The Optimal Aging Podcast
Millions of people over age 50 represent the biggest consumer market in history for fitness, nutrition, travel, recreation and more. But most businesses don't know how to market to them. We'll interview entrepreneurs, business leaders and innovators to discuss this exciting opportunity.
The Optimal Aging Podcast
Alloy's Nick Garrity on His Year of Growth with the 'Older' Fitness Market
About a year ago, I had Nick Garrity on the podcast for the first time. Back then, I had just started helping him with his newsletters and other content marketing, and he had 2 Alloy studios up and running here in Atlanta, with a third on the way.
Now, a year later, all three of Nick’s studios are doing great. In fact, on the day we did this second interview you’re about to hear, Nick and his team were celebrating a big milestone: They had reached their membership goal for one of those studios, after a steady, consistent effort of building partnerships, reaching out to the market, and providing excellent results for their members.
How’d they do it? What’s the secret to growing a fitness business that’s aimed at helping people who are older than the typical fitness market?
Well, those are questions we address this week on Optimal Aging, the show that’s for fitness, wellbeing and health professionals trying to grow their businesses with the "quote-unquote" older market.
Overall, the Alloy Personal Training franchise is growing like crazy, with about 100 locations now open or close to it, and about 300 sold. It’s small group personal training with a focus on people 40, 45 or so and older, and I’ve been fortunate in the last year to work with a growing number of Alloy franchisees.
Whether you’re with Alloy or an independent, you’ll learn a lot from this conversation with Nick.
About a year ago, I had Nick Garrity on the podcast for the first time. Back then I had just started helping him with his newsletters and other content marketing and he had two Alloy Studios up and running here in Atlanta, with a third on the way. Now, a year later, all three of Nick's studios are open and doing great. In fact, on the day we did this second interview you're about to hear, nick and his team were celebrating a big milestone they had reached their membership goal for one of those studios after a steady, consistent effort of building partnerships, reaching out to the market and providing excellent service and results for their members and providing excellent service and results for their members. So how did they do it? How did they meet their numbers? What's the secret to growing a fitness business that's aimed at helping people who are older than the typical fitness market? Well, those are some of the questions we addressed this week on Optimal Aging, the show that's for fitness, well-being and health professionals trying to grow their business with the quote-unquote older market.
Speaker 1:I'm your host, jay Croft of Prime Fit Content, and I'm really excited to have Nick back again to bring us up to date on his Alloy locations. Overall, the Alloy personal training franchise is growing like crazy, with about 100 locations now open or close to it and about 300 sold. It's small group personal training with a focus on people in 40, 45 or so and older, and I've been fortunate in the last year or so to work with a growing number of Alloy franchisees and I hope to work with a lot more of them in the near future. But whether you are with Alloy or an independent, you'll learn a lot from this conversation with Nick about reaching this market, servicing this market and having great success doing so, and let me hear from you if you'd like help with your outreach as well. Here we go, nick. Hey, how you doing Nice to see you.
Speaker 2:Good morning Jay. So glad you invited me back on the podcast. It's an honor.
Speaker 1:Well, I've been wanting to do this for a while. I didn't realize it's been a year since we last spoke on the podcast. We talk all the time in real life, but our podcast interview was a year ago, which is crazy to me. I still don't believe it.
Speaker 2:I don't care what the math says. Yep, no, there's no way that much time has gone by.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know I feel the same way and it's been a good year, I think, for you and for Alloy and all your business interests. So we're going to catch up on that and it's been a year worth, sort of it's a good time. A year is a good time to look back a little bit and also to look forward a little bit regarding you and your Alloy Ventures, but also just where we are with over 50 Fitness and how the market is changing, because you're out there doing it every day. So that's what I wanted to do, but I also want to take this time again to just acknowledge that you were the one who brought me into the Alloy universe and things are going great for me with Alloy. I've got a lot of studios that I'm working with now and I love it. I love the Alloy messaging. It aligns perfectly with what I'm doing. So thank you again for getting me into this.
Speaker 2:No, it's my pleasure. Look, I wouldn't have done that if you didn't have great content and if you weren't a great person and had some great feedback from other owners that really appreciate what you do and you're ultra responsive and again you've you've got great information for our clients, so we're it's mutually beneficial man. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Awesome, okay, so a year ago you had two studios here in Atlanta Metro Atlanta, I guess, we should say and you were about to open a third. And give us the update. Man, you've got some exciting news, so I don't want to steal your thunder.
Speaker 2:You know, quite literally, this morning we just signed up our 150th member in our Chastain studio, which is our ultimate goal. You get a really cool award with Allure when you hit 130. That's what they kind of consider a full studio. So we are, we already had that award and but we wanted to set our goal a little bit higher, and so our goal for 2025, and actually the first quarter here, was to hit that, that one 50 number, and I'm super proud of our team here.
Speaker 2:You know, I I really don't have to come here that often anymore because these, these, I really don't have to come here that often anymore because these guys here are really running this very well. I get nothing but great feedback about our coaches and Jay, you know like and we'll talk about this a little bit on the podcast we have no big flashy lights or any crazy technology Like. It is basic functional strength training for people that are over the age of typically over the age of 40. We have some younger clients. So it really does come down to the people and it comes down to the service that they give, and I'll talk a little bit about this maybe today. But we ask our clients three questions a lot and it's what should we start doing, what should we stop doing and what should we keep doing? And whenever somebody answers the keep doing, keep the coaches. Keep that part of this, because they couldn't care less if we have kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, right. But what they love is that every one of our guys and I say guys, we have three male coaches in here, which is a unique and cool thing as well but they know where every client is every single day and they ask where the client is every single day. You can't make an assumption. You know, especially in this category, this avatar, right. I mean people literally wake up one day with a bad back, a bad neck, just how they slept or had a late client dinner or something, and so our guys are just so good at meeting every client where they're at every single hour.
Speaker 2:And so now we look back and the things that we've done to get to this point. It's really, really awesome to see it all come together, from the client social events we've done to the partnerships we have in the community, the marketing that we've done, your newsletters. It all adds up to this. And you know, look, lord Willen, you know we keep this 150 members for the life of the studio and we have a little bandwidth ad if you're here and there, and it is a really, really fun day.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, this is, we've shown that we can do that in the studio and we've shown that we can do that in this studio. And we've got the second studio we had and our last podcast was a studio that we we bought from a, an original franchisee, and we've got that turned around. We've actually doubled the revenue, which is a really cool milestone and you know, on our way up to that, those triple digit, you know membership numbers. And then we did open our third studio and in june of last year and off to a great start there we're halfway full and so it's been a great year. Yeah, it's been a great year.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's fantastic. So tell folks what is special about this 150 or 130, you know who maybe are not as familiar with the Alloy business model as you are. Like, why is that the thing? Because some people listening to this might say, oh, I want a thousand members, I want 5,000 members and you've got a real, specific reason.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's I. I told you in the past I literally looked at 500 franchises when I, you know, was going into this, this entrepreneurship world, and when I saw the business model of alloy not only is my background, fitness and wellness for the past 20 years, I think we've all seen, if you've done personal training, we've all seen that you want to have the personalized interaction with every client, but the only way to make decent money is to have multiple people in an hour, and what Alloy has perfected over quite literally 34 years is six members at a time in one session. And so when you look at the literal capacity of a studio, we're open 59 hours a week here in this Chastain studio, which allows us to service 150 members give or take at a really high level, and I think it's called the Dunbar number. But there's a lot of research that shows when you have over 150 people in a community, you start to lose touch with each person, right. And so when you maintain a number there which is just kind of by default with Alloy, where it works out to, quite literally, from our director to our head coach or even our part-time coach, they know every client that walks through the door. We literally call them by name as soon as that door opens. And that's something you start to lose when you have three or 500 or a thousand members. And so I think you know, as we continue to hire coaches, we're attracting coaches that want to have that more personalized touch.
Speaker 2:Right, and there are some people that really love class setups. You know, 20 or 30 people all sweating and working hard. But when you look at our avatar and that's typically between the ages of 45 to 65, they need a little bit more interaction, they need a little bit more eyes on them to make sure that they're being trained safely. And and you know I just mentioned that you know, start doing, stop doing, keep doing. The keep doing is keep these coaches. But secondary to that is because they're always watching my form. They're always making me feel like I'm doing this right or, if I'm not, I need to modify, like they're going to put me in a safer position.
Speaker 2:And I'm telling you what our clients are not coming in our studio looking for the new cool thing that's on the block. They're literally going. Is this going to be the solution that's going to help me feel better? Am I actually going to hit the goal that I've told other people or other places or tried to do on my own. Am I actually going to accomplish that? Here and through that it's more of an intimate experience. Here and through that it's more of an intimate experience. The first thing they do with us is they sit and talk to us for like 30 or 45 minutes about what have they gone through, what's the history look like and what are the struggles, why have they not been able to hit the goal, what else have they tried to do? And so, when you have that 150 number, it allows us to train them really, really well, modify every single session as needed depending upon what level they're at.
Speaker 2:You know, and we have people that have trained almost their entire life. We have people that have literally worked out for 30, 40 years and are just like you know. I've done everything right. I just want to. I want to continue to get to my goal, but, but things have changed. So, whether it's menopause or surgeries or like, they're just literally like. My body is different now and I need to find the best solution.
Speaker 2:And we also and, jay, I kid you not, we had it was last week we had an 80-year-old go into one of my other studios has never worked out in his entire life, and the scary thing is he's literally coming in going.
Speaker 2:I'm seeing my friends. It gets me emotional. He's like I'm seeing my friends die. I'm seeing my friends. It gets me emotional. He's like I'm seeing my friends die. I'm seeing my friends with surgeries and this, and that he's like I love going out and playing some tennis and you know, now it's pickleball, and he's like I want to be able to do that for as long as I can. And so the good part about, I think, what's happening in the industry is that the messaging around strength training is becoming a lot less scary. Right, there's a lot less about bodybuilding, meatheads and so on. Like it's literally like no, this is a foundational aspect to living your life to the fullest, and so that's definitely helping us. And so, yeah, so yeah, great, great day hitting that number here two other studios that are rocking and rolling and hopefully, hopefully, getting a couple more going this year.
Speaker 1:Well, that's fantastic, and I don't want to get too far away from it without saying congratulations to you and your team at all your locations for your great success, but especially there at Chastain. I've worked out with them a few times. I'd work out with you once a week if I could ever get my schedule wrapped around it to get up there and work out with you. It's not like it's that far, but it's just far enough to where I have to plan a little more than I'm capable of doing sometimes. But it's a great team you have.
Speaker 2:Let me actually talk to that for a second, because we are a hyper-local business. I mean almost literally, especially five miles, but most of our clients are within three miles of here, and that's just the reality of this and that's the beauty of Alloy. You know, I think. I think there's over 80 open now across the country. We'll be at a hundred very soon. But every time that they open a location, the marketing is hyper-local, the partnerships are hyper-local.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's our clients we don't have showers, so anybody that's looking at All it's easier. So, yeah, minute drive or I could even walk if I wanted to, if it was a nice day. Now it's can be 25 minute drive and just that amount of added time in the car here in Atlanta, where everything requiresa trip in the car, is enough to discourage me. I'm like, oh, do I really need to go again today, whereas before, when I was in the neighborhood, I didn't even think twice, I just went. It's so that's really important. And I don't think it was important to me when I was 30. But I'm 61. Now it is important. It's like I don't want to drive, get in the car again, come on.
Speaker 2:That's real life, man. I mean we do. We actually do have clients that walk to our studios. We have clients that ride, you know, ride their bikes to our studios, like, and again, they're not riding 50 miles, it's right around the corner. They love that part of it. And I'll tell you a cool story.
Speaker 2:I'm actually sitting here with my director and he had this really cool revelation. He's like man, he was working on one of our other studios far away and it didn't allow him to spend a lot of extra time around there just going to some of the other restaurants and stores and stuff. And he's like man, just being here. I bump into our clients at the CVS, I bump into them at the local restaurants, and it's just so cool because I know them and it's another way to reinforce the community and the social side of this that really has a lot of value for us. And so for him to have that realization also brought to light for us, like, yeah, I mean our employees, like we need them to live close so that they can have more of the interaction with the clients and be a true part of the community. So, yeah, no, I mean, you know, the location is important.
Speaker 1:You're using words in this conversation that are really important for people who have gyms, trying to help people a little older, over 40, over 50, 60, whatever, whether it's Alloy or not. I really think excuse me they resonate with me, these words like intimacy and community, because I don't think that those things really register when you're 25 or 30 years old. You're just looking for a place to go work out for 30 minutes after your work or before you have to pick up the kids or whatever. You're not really looking for intimacy or community perhaps, but by the time you're a little older and a little more deconditioned and you're spending more money on a premium service like Alloy. You want that step up and you can pay for it. It's part of what makes this market so appealing, I think.
Speaker 2:Well, you did say a word perhaps, and I think part of us as humans, I think we all crave community and so I think it looks different. Right, I think and all the credit to Orange Series and F45s they do have some community. I mean, people are showing up typically at the same hour. Getting to know those people Even the younger demographic, I think, is maybe not as outspoken or searching for that, but I think they end up finding it. And whether you're on a sports team when you're 10 and you got some friends there, or now it's another team, it's another version of that where we literally have clients that are not only high-fiving each other and cheering each other on, like they're actually texting the other clients in the session, going, hey, how come you weren't here today? We're like we don't even have to do it anymore, and so the community part of this is really big, and there are two numbers we look at almost daily on how we know the studio is doing.
Speaker 2:Obviously, number one, how many members Okay, but number two what's our attrition? And a really cool stat that you'll really like and hopefully the CEO of Allo will hear this too but all three of our studios are below 5% attrition. I actually think it's under 4% attrition rate right now and it's to start this year off and so that means we are keeping clients. So you know, a lot of people can sign up, A lot of people get them in, they work out and then they're like, well, no, this really isn't for me. But when you can go back and look at that, I've tried to preach that to our team from the start of this, from the very first client we had. Like, my goal is to have our studios as the lowest attrition studios in all of Alloy, because I think that allows quite a few things. But I think it says something about what you've built and that's something we can kind of brag about and I think it's amazing.
Speaker 1:You should brag about it. It is amazing and I hope Rick's hearing it too, because that's a great point of pride for you all and that's something that I'm always stressing to the studios I work with who are alloys and who are not alloys is that a lot of people in fitness. All they want to talk about is getting leads, getting leads, getting leads, and then, as soon as somebody signs on the dotted line, they forget about them. But you've really got to keep up your communications to them once they're in your community and you've got to keep those relationships going. You can't just drop them.
Speaker 2:No, you're right. And then you and I talked a little bit off camera. We, for the first time ever, we did not spend $1 on digital marketing for this specific studio in January. So we had quite literally zero new leads come in and we signed up 13 members.
Speaker 2:So, to your point, from your newsletters, from our past, you know marketing efforts, we had a wait list right, so certain sessions had a wait list and a couple people had to move and you know, so we opened up a couple spots. So we literally did not get a new lead from digital marketing. It was all referrals or people that were on a wait list or old clients that had reached out in the past or canceled. That we just went back to and they signed up. And so that was another way for us to you us to get to this 150 number, which was amazing. I mean, if you think about that from the business standpoint, like that's a delta for us of like twenty five hundred dollars just on that digital spend. And then, you know, take into account some of the other things that we can, we can save a little bit of money on, which gets us to a little bit higher profit margin.
Speaker 1:And man just really gives us some hope for the future studios. Compare that to what you were doing a year ago when we did this first episode and we were just getting to know each other. What were you doing as far as your getting leads and nurturing them and converting them, that kind of thing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's some stages to these studios that I've talked to other owners about and that pre-sale stage is a really unique and trying and it's a fun time because you are talking to a lot of people that have some excitement about coming in and doing a workout, but you're also getting told no a lot, right, and that's kind of the nature of digital marketing is. A lot of people get hit with your ads and sometimes they randomly click or they're just kind of showing a little bit of interest and so you're getting told no a lot. So we would get 75 to 100 leads a month. I mean, even in the pre-sale, close to 150, 200 leads. And then as you open and you start to get fine-tuned with your sales right, and a lot of people are scared about the word sales, but if you're going to get somebody to come into your studio, you got to sell them on it. And so as we get better at that and that interaction with, from the very first text message or call that goes out to you know, immediately calling back with extreme urgency on somebody that shows their interest, right, so our goal is within three to five minutes, man, we're responding and just showing yes, we're so glad you reached out and you know how can we get you in the studio. Try to get them in within 24 to 48 hours. So that's that whole process.
Speaker 2:A year ago, we were spending thousands of dollars on digital marketing, using your newsletters, creating all these partnerships and events and setting up a table next door at the last place or the anti-aging place around the corner and trying to get as many people in the door, while also making sure that we are servicing the clients really well in every single session. So continue to kind of keep that attrition down, get more leads in the door and then, yeah, what we saw towards the end of last year is man, we're probably going to be able to turn the digital marketing off. We've got a great referral system going now. We've got partnerships that are sending people in and we've had to turn quite a few people away because our session times are filling up.
Speaker 1:Congratulations. Now I don't want to make this all about me and the newsletters I write for you, but you said something just now about spending thousands of dollars a month on my newsletters and I just want to be clear you're not spending anywhere near thousands of dollars on my newsletters and you're still using those. There's a ham-handed segue. Tell me what affects these newsletters that I'm doing for you or having on the folks. I get this a lot. People in your position want to know what good does it do me if you send out these newsletters and I say I answer them. It builds community. It's an added value. It helps convert all these things. That's better coming from you. So I don't want to put any words in your mouth, but tell them what kind of role these newsletters play for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Look, I love promoting what you do because we've definitely seen a direct correlation with having those and our clients really appreciating it. And it's funny, obviously, Jay, they think I'm writing them and so I come in and they're like, oh man, that was a great article. I'm like, yeah, let me go read about it.
Speaker 1:No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:I love reading every single one that you sent out, but there are multiple things that we benefit from with the newsletters, and one is just giving people free information, right, I mean just showing that we're willing tell people like here's another way to live your life better, here's another recipe that you know you can add to your repertoire. That's just going to be a little bit of that extra push to be a little healthier. And uh, and so I. It's one of those things like you can't always directly measure the impact it's having, but you can listen to it and you can see. Uh, for example, you know I've recently sent you a PDF of a nutritionist that we've partnered with, and so we have multiple ways that we're kind of showing her. You know her service, but in the newsletter we put it at the bottom there and there's a QR code and somebody. I mean if she gets one person a month from it, like it's, it's worth it, and so I think people need to look at the big picture with this is yeah, I'm not going to get a hundred leads a month from the newsletter, but I am going to get people that are like man, what a great value I'm getting out of Alloy, I'm getting amazing coaching, I'm getting accountability, but I'm also getting more information that is helping me live a better and more well-rounded life, and you know it could be the beef you know recipe we had the other day Korean barbecue. Yeah, that's so good. Right, yep? To just talking about, like, why is hiking good for you? Like what, just what an increase in you know from 5,000 to 8,000 steps a day is, and so I love what you're curating for information, because it's very valuable.
Speaker 2:It's not a long novel that people have to read and you know, so you're reading this in under a minute and I think that you know as some owners look, there are some owners that are really creative and love doing that stuff. I'm not that person. I think there are a lot of people in my boat that are like, not that I don't want to say I don't have time for it, but it's just not what drives me and I'd rather hire a professional that can do that and do a really good job with it and take feedback. And you and I talk every single week, which is one of the things I love about this so that we're modifying it and we're modifying it and we love showing our clients success stories. We love showing partnerships we have and it's a great conduit for that.
Speaker 2:Again, get back to our customer avatar. Our clients actually read emails, right, and you know so. You know, in some businesses they want to do stuff through TikTok or Snapchat Like that's not us. Our clients are actually still taking phone calls and actually still reading emails, and some of them even read the newspaper. So, yeah, yeah, this is a great way to stay in touch with who you actually work with so that they continue to get a great value out of our membership.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm glad it's worked out for you.
Speaker 1:I'm really proud of being a being a part of your success and one of the things that I really love the most about my association with Alloy is that I get to talk to a lot of your members to tell their stories and, you know it, some of them are very what you might call and I don't mean this as an insult at all, but sort of ordinary.
Speaker 1:You know, everyday people who've been become deconditioned and want to enjoy their lives. Those are so powerful and so moving and it's a pleasure to get to share those stories. And then sometimes they're really remarkable. They're kind of, you know, unusual things that are very impressive, like we did one last year on one of your members who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. And then recently Alloy did a really beautiful video presentation on this member and I got to speak to him about that. And this is not a man who just goes flying around the world climbing mountains. He's a normal dude with a job and everything else. You know, I really like that word again, intimacy, and that word community, because that's what I like to write about, that's what draws me to it and, al, you guys have a lot of those stories.
Speaker 2:You know I love his story specifically because it does show that this model works. And he was literally one of our day one clients. You know, he came to us and said hey, guys, like I've looked up what you guys do, it looks like it's something that fits, but I have a goal to hike Kilimanjaro in eight months. I need to be at a certain weight, a certain body fat percentage. You know, he's not 20 years old, he's not 30 years old, he's not 30 years old, I mean, you know.
Speaker 2:And so it was really cool to be a part of that journey and for our capacity to fine tune his training based upon what he was doing outside the studio and inside, right. So he was having to do a lot of hiking and walking and to get his body prepared for that aspect of it. But we had to make sure he was functionally strong because that only aided in that ability, right. And so over those eight months, I mean our guys were always looking at, you know, his training schedule outside of the studio and then making sure that. And he traveled a ton. I mean he literally every single week.
Speaker 2:He's one of the clients, he's still working, he's an executive he's always on the road Quite literally like, hey guys, can I do this time of day and this day and time, and every week was modifying that. And so we to work with people like that and you made me think of another thing I was talking earlier Our very first interaction with the clients is what we call the starting point session. Right, we have to find some information out. We put them through a basic movement test, we do, we do a body composition scan. But we actually conduct a lot of those in the middle, like in the front of the studio, and they're watching people that look exactly like them work out, and there's so much value in that.
Speaker 2:And you know we talk a lot about like you don't see a bunch of, you know, teenagers running around that you know are doing box jumps and amazing. And then our clients are really intimidated Like, well, no, that's, this is the same thing, like I, it's another one of those spots that I can't keep up with. And so when we do those sessions and they're quite literally watching people that are in the same demographics as they are, same kind of life stage as they are, it removes a big barrier that makes them feel like, okay, I'm one of them and they're going to see some people that, yeah, probably can do a little bit more, and so there's a little bit of hope with that, especially when they see somebody significantly older. We have a 94-year-old in here, man, he's one of my favorite people in the world, and to Like. And we have a 94 year old in here, man, it's one of my favorite people in the world, and you have to see that as like, oh all right, well, if that guy can come in here and put his time and energy in, and then I got no excuse Right.
Speaker 2:But they also don't have that intimidation of you know some somebody benching 600 pounds and you know, and blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 1:And again, nothing wrong with 30. But I noticed now when I've been going to the same gym here in Atlanta for 20 years and most of the young people who work behind the front desk look up and say hi, jay, welcome back. And when I leave they say see you, jay, thanks for coming. I love that. I love it so much that when someone doesn't do it, he's looking at his phone or he's talking to his girlfriend or whatever kind of pisses me off, you know, because it seems like such a basic level of service and Alloy has some really good foundational experience.
Speaker 2:tenants almost no. You actually mentioned two of our core tenants and so, again, credit to Rick and his team and what they've developed. There are seven non-negotiables. In every single session not shift or day In every single session the first thing is to say somebody by name and then you make an intro if somebody's new, and so from there they're celebrating wins. There's physical touch, like a high five or a fist bump or literally touching somebody on the shoulder like, hey, I want to see your shoulder move a little bit differently, or whatever. So we have seven core tenets that we actually went I've been doing some interviews recently to add some more staff and we start with that.
Speaker 2:We literally start with our core values, right, and what do we actually believe Like? And what do we actually believe Like as Alloy? What is our mission? What are the core values we hold true? And then we go right to the seven core tenets and we say these are non-negotiable, these are not like oh, I hope you get these done in a session. These are like no, this is the baseline for a good session. You've got to say somebody's name, you've got to thank them, you have to hold them accountable right after that shift and going hey, you know, I'm sure something came up. I'm really bummed that you didn't make it today. You know when can I get you in? This afternoon or tomorrow, and so those are the things that it's funny.
Speaker 2:You mentioned two of our seven core tenants, but you're right, like if we don't do that, that it's one of the first times. We know that. You know somebody is kind of slipping a little bit and they don't understand the importance of that. And so you know, monitoring that that's our directors are as part of their audit. When they watch some of the coaches coach, are they hitting every single one of those seven core tenants, every single session? And you know, when it becomes ingrained and you kind of take it for granted, like when somebody new comes in, they're like, wow, you guys are. This is different.
Speaker 2:And it brings me up to one more thing. We, when we want to motivate the staff a little bit, we'll sit down and talk about okay, let's, let's pretend somebody is opening the exact same business model across the street. They're going to do six clients at a time. They're going to charge the same exact price. What would they do differently to take every single one of your clients from you, not attract other people. What would they literally do better than you?
Speaker 2:And they would hit every one of those seven core trends every single session. They would go above and beyond congratulating our clients. They would make sure that they're talking about the nutrition, the accountability. They would do all those things at a higher level and it's just kind of a it's a good way to kind of phrase. It's like okay, that's why this is so important, because somebody else can go and buy kettlebells and dumbbells and put the same flooring down and have the same exact schedule right. But when it comes down to it, it's what's the service that you're providing consistently, every single time, so that the clients just understand man, we care about this. This is how seriously we take it. We're professionally run but, man, we're going to meet you where you're at, every day.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I think that's a good place to wrap up. I want to try something different. I don't know if this is going to work or not. If it doesn't work, I'll cut it out, but I think I need a signature question, a question to ask everybody at the end of the interview. And so you're number one.
Speaker 2:No pressure Nick.
Speaker 1:No pressure at all.
Speaker 2:The school of greatness. Yeah, what's your definition of greatness? Like no, don't ask me that, dude no.
Speaker 1:I won't do that I want. When I started started doing this podcast a few years ago, I ended every show by talking about three things that I like in the world not just about communications or fitness or something, but just a show I was watching that was good. Or a new protein bar I found that helped me hit my macros and didn't taste like chalk or anything like that. So I'm going to ask people what's one thing fitness or not fitness related, that that you've kind of discovered lately a book, a show, a snack, something that that brought a smile to your face man, one one thing.
Speaker 2:You know, 2025 has been a really, really good year so far for me. I I quite literally made the commitment like I need to get in better shape myself. I I want to be living this and and feeling the benefits of that. You know, I've got a three-year-old daughter. I mean, I can name something every single day about her. That is something fun and awesome and it's one of the reasons I do this right. It's literally one of the reasons that I want to build so many more of these and have something that.
Speaker 2:So we all came as a family to this Chastain Studio we're not open on Sundays. We all came as a family to this Chastain Studio. We're not open on Sundays. So we all came in on Sunday. We all literally did a workout. Of course, her workout was fun throwing the balls and playing and I did my thing, my wife did her thing, and that was awesome.
Speaker 2:And so to have an environment like that where I can show her what health and wellness really looks like and you know, jay, I grew up in a town with no stoplights. Nothing looks like. And you know, jay, I grew up in a town with no stoplights nothing. I mean, health was not on the mind and you know. And so getting into this industry and and seeing the pros and cons to you know what eating healthy looks like, what being active looks like, you know playing sports and and then and then being well-versed, like you know, I, I maybe, maybe the cool thing I bought audible this year, so part of my kind of journey to be a better human, better dad, husband and hopefully bosses.
Speaker 2:I've already listened to six books and I am not a book guy, right, I would read one or two books a year and I'm in the car quite a bit, just given where all of our studios are, and so for me, audible has been great, not being a true kind of a book nerd. I've quite literally listened to six books already. I'm on my seventh right now and it's been a great way to digest information and hopefully just improve as a leader and as a husband and father.
Speaker 1:So what's one of those books that?
Speaker 2:you've enjoyed. I'm reading Traction right now, which is a lot of what Alloy's actually based our meeting cadence off of. So the EOS Entrepreneur Operating System that was written by a book called Traction. So I'm in the middle of that right now, and right before that, patrick Lencioni, I read the book the Motive, which is man anybody that's looking to get into a new business or franchise or something like that read the Motive. New business or franchise or something like that? Read the Motive. It was a really easy you know, obviously, listen for me about why somebody was building the business and becoming the leader that they thought they needed to be. And so the Motive super easy. Read Patrick Lencioni. I'm going to try and read a bunch of his books. He's a great leadership guru. So, yeah, audible.
Speaker 1:That's great. I'm a big Audible fan too. Got hooked on them during the pandemic, when the only thing you could do was go for a walk, so I downloaded an Audible book and go for a walk and listen to it, and I've been listening to them ever since, and I am a big reader, I love books, I love reading, and it's a great way to get in a little bit more. So thank you for that. I like this. I think that worked.
Speaker 2:I'm going to do this. Nick, you were the first.
Speaker 1:Nick, my friend, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Sorry, you may probably edit this out, but I think I was listening to one of your old podcasts and you had some more of a music involved in it. I like that touch to it. Are you incorporating any sort of maybe not theme music, but something around that?
Speaker 1:I am Thanks for bringing that up. I sometimes wonder if people notice or care. So here's the deal. Short version is when I started the podcast, I was working with a producer who helped me with that kind of thing and she set me up with a nice little bit of intro music and outro music and and then that relationship kind of ended and I was just winging it and doing it on my own. And just recently, in the last couple weeks, I've engaged a new producer to help me improve the audio version of the audio podcast with things like a little bit of music. It's not going to have a ton of production, but, yes, some of that and also a video version. So I'm hoping that next week I'll be launching the YouTube version of the podcast, which seems counterintuitive to me.
Speaker 1:You know me, I'm an old newspaper guy and my default is to read. I want to read something. If I want to watch a video. There has to be a reason to watch a video. It can't just be two idiots talking, and these podcast interviews are just two people talking. Who wants to watch that? But you know what People do watch them because I don't. It doesn't mean other people don't. And YouTube is the second biggest search engine after Google, so I'm missing out on all of that. So I'm glad you brought that up. I am stepping up my game with audio and returning some of those little flourishes like the music.
Speaker 1:And then I'm very excited to be launching on video. So, if all goes well, you're the last audio only version, and the third interview we do will be on video.
Speaker 2:So let me, can I ask a couple of things Like are you starting up a set, Are you going to have a logo and stuff Like what, what, what level are you taking that to?
Speaker 1:You know, probably not. You can do a lot with virtual backgrounds, like right now we're just in my office at home and I just moved, so it's not even you know, I don't even have my office set up to look like much right now, but you can do virtual backgrounds that look really nice with your logo. I think it's important to have my logo on the video and my name on the video, because we all think that everybody knows who we are and what we're talking about. But they don't. And if you're just clicking around and you find some guy talking well, who is he? What's he talking about, what's he selling? So you need to, and that's a lesson for everybody People don't know who you are and they don't know what alloy is and they don't know why 70 year old women need to be lifting weights. You know we have to keep it real simple sometimes.
Speaker 2:So I'll have, I'll have all that, yeah, and I don't think it needs to be. I mean, dude, obviously Joe Rogan's the goat here and like, yeah, he doesn't have some big crazy. I mean, I'm sure it's really nice now, but like there's nothing spectacular to his background, background, right, I mean. So, just, you know, I would. I would say, don't overthink it, have your logo, have a decent backdrop. But yeah, no, dude, I'm proud of you for doing that and you're just, you're just having a couple more verticals, right, you're not like redoing the whole podcast, you're just saying, well, I should, I should absolutely have it available in different mediums.
Speaker 1:So yeah and like it's hard, it's, it feels counterintuitive, it really does. I keep saying no, I don't. I did keep saying nobody wants to look at me talking to someone, but that's just not true and I tell this to my clients all the time. They'll say things like I don't read emails, so I don't want to send them, and I say I don't care. If you like to read emails, your customers do.
Speaker 2:Similar thing here. It doesn't matter if.
Speaker 1:I want to watch videos, people do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, and to that point, my word for 2024 was genuine, like and and I wanted to keep instilling that in every one of our coaches like you just need to have genuine interactions with our clients. Like they need to feel like they genuinely are appreciated for be there, for being there. They they need to feel like you genuinely want them to get better and you care that they're, you know, having a setback or you're having a great advancement, and so I haven't figured it out. Stephen's going to help me with this. I haven't figured out what the year or the word of 2025 is yet, but 2024 is genuine. I think that's to your point. Like no, like it's going to come across as you genuinely have an interest in the industry and helping people, and you know people over 50 literally being able to live longer, better lives, and so I think that comes across. When, yeah, you don't add all these frills and amazing stuff. It's like no, this is just me, and you know I want to help people.
Speaker 1:That's right, Nick. That was brilliant. Thank you so much for asking me that I appreciate your interest in what I'm doing and I appreciate you coming on here again. This has been a really great conversation.
Speaker 2:Man, I'm honored again. Hopefully we get to do a third. And, man, thank you for all your support and what you do, and I hope you continue to work with many more professionals like me.
Speaker 1:I fully intend to and I thank you again and congratulate. Congratulations again to to you and Steven and Wesley and the whole team there. It's great news.
Speaker 2:Thanks, man. Yeah, we're fired up. Time to build many more, all right. See you later, all right.
Speaker 1:Bye. Thank you for listening to the Optimal Aging Podcast. I'm your host, jim, and I hope you enjoyed it and if you did, I hope you'll subscribe, tell a friend and write a review. All of that helps us grow our audience. I also hope you'll share any comments you have with me in an email or on social media, including suggestions for people I should interview or topics I should cover. 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 at primefitcontentcom. I'm also on Facebook, linkedin and Instagram, so find me anywhere you like and be in touch. And again, thanks for listening. Join us next time.
