Fitness, Sean Turner, CEO of Les Mills US shares tips on how to create partnerships that are built to last. He gives us the scoop on: -How partnerships can solve retention problems -Corporate wellness, the Les Mills way -How the US market is different from other international markets -The uncommon KPI that his team tracks (hint; it has to do with trees!) Listen to the full episode by visiting: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has two decades of experience creating, developing and growing brands in the fitness & wellness industry. Learn more about 1:1 coaching with Vanessa: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/consulting ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Sean Turner is the CEO of Les Mills US, an international group fitness brand delivering life-changing fitness experiences for over 50 years. Sean has been with the company since 2018, when he relocated from Europe to Chicago to spearhead Les Mills’ United States expansion initiatives. He’s been instrumental in driving the company’s growth strategy to develop and market its latest hybrid and omnichannel offerings for its club, instructor, and consumer audiences – to better meet shifting customer demands. Learn about Les Mills here: https://www.lesmills.com/us/ **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!

The anti-aging market sure is huge right now.  Is your business missing out? Doesn’t it blow your mind to think of how much money people invest into botox, fillers, plastic surgery and more to look younger? (p.s. no judgements here) But what about… feeling better? Fitness and wellness is the true bio-hack to ant-aging, right? Today on The Business Side of Fitness, Jonathan Freeman, the Founder and CEO of Club Active, a chain of fitness clubs dedicated to the 50+ over population shares how he’s changing the way we age. Jonathan shares: -The huge opportunity to get more people moving -Why there’s such a big disconnect between the worlds of fitness and medical -How to appeal to baby boomers -His big plans to open 5,000 clubs in the next 10 years Listen to the full episode by visiting: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has two decades of experience creating, developing and growing brands in the fitness & wellness industry. Learn more about working with Vanessa: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Jonathan Freeman is the Founder and CEO of Club Active.  Jonathan is an Exercise Physiologist with a bachelor of exercise science and a masters degree in exercise rehabilitation . Founded in 2017, with a purpose to change the way we age, Club Active is a chain of wellness centers dedicated for the over 50s population.  Jonathan is on a mission to improve the lives of our active baby boomers with a goal of growing 5000 clubs in the next 10 years. He wants to change the way we age by providing a safe, fun and non intimidating environment with clinical exercise advice.  Jonathan has worked with international athletes, Olympians and most well known for his rehabilitation work with celebrity Chris Hemsworth, Zac Efron and many more.  His email is [email protected] Learn about Club Active here: https://clubactive.com.au/ **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts.  Your support means so much and helps more than you know!