All Things Fitness and Wellness

Debra Strougo on Scaling Success: From Row House to Founder's Co-Pilot

• Krissy Vann

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Join Krissy Vann in this insightful episode of the All Things Fitness and Wellness podcast as she welcomes Debra Strougo, a dynamic entrepreneur and Founder's Co-Pilot with over 20 years of experience in the fitness and wellness industry. Debra is best known for founding Row House, a brand she successfully scaled from a single studio to 300 locations through a strategic partnership with Xponential Fitness, culminating in a highly successful IPO in 2021. However, Debra's journey didn't stop there.

Now, through her work with Fitizens Holdings, Debra has shifted her focus to advising early-stage growth companies within the Health, Wellness, and Fitness sectors. In this episode, she shares her wealth of experience in helping startups reach their target customers, build sustainable businesses, and navigate the complexities of client acquisition and retention. Debra also discusses her current role as an investor and IHRSA (now Health & Fitness Association) Council member, offering invaluable insights into the future of the fitness industry, industry trends, and the challenges and opportunities facing today's fitness entrepreneurs.

Connect with Debra Strougo:
https://fitizensholdings.com 
https://www.linkedin.com/company/fitizensholdings/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/debrastrougo/ 

Connect with All Things Fitness and Wellness:
www.atfw.ca
https://linktr.ee/atfw?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=49c98f23-1c9f-4bfe-801e-4de06b56fa24 

#fitnessbusiness #fitnessindustry #entrepreurship 

Debra Strougo:

People who are founders, they often get to a place where there's just hurdles and obstacles. They don't know who to hire. They lose energy. They're getting tired. And something that I've been able to do consistently is kind of like come up with answers that aren't necessarily what the founder thinks the problem is, and also, most importantly, breathe life back into them.

Krissy Vann:

This is all things fitness and wellness, hosted by Chrissy Vann, together, we're uniting industry thought leaders and fitfluencers on the mission to inspire innovation and encourage people to live a life fit and well. On this episode, we're joined by Deborah strugo, an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the fitness and wellness industry. Deborah is the founder of bro house, a brand. She scaled from a single studio to 300 locations through a strategic partnership with exponential fitness, culminating in a successful IPO in 2021 now through citizens holdings, she advises early stage growth companies, helping them reach target customers and build sustainable businesses. She is a founders co pilot. In this episode, we'll explore Deborah's journey from founding and scaling row house to guiding the fitness industry's future as an advisor and investor. We'll dive into our insights on industry trends, client experience and the key lessons she's learned as a founders co pilot, whether you're in the fitness industry or passionate about business growth, this conversation is packed with valuable takeaways before we get to it, be sure to hit like and subscribe. We have new podcast episodes every Wednesday featuring industry thought leaders and influencers, plus each week, we launch a new edition of This Week in fitness, where we crunch the latest fitness business headlines all in under five minutes. I'm your host, Krissy Vann, and this is ATF W, I am so thrilled. Debra strugo, joining me. Deborah, you and I have worked hard to unite this summer. So thank you so much for joining me on ATF W,

Unknown:

thank you, Krissy. I've been really excited to get a podcast going with you ever since I saw you popping up all the time in your hopping outfit, and I just think it meets your personality so well. So I'm excited to have some fun today on your podcast. Yeah, I

Krissy Vann:

love even we had an email exchange before we hopped on here, and she asked, Are you wearing the hot pink? And I kind of appreciate it in a way, because even when I entered the space, I came from a really traditional media background. In fact, the time of women news anchors, where you had to fight for the right to bear arms, like, quite literally showing your arms on camera. So I kind of make a point in this space to do it my way. And luckily, I mean, if you can't express your own personality, why are you creating content in the first place? Right?

Unknown:

I love it. I am always wearing a hot pink nail, and I was gonna put on my hot pink shirt. It's just very hot today. And I think maybe at the next industry event, I'm gonna show up in hot pink, just so we can see each other from across the

Krissy Vann:

room. Excellent. Well, I look forward to that, Deborah, and that's one of the things I appreciate so much about yourself. You're so heavily involved in this industry, an industry that you didn't actually start out in, and we're gonna really dive into the founders co pilot, because I absolutely love this pivot that you've taken. We don't need to dive into the whole story, because people know you. I mean, 390% growth is what you did for rowhouse in six years, going from one to 300 locations, franchising, exiting successfully in 2021 you have this incredible repertoire, but maybe just give people a brief synopsis of why the fitness industry stole your heart in the first place.

Unknown:

Okay, yes. Well, I grew up in New York City. I now live in Newport Beach, which has tons of outdoor space and places to roam and be fit and active. But growing up, I did not. I went to City School, and so I got involved in gym fitness. I've talked about this a lot on pods. Before, I had a boyfriend who basically challenged me to become a fitness instructor because I didn't like the fitness instructors anymore that were teaching my favorite step class, and I was very, very intimidated by the industry. I was intimidated by getting up on a stage. I was not kind of like the outward, you know, outgoing, confident person that I do think of myself as today and the so I became a fitness instructor based on this challenge, and I taught classes for all of the major gyms and equinox and crunch, and, you know, whatever, I traveled around. I was part of fitness videos and different media outlets. And really, kinds of grew a lot of confidence in the space, but it was absolutely my side hustle. I was doing a digital publishing type of career on, you know, during the day, I got into New York City tourism, My best experience of my life, working for New York City ends or Bloomberg, and helping to really promote the brands of New York to people worldwide. And I just was like, I want. Grow a brand in fitness, because I want to work in fitness. I want this to be my life, you know, bring my life's passion to my work together. And so ultimately, that's kind of what brought me to growing rowhouse out of New York. It was boutique was hitting its heyday. Really good branded boutique was popping up. So value proposition was where it was at understanding your customer really like, you know, figuring out how to dial up a used group, how to know them for the entire life cycle, how to bring them in based on a promise, keep them based on a promise, convert them based on an experience. You know, that was all kind of like, what was happening out of that New York City scene, and I understood that based on brands, and I understood it based on programming, because I understood the, you know, the minds of the fitness goer and all of these people who had taken my classes for years. So it was kind of the perfect melding of things that actually, in New York City tourism, the mayor ends, and people are like, okay, what are we going to do? You know, we're kind of private, but we're public, and so we're like, on the cycle of government, and it was the perfect timing to go ahead and jump into growing a brand in the fitness space and helping get more people fit and active.

Krissy Vann:

And while and I know that that remains a huge pillar, which is why you do what you do. Before we dive into this whole concept of founders, co pilot, I do have to know, did you ever keep in touch with that boyfriend? Does he know that that set you on this really successful trajectory?

Unknown:

You know, I did mention it a little bit ago, and I don't know. I we will have to circle back. I'll find out when I see black, pink. I'll let you know, right? Because

Krissy Vann:

I'm just like, people are a reason to season her forever. And I'm like, that person's one challenge quite literally changed your whole life. I love stories like that, but your whole mission now is really changing other people's lives. And this is an industry that you're still so excited about for that reason. You're like, how do we get more people moving? We know the fitness industry is a tremendous destination to do so, but it's not going to happen without new ideas, innovation and really speaking to that 80% population that isn't walking in the door. So how do you define being a founder's co pilot? What is the mission here?

Unknown:

Yeah, I mean, and if you don't mind me saying so, I was just actually on a call with a group by moderating a session at an upcoming industry event, and what you just said was, you know, people come in well, and also reasons using, or I say lifetime, you're saying forever. I love it. But so people come into the industry for something, and we were talking about this on the earlier call, they come into the industry for something and maybe they boomerang out, or maybe they stay for something else, right? And so that's really interesting to me. And I feel like maybe a decade ago, or even two decades ago, people were coming in because their friends said, oh, you should go work out there. It's going to help you lose 10 pounds. It's going to help you look better for a wedding or something like that. What's happening now is people are coming in for a variety of different things, and they're learning about it in a variety of different ways, but there's still a huge education gap, right? So I guess that's what I'm really passionate about, is like people coming in learning, maybe it's a good experience. Maybe it's a good piece of athletic gear that they wore, and now they want to go give it a try. Maybe they're aura, or they have a wearable that told them to go do something. Maybe they decided to have, you know, an IV drip or something like this, but usually it's because of convenience or a friend or something like that. And again, that education gap isn't necessarily there. So what's so interesting is, how do we keep them in the in the folds, and grow and grow and grow from wherever they come in, starting from. So with regards to the founders co pilot thing, I just have found so many amazing founders that have businesses, successful businesses. They're solving legit problems for each for people, and they've started a journey, much like I did, and they've gone along the way, and they're at the point of no return. You know, they may be funded, they not, may not be funded yet, but they're making money, right? And they're looking to grow their organizations, or substantially, you know, established businesses looking to go into new territories, new markets, go from B to B to B to C. So that's kind of what I've been doing, is like getting involved in these companies and helping just Springboard them to the next level.

Krissy Vann:

Is there a particular subset in the fitness industry that you have found reaching out to you, or do you cover the gamut in regards to whether it be boutique or somebody looking to do an hblp, or even in the wellness space, I

Unknown:

have found that a lot of people I've worked with, we've gotten to know know each other over the course of years. So you know LinkedIn guys, if anybody's watching and questioning their LinkedIn game, it is a great place to really, really nurture relationships over duration of time. Time, and I'm not a good LinkedIn sharer, to be honest with you,

Krissy Vann:

but I was gonna give you some content today, so thank

Unknown:

you for that. Yeah, no, I think a lot of people who have come to me just have seen that I got involved in something rowing. Listen, I was not a rower, and we educated the marketplace on rowing, and we created a brand that was like sexy and appealing. It was actually not a sexy brand. Let's be honest. I knew my values, though I knew my core values. I knew who my target market was going to be, and I established product market fit, and watched that client, got to know that client. Really understood the client over the course of time, listened hard, believed in kind of what we were pushing forward, and made sure we're attracting the right audience without pivoting, and found the data to track it and continue to track it, and figured out the pricing and all of that based on like who we were serving. So the value proposition that was there, the you know, clientele, was there. And I think that people who've gotten to know my story understood all the work that that took to really, really kind of think through building a brand and did a successful business. And for those people, I think those are some of the people that have come, you know, for help. And then obviously I had an exit through exponential and there was some skill there, and different things that happens there. And, you know, people have seen that as well, and I had gone back in and kind of like, helped the brands kind of get back on track. When it meets some people who are founders, they often get to a place where there is just hurdles and obstacles. They don't know who to hire. They lose energy. They're getting tired, and something that I've been able to do consistently is kinds of like, come up with the answers that aren't necessarily what the founder thinks the problem is, and also, most importantly, breathe life back into them and just make them feel like they have somebody to help, like work through that understands what they're going through. So it's been a mix of a couple of different things, Krissy, couple of different types of businesses.

Krissy Vann:

What are some of the most common problems that you find founders run into over and over again, lack of sales

Unknown:

process definitely. I think it's been an ongoing issue in our industry. Gym sales process is very different than boutique sales process. When you go into boutique sales process, you add, you know, the Soul Cycle, hands off sales process forever. You know the gym like, pull you by your throat and grab you in and close the door and they'll let you until you buy sales process. You know, there's just so many different sales processes and a lot of hiring based on, well, that person's with this brand, so they must know, and maybe that's a brand, you know, in boutique, for example, where it kind of sells itself. So that's another thing, right? What's the education required in the sales process? Is there education required in the sales process? I love the IV drip space, but there's a lot of, you know, how is it going to make me feel? You know, a ton of objection handling that needs to happen in the sales process and top down from the brand's valuation, you know, value proposition. So I think sales process big place. I think another big place is team, just questions, and team, you know, is this person, the right person is the wrong person. And then it goes to like, well, who is who was their support, you know, like, Who are their supporting team members? They might be great if they have the right interactions with supporting team members. And by the way, how are they incentivized? You know, are they incentivized against what you need them to be doing, or are you paying them too much, by the way? I mean, so they're not like hustling, but you need them to hustle all of that. And then another thing within team that I see a lot is just understanding foundational brands, like, if people are in aligned, they don't really, truly understand where you're going and what you're trying to do, it will be hard for them to to want to do the work, you know, but, but to do a well, and to know what they should, you know, bring to you, and what they should continue to chart forward and all that. So, um, kind of the training of the team as well. So those are two things, I think, sales process, team. I mean, I could keep going, Chrissy, well,

Krissy Vann:

not, but it's because you've lived this as well and learned so many lessons along the way. So kind of on the other side of that coin, of that I approached that being like, what do people come to you, being like, Ah, I don't know what to do next, but for yourself, what are the big learnings and hiccups that you had in the row house journey that you kind of make a point of instilling, as a founder of copilot, so people don't make the same mistake. Oh,

Unknown:

I love that one. So I something that I did was I was extremely resourceful. I'm like, like you, right? You know, just like an extremely resourceful person, know people know who to go to, know to ask what questions and have no fear. Asking question, right? Because there's no bad question. It's just a learning experience, and I will always return a favor, you know what I mean? So I'm not concerned about that, however. So and so I asked a lot of questions to a lot of people, and I never created a formal advisory board. I just didn't do it. And what I learned through the years is that without a formal advisory board, I didn't really have accountability. Also keep in mind I didn't have investors for a very large portion of my business's growth, so you don't really have accountability other than to yourself, right? And so I think that formulating an advisory board with a set cadence of communication is really, really, really helpful, because going back to being resourceful and talking to a lot of people, asking a lot of questions, well, that's fine, but Ben, nothing's coming really back to you to keep you, holding accountable from these advisors. And you know, they'll talk to you earlier. So how did that ever go? And you're like, oh, did I say I was

Krissy Vann:

going to do that here? Like, that old thing.

Unknown:

That's one thing that I think is really, really great, great takeaway for people growing businesses is like, make sure you you have, you know, a formal advisory board group, because, by the way, you don't have to pay for it. You know, people are willing and excited to help you in your journey. Probably you're going to offer them something, some sort of, you know, equity or in your company, but it's not going to be cash outright. So it's a great way to get really, really, really good help and experience as you grow. Yeah,

Krissy Vann:

I mean, it's, it's making that ultimate investment in yourself. Because at the end of the day, I kind of equate it to the same as like, the best friendships we can have in life are the ones that are willing to say to your face, where your blind spots are? They are the most helpful friendships in life. And you're basically taking that same philosophy and applying it to the business perspective, where are my blind spots? Because at the end of the day, one individual, as much as we would love to think that we are the brain that is the Swiss Army knife. Of all of the things, you're going to miss, some things sometimes, and the accountability pieces, while being so important. Because as a founder, I'm sure you work with people time and time again, where they are stretched in 50 million directions at any given time, plus the natural I know that we are in the business of prioritizing our health and wellness, but there can be stressors, anxieties you're solving new problems every day that crop up, and that can really cause a little bit of a divot on our accountability sometimes when something new is all of a sudden stealing your attention. So that is a fabulous takeaway. You're obviously not just dealing though, with founders in the startups of their journey. You're having a lot of people that want to put the pedal to the metal and do that growth trajectory. And as I highlighted off the hop here, one to 306 years, I'm just going to say it, it's pretty fucking impressive. So for those that are looking to scale up their businesses. Kind of the same question here, What were your biggest learnings through that process? Because, as we teed it up here, this was not your background. This was not your industry. You learned everything from the ground up to be able to accomplish that very impressive statistic.

Unknown:

Yeah. So, I mean, I think the thing is, Listen, you really have to manage your data right from the beginning like you really have to follow your stats. And I, ironically, when I was in digital publishing, back at the beginning of like, digital content, I represented the artists that were doing comic strips and content so Snoopy and Dilbert. And cool, yeah, it was yes. And so my schooling, like, straight out of college, was, this is the chart, and this is the month, and this is the property that is, you know, in the newspapers world wide, or in actually, online comics.com, dilbert.com snoopy.com like, and this is when they performed, and this is when they didn't perform. And so I really, really, it was like a web analytics role. And, you know, I think in in the digital space, we're doing so much of this with content now, but the fitness industry kind of didn't grow up this way. And so we're like, looking really, so what happens on that day? Why was readership high? Oh, it was Memorial Day. You know, everybody was home, nobody was at work or this, or you track it back to the content, like, what happens in the content that day? Oh, it was a really funny one. It must have gone viral, something like that, and report back to the artists. People really loved what you had to say that day with whatever or your performance is going like down hill, bring it back up. What are we doing here? So, you know, I think that that's something that I looked when I got into the fitness industry to set up for success moving forward. I think a lot of the really good players that are out there have done that. They've gotten. And again, really close to understanding on the floor of their local communities. If we're talking brick and mortar, why are people coming in? What's happening? I mean, we used to have listen 360 reviews. That's, you know, one of these vendor plugins to the CRM systems, MMS, and it would tell you, like somebody said the the toilets, the bathrooms, are always dirty, and you better fix that. And that's an issue that, like, if you're not paying attention to your business, your bathrooms being dirty, or the room smelling or the person next to you smelling like is more important than the fact that the music was screechy and the mic wasn't working, which is also an issue, right? So you have programming issues, you have pricing issues, you have facility issues, you have community issues. You have whether people were friendly or not, if there was, you know, in New York City, like, if there was a homeless person always sitting in front of the you know, like so many things. So that's really, I think, where a lot of this stuff comes from, is really figuring out on a day to day basis what's working and then building it up into a model to the top

Krissy Vann:

when people come to work with you, what's your process in getting to know their business, and really how you start to understand where you should sink your teeth into and be The best guide or co pilot in this case.

Unknown:

So, I mean, listen, oldie but goodie. SWOT analysis, right? What are the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of threats in your business right now? Like, what is going on? What is your problem? I had a group that came. They were about to do an owner Summit, amazing business owners, hydrate, IV girls out of Denver and Arizona, and they were about to do an owner Summit, and they just needed some help. And we just got very quickly down to the bottom of, like, where I could help them kind of position some of the things, what's going on with their business in preparation for the summit, which would really be their strategy for the year to come. So we ended up kind of pulling together a strategy for the year to come and then figuring out from there where it makes sense to work together in the future and to stay involved. And I like to stay involved in long term success of businesses I like. I don't like to go in as kinds of like a consultant. And I really like to work with people that I like and have good energy with, right? We have great energy finds other people you have great energy with, and it's really enjoyable work, and you add a lot of value. So that's normally kind of how I I get in essence, called in there's a problem, there's something that can't be solved. We don't know exactly where to turn we're losing energy. We're having doubt in our ability to make decisions. And then it's kind of a conversation of, can we come together? Can I add value? And I mean, there have been so that's an approach of, we need help now. How can we solve it? How can we figure out a way to look together and keep moving? There have been, also been companies that have come to that are just growing, and you look under the hood and realize that they're kind of hitting a stumbling block because of the team or because they don't really understand, you know, how to grow the brands beyond keeping it, you know, kind of tight. And so we'll do a little bit more brands work like who is, who is your target market that you're trying to reach? What's the founder story? Why did we come together here, you know, and kind of get that all trued up so that we could expand really well and align to bring all of the right stakeholders in and programs and initiatives in from the bottom. I love doing that type of a thing as well. So, yeah, those, those are two examples. There's one more. The other example is a great company I'm working with right now from Australia, coming into market that needs network and connections. And you know, I've spent a lot of time in this industry. I know a fair amount of people, and so I can really kind of help them take some shortcuts, get into the market, meet the people that they want to meet.

Krissy Vann:

And on that kind of note, yes, this is your business and what you're doing now, but also, I'm sure you have had a lot of mentors along the way, especially through some of these big pivot steps that you've had in your career journey. So who have some of those been for you, and what were kind of the big lessons that were imparted on you that you're still grateful for through this day.

Unknown:

So the mentors that come to mind at the moment all came from when I was with New York City tourism and marketing, and they it was just we. We represented New York City, which is arguably one of the best brands in the world, to the world, and we found ways to get international tourists, to get excited, and to come in domestic and local tourists. And the passion there was so large, it's like the passion in this industry, right? I've taken my passion and by the way, that's why I landed there. I was like, I can't figure out what to do in the fitness space. I love New York City. I'm on board around New York or I might as well work. For these guys, but it's like the passion was so ridiculously strong to see things through that it just created such an amazing network of people that were were there enjoying what they did every every day. So that's one thing, you know, I think I really kind of learned from my mentors, like, if you're gonna if you're gonna work this hard, you better really enjoy what you're doing. But I also really understood how to think of, you know, value proposition and client targeting and communications at different levels within one overarching brands, which is huge for a franchisor, or, you know, anybody with, like, a big brands message that's trying to speak across the country, to different markets within which is something that I think, you know, as I saw ROAs, you know, go into exponential and all the exponential brands, and we saw, like, this isn't just your New York City client. Like, how do you appeal also to these other markets? How do you make sure your communication is strong enough to appeal? And kind of pulled and dialed that back in that's something that mindset is something that I really, really, really learns from that group. So I'm so appreciative of that there was a mentor there as well on the family life balance side, that two of them that you know kind of made this comment about how life is a marathon, not a sprint. Let's leave it at that. But essentially, yeah, because

Krissy Vann:

you're a busy like you're busy mom, right? Yeah, on top of all of this. So I'm like, I just pause you there to highlight it, because I do think, especially in these conversations, that is so important to say, because at the end of the day, all these tremendous levels of success require a serious amount of work, but you are balancing this entire personal life and your heart and soul on the other side, and that's just the reality,

Unknown:

yeah, and my own wellness, right? So we like to actually live the part of the industry we represent, but it takes time. It takes time. So, yeah, it's like, give grace to yourself. Make sure you find time for yourself. Don't feel guilty about buying all of that because it is a marathon, not a sprint. So I was very I just told true very much to that message, yeah, well,

Krissy Vann:

it's like having your own value proposition to self. Of like, I promise I'm going to treat you in this way, and at the end of the day, it allows you to keep going and expand and Excel. When it comes to the fitness industry itself, obviously, you're on the pulse. I mean, you're talking about some of the IV therapies that are on taps, and you're very in the know of what's up and coming. So what spaces in the fitness industry right now are really exciting you? I mean, we often talk about trends, but I'm like, maybe there's something on the horizon that isn't getting as much attention, but is burning a little bit of excitement within yourself.

Unknown:

I mean, personally, and I'm not really working in it, but the world of like vibration therapy is really interesting. There's so I mean, I've experienced enough of it at this point. I'm a big fan that the power plate actually those types of worlds. Yeah, and the other thing, and the on the women's wellness side. So like, once a founder, always a founder. I'm going to go back a second to come forward to this question again, Krissy, because it makes me think of the earlier question of, you know, what did some of your mentors say? And it always stuck with me that truly, once aunts are always a counselor, like, if you're wired this way, you're going to kinds of but I got to a point where I was like, No, I want to help other people do their own things. And then I'm getting the itch again. And so I think that there's a brand that I want to launch, actually, in the women's exciting. Hopefully everyone will keep track on that and,

Krissy Vann:

like, any hints Come on, hopefully, like, if

Unknown:

I'm saying it, I'm actually going to do it within a year, but I've been working on it on the side. But, yeah, I mean, there's a lot going on in that space for a couple of reasons, right? Like, there's, and I've been involved, you know, with companies recently, really starting to understand more from the female standpoint, the female wellness user standpoint, on what's going on through the life cycle, right? And it used to be that, like, nine months ago, nobody, you know, people would tell me, like, I don't really want to talk about women in their hormonal changes, and this, that and the other thing. And it's like now people are realizing you have to, because that's where you really are differentiated, and you're really helping users. And by the way, there's not only two, there's like Multitudes, multitudes of millions of users that have these same problems. And so I think as an industry, we're getting more willing to speak about what is actually, you know, being experienced by some of our consumers. And we're no longer doing the whole marketing advertising of you know, you'll have great abs like, obviously, we know that we've gone a long way from that. And so now these brands that are popping up in the space that are actually solving, like, real problems of what people are experiencing through their 20s, 30s, 40s, you know, 50s onward is, I think, really interesting, and for the men too, but it is a biological difference, is the aspect I'm coming at it from more, yeah, I was listening some Bobcat podcasts where it's like vulva owners versus penis owners, you know. So I'm looking at it more for female hormonal, yes, biological standpoint, than a non well, and

Krissy Vann:

it's such a smart space to play in, because I even think from the social media side, I mean, growing up, it's like, as a woman, you get a period everything. You're like, shy, and you don't want to talk about it and say it out loud. Now I'm seeing content creators after content creators talking about how it impacts their workout, and being very open and candid throughout their life, cycle or cycle. And then same thing on the other side, perimenopause. How is that changing my workouts? Pelvic Floor obviously, has been finally a topic of conversation. Out Loud, I'm like, these things are happening for your consumers, and when we look from the intersection of fitness spaces and healthcare spaces, sadly, I mean, I'm coming from the Canadian perspective, so I can't speak to the American healthcare system, but I do know we have women have been incredibly underfunded in our own systems. A lot of the medications we take aren't even necessarily in the studies done on both groups. So I'm just kind of like, yes, Deborah, I'm very excited for wherever you're going with this, because this is a space that has been completely neglected for a very long time. And certainly there's players in the industry, but the momentum, you can feel that hook and shift happening. So yep, one you're gonna have to tell me first when this is launching. Okay, well,

Unknown:

hopefully we can do something again. I mean, listen, it on a very granular standpoint, like, from a very granular, like, standpoint level, the people want to see themselves in your brands, right? And they want to believe that they belong to your brands. And so when people came in, when I was teaching, like, you know, group fitness, and the women would come up to me and say, like, can I work out during my period? Like they want to feel welcome, that they can be there. And that question happens, I mean, it happens all of the time, right? And so that's, I think, the thing of what we're starting to see more of, like in yoga, you know, I've taken 1000s of classes of so many different modalities over the years. And, like, there's a studio that I go to now where they say consistently every time when you go into, like, shoulder stands, you know, women, if you're on your moon cycle, don't do shoulder stance. And how many places wouldn't say that? And how many or would feel weird to say at women if you're menstruating, like if you're on your moon cycle, you know, what's the right messaging? It sounds a little weird. It's a little inappropriate. Does it really matter if you are, you know, I mean, I don't know. So that's where it's interesting. It's like, people just want to know that you're actually there for them and that they're not in the wrong place. So if you're looking to build evangelists, you have to understand your customer and what matters to them and be willing to talk about it. Yeah,

Krissy Vann:

I am, as I say. I mean, just based on me researching into your background, and I tend to get a little creepy on the internet before I have somebody on here, because I'm like, I want to know everything about you. I have no doubt that you're going to make this a reality, and you'll more than likely make it the reality within the year. So excited to watch that for you as we round out the conversation. Of course, you and I kind of met initially because you were taking part on top of you're not busy at all with family and this and that and businesses, but you actually carve out the time and space to also advocate for this industry and really elevating the message that these spaces are social health, mental health, physical health, obviously, from the American perspective, you have put your voice behind the Fit act and bringing that into the halls of Capitol Hill. Why is it so important for you to carve out the time to elevate this message?

Unknown:

Yeah, thank you. It's interesting. So having the experience in New York City tourism and government and understanding kind of how economic impact works, and all of that, I knew that as an industry, we could have a seat at the table if we earned a seat at the table. And I recognized that there was kind of a brand's disconnect between how government was seeing us as an industry and how we should have been seen, right? And so that's kind of what brought me to rise, I think, and want to help kind of the disconnect. And it was in two regards, right? There was a disconnect between, kind of, like, the gym side of the industry, and some of the new growth, I think a lot of the new growth the, you know, people coming from private sector jobs to launch, you know, Community studios and and in mind, body wellness and. Of that coming together, that that wasn't necessarily being seen. And then the other thing, yeah, was definitely just the notion that, like, the fitness industry wasn't about buff arms and, you know, nice legs, it was about mental health, emotional health and physical health, right? And so that was kind of like this relaunch post, kind of covid, where I got very involved in the relaunch and the advocacy work that was being done at the DC level. And went down there and realized, you know, furthermore, Congress thinks that there is parks and there is, you know, places to walk, and there is athletic centers, community centers, and there's pools, and people should just go out and get involved in those types of things. And the truth is, as an industry, we know people don't have the programming to know how to really do something that their body will necessarily even sustain them for, right? If they're overweight and they start running before you know it, they have ankle, you know, issues galore, or foot issues, whatever. And they also certainly don't have the accountability right. So we're like in the business of motivation. We're here to prescribe a program that can stick and help and, you know, certainly like the gyms and studios and all that provide accountability, and that's why we charge memberships and get people on packages, so without all of that knowledge being, you know, parlayed into kind of the the people who are making the decisions on our behalf, they just think everybody should go out and go walking, and it's just not going to work. So I just wanted to kind of come and help bridge the gap, and it's given me a wonderful community. I really, really understand kind of the lay of the lands of the industry and who the main players are, and have gotten to know so many of them and call them my friends, so I've considered it a lot of fun. But you know, hopefully we're doing good work, and there's a lot of people on the health and fitness Association task forces that are doing much, much more than me and anybody out there who's looking to support the industry should really go to the health and fitness Association. Fitness Association website and make sure to support formally called to Ursa, just in case there's any confusion there, make sure to be a member and support the cause. Because, you know, ultimately, that is how we grow populational health,

Krissy Vann:

absolutely. And I mean, you know, from my side of the border here as well, there's advocacy work taking place for a pesky tax line that they won't change from ineligible to eligible, so that we could kind of mirror and do the same thing. And so I think even globally as an industry, to your point where you're like, I have this company from Australia, and this that, and the other I'm like, the more that we are emphasizing this and giving that same message, eventually, hopefully it makes it across the finish line, because at the end of the day, it was more of a competitive mindset, it seemed, versus collaborative. And it's been really fascinating entering the space myself and seeing that collaboration happening in real time. And on that note, as we end the conversation here, I always like to leave people with a little nugget to fuel their day. So from yourself, as the founders co pilot, what would be the overarching message that you want, want to make sure that people that are looking to grow their business, or maybe they're that individual you're speaking to that's like, I'm tired and I'm putting everything into it. What is the pep talk that they get from you.

Unknown:

I mean, I pretty much just tell people, like, I'm here to help you out and breathe some life back into you, you know, because it's a lot, it's, it's, it is a marathon and not a sprint. But you need your support network along the way, right? So, yes, I That's it. I just like to help, like,

Krissy Vann:

I'm happy to look at them. No one does it alone. Yeah, don't do it alone. Obviously, I'm sure you've piqued some people's interest here. So how can they connect and find you? Oh,

Unknown:

I'm a LinkedIn girl. I do have a website, fitness holdings.com, where I'm reachable. But yes, you know, and I hope Krissy to see you at some of the upcoming industry events and trade shows, because you're such a great inspiration and such a great industry energy and yeah, so hopefully we all just like, throw a party together and hang out, right?

Krissy Vann:

I can't wait. I absolutely can't wait. Well, thank you so much for carving out the time. I know that you have tons on the go, so I really, really appreciate it, and I'll make sure to have all your contact details in the show notes as well.

Unknown:

Thank you. You

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Krissy Vann

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