Fitness Business University Podcast

SPEAKER_02: Alright guys,
welcome to another episode of

the FBU podcast.

I got a really special one for
you guys today, and many of you

know that I have and am the host
of the number one ranked fitness

business podcast in the world.

Not according to my mother, not
according to my wife Vanessa,

but according to some very
obscure website that I've never

heard of that gave us the
ranking of the best fitness

business podcast in the world.

And I'm very excited and proud
about that.

But the bulk of all those
episodes that caused that was me

yakking into the butt of my
phone while my await for my kids

at jujitsu.

And what I wanted to do was talk
to more exciting, smart people

on this podcast.

And so that's what I've been
doing.

I've been bringing on some
different guests, and some of

them have been friends in the
industry, some of them have have

been members of my SPF
mastermind.

And today we have a very, very
special guest, Melissa Chase.

She's a member of the SPF
Mastermind.

We're going to tell her her
really awesome story.

I've had some great episodes
lately, but this is you're in

for a treat for this one with
Melissa.

So Melissa, thanks so much for
being here.

SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having
me.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's gonna
be great.

And so just like give everyone
at home the 10,000-foot view of

your gym, like where you're
located, what type of gym you

have, who you serve, all that
just a little brief overview so

people kind of can picture, you
know, what kind of business you

have.

SPEAKER_00: Sure.

We own or I own Chase Fitness,
we're located in Mechanicsburg,

Pennsylvania.

Our gym, our ideal client, our
adults, busy adults, 40 to 65.

I have currently three coach
three full-time coaches and

myself.

We've been open a little over a
year and a half.

Our our two-year mark will be
September 30th of this year.

SPEAKER_02: Amazing.

So let's let's I want to go
back.

We'll talk about where the
business is because you're you

gave a very modest introduction
of yourself.

There's a lot more to brag on
that we'll we'll give you the

opportunity to do because you're
just doing amazing.

But tell us, like, if we take
you back before you joined SPF.

Now, just a question were you
open when you joined SPF?

SPEAKER_00: No, we we didn't
know.

I joined SPF in July of 24 and
we opened in September of 24.

SPEAKER_02: Okay.

So basically, before you joined
SPF, you didn't even have the

business.

unknown: Nope.

SPEAKER_00: No.

SPEAKER_02: So tell so tell us
what was going on in that time

frame?

Like, what was the thing that
was happening in your life?

What were the uncertainties?

What were the challenges?

What were the things that were
going on that made you be like,

all right, I need some some help
here?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

So I started out a long time
ago, started out as a teacher

and got out of that business and
started doing training on my own

at a Gold's gym and kind of just
grew that side of my career.

And then I started working in a
small group training studio

similar to the one that I own.

And over that time I was uh
introduced in terms of just

being like on the management
side of things and running the

gym.

So I learned a lot of what I
would need to do when the time

came for me to open my own gym,
you know, how to hire, like what

to do for that on the business
side of things, like how

important marketing is, how
important it is to know your

your client and who you want to
have kind of in the gym.

And then COVID came and I was in
the process of going back to

school.

In 2021, I went back to school
to be a PTA.

So I went to school, did that,
graduated, but I wasn't doing

any training at the time.

Then I really missed training
people and I missed kind of

working for myself and knowing
that I had control over what I

was doing.

And so after I graduated school
and started working for about a

year, I got antsy and was ready
to open my own business.

And I knew going in the past, I
knew all the things I needed to

have lined up for, you know, how
to start out and be successful,

you know, right out of the gate.

SPEAKER_02: From a standpoint of
the way, what made you get

antsy?

SPEAKER_00: I just I I there was
a ceiling that I wasn't gonna be

able to to go through in terms
of my pay and in terms of

growth.

And I was working for other
people and I couldn't I just

couldn't I wasn't satisfied.

There was there was just
something about it that just

made me I just had the itch to
just be my own be my own boss

and and own my own training
studio.

I had control over what I did,
how I did it, and and my growth

wasn't limited to a license and
you know the insurance companies

in terms of what they were
paying you in terms of

documentation and all that kind
of stuff.

SPEAKER_02: So you weren't even
actually in the same business,

right?

So you were w working in a
physical therapy clinic.

SPEAKER_00: Yep.

SPEAKER_02: And not a gym.

What made you shift to opening a
gym versus opening a clinic?

Well, I guess you uh you can as
a phys as a PTA, right?

Or can you?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I could, but I
knew I would always have kind of

just that limitation of I'd be
relying on the insurance

companies with what they paid me
in terms of reimbursement.

So um, because I missed coaching
and training, I started training

a couple of clients in the
clinic before the clinic opened

and then after the clinic.

And I got it to about I had
about 10, 10 to 12 clients.

And I was like, it just kind of
gave me the confidence to just,

okay, it's time for me to do
this, and kind of so I started

looking at the local like real
like real estate and kind of

what was out there in terms of
if I was gonna rent something

and and sign a lease for
something, what what's out

there, what can I do?

What does that budget look like?

But then I knew when I started
that process, I knew I needed to

have accountability of a
mastermind group, I needed a

marketing agency, I needed
somebody to run my website

because those things were not in
my wheelhouse.

I could coach all day long, I
could help people get better and

get stronger, but I just knew I
had to have those pieces in line

when I opened when and if I was
gonna open my business.

SPEAKER_02: What were the things
that you were experiencing that

made you realize that?

Like what were the did you try
to do it on your own?

Or like you might be one of the
real smart people that just

really understood it early of
like, hey, I have no idea what

I'm doing here, but like what
were some of the things that you

were experiencing that made you
come to that conclusion so

quickly?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I knew just
from working in the other gym

that I was at.

I knew all the things that
needed to be lined up and needed

to be having those all set and
executed from a training

standpoint.

I knew, I knew programming, I
knew all that, but I didn't know

how to open up like how to open
a business.

I didn't know what a website was
like, I didn't know how to

create a website, I didn't know
how to like do marketing,

Facebook ads, any of that.

So I knew I knew enough to be
dangerous, but I knew what I

needed to have in place and I
knew who needed to do those, and

it wasn't me.

So I I knew that going into
opening the business, I needed

to invest in marketing agency to
me to run my website.

And then from an accountability
standpoint, I know myself and I

know that when it comes to
checking in with you guys every

single Wednesday, that it's
gonna hold me accountable, but

also give me the support that I
need if I come across something

that I don't know what to do
with or how to do it.

There's resources from you and
from Joe and from Carly that I

can just reach out to and if I
have a question, because you

guys have all and all the other
members of the mastermind,

they've done been there and done
it before.

So I just I knew that I needed
to have all of those people kind

of in my corner to get me from
where I wanted from where I was

to where I wanted to be as fast
as possible.

SPEAKER_02: Got it.

So so basically the thing that
you were looking for was

accountability.

Like you felt like there was a
lot of things that you were

uncertain about, so you needed a
specific knowledge, right?

But also you felt like there was
a lot to do and you needed

someone to help guide you, you
know, every every step of the

way.

Okay, cool.

And that I think that's it's
interesting.

I've I'm like, I've got I have
like a lot of questions for you,

but like the other the other
thing is like how helpful was it

because I was a trainer too in
San Diego and I didn't have any

business experience, like zero.

I was just training like 60
hours a week.

And here you come in and you're
saying, Well, oh, I was

training, but then I ran a gym
where you got to do the majority

of the business things.

How helpful was that experience?

SPEAKER_00: It was extremely
helpful, but it was overwhelming

because it was like now this was
my business and it was my money

being invested in, and I knew
like we had a scorecard, we

looked at every week.

So we had I had all of that, but
it's like now it's like if I

don't meet my revenue goals or
my member goals or you know,

schedule enough consultations,
then it's on me.

It's not on, you know, I was
just a I was just a manager, but

it wasn't my money, and it
wasn't you know up to me to make

those decisions and make those
choices and make those things

work.

So I knew that I needed to have
some accountability of people

that I have to answer to.

Yes, make sure I was doing it.

SPEAKER_02: Right.

So you felt like that it it the
experience that you had was very

helpful to have the business
knowledge, and then when you got

to doing it on your own, it was
kind of like you know, somewhat

seamless because you had done a
lot of that stuff before.

Okay, cool.

I think that's really good
advice, Melissa, because I think

a lot of people, and me
included, it's like, hey, get

some grow it within your
company.

Like if you're working, listen
to this and you're working for

another company and you know
eventually you want to open up

your own spot, like to use that
situation to gain knowledge and

to you know learn something
about marketing and learn

something about sales, like it's
and I I know because I'm proof

of this.

If you just note training and
you go to open a business,

there's a very, very big
learning curve.

Whereas you can shorten the
learning curve by doing some of

the work for somebody else.

I also think it's a huge mistake
for like people that you know

are 19 years old and they just
open up a gym right away.

SPEAKER_01: Right.

SPEAKER_02: I I do think there's
some people that have had

success with it, so I'm not
saying I'm 100%, but I don't

know.

I feel like there's no time to
have a mentor, there's no time

for someone to teach you what to
do and to take you.

And I also think it's like the
number one driver of our

businesses is not our marketing,
it's not our sales, it's our

product.

And at some point we need to
have you know our stance on what

we believe, you know, what we
believe good training is, what

we believe a good product is.

And if you've never had any like
mentors or advisors or people

like that in your life, it's
hard to form that stuff just

solely searching Instagram, you
know, for your mentors.

So I think it's a I think it did
the right thing, you know, by

working for somebody else.

Okay.

Any other like like what were
you feeling?

Like, were you scared to start?

Like what was the like some of
the things that you were going

through from an emotional
standpoint that caused you to be

like, hey, I need some help?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just uh it's
overwhelming to think of all the

the pieces that need to be in
line to you know be successful

and having just knowing that I
have somebody, you know, in my

corner that I can reach out to
and be like, hey, I don't know

what to do about you know making
sure that this lease says what

it needs to say.

Or from a marketing standpoint,
we're doing a pre-sale campaign.

Like, you know, there's a lot of
people that in this group that

have done it before that were so
giving and so just here, this is

what we did, you know, try it
and use it.

Just information that was just,
you know, at my fingertips and

stuff.

But it was from an emotional
standpoint, it was scary.

But I knew one, I had I have my
PTA license to fall back on.

So everybody says kind of you
don't need to have a backup

plan, but I just knew in my
heart that I did not want to go

back to working for someone
else.

And so whatever I was gonna need
to do to make it work, but I

knew that I needed to have a
group of people that I could

rely on and and count on every
week that gives me the

confidence and the reassurance
that I'm doing the right thing.

You know, getting on your calls
and just listening to people

with the questions that they
have, you know, it it answers my

questions or it just reaffirms
that I'm doing the right things

and I'm making the right
decisions and I'm, you know,

using all the fingers on the
marketing glove and I'm just

doing everything right.

I just need to keep my head down
and just keep focused on on you

know my goals.

SPEAKER_02: Awesome.

So you uh you make some really
good points there, and I and I

think one of the things like
there's probably a lot of people

in your same situation listening
to this that are starting a gym

or in the process of starting a
gym, and you know, they they say

what our clients say to us when
they say, Well, I want to lose

20 pounds before I get to the
gym, and then I'll start

training with you.

And it's just like it's such a
silly thing to say, but I think

a lot of business owners say the
same thing.

So, well, I'm gonna start my
business and make a bunch of

mistakes and fall flat on my
face, and then I'll get some

help.

And I think you did it the the
other way around.

I think a lot of people are very
scared to make an investment,

right?

Like you were making an
investment in SPF mastermind

before you were making much
money.

Like I guess you had some
clients and stuff like that, and

you had a job.

But I mean, that's a that's a
scary thing to do to be able to

invest in you know a coaching
program before you even open,

but we are gonna soon fast
forward to what's happening

today and prove that that was
actually a very good decision.

So I want to get the timeline
right.

What month did you open?

Or what you joined SPF July of
2024, correct.

And what month did you open?

SPEAKER_00: September 30th, yep.

SPEAKER_02: You opened your gym
September of 2024 with how many

members you opened?

SPEAKER_00: 10.

SPEAKER_02: 10 members.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: Okay.

Today is May.

No, April, April 2026.

So about two years later, two
and a half years later.

Where are we today?

SPEAKER_00: 143 members.

SPEAKER_02: Boom.

143 members.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, last year we
had last year our gross revenue

was just under 300k.

And in this first quarter of
this year, I've um at 132k.

SPEAKER_02: In the first
quarter, yeah.

Wow.

So from 10 members, so you were
doing like$2,000 a month.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: And uh, what's the
monthly run rate right now?

SPEAKER_00: As much you mean the
what they yeah, like what do you

know?

SPEAKER_02: What is like what is
the average per month that

you're making?

SPEAKER_00: Oh, 32.

SPEAKER_02: 32,000.

So you basically went from 2,000
to 32,000 a month.

And I know that you have you
know, the cool thing about you

is you have a small team, you
don't have a huge, big team, you

don't have a ton of people to
manage.

And how do you feel?

How do you feel about how things
are right now?

Like, I know that you're you
know, you come to all the

meetings, you're always, you
know, so giving, you're always

showing up on you, you're a huge
participator in the group, like

you're always on calls, you're
always doing stuff.

You're coming to the brand
workshop in a couple weeks,

which I'm super excited about.

It's gonna be amazing.

Don't forget we have our AEO
workshop on Tuesday.

Yeah, that's gonna be great.

But yeah, like give us like the
overview of where you're at.

Like, obviously, 132 something
members is amazing, but like

where you're at right now, how
how are you feeling running this

business?

What's next for you?

Like all that.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel good.

So when we first opened, I was
doing a majority, me and my

sister were doing a majority of
the coaching.

And as of now, I'm only on the
floor about five to ten hours at

the max a week.

And then I still do all the
consultations and all the sales,

but yeah, it feels it's almost
I'm very much a nine to five,

like give me my paycheck and
like uh just working, but so

it's it's overwhelming, but but
really a cool feeling to know

that I have ownership over like
my time and like how I want to

spend it.

And you know, from a financial
standpoint, it's the salary that

I was making as a PTA is was
pretty good, uh, but I've

already like I replaced that,
you know, hands down replaced it

from just being successful with
the business.

SPEAKER_02: So and have and have
a lot more freedom.

SPEAKER_00: Absolutely,
absolutely.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: What else?

Like, what is the other perks?

Like what what have you what are
the benefits that come from the

freedom?

Like five to ten hours of
session, five to ten sessions is

not a ton of sessions.

Are you doing more free time?

Like, have you picked up a
hobby?

Like, what are you doing with
the your life these days?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that's
funny.

You ask, I joined a golf league.

So that's yeah, it starts in a
couple weeks.

Yeah, I have time to, you know,
if I get up in the morning, I

can take my dogs for a walk.

I can make sure my stepdaughter
gets on the bus.

Like it's just it's I can be
home, you know, after three or

four o'clock if I want to.

Just it's just it's it's a
really cool feeling to know like

I can I have a team behind me
that can be here and run the

business and coach, and I don't
have to physically be on the

floor, but it's it's nice to
it's it's very emotional to know

like I created something so
amazing that it changes so many

people's lives, and it that's
what's fulfilling is that I know

like I have 143 members that
their lives are changed because

of what I've created.

SPEAKER_02: So you're making
more money than ever, you're

have more freedom than you've
ever had, you're making a

difference in your community.

That's that's pretty good stuff
right there.

That's pretty good stuff.

I I I want to go back to the
shift you mentioned this

briefly, but I want to go back
to the shift of going from all

the sessions to now you're
working five sessions a week,

ten sessions a week.

What was that?

Everyone struggles with that
differently.

I wonder what like what was that
transition for you?

Was it did this happen slowly?

This has happened.

How did that how did that
transition go?

And was some of it hard for you
to give up?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it started it.

I knew just from talking to you
guys and being on calls and

getting like all that advice,
but taking yourself off the

floor is huge because it can
have an effect on your members

because they you're the face
that they see, they trust you.

So bringing a new coach in, I
started out with bringing a guy

in on a part-time basis.

He started coaching just some,
you know, three or four mornings

just to kind of get his feet
wet, but then transition him

from part-time into full-time.

And then that took me off the
floor a you know, a lot more and

allowed me to have time to do
more consultations and continue

to grow the business.

And then once we started to get
busier, I knew I needed to bring

in another coach.

And so bringing in another coach
and then like making sure that

they I mean, from my experience
as you know, running the other

gym that I was in, I knew kind
of that transition and kind of

how to onboard someone, and that
was important.

I didn't just throw them on the
floor, they had to go through a

training period, but it was a
slow kind of take me off the

floor kind of thing.

But yeah, it's just been it's
been easier than I thought.

I like having the one-on-one
time to sit down and do a

consultation with somebody, but
it's nice to to kind of know

that I don't have to, you know,
be up every morning super, super

early, and I can I have good
coaches that I can trust to give

them the same kind of service
that I would give them.

SPEAKER_02: Amazing.

I want to talk about what you've
done to do this growth.

I know you're you're an
unbelievable implementer of you

know how active you are in the
group, but you take action.

Like you learn stuff, you take
the tools that we give you, you

run with them.

What are some of the things?

I mean, this is not this is
really impressive growth, right?

So what are the some of the
things?

And I love doing this part
because this is where you share,

hey, what has worked for you.

And there's a lot of there's a
lot of truth to, you know, what

will work for you will probably
work with a gym, you know,

that's 50 miles away from you,
considering it's a comparable,

you know, type of area and
things like that.

So what were some of the things
that you did to grow the

business?

Let's let's focus let's focus on
marketing and sales and like

client, new client generation.

Uh, I know you're a a GMM, do
you have a big GMM proponent, my

friend GR Hoff that runs Gym
Member Machine, your marketing

agency.

So, but just give us the the the
bullet pointed list of what are

the things you've done to grow
the company.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

So one was having a website that
when people go to the a lot of

the feedback I get from the
website is when people look at

the website, they can relate to
the people that are there.

They say, you know, I can see
myself, you know, working out

there, you guys look welcoming,
accepting, and comfortable.

So the website definitely, and
then having that work the way

it's supposed to, with like we
did pre-sales, so the pre-sale

campaign.

SPEAKER_02: Hold on, I want to
double-click on the website for

a second.

So what because I think this is
a very, very helpful thing.

I think people underestimate
their website.

And so you have said, like, what
is marketing gold?

Right?

Your people are coming to your
website and they're saying, I

feel like I can see myself
there, right?

Or the words you're on your
website say, I feel like you

were talking to me.

What were some of the things
that you did on your website

that are making that true?

Like, what uh is it specific
testimonials?

Are you using testimonial
videos?

Like, what are the things that
specifically are on the website

that are making that true?

And I'm gonna give you a plug.

Uh, what is your URL?

SPEAKER_00: ChaseFitness.net.

SPEAKER_02: So if you go to
chasefitness.net, you can see

Melissa's website that is
working well.

It is a GMM website.

SPEAKER_01: Yep.

SPEAKER_02: It's a GM member
machine website.

Um, so what are some of the
things that are on the website

that you changed to it or
created that's making people say

that?

Because this is really
important.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, our faces are
there.

So when they go to the website,
they see us, they see our ads

that are running on Facebook,
and they they can they see a

familiar face.

And then the second thing is
they see on that website, they

see Google reviews of people
that have obviously left

reviews, but they can relate to
what those people were

struggling with.

And then the pictures and the
content that we have on the

website is.

The pictures look like those
people, like they can see

themselves in those pictures,
and then it's it's clean and

it's the calls to action are
very clear.

Like, click this if you want
this, click this if you want

this.

So it's it's easy and uh easy to
navigate, and the people that

look at the website they see
pictures of people that they can

relate to.

SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, you just
like so for those listening at

home, that was one, make sure
your Google reviews are on your

website and show.

And and I think you said
something really important in

there is that they're saying
things that people care about,

right?

They're in and I know I've
taught this to you, but great

website, a great type of Google
review is not Melissa, is so

cool and nice and fun.

It's like, no, I went to Chase
Fitness and I was this after I

Chase Fitness, I am this.

Like, that's kind of what you
want to guide people to say in

your reviews.

Images of people that are your
best customers, right?

Ben Ben Stocks, who's you know,
my ad manager, he's the guy that

runs my ads for for the this
consulting business, right?

And he has always said that you
know, one of the most important

things you can do is get good
pictures of your clients, right?

Hire a photographer, you know, I
he used to charge, he used to,

you know, say 10 bucks an hour.

It's like you're not paying
anyone 10 bucks an hour for

anything these days, but hire a
local photographer to come in

and take really, really good
pictures of people that and then

show, like what you said, show
the people what that are like,

hey, that's a person that is
like me, you know, that's

training at this gym.

And the last one is, and this,
you know, give credit to GMM and

GR and the team of clean and
clear.

I think a lot of websites are
not clean and clear.

A lot of websites are very
convoluted, they've got crap

everywhere.

They it's not clear on what you
want them to do.

And I know a GMM website does a
really good job of that, of you

know, telling people exactly
what to do.

So those are the three big
takeaways from Melissa's web

enhancer.

So you can thank you, send her
an email and thank her for those

three points.

Okay, so that's the website.

Go on, what's next?

SPEAKER_00: From a marketing
standpoint, we did a pre-sale

campaign.

And again, it's just kind of
having content that goes out

that shows the people doing and
looking like the people that we

want as clients.

They again, it was, I don't know
anything about marketing.

I just said they asked for some
talking head videos, they asked

for pictures, and I gave it to
them and they made it work.

Our pre-sale campaign, I off the
top of my head, I don't know

what our cost per lead was, but
it was ridiculously low because

we had good content and the
stuff worked the way it's

supposed to.

And we our pre-sale campaign ran
from August until Thanksgiving.

And I we ended up think at the
end of Thanksgiving, we had we

essentially doubled our we had a
20, 20 to 25 members through

that time period, and then we
hit January and we were at 45

members.

So we grew pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_02: What was the offer
on the pre-sale?

SPEAKER_00: Founder's rate.

SPEAKER_02: Founders rate.

Awesome.

Founders rate.

Okay, awesome.

What else?

So we got website, we got
running a pre-sale.

What are the other things you've
done over the last couple of

years to grow the company?

SPEAKER_00: We do we have
quarterly monthly socials with

our members.

We go out to the community, we
do stuff with them, we invite

them to bring family and friends
from a community environment.

And we do buddy week.

We try to do one quarterly.

We have from a marketing
standpoint, we go out to local

comp businesses, companies, try
to create some joint ventures.

We hit up the local festivals
and fairs, try to table, you

know, uh it's just kind of using
that marketing glove idea and

concept where we have something
going on with externally and

internally from a marketing
standpoint all the time.

Like all the time.

Always asking for referrals,
asking for Google reviews from

our members.

You know, if somebody comes in
and says, hey, so and so wants

to come try it.

Absolutely, come on in.

You know, it's it's that giving
kind of mentality.

Like you say, you know, the
lonely kettlebell, like I'd

rather have a packed session
with three people coming in just

trying it, because once they're
in the door, I know we can keep

them.

SPEAKER_02: Beautiful.

That is absolutely incredible.

I love that you shared so much
value with the things that

you've got going on.

What we we talked a little bit
about what life like is today.

I want to go back to that,
right?

So what are the you know
benefits that having a company

like this has brought to your
life?

We talked about the golf, we
talked about the freedom, but

what are what are the other
feelings you're feeling right

now?

I mean, you're you're you've
created a really successful

business.

What what's what's life like for
you right now?

SPEAKER_00: It's it's good.

It's it's me navigating, having
that extra time and that free

time to figure out what it is
that I want to do.

Or I look at it as what impact
can I have on my community and

what impact can I have on our
members and like what can I

offer them now that I don't have
to be on the floor all the time?

What can I do to help with
retention?

What can I do to help with just
helping people and just helping

a community and creating a
bigger impact on the community

that we have?

And then from a standpoint
personally, it's it's I've I

have time to do the things that
I've been not been able to do

for the last two years or three
years because I've been busting

my ass to get the business up
and running.

So it's just, you know, knowing
that I can go and play golf if I

want to, or leaving in a couple
of minutes to go home and spend

the weekend with my mom.

So it's just like I can go do
that.

I have that time and flexibility
to go do that.

SPEAKER_02: That's power.

I said this to Vanessa the other
day.

I was like, I can't believe no,
who was I talking to?

I was like, I was like doing
something, and it was like a

Wednesday, or no, it was me and
Hashi.

I went out, I went out for a few
days with Hashi, and it was

like, you know, 1 p.m.

on a Tuesday, and we were just
trekking up a mountain, and we

both kind of looked at each
other and like like we were like

almost like this is like a
almost a surreal moment of like

two guys that just busted their
ass for so many years owning a

gym to all of a sudden be
climbing a mountain at two

o'clock on a Tuesday, and to
have a freedom to to do

something like that is it's it's
worth everything.

Like it really is.

And that and the thing that gets
you that is business skills.

Like that's what it is.

Like we don't, if we don't learn
business skills, we don't have

that ability.

That just doesn't come to you.

Like it's if you you have to,
you know, because you get to a

point where, you know, and
you've known you're a perfect,

you know, you know, case of
this, right?

You got to the point where you
were doing all the sessions and

you were doing all the work.

You knew you could do that, but
there was things you needed to

to do, there was things you
needed to learn, there was

things you need to delegate to
be able to get you to the point

where you are today.

And that stuff doesn't happen.

The freedom that you're feeling
doesn't happen if we don't learn

how to run a better business.

It's just we just have to error
and every stage, you know, comes

with its own skill sets that we
need to learn, every stage comes

at with its own challenges.

I'm working right now on the
four stages book, right?

So, like stage one, you know,
you're in classic stage two you

know zone where you're at right
now.

You're classic stage two.

It's like a perfect sweet spot,
right?

But you as you continue to grow
this and you get into stage

three, and this business
continues to grow and there's

more people to manage, there's
new challenges, you know, that

that come from it.

So you've navigated these
brilliantly.

What what advice do you have to
someone that maybe is resistant

to getting help with the
business?

Like obviously, this is a SPF
mastermind testimonial

interview, right?

But at the end of the day, you
know, what do you say to someone

that is, you know, maybe
grinding, you know, they're

running the gym, they're in
stage one, or they're even where

you're at in stage two, but
they're not feeling that sense

of freedom that you're feeling,
Melissa.

And they're resistant to getting
help, they're resistant to spend

the money, they're they don't
like, oh my God, you know,

fifteen hundred dollars a month.

Like I guess like, you know,
what what are the things that

you say to people that are maybe
resistant to that as someone

sitting here with the ability to
play golf and you know, do all

that?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh it's it's
one of those things, and just to

kind of go back a little bit
too, when it comes to the things

that you need to do as a
business owner, they're very

simple.

If you if you work on getting
new clients and you get good at

that, and you but you know the
right people to put in place,

like with marketing, with sales,
and then you keep the people

that you have, our retention
rate is ridiculously low because

I know that the product that we
deliver is is amazing.

Uh and you treat people the way
they want to be treated and you

give them what they ask for,
then everything else will fall

into place.

It's it's almost I don't want to
say that's it's easy, it's hard

to run a business, it's
overwhelming.

But if you're doing all the
little things, you don't have to

do anything fancy.

You have a website that works,
you have a marketing agency that

does what they're supposed to
do, you have great coaches that

deliver a great product, and
then you hold your coaches

accountable for what they're
doing.

It's it's simple.

And if you do those things very
simply, then all of the it just

kind of it compounds.

It's like we went from 20 people
in September to 143, which is

mind-blowing.

So it's it's those things like
if you can invest in and hold

yourself accountable and know
and count on yourself to do all

those things, then absolutely
100% I do it all over again.

And it does help to have some
knowledge from a like from the

back end of what I'm getting
myself into, but you have to get

over, let go of control, and you
have to be okay with putting

somebody else in charge of
something, but you have to know

and have the confidence in
yourself that you know how to

hold them accountable and and
hold them to those standards and

metrics as a coach, as a
salesperson, as a you know, from

a marketing standpoint, like is
your marketing agency doing what

they're doing, doing what
they're supposed to do, of

course.

So it's it's letting go of
control and betting on yourself

that you can that you can do it.

And from somebody that and from
a standpoint of somebody that's

that's unsure, I will I will
tell I'm blue in the face, just

do it.

You know, if if you have the
right people in place, then it's

it's almost it's easy, it's
seamless, but you have to do the

little things.

It's like being an athlete, like
you uh to get better at

something, it's just
repetitions, but you have to be

able and willing to do the work
to do it.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's kind of
like the I think there's a lot

of mother hens in the gym owner
space, right?

I can do you know that fable,
the mother hen?

Like I can do this on my own.

SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02: You know, and I
think that it's yeah, it's like

it's advisable to, you know, be
self-sufficient for sure.

But I promise you this is that
most people in the world have

not accomplished what they've
accomplished on their own.

SPEAKER_00: No, absolutely not.

Not without, yeah.

I wouldn't be here without
having that experience from my

old bus like the old business
that I was in, that gym owner

taught me a lot.

But I like your support system
at home, like your my family is

a hundred percent behind in
beliefs you, and it's it's nice

knowing that you know th those
people are in my corner, but I I

know that when I got ready to
hire somebody, hired somebody

based on are they a good person?

I can coach a squat, I can coach
them to coach a squat.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Having the right
people in place and then

trusting your systems and
trusting that you have

everything kind of set up to to
run, and just you just have to

be able to hold yourself
accountable and hold the people

accountable that work for you.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you glossed on
something.

I think you made a really good
point there of like having

support from your family.

You know, I think that that's
such a huge thing of like having

that support at home and and
them believing in you.

And because yeah, we're doing
something crazy, right?

It's just like it's not like
it's like what you own a gym,

like what?

Yeah.

So yeah, having that support is
is uh so if you don't have that,

that might be the first thing
you need to work uh for for

sure.

But Melissa, this was amazing.

I'm so proud of you.

SPEAKER_00: I really am told you
that I wouldn't be here if it

wasn't for you guys.

So and I will say the my old the
old gym I worked at, my my owner

was she was part of a
mastermind, and I knew like when

I started looking for one, I
knew what to look for and what

not to look for.

So I very appreciative and very
thankful that you are you are

who you are and you offer what
you offer.

SPEAKER_02: Appreciate that.

And yeah, obviously big credit
goes to the rest of the team,

Hashi.

We'll give Leo a little credit.

Leo, a little bit, a little bit,
not much.

But Hashi, Carly, Mel, and the
whole squad.

And then and again, I always you
know you give big shoutouts to

GR over GMM.

They're doing a great job as
well.

So, Melissa, keep up the great
work.

I'm proud of you.

I'm excited for you.

I appreciate you doing this
interview.

You did a great job with the
interview as well.

So keep keep rocking.

Maybe there's some media in your
future.

But and uh I I'm gonna stop by
your gym when I was telling

Melissa before we started
recording.

Her gym is in Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania, and my kids go to

I take my kids to a Christian
sleepaway camp for two weeks.

They've been going for now five
years, and we drive literally

right through Mechanicsburg
every time we go, and it's

exactly two, it's at the halfway
point, it's two hours.

And there's a red robin, there's
no red robins around my house.

And I love red robin, like I
just love it.

And so once a year we get to go
to Red Robin on the way, but I

promise we're gonna stop and
check out the gym the next time

we're driving up and we'll check
everything out and I'll show the

kids and stuff like that.

That'll be good.

SPEAKER_00: Awesome.

I'd love to have you.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, all right.

Thank you, Melissa.

Great job.

SPEAKER_00: Thank you.