Ryan Carver learned a key lesson about marketing his gym to people over age 55: Make it about THEM, not about HIM.
Ryan, owner of Leverage Fitness Solutions near Salt Lake City, told me he realized he had to make his content more emotional and follow the “hero’s journey” – with the client as the hero and him as the helper.
They’re Luke Skywalker. He’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I loved it when Ryan told me this – because this is a key point I make to gym owners about marketing: It’s not about you!
Ryan recently doubled his gym’s space and is enjoying strong growth with his business. So, I asked him to come on Optimal Aging and tell other fitness professionals how he communicates and serves thiss often-neglected segment of the population.
Ryan's one of the nicest guys in fitness. I know you'll enjoy our conversation.
Online Links and Resources
Leverage Fitness Solutions
Ryan on LinkedIn
My new course to motivate men over 50 to get off the couch and into fitness
Life Priority Supplements -- Affiliate Discount here
Prime Fit Content – Engage the over-50 market
Ryan Carver learned a key lesson about marketing his gym to people over age 55: Make it about THEM, not about HIM.
Ryan, owner of Leverage Fitness Solutions near Salt Lake City, told me he realized he had to make his content more emotional and follow the “hero’s journey” – with the client as the hero and him as the helper.
They’re Luke Skywalker. He’s Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I loved it when Ryan told me this – because this is a key point I make to gym owners about marketing: It’s not about you!
Ryan recently doubled his gym’s space and is enjoying strong growth with his business. So, I asked him to come on Optimal Aging and tell other fitness professionals how he communicates and serves thiss often-neglected segment of the population.
Ryan's one of the nicest guys in fitness. I know you'll enjoy our conversation.
Online Links and Resources
Leverage Fitness Solutions
Ryan on LinkedIn
My new course to motivate men over 50 to get off the couch and into fitness
Life Priority Supplements -- Affiliate Discount here
Prime Fit Content – Engage the over-50 market
Ryan Carver made my day. He and I were talking about his success as a gym owner and how he learned to break through some of the challenges he faced on his business journey. Ryan told me that part of it was realizing that he'd been neglecting something key in his marketing. He hadn't been following the hero's journey, casting each client and prospect in the role of the hero, with him as the helper or guide. Hi, I'm Jay Croft and welcome to Optimal Aging the show for gym and studio owners trying to grow by reaching more people over 50.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're not familiar with the hero's journey, well, you are familiar with the hero's journey. You just might not have heard it put that way. It's the well-known theory by Joseph Campbell about the basis for most stories in our culture. There's a hero who is called to adventure, who needs a guide, goes through challenges and emerges victorious. Now, before Ryan had that epiphany, ryan, like a lot of longtime trainers turned entrepreneur, was focusing too much on himself in his marketing and sharing dry information of interest mostly to other fitness professionals. He told me he had to learn that his marketing needs to focus on the client, not on him, that he had to make it more emotional, that he realized the client is Luke Skywalker, the hero, and he, ryan, is Obi-Wan Kenobi, the guide.
Speaker 1:Ryan's gym is Leverage Fitness Solutions, near Salt Lake City. Leverage focuses on people over 50 and has been having a lot of success and growth in recent years. In fact, when I saw Ryan last summer at the Functional Aging Summit, he was scouting around for his second location. Now how did Ryan turn Leverage into a thriving gym serving the quote-unquote older market? Well, it wasn't all about just that Luke Skywalker realization, and I know our conversation here will be of interest to anyone who's trying to serve this lucrative market. So here's this grassroots report from someone who's making it happen every day. Ryan, tell us how you got here.
Speaker 2:I've been doing personal training for 19 years, 18 of which focusing on the older adult, and after doing that for several years and kind of getting a full book of clients, I opened up my own studio six and a half years ago, once again specializing in the older adult. Starting with just myself, now we have five other coaches for which are all full time. We started with the 1600 square feet and now are just expanded in the last five months to 4000 square feet. Yeah, so we've been blessed and we're growing.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. Now, is that at the same location, or did you open a second one?
Speaker 2:Same location I just the space right next door came available, so we knocked down the center wall and took it over.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you were prepared to do that. You were in a good position to take advantage of an opportunity that came up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, before this happened for the last, like year, year and a half I've been making preparations to open a second location.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:So I've been doing like getting all my ducks and real financially, just getting everything set, because I thought I was gonna open a second location and this came available, mike. Well, I I essentially get a second location without having to Break into a new neighborhood or anything like that.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it was a no-brainer and and that's why I wanted to talk to you, because you know we we've know each other a little bit, but not really well, and and I really admire the way that you have stuck to your principles and made this work so well that you were what. I think the last time we saw each other you were Talking about it expanding into a new location, and now you had an opportunity come up and you were able to pivot. I guess what I want to know and I think what people listening to this want to know this is primarily other fitness professionals out there like you, who are serving the older market and want to succeed, like you are is How'd you do that? How'd you get to where you were able to make such a move?
Speaker 2:a lot of hard work and Priscila, just like fitness, there's no shortcuts. There's no you know magic bullets that I, you know, all instantly go from you know a five foot six scrawny guy to six Five adonis. There have definitely been some things that have made big, big changes that helped and, honestly, one of the biggest ones is Finding your weak spots and if you don't know what your weak spots are, hiring someone that can Point out what those weak spots were. Yeah, so about two and a half years ago, I thought I was ready to open a facility and I came across the guy like hey, we'll, we'll take a, we'll kind of do a business analysis, and like I'm gonna nail this out of the park.
Speaker 2:I'm a good student. I'm like I'm gonna get him straight on this. Yeah, and because I mean I track all these different numbers and so we go through this assessment and I'm giving these numbers and he's like, hey, what about this number? I'm like I don't, I've never even looked at that number before, I've never heard of this number. And he's like, okay, what about this number? What about this ratio? I'm like I haven't looked at any of these ratios. So what was interesting is, according to the information I had, I was totally ready.
Speaker 2:Yeah but when I looked at Not knowing what I didn't know, kind of opening my eyes at where some of these blind spots were, once again I had no clue. It opened my eyes to realize, wow, I am not ready and if I were to make that move it could potentially be disastrous. So being able to Once again cure my ignorance Mm-hmm, for lack of a better term of saying, hey, I need to look at these different metrics and these numbers, it was my, my homework for the last 18 months of like, hey, this, these numbers, these metrics are the ones I need to really be looking at mm-hmm to be able to be in a position, to be able to, to make a move whenever I'm ready.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so have there? Have there been any similar lessons about Marketing or your messaging or your communications approach, how you talk to your community? Look, what did you learn about this, this demographic in particular, because I really like to share From successful people like you what you're doing right in your communications with your community and you're there in Utah. It's very active area, yeah how many about.
Speaker 2:So the last two years I've had to Even though I've always been working with the same clientele. It's like I've had to completely rebrand my messaging Because it was off. I mean, I was putting out stuff, whether on social or email or whatever, but it just Based off of the results. It just wasn't hitting. It wasn't hitting the mark. So, really going back to like really honing in on my unique service offering, that USP or the that value proposition, really spending time to craft that, make it really really good.
Speaker 2:And then, as far as my marketing, like the messaging, like I've had to really focus on improving my message Because I before I would just give a lot of good information yeah, but a lot of times it was almost Too scientific or too It'd be great for another colleague to look at, but they're not my clients, right?
Speaker 2:So everything I was doing like I can't say it was like for me it was a major overhaul. I had to change how I was saying make it more relatable, make it more emotional, make it more like I think I was. My biggest fallacy is I wasn't utilizing the hero's journey. I was the hero instead of the client. So I had to move out of the I'm the Luke Skywalker role to now, I'm the Obi-Wan Kenobi of your journey and, as I've changed my marketing to be have it all about them and I'm helping them with their journey, and let me help you with this problem that you're experiencing and making it more personal. That's where things have started to happen, like, whether it's email, whether it's an offline presentation to you know, whatever, all of a sudden my results have gone through the roof because the messaging is hitting. If that makes sense, it resonates with my clients or my potential clients a lot more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it makes sense to me. I talk about it all the time to my clients and to my prospects. And you mentioned the hero's journey and you mentioned Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan. I write about that all the time. I talk about that specific example all the time because it's such a great one and I see people in your position thinking that that they're the star, they're the story, and you know they're just not so. It was really smart of you to realize that you're Obi-Wan Kenobi. What made you realize that? Because you know I'm a writer, I'm very familiar with the hero's journey, but most people aren't. So, like, how did you get turned onto that?
Speaker 2:It's a long process. I mean, I like to think of myself as a voracious reader, so I've read books like the Storybrand that's first got me onto it, and I had to revamp my website to have the you know, the easy steps one, two, three to move them along that journey. But it's just constant learning, constant reading and then hiring out my deficiency. So periodically through my 20 years I've hired different coaches to help me, at different stages, get kind of break through those plateaus. And right now I'm working with the coach and they're like hey, you need to dial in your marketing message. And once again I'm like I want to be humble and I want to be teachable. But at the back of my head is like I already know this. But as we work through it, I'm like, wow, I was missing the mark. I was like here's where I need to be and this is where I'm at. I'm like just missed it. But that big of a difference was meaning I wasn't hitting my hitting with the people enough. When I would do a presentation or do an email, it'd be like, okay, that's interesting, I'll keep that on the back burner. That was my response mostly. But now, as I'm doing whether it's an email, whether it's social media, whether it's a presentation, they're like oh my gosh, this is it, this is I need to do something. And it's just. Once again, it's just those small little changes and adjustments have been huge and just being consistent about it over time.
Speaker 2:It's not just a one and done, like. I've been more diligent about honing my USP and my marketing and who I'm talking to and really getting. I mean I always thought it was a one and done. I get it, I do it and I'm learning that. Okay, this worked really well, this was still off. Let's hone this. And it's just I'm learning at this stage of my business.
Speaker 2:That's my main job With how I run my facility. All of our trainers train everybody, so it takes out the ego, but that means my main job is I need to fill up the gym. So for me, my main role has been chief marketing guru. Let's try and fill up everyone's schedule. So that's been my main role and, as I own that, that's where kind of the magic's been happening. Like I said, it's just consistent, hard, dedicated work, but always working on that and I think that's the biggest thing for a lot of other fitness professionals. We still wanna be the fitness professional. But to get to a certain level of growth you've either gotta hire that out who gets it, or you've gotta become that and you've gotta kind of change and shift your roles and your responsibilities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you and I talked for I don't know a couple of years or so before we actually connected. I'm wondering if it sounds like you were going through a lot of those changes during that time. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd like to think I'm always reinventing myself and someone that I talked to five years ago, if we reconnect, I'm a different person because I've evolved and grown. So, yeah, when we first connected, I was getting a lot of information on honing and getting better, and at every level. It just seems like that iteration circle comes around a lot faster. When you start as a fitness professional and it's just you, it takes a long time to come back around because there's so much on your plate. So by the, I mean it may be a year or two before you come back and revisit, like I said, what you're packaging maybe, yeah, You're pricing whatever it is. It may take a long time, but as you grow and as you get better and better and you start delegating, you have more people. All of a sudden, those cycles are coming so much faster and that's what I'm experiencing, Like it literally is the difference between running around a track versus spinning around orbit. Like I'm like these iterations are coming so much faster now. Yeah Well.
Speaker 1:I wonder you mentioned that you used the word ego a few minutes ago to talk about how a trainer wants to have, continue to have, a bigger role, and I'm hearing that you have. It sounds like you have willingly put your ego aside to learn new things about your business, about your communications, about your role. Tell me a little bit about that, because I think people listening to this can really learn from that. It's hard to put your ego aside, especially you had a lot of experience at this. You're a good trainer. You knew what you were doing and how did you have the foresight and, I guess, the emotional strength to try a different way, to be open to different things?
Speaker 2:That's a really, really good question and I wish I had a profound answer. It's just I'm trying to think if there's something that's like picky that can come out of my mouth, but it's slow evolutions, like I knew what I wanted my business to be and I set it up that way, but as it grows it just kind of keeps growing and I knew nobody cares about my business as much as I do. Yeah, but what I can hire is someone who's who cares just as much for my clients as I do. Yeah, so I'm like, if I can train them up to my level or pretty darn close, they can take that role. But as far as the marketing, the messaging, like I haven't been able to find someone who cares or knows enough about that to take on that role. So that's the role that I've had to. Believe me, I would rather be training my clients. That's what I'm good at, that's what I graduated in.
Speaker 2:I didn't graduate in marketing, but I realized that that's the role that I've had to be and it took a long time. Like all last year this was my role 100% of the time. I mean, I probably only train now five to eight hours a week, as opposed to training 50 hours a week or 30. I mean, it's always gone down. The more we grow, the less I train to be able to fill and mentor and help others, and I'm OK with that.
Speaker 2:But I mean, all last year I was just like I hate my life, I don't want to market. Marketing is so not my thing. Like, mentally, I was missing the life that I had. But I knew that if I wanted the life that I want in the future, that this is a step in the process, yes, so I had to just kind of suck it up, put on my big boy pants and be like, ok, this is the role that's required of me at this time.
Speaker 2:Yes, so my personality is, if I'm going to do anything, I'm going to do it 110%, I'm going to be the best at it that I can possibly be. So I just jumped in with both feet. That's why I'm like, ok, I'm reading books on marketing on print, on digital, on social. I'm hiring people to help coach me that I'm not as good at. Just like, ok, I'm an athlete, I want to go from being a bench player to a star, so I'm going to hire to help them get me there and see if I can shorten that learning curve, so that's kind of what I've been doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's really smart. I hope people are hearing this and taking inspiration from it, because we all have to change, we all have to go through a willingness to learn new skills and take a different approach if we're going to grow, if we're going to adapt. We were talking about a little bit before we started recording, about how uncomfortable I am with the sales part of my job, because I grew up wanting to be a newspaper reporter and became a newspaper reporter and I never had to sell a thing, I never had to pay a bill, I never had to worry about inventory or anything. I just wrote. That was it. And now, on my own, I very quickly had to start learning to be comfortable talking about myself. And it's hard, but I thought of it when you were just talking, because I had that moment. It's like, well, I can continue to act like an old newspaper reporter or I can do what I need to do to adjust. So you've done that and it's hard. It's hard but it's paying off for you.
Speaker 2:It's hard, it's paying off. But it's kind of like when we do our sales process. We like to say, here's your current reality, here's the reality you want, and there's a gap. What's filling in that gap to prevent you from doing that? And our job is, hey, as fitness professionals, if we can solve these gaps, we get a client. That's how we sell. We solve a problem. I'm not here to be a used car salesman, but I essentially did the same thing in this role, like, hey, we need more clients. I've got trainers and I need to fill up their schedule and I want more clients to be able to make a bigger impact and help more people. So that's my future reality. But I'm here, what's standing in the way? And it was like, hey, we need to double down on this. And so I'm like, ok, that's what needs to happen. Here's another big tip that I learned I'll give this gem for free Is nobody thinks that they're old.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that was part of my problem. I was trying to market to old people, yep, but I had this epiphany when I was training one of my clients. So I've known her for years, worked with her for almost 10 years now and she's 85. And I was asking her what she was doing. She was like I'm going out to dinner with some old friends. I'm like, okay, are they old friends? Is it like long time friends or old in this age? Like, oh, they're old, they're like 90.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it was an epiphany because I'm like you're 85. You're right there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But she doesn't think of herself as old. And so, like we'll have, we have a 91 year old like pickleball player, loves playing pickleball. Like he's got a pickleball court in his backyard. He made his own pickleball court and he brings his friends over and he's playing pickleball almost every day of the week. Great as a 91 year old.
Speaker 2:We've also got like a 55 year old who's like I'm looking at my parents and they're completely disabled and like I'm starting to become a caregiver. I'm like I don't want that for myself, so that's my motivation. And we've got everything in between. I mean, we've got people struggling with menopause, We've got people that are coming back from hip replacements. So we've got all these little semi demographics within our demographic and it's fun because we've got the, we've got the skiers, We've got the mountain bikers, We've got the both the people that do both. We've got the people that are just here for socialization and they just need to get out of the house.
Speaker 2:But I think the unifying thing that is unifying everyone is freedom. Everyone is afraid of losing something, and for our demographic it's whether it's losing their competitive edge in skiing, losing the ability to play with grandkids or get up off the ground, losing their independence, losing their mind. So a lot of it is. We're fricking patriotic man. We sell the American dream of let freedom ring.
Speaker 2:Obviously, most of them are retired, but one of the things they tell me time and time again is the freedom that they're getting. They had the time, they had the resources, they didn't have the ability. And one thing that keeps coming up over and over as I talk to clients is this self-confidence or this self-actualization, I guess, of they believed that they couldn't. They were operating and literally verbatim, Without talking to other people. Several clients have said when I first came to you, I was living in, I can't, and now I'm living in, I can and I want to, and that's a big shift and I wish I could say that it was all physical, but yeah, I mean just going. That's a huge mental shift.
Speaker 1:It is, and I love that there. This comes back to the hero's journey for me, because you just described that moment where at first, the hero hears the call to adventure and rejects it right. The first time they say to Luke, you've got to come fight the empire, he says no, I can't, I don't want, I've got more chores to do or something I don't remember. And at some point you realize no, I've got to do this, I've got to go on this adventure and I need a guide. And you're the guide. Yeah, you've made my day. For a geek writer like me, to hear you talk about the hero's journey is very exciting. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think I guess, summing up, I mean it comes back to that hero's journey and understanding what your real role is. I mean, I think too often we see fitness professionals showing videos of themselves looking weights With their shirts off. With their shirts off or whatever. It's like nobody cares about you. I mean, you make it about them. So let's like we try and make the videos and the testimonials and the whatever it is about them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2:And that's like I said, understanding that and dialing that in and every step of that journey and being consistent with it makes a big difference.
Speaker 1:Yes, it does, ryan. Thanks very much. This has been very gratifying and I'm really proud of you for all your effort and all your hard work and all your success that you're having, so congratulations.
Speaker 2:Thank you, jay. It means a lot. And right back at you, I respect you a ton and I'm glad to see that you're succeeding and that we keep getting to cross paths yes, and crossing paths more frequently as we go through. So I love that.
Speaker 1:I love it too, and I'm trying to put together a ski trip to Salt Lake here before winter gets by me. If I can get my act together and plan, I'll do that and I'll let you know. It'd be good to see you.
Speaker 2:Yes, let me know.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:I'm happy to host.
Speaker 1:Thanks Van Okay, have a great day.
Speaker 2:Thank you have a great day.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to Optimal Aging. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you'll subscribe, tell a friend and write a review. All of that helps me grow my audience. You can learn more about me and my content business at primefitcontentcom. You can send me an email at Jay at primefitcontentcom. That's Jay J-A-Y at primefitcontentcom. I'm also on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, so you can find me anywhere you like and be in touch. And again, thanks for listening. Join me next time.