Fitness Business University Podcast

SPEAKER_02: Welcome to another
episode of the FEU podcast.

I'm doing this as a very special
series of episodes.

I've done a bunch of these
already.

And what I'm doing, and I just
explained it to the two amazing

guys on this call, but what I'm
doing with this series of

interviews is I'm taking some of
the gym owners that I've worked

with over time, and I'm doing a
series of interviews with them

that showcase their story and
showcase their success.

And part of it is going to be
one, you as a gym owner

listening to this can get some
inspiration and motivation on

what people are doing to have
success.

But two, full disclosure, I'm
taking these interviews and I'm

going to be transcribing them
into a book that I'm going to

use and hand out to people
interested in Mastermind and

hand out to people maybe on the
fence about Mastermind and

sending them this book in the
mail.

So it is twofold.

I think you're going to get a
ton of value from the great

people that we're interviewing,
but it's also to take this book.

Now, as I say that, hopefully
your wheels are turning and be

like, oh, that's a really good
idea.

I should probably do something
like that at my gym.

And if you're thinking that,
yes, you're on the right track

for it.

So the two great guys I have
with me today are Joe Riggio and

Dan Goodman from Varsity House
Gym in Orangeburg, New York.

They have, I know that so
clearly because they worked with

me shoot, I think since 2018.

And we're sitting here recording
this in 2025.

So it's been a seven-year
relationship, seven-year

coaching relationship that
they've been in the SPF

mastermind.

They're going to tell you the
story of how amazing things are

for them right now.

And it's it's really an honor to
have you guys on this.

Really appreciate all the help
that you guys give in in the

group.

You guys are looked at as
mentors and leaders and uncle,

uncle, uncles in the group of
some of the of some of the

younger guys, right?

But you guys are always so
giving with your knowledge and

time in the SPF mastermind.

So I appreciate you guys doing
this doing this podcast.

So there's two of them.

So we'll put it, I'll leave it
up to you guys to fight for

that.

But the basically the first
question is why don't you just

give us background?

Well, Joe, you start because
give us some background on the

gym and how it started and all
that, and when we'll get into

the time when Dan didn't want to
sign up for the mastermind.

SPEAKER_00: Sure.

I mean, Cliff Note Virgin.

Yeah, Cliff Note.

Typical me head.

You know, one to always love
training, love fitness, love

sports.

Opened up my first gym in 06
with zero business skills

whatsoever.

You know, just wanted to train
kids and really mentor young,

young athletes.

Dan was one of those athletes in
06.

We trained together for three
years till 09.

He was graduating school.

It was the cusp of 08-09.

He graduated in the winter of 08
going into 09.

So like the job marker was
trash.

I had been asked, I had
outstayed my welcome at the gym

that I was sharing space with
because my business was mostly

like me head football players,
weights clanging and banging,

and they were like a basketball
skills and drills play.

So, you know, kids would be
trying to shoot like three

pointers, and you're the weights
would be going bonkers and stuff

like that.

You know, Dan needed a job.

I needed to get out.

He started pulling me for some
help, you know, for some, you

know, like a job opportunity.

Like, I want to do this, I want
to do it.

I want to be partnered, great
friend and mentor.

You know, so we started
exploring the idea.

Oh, nine, we opened up the
second red, we partnered up and

opened up the second rendition
of Varsity House.

And uh, you know, we we were
crushing it in terms in our

head.

We were doing breaks if we were
busy, being busy, like typical

gym motor.

We were just active, like we
were doing anything and

everything we could, going to
football games, track meets,

wrestling meets, basketball
games to get that word out

there.

It was all athletes at that
time.

There was really no adults.

And the first two years we were
in business, 09 and 010, when we

got rid of all of our football
players at the end of the

summer, we'd be waving everybody
out the door, like saying good

luck.

We might be sweating because
like we were almost out of money

by October, November.

We had a cash runway.

But we really had no money
management skills.

We had no financial acuity.

We didn't we we knew how to
hustle and we could sell, but we

didn't have a marketing plan or
a process, right?

That happened two years in a
row.

And at the second year, you
know, another mastermind, Vince,

again, we you you think we would
have learned from the first

mistake, but we we had gone out
to Louisville.

I put six, there was a few
thousand, one six thousand

dollars.

It was like four or five
thousand dollars to fly to

Louisville.

Behind we went to a Pat Rigsby
summit, a sales summit with Pat

Reigsby.

Great guy.

Great guy.

And and he was very gracious to
us.

And and in his southern Kentucky
Joel, he was like, I think I

know what the problem is, boys.

You don't know nothing about
business.

And and he's like, Maybe maybe
for every trading book you read,

you should read a couple
business books.

You think?

And so, you know, you know, uh
kind of like the moment we had

at CEO with you, where people
thought we were gonna like never

we were gonna break up and leave
our tail between our legs.

Actually, we were actually super
relieved on the flight home

because we at least we for the
first time we had an A point, we

had some clarity as to what we
needed to work on.

So fast forward a few years, all
intense purposes.

You know, we crush it, we're
busy, we're doing our thing.

We start training adults.

I started our six-week
transformation program, they

just crushed it for us.

And uh, we get to about 2014,
2015.

We open up our brand new
facility, which is the one you

know, and you've been to our
headquarters now, right, which

is a big 20,000 square foot
facility.

We did not have the business
acumen to scale that fast to

that big enough facility with
that many employees, without

really top-notch money
management skills and a real

lockdown marketing plans.

And we hired Ryan Lee, paid him
$10,000 for the day to come in

and help us change the pricing
model.

Or something was still missing.

And you got we fast forward a
few more years.

It's 2017, going into 2018, the
fall was when I came, I saw an

ad that summer for one of your
two-day summits.

And I said, you know what, I'm
gonna join this mastermind

group, uh, or I'm gonna go to
this summit, right?

That was only a couple hundred
bucks, I think, for that summit.

And and I remember being at TJ,
my my my gym, my gym's, my other

gym bromance, right, was there.

Uh we can who has literally
become one of my absolute best

friends.

And and we were like, you want
to join this thing or do this

thing?

And and Dan was adverse to it
just because like we didn't

really have the money.

And it was like maybe they don't
want to.

SPEAKER_02: Why wouldn't Dan why
didn't Dan, yeah?

So basically, Joe's talking
about a seminar I had many years

ago.

And you why didn't Dan go?

Like, why'd you go by yourself?

You guys were business partners.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know.

I think it was the money,
honestly.

I think we just work and he was
working, and like I left him, it

was a weekend, so back then we
were open seven days a week.

So like somebody had to work.

So I went to this thing, and
then when I told him, hey man, I

I think this guy can help, he's
got some really great points,

he's a local guy.

Part of the reason why Joe and
you is because I don't know, I

saw a lot of us in you because
you're a Jersey guy, so yeah,

you you knew all the Jersey
slang, you know all the Jersey

people.

You even though like me and you
had not known each other prior

to this, it seemed like we knew
all the same people and come

through a lot of the same
circles.

And and I knew that if I had a
problem in from your mouth to my

ears, you were like, hey man,
you're right up the parkway.

If you ever have an issue, you
come down here, shadow the gym,

stuff like that.

So I was like, that made a big
difference to me because I

didn't want to hire, like,
again, the reason why I didn't

stick with Pat was because he
only works out of Louisville

now.

It's like I can't be flying back
and forth to Louisville, you

know, 10 times a year, right?

So, and and there's no direct
flights to Louisville, so that's

a shit show getting there.

You know, I put the money on my
credit card, my personal credit

card for myself.

And then obviously I came home
with a pile of marketing ideas,

blueprints, and plans, and
reinception of changing to small

group.

We immediately started changing
them out to small group personal

training and started making
money.

And that's when, you know, kind
of the light bulb went off after

I was in it for a year.

Joined Dan joined when you came
into CEO.

And when you allowed, you know,
when we when you opened the CEO

mastermind and it was Jin's, you
know, partners could come.

I was like, dude, you have to do
this.

I know it's a lot more money,
but like, you know, we're we're

really starting to get some
traction here.

And the realization and part of
your teaching and like being

around the night people that
were in that mastermind at that

time, like there was a few other
key players in there as well

that I had become friendly with.

You know, the the underlying
tone of it is that the skills

and the mindset that got you to
500k a million won't get you to

two, three, five.

It's just not gonna happen.

And, you know, and and you know,
you know what you know.

There was a lot of things that
Dan and I didn't know.

We were great coaches, you had
lots of hustle, tons of passion.

We had all the intangibles that
we needed.

We just didn't have a we just
didn't have a lot of direction.

And you know, your group,
specifically some of the things

that you do, I think your
superpower bins is really just

keeping keeping people on a on a
uh I always think of those

fidelity commercials, you know,
just follow the path, the little

green path.

You know what I'm saying?

You ever you know what I'm
talking about?

Those financial commercials,
right?

Where it's like, just follow the
path, just follow the path,

right?

You do a great job of laying out
a path.

And when we're in our meetings
together, especially our CEO

meetings, it is directing those
meetings in a way that keeps

people keep the conversation
moving forward for each

business.

And that's really helped us stay
focused on our goals, get really

granular on what we need to work
on and stay on that and not get

distracted.

I mean, you've called us out how
many times have you pulled us

out in the last 70 years and be
like, guys, is this just like

shiny object syndrome?

Are we chasing our tails here,
or you know, or do we just want

to make money doing the thing?

You know, and you kind of rope
us back in a lot.

SPEAKER_02: What was the uh I
want to get to the second

problem because Dan, I know you
explained that really well.

But Joe, when you went to the
first, I just want to be go back

to that first, when you went to
the two-day mentorship, what was

the struggle and the challenge
in the business at that point?

SPEAKER_00: Price pricing,
pricing and and marketing.

SPEAKER_02: Pricing and
marketing, okay.

And then what were the things
that happened?

Uh so you joined the mastermind.

I know you have a you you gave
me a great testimonial too about

the holiday card system.

Like, I know you took one of the
things that did really well.

What were the things that
started to happen or what are

the things you did that started
you realize like, all right,

this mastermind thing that we
joined is working, it's helping

us.

SPEAKER_00: I needed I needed
tactics, right?

So, like I was, you know, again,
a lot for all the gym owners

listening to this, when you're
in it and you're working

feverishly, and a lot of the
people, again, like you know,

that I meet in your group, they
got families, they have kids,

right?

And you're doing 30, 40, 50
sessions a week.

It's very difficult to be
creative.

So uh I had not created a
one-way for myself like we talk

about now, like creative time,
clarity time, headspace time,

right?

And like now when I look at my
schedule, I I would like laugh

at the current, like the old Joe
would laugh at the new Joe, be

like, dude, what are you?

Cupcake for God's sakes?

What is this crap?

Like free time, free thinking
time?

What is that garbage, right?

But we know that in that free
thinking time, like I might come

up with an email or an idea that
makes the business yell freaking

million dollars.

But I didn't have any of that.

So I was in it.

So it's very difficult to be
creative.

You know, what the one thing was
I had gotten fed like a booklet

of ideas.

So I was like, oh shit, here's a
ton of stuff that I didn't know.

And then two, just awareness of
the pricing structure.

One thing that Ryan Lee did was
he told us our pricing structure

was garbage, right?

And we already knew that we were
having struggle because we had

200 and something members paying
150 bucks a month.

And he said, look, how much you
guys want to make?

At the time it was like, you
know, we want to say we said we

I think we want to make
personally like 250 grand a year

each or something like that.

And he was like, All right,
well, if that's 25% profit in a

business like this, you need to
make$2 million a year in this in

this gym.

And that means you're gonna have
to have like a thousand clients

playing this money.

We're like, oh shit, we didn't
even think, you know, didn't

really resonate.

So after seeing you lay out the
small group model on how you

were charging, you know,$400
plus a month.

This other damn, we could do
that.

Like we're already doing that.

Our classes were already like
world cloud strength edition

classes.

We were just giving away too
much, right?

And we weren't charging enough
for it.

SPEAKER_02: So the first phase
for you guys was marketing

ideas, pricing structure, and
then model shift, right?

Shifting from a different model,
right?

So that was kind of the first
phase in your what you got from

us, right?

But then the second phase came,
and I'm gonna let Dan chime in

here.

The second phase came when you
guys joined CEO Mastermind and

you guys had done well, and you
and again, you guys, full

disclosure, and I want to say
this to everyone listening, they

were close to a million-dollar
business before they joined.

So I'm not taking credit for all
of their success.

Like these guys are heavy
hitters, they're doing really

good work, they're helping other
gyms right now in their business

of strength program.

So I don't want to take like
these guys.

I I did not ask them for a
testimonial for my new book,

which is gym is doing zero to
25k.

I didn't ask them because they
were already well beyond that.

Right.

But they're still even at close
to seven figures, they were

still struggling with the
marketing side, they're still

struggling with the model side.

And we were able to help them
improve that and make that

better.

SPEAKER_00: And what important
last thing I want to say though,

Merc, is that we were we were
there, we were at that loud

number.

But if you remember our first
our first meeting, our payroll

was like 57% of our revenue.

And Dan and I were both working
six days a week, 40 sessions a

week.

We were crushing ourselves in
that model of the week.

There was no escaping.

So something had to get.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

Yep.

Yeah, there was there was what I
call this, it became this big

ship that had organizational
ADD.

Yeah.

Great, great analogy.

Yeah, and and part of that was
the thing we're gonna get into

with Dan right here.

So Dan, tell the story of the
first the head, the fate, the

SPF famous CEO hot seat story of
you and Joe.

That was great.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, when I just
said I intro you with the truth.

When you app intro you, I was
like, well, there's no better

way than to tell the truth and
tell the story.

And when Joe came down to that
event throughout the weekend,

he's like, I'm signing up for
this thing, this guy Vince,

whatever, and obviously we know
the story, he ended up signing

up.

But I was totally against it.

And you know, he went against
what I wanted him to do, and

like any good business partner,
he did exactly what I asked him

not to do, and he signed up to
the mastermind anyway.

And it didn't take long for me
to realize that he had a pep in

his step, and it was just like
new, fresh ideas to add stimulus

to a marketing machine that was
working.

We had brand reputation, but we
just needed some no new tools in

the tool dolls.

And they started to work and we
started to execute.

And I quickly was like, I'm glad
I had the maturity to realize,

like, wow, this is working.

Like, I need to pay attention
and came down for a meeting and

realized you know, you were
which means more to me than

anything, you were an
approachable guy that had

humility and like you genuinely
gave a shit.

Hashie was there too in that
first meeting, and I really I

really appreciated where you
guys were at and how much

organizational structure you had
in your building.

I was an early adopter, I was
hooked ever since then.

And you know, one word that we
haven't mentioned, but it's so

important is that yes, we we had
come in with, you know, a

defense business, and today now
we, you know, we help other gyms

and we have three gyms now, but
like the biggest thing we would

have never realized any of it if
we didn't have the

accountability.

Like a lot of people could say,
like, oh, like whatever it is,

it's not that hard to do,
whatever.

Like, that is bullshit.

You've kept us on the straight
narrow word hey, we meet every

three months and we gotta
disclose what we said we were

gonna do and what we actually
have done.

And you've had a way of
delivering the information where

it might be a punch to the gut,
but it's done with grace and

empathy, and it's hey, like this
is what happened, but this is

where we're going.

And that constant that constant
push has allowed us to find that

next gear.

And you know, to anybody
listening to this, you're

selling coaching.

What is coaching?

You could chat GPT a training
plan, but you can't chat GPT

accountability and competition.

And you know, we were in the
weeds of it, and you have had a

really unique way of being above
it and allowing us to see what

we don't see, and through that,
like I will always forever be

grateful.

And you know, this past weekend
I made mention that you've done

that and continue to do that for
150 people.

And it, you know, the reason why
we continue with you and and

will continue with you because
you've allowed us to find that

next year and we keep pushing us
forward.

SPEAKER_02: So go back to the
that's appreciated, Dan.

Go back to the story though of
the hot seat.

So to let me set the stage of
this is a mastermind that had

probably about nine people in
the room, and everyone had to

this is is way more embarrassing
than getting up in front of the

room and dropping your pants,
right?

This is getting up in front of
the room and showing your PL.

Like, not, hey, I made this much
money.

Like, no, this is what the
actual spreadsheet from my

profit and loss statement from
QuickBooks says.

And it was a very, I had never
seen anything like it either,

right?

And I I got the idea from my
business coach, Paul Goff, who

should who showed me this model
of, hey, this is there's no

hiding in this type of coaching.

That's the the accountability
comes from not from me holding

you accountable, the
accountability comes from the

process of the way the
mastermind is structured.

In that you fill out this
document, you bring your PL, and

you show us exactly what
actually is happening.

Yeah.

Right.

And so that's the that's that
what I want to do is set the

frame for everyone listening of
what these meetings were like.

And then each group, each gym
gets an hour in front of the

room after we've read the
document, and then the group

helps them solve the biggest
challenge that they're having

based on what the document says.

SPEAKER_00: For sure.

And and also too, like I don't
want to take anything away, like

the FPF events, the large group
events are fantastic as well.

And I think like to anybody
listening to this that believes

that they've arrived or that
there's ever going to be a time

and place where like you know it
all.

Somebody asked me recently,
like, what we attribute our

success to at varsity house, and
really the the word is curiosity

and staying interested.

At the last SPF event, I sat
like in the front two rows, two

rows or two tables, and I'm
taking notes and applying things

that you're saying to our
business like within 48 hours of

that event.

So the sharpening of the sword
never ends.

You have to stay interested, you
have to stay curious, and it is

super freaking important.

In terms of that CEO, that first
CEO meeting, then you want me to

talk about like specifically
happened.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, because I
because I want to highlight the

challenges, right?

I want to highlight the first
challenge was marketing, model,

price.

The second challenge was
accountability, was really

structure and roles.

Yeah, right.

And the rub was you guys were
doing everything together and no

one had clear defined roles.

I think that's that's what it
was.

SPEAKER_00: Totally like most
people in that room, you'll say,

okay, accountability chart, and
you one person's name in every

box.

The challenge that we had is we
had two hard-charging me heads

trying to share every role in
the accountability chart, which

does not work because there's if
there's no clarity between two

said partners, we had a team at
that point.

And that team, it was like going
to two separate parents that

were speaking different
languages.

Well, I'll go to Bill because I
know I'll get that out of them.

I'll go to J I'll go to Dan for
this answer because I know I'll

get that out of him.

And like we both wanted to
contribute on marketing.

A case in point now, Joe owns
the marketing in our business.

I contribute, but at the end of
the day, the marketing messaging

and the schedule and all the
things that we do from paid ads

to emails to initiate.

Yes, I have it to say, but Joe
owes that responsibility.

And you highlighted for us based
on you know some of the

strengths and weaknesses that we
had from a personality

standpoint, follow-through,
whatever it might be, that it

might be important for us to
revisit our accountability.

And Joe was the founder and the
incumbent CEO, but really his

strengths and what he was doing
was he was really keen on the ad

and the videos and being the
face of the organization, where

I really wasn't.

I liked marketing, I like the
messaging, I like writing

emails, and I was sitting in the
marketing scene.

You made a suggestion to flip
swap roles for me to become the

CEO and Joe to be the head of
marketing.

And that one switch alone, I
mean, I know it was a tense

room, but as Joe alluded to
earlier in the conversation, we

felt relieved just knowing like,
hey, this is my one like one

page, what I need to do to in
order to move this organization

forward.

This is your one page.

We'll round it up every week to
make sure we're on the same page

and influencing each other to
where we want to go.

But accountability and
organization or organizational

health, and we talked about you
you have to have the ability to

generate leads.

Once you can acquire a customer,
if you have an organization

that's doing in and around a
million dollars, organizational

health.

I mean, they call it that's
rocket fuel, right?

Organizational health is rocket
fuel.

Our business went to the
freaking moon as soon as you

helped us identify what we were
getting and really more or less

what we should focus on.

I mean, we've grown at an
exponential rate, not

immediately, but once we started
to get comfortable nose rolls, I

mean it's been a really cool
growth trajectory ever since.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I also
know that profitability improved

in the mother's.

Tremendously.

Tremendously.

Yeah.

So you grew top line, but also
the profit, the fr the profit

was tight when you first
started.

It was under 10%.

And margins.

Yeah.

And so then now you have a very
large business at good margins.

Yeah, which is which is
powerful.

No, that was great.

Yeah, and I think the tension,
yeah, that and remember, like,

we could cut the tension with
the method that you guys were

actually standing like as far
away from each other as

possible.

And again, I knew you guys loved
each other and I knew you guys

had a good, strong partnership,
but there was tension there.

And I think that and then what I
want to teach everyone the

tension was caused by a lack of
clarity of roles.

That you have two people in a
business that weren't clear on

what their job was, and that was
causing the tension.

That was the problem.

SPEAKER_00: So it's not personal
tension with me and Danny.

No, no.

Most of the best thing, again,
kind of like the Pat Rigsby

thing, kind of like every time
we come down for a CEO, there's

always something to work on.

But, you know, I think anxiety,
frustration, and uncertainty

come from not having the right
aiming points and the right

directive.

And like that's the whole point
of the CEO is that every quarter

we come and we reframe the
directive and create a couple

really key aiming points.

And look, I mean, all businesses
had lots of problems.

At VH, we're doing exceptionally
well.

We're having one of our best
years ever.

There's a million things to work
on.

Like shit, we can go down the
list.

I have a I have a dead sea
scroll of action items that we

could literally fix and work on
every day.

But by setting by having the
right people in the right seats,

uh, me and Dan kind of diving
deeper into our superpowers, use

of Danis Sullivan kind of term
to really dive into our our

unique ability, right?

And Dan is a much better
follow-up people manager than I

was.

I enjoy the creative.

Um, you know me, I've got a big
personality.

I love being in front of the
camera, speaking to people,

going out and doing business,
going out and making new

relationships, going out in the
community and doing our stuff.

I love doing the marketing.

I have a very creative quick
start brain.

And it just was a natural
switch.

And when we got there, I again,
like I know the TJ and a bunch

of the guys in the group had
like bets going that we were

never coming back and that we
were done for as a company.

But honestly, Dan and I were
literally like high-fiving and

fist bumping the whole way up
the ticker pipe because we we

finally had some clarity.

I mean, you knew what was wrong.

And we and and we had the
maturity.

You know, I've never been a as
big of a personality as I can be

since.

I've never really had a huge ego
with Dan or the people within my

organization.

I think I can look back at what
I've done right or a few things.

I mean, it's I've always been
fair at getting everybody their

just doing opportunity.

And you know, if Adam was doing
a better job than me at the

training and programming and
internship, shit, man, you take

Phil Brick.

You know, Mike was the head
director of training, that was

Mike's focus.

He loved it and preditated and
slept it.

He was doing a better job.

Let me take that thing and run,
right?

And you know, I you've heard me
say it many times, Dan is a way

better CEO than I was, and he
keeps me in check and does a

better job managing our team
than I did.

And I think that I'm doing him
better job with the tools that

we have today of the marketing
seat because I have all the

that's my main focus.

So it's been great for us as a
business-wise.

And and and you know, and again,
every quarter we come down, we

get those three or five aiming
points, you know, according to

EOS, those rocks.

And you don't have to be a
rocket scientist to know that if

you identify, you know, two to
five really key items in your

business every quarter and
actually fix them and do the

thing, uh, at the end of a
couple years, you're gonna have

some serious traction with some
serious growth.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

No, so it's it really is cool to
see the trajectory of the first

phase and the first problems and
the second problems as the

business grew.

And you guys have done really
well.

I want to shine the light on,
you know, wanting you guys to

gloat a little bit now, you
know, on where the business is

today.

So we kind of identified where
it was, wasn't profitable,

strong revenue, but a lot of
lack of clarity in the roles,

tough like getting the marketing
going.

And today, you know, I see you
guys every quarter, and there's

a lot happening, there's a lot
of good stuff happening.

You got good long-term staff.

Just give us, you know, either
either one of you, paint us a

picture of where the business is
today.

SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll let Dan
hangle from the financing, but

I'll give you a quick, I'll give
you one other problem that we

had, and that was when we
decided to scale.

And again, I was a little bit
hesitant because Vince, you

know, I knew you had the
business chops, and I knew that

you're a super sharp guy on the
business side, and you

surrounded yourself with other
world-class business people, the

Mike Wold Jeans of the world
who's helped us tremendously,

the Joe Hashies, who's who's, I
think, I don't know if his

business suggestions or his chop
busting keeps us alive more

because I, you know, I don't
want to show up to ever show up

to a CEO and not having done
what we said we were going to do

or not being improved, because I
don't feel like listening to his

bullshit for six hours.

But when we when Dan and I
decided to scale to multiple

locations, you know, Rupert was
instrumental because we had so

much, there was so much more to
learn.

And it's like, do you think that
getting the roles right and

running one really great, you
know, seven plus figure job was

hard?

Then trying to extrapolate your
leadership, marketing, sales

tactics, and tools to a
completely different location

with remote employees.

Now there's a whole nother ball
game.

And we we would not have gotten
through.

We would, we, because we we we
blew up and did not execute the

scale plan on the first one
correctly.

And it would really help us get
it back in line.

And now that's our most
profitable shop here at Juidy.

The cab's been there for four
years now, and that place is

doing great, and it's kind of on
the autopilot.

And but you know, now we have
three locations.

You know, we're having one of
our best years ever.

Our second location to use some
of their tactics tools and and

and ideas we got from the group.

And again, Vince leads the
charge, but there's some other

heavy hitters in there.

Like again, it'd be like I think
Dan and I have been very good at

immersing ourselves in the group
and making friends with a lot of

people with both the SPF and the
CEO and really extrapolating a

lot of great ideas from people.

There's some heavy hitters in
the group, but Devin being one

of them, TJ, right, who become
close-person friends of ours,

maybe guys who already had
multiple locations or were

staring in multiple locations.

So, you know, we're gonna open,
you know, we're probably gonna

open up uh another couple more
gyms.

We have the plan, our original
plan was to do five satellites

and have our HQ.

And this year's been our best
year yet.

Uh, and look after for business
to be around, you know, be 20

years in May, 20 full years in
May that we've been in business,

to have a record year at we at
that point in in the trajectory

is is remarkable.

And again, like this past
weekend we had a big event at

our gym.

And I would I can honestly say
with confidence and pride that

it was the best showing that
we've ever had for Team VH.

You know, the team gets it,
wants it, believes in the

mission, they're flying the
flags.

We had some really great hires
recently, and and all of our

processes have been influenced
by the lessons we've learned

from you and the rest of the
members in the group, you know,

by asking questions, by like Dan
said, by staying curious and

like seeing another gym and you
know, like like the like Anthony

and the hustle crew out there in
Scott one, just like, hey man,

like you're doing some really
cool stuff, you know, seeing

what Devin's doing, taking you
know, we took our whole tee down

to Devin's in like a grand tour
of a gym.

Dan went out to see Mark and his
crew at Power Strait, and we

literally did like a hard hat
tour of all his gyms, and you

gotta be in it to win it.

You gotta get out and see stuff,
you gotta get out and learn.

And every time we do that, we've
improved dramatically.

So awesome.

Dan.

I mean, just to add for that, I
mean we have four team members

that have done with us over ten
years.

I mean, I'm proud of that.

I know that you need a a blend
of veterans and rookies.

We've got some hard-charging
rookies, but we've been able to

create awesome career
opportunity for people in our

organization, which is great.

Today, with the three locations,
we have over 600 members, all

paying, you know, an average
rate of nearly$350 per month.

And you know, as Joe said, it's
year 20.

For me, it's year 17.

But I don't know if there's many
business partnerships that are

going on 17 years.

And I think, you know, if you
can figure it out with a

business partner, it it can be a
real gift because it allows you,

if you're on the same page, to
really cover a lot of ground

quickly.

And, you know, fortunate to be
able to do that here with Joe

and looking forward to see
seeing what the next 17 years

has in store.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, well said,
Dan.

I I this is for either of you.

Are there any so there's
obviously been a lot of business

success from the advice you've
gotten from the resources, from

the relationships that you've
created?

What are any personal wins that
have come from this?

You guys know we talk a lot
about mindset, a lot about

thinking.

I know you both have children
and families.

Dana, don't think you had kids
when you joined the group.

You now have one.

Any personal wins, personal
benefits that you've gotten?

Is it, you know, more time, less
stress, more confidence, like

any any good personal benefits
that you've gotten outside of

the business success?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

I remember I remember you
telling me one, and I never

really thought about it, like
and it impacted my life like in

way more ways than just with
success.

But you said there's two things
you're gonna have to dead good

at in order to be, you know, an
effective leader.

And look, be you lead as a
husband, a dad, a friend, you

know, in your community.

You didn't have to have the
ability to write and speak.

And writing and speaking is one
and the same.

And I hadn't been writing, but
loosely, and you know, writing

transfers to everything, and
then the ability to publicly

speak.

That was something I selected a
lot of opportunities because I

wasn't comfortable doing it.

It was something I recognized
through you clearly pushing it.

Uh being like, you know what,
I'm gonna embrace this, I'm

gonna get better at it.

And my ability to publicly speak
today of course changed my

income, but it's also like being
a friend or family member that's

able to say what needs to be
said in the right way, like, you

know, might sound simple, but
it's really been a skill set

that that I'll have forever and
absolutely changed my life in

that regard as like an actual
tactic that's been really great.

SPEAKER_02: Awesome.

Yeah, I I I definitely think
that your speaking ability can

go well beyond business stuff,
like I did the eulogy at my

dad's funeral, and I think Joe,
you did your mom's too recently.

It's painful, but it's like,
man, what a what a gift to be

able to deliver the right words,
you know.

So yeah, I I agree speaking can
be can be used not just for

person just for business stuff
or personal as well.

SPEAKER_00: I would say, like, I
mean, like, you know, the group

is cool too.

Like, again, there's a great
group of people in the group.

We push each other a lot.

Our specific CEO, like, I can
honestly say that I consider

everybody in the group friends.

Like, I know that if I was one
to take a family trip out to

Colorado and called Joe and told
him, you know, me and the

Riggios were coming to Colorado
for family vacation, that he

would roll out the red carpet
and probably have you know

stupid human tricks or feats of
strength lined up at nauseum.

But I know that his intention
would be enormously high to make

sure that I had a great
experience and that my family

had a great experience.

So he's a he's a good human
being.

Obviously, we talk a lot about
TJ and Devin.

They're like, they're literally
like we we're we call them, you

know, Army Head Brotherhood.

Like it's we have a special bond
with those guys.

I learned a ton from them.

I think I, you know, other the
lessons of watching other

business leader entrepreneur
dads conduct their business.

I've learned a lot, but it's
just one thing that I've gotten,

and one specific thing that I've
gotten from the grid is learning

how to disconnect the emotions
of running a business from my

personal life.

I used to let the business get
me so hot and cold and charged

up, like about feelings.

And we talk a lot about having
feelings and data in the

business.

And I was, in case you couldn't
tell, Vince, I'm, you know, you

know, off the cuff, kind of lead
with my emotions on my sleeve

type of guy, right?

And I let the feelings of my
business, the feelings of

employees doing well or not, the
feelings of client problems

drive me bonkers.

And now I've learned, you know,
obviously I've been doing this

30 years now.

I'm gonna be 50 this coming
here, but the reality is that we

have a data-driven business.

The PML, the numbers, the POS
systems, the scorecard, the

marketing scorecard, that's the
stuff that runs a business and

doesn't lie via, you know, a lot
of times the feelings are just

head trash.

And I used to have a lot of head
trash.

And being in a group of other
gym owners who are going through

the same problems and seeing
exactly the same situations that

we did, I started, I it started
to normalize it to the point

where I was like, oh, this is
what everybody's going through.

It's not just me driving myself
crazy.

Let me just if to be having a
hiring issue or an employee

development issue, let me look
at the data, let me look at the

processes, let me look at the
systems and fix those things.

And then I don't have to drive
myself crazy.

So everything's really just
become data and systems driven

now.

And when you have that, you
know, life is a lot more

peaceful, right?

My weekends are a lot more
peaceful.

My personal life is a lot more
common.

I can be more present with my
wife and my kids.

SPEAKER_02: So that's any big to
be for me.

Can you explain for people
listening?

Because you use that term pretty
easily, of what head trash

actually is.

SPEAKER_00: Look, there isn't an
entrepreneur on planet Earth in

any business, especially the gin
business, which I feel like is a

unique business because most
people get into fitness because

of some type of passion for
sports, helping other people.

Maybe they had their own fitness
journey that really changed

their lives.

Mine was a combination of
everything.

You guys have heard my story,
you know, my father passing away

young, things like that, mom
having a RFA growing up with a

dad really wanted me to like be
a mentor to young kids and

things like that.

So part of it was a passion.

So it's easy when you have like,
I think, a lack of confidence in

certain areas where you're good.

I was good at training, but I
really didn't have a lot of

confidence in myself on the
business side.

You know, you start building up
head trash about like, you know,

the negative thoughts about can
I, am I, things like that,

right?

Instead of like, can I, will, I
have those positive

affirmations.

And it was like clients don't
want to buy it because you know,

nobody's gonna want to hear my
me speak in public, you know, my

marketing sucks, right?

All that's kind of negative
self-talk.

And and again, when you get
around in a room full of people

who fall fell who have felt
forward as many times as you

have, right?

You know, you start to, like I
said, you start to kind of

normalize it and you realize,
you know, I'm in a room thinking

my marketing sucks, and then I'm
talking to Denner TJ, dude, I

just did this campaign and
completely blew the went flat.

I didn't sign up one person.

Oh shit, like, oh, all right,
good.

I'm not the only asshole in
here, right?

And so you we just realized that
we're all taking swings for the

fences, we're all trying to win
every day, we're all trying to

do things.

And and you know, kind of like
in the immortal words of Teddy

Roosevelt, right?

You know, the man in the leader,
you if you're not trying, you're

not succeeding right.

And it's you know, better than
try and fail and fall on your

face and be able to get up and
dust yourself off.

You know, and I think I think
you've curated a really great

group, and that's the EO one
group, right?

You know, and I know a lot of
the guys at CEO two, they're

fantastic human days as well.

But I think you see in our group
specifically, you got some

hard-ass mother efforts in there
who have fallen on their faces

multiple times and just continue
to get up and move forward.

And a lot of it is, and a lot of
the reason why we stay is

because again, like we know that
the four bus, especially and A B

at number five, are gonna show
up every quarter.

And I want to kick those dudes'
asses.

You know, I want to come DJ Mr.

Money Bags now.

He's doing really good.

You know, I watched him, you
know, you were there.

We watched him struggle.

He was he was the king of head
trash and self-doubt and and

shiny object stage room, and now
he's got a he's got an absolute

juggernaut of a business going.

Yeah.

And uh, and he and he's rolling,
you know, he's he's he's staying

at the four seasons and then Mr.

Bougie, you know, buying his$200
Lulu.

Going going to brunch.

Going to brunch I learned what
brunch was from TJ Lopez.

So, you know, money's money, you
say it a lot, man.

Money solves a lot of problems,
both personally and

professionally, right?

It's a great tool to do more in
your personal life, it's a great

tool to do more in your
community, it's a great tool for

your business to help you know,
more of your employees grow and

thrive.

And uh, you know, and you know,
I put it in the chat, but like

Dan and I, you know, I've been
doing this since I was, you

know, 19 years old.

So basically 30 years, it'll be
30 years.

It was 30 years this summer.

And you know, I uh my mentality
is always going to just getting

started.

30 years of just getting
started.

Dan and I'd be 20 years of just
getting started.

Adam and me, 10 years, Mike 16
years.

We say it almost the end of
every minute, get started,

Paul's.

Let's get it going, you know.

And uh you just gotta have that
mentality.

Awesome.

SPEAKER_02: Well, guys, great
job as always.

I appreciate the time.

Love hearing the good war
stories from back in the day.

Give me some nostalgia thinking
back that first CEO meeting.

You know, way back in the day.

You guys have come a really long
way, and I know you guys are

doing this for other gyms as
well.

And we've been able, and it's I
think that's a cool thing is

like we've been able to come.

coexist in the same space for a
long time and you know haven't

you know been able to still
maintain a really good positive

and I think that sounds true for
the two of you I think that your

next book should be how to
create a great business

partnership and how to make that
work me as a as a failure of two

two of them so far definitely
some insights there of what you

guys could teach you know on how
to create a good a real good

business partnership which you
guys have done I've seen a lot

go under I've had two failures
under my belt but you guys have

hit the note on a strong
business partnership on that.

SPEAKER_00: Maybe you could
write good forward be in there

for the uh the accountability
shape for sure yeah yeah Vince

you've got to get credit where
credit is due I always

appreciate you being open honest
and transparent with us you gave

us a platform to speak at events
you introduced us to you know

countless number of people that
have helped grow our business

outside of your mastermind
personal friends like you said

like Mike Wolgen your
accountants other digital

agencies and things like that
regardless of now or then or 20

years from now I will always
consider you a friend and mentor

and respect the shit out of you
for what you've given back not

only to us but the industry as a
whole there is very few people

that are that are putting as
much energy and attention and

positivity back into the
community or stripe.

So you you're one of the best
for for a reason.

SPEAKER_02: Appreciate it guys I
know you guys have an empire to

run so get back at it.

SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you guys
got some emails to write six WT

closing party tonight there you
go get after it you're teaching

it everyone for for 15 years
now.

Good for you good for you all
right guys thank you so much so

much appreciate you guys later
see you later