HALO Talks

"SoulCycle really helped me own my voice. . . it allowed me to connect people that would have never met each other," says Jaidus Mondesir who also calls himself the "Non-Influencer." As a formally trained actor, dancer, and singer--after a 9 month lead role in a Las Vegas show--he started with SoulCycle and has touched the lives of thousands ever since--including HALO Talks host & Integrity Square Founder Pete Moore! Jadius offers valuable thoughts into their training process, the delicate balance between Instructors and brands, thoughts on the boutique market & the importance of instructors for the middle market, thoughts on the move towards digital, and more! 

"We have many hats, but not all hats fit!" states Tamika Harden when discussing entrepreneurship and starting out on your own. Tamika is an industry veteran with over 15 years experience. She has held nearly every position at all levels of club management. After catching COVID, Tamika chats about how she pivoted into digital, the critical importance fitness played in her recovery, thoughts on competing with online streaming channels, the benefits of starting a business under someone else's roof, and more. This is a must listen for any fitness professional considering striking out on their own!

They say truth is stranger than fiction, and Noa Shaw's incredible come back story certainly illustrates that. Noa grew up in NYC in the 70's, got involved with drugs, drug dealing, and eventually became a user himself. He ended up in rehab 13 times, survived 3 suicide attempts, contracts on his life, and more. "I was a crazy person. I don't know why I'm still here!" he says. After staying sober for 15 years, he slipped, spiraled again, recovered and became a rehab counselor . . . but his health began to suffer drastically. He walked into the first Soul Cycle in California, lost nearly 100lbs, and began teaching for them. His Mission is, "I'm here to help." Listen now to this incredible story! (Use the word HALO if you contact him and he'll give you 50% off his coaching rates.)  *Explicit content.*

"Everything stems from the mind . . . in order to change the way you feel, you have to change the way you think," states industry veteran,  Tony Greco. Tony is the Founder of Greco Fitness, the leading boutique fitness club in Canada. With over 22 years in the industry, Tony's recently been delving deep into the inextricable link (and importance!) the mind plays in exercise. He's published Strong Mind, Lean Body and in this broad chat discusses the latest findings in cognitive function, the importance of journaling, benefits of mindfulness, 'self-talk,' daily habits, and much more!

Brian was one of the first employees at Tough Mudder after graduating law school. Since then, his rather unique background eventually led to his starting Anckor. "I did what was expected of me but. . .after my wife and I experienced a few miscarriages . . . I didn't know how to tell my friends I wasn't ok." His time based, body weight workout focuses on not just the physical, but the mental, emotional, and social elements. He calls it a "mindful, social workout" and--not surprisingly--it's been finding a very enthusiastic audience. The science is clear that exercise is far more than just the physical, eating well and working out. Listen now to learn more about this fantastic new program!

"How do we make the gyms useful for building health in the de-conditioned population? It's a hard problem to solve, and that's what the majority of our resources are aimed at . . . we want everybody--but especially beginners--to succeed at exercise," states John Ford, CEO of eGym USA. A long time industry veteran, John started Virtual Active which was later sold to NetPulse, the company responsible for the mobile apps behind Planet Fitness, 24 Hour, and hundreds of others. This comprehensive discussion touches on the need for a "mobile first" strategy, what gyms and boutiques must do to stay ahead of the curve (especially now due to the Corona virus,) thoughts on what will happen when the industry re-opens, and more!

"I think Kobe turned his profession from what it was into a purpose. It's one of the reasons why people gravitated towards him . . . and I think it's also one of the reasons why his loss hit us so hard. He was there with a bigger point . . . and I think it was a wake up call for all of us," states industry veteran William Maloney.  Will's new company, Health Capital, helps people build a "health portfolio." Listen now to this wide ranging discussion on Will's extensive background with athletes of all levels, to how the industry has changed, the latest in health trends, technology, nutrition, and more!  

Rick Richey has been in the HALO sector since 2002. As the Owner of the Independent Training Spot, he's since gone on to start ReCOVER in 2018, the first facility of its kind in NYC dedicated strictly to recovery using modalities like air compression, CVAC, hydromassage, NuCalm, full spectrum infrared sauna and more. Rick discusses the challenges (and advantages!) of not being first to market, lessons learned from advertising in health clubs and how that carries over to ReCOVER, the importance of using surveys on a regular basis, what they would do differently if had to start up again, and more! 

"The strength coach is the ultimate fall guy in professional sports. It's almost like the more players are paid, the less accountable they became for their own behaviors. It's just sort of something that comes with it, but it makes you better!" laughs Coach Dana Cavalea, author of Habits of a Champion. As a performance coach with the NY Yankees from 2002-2014, Coach discusses his rather fortuitous entry into the field, to coaching elite athletes, challenges of working with management & players, and much more! Listen now for this insider's glance into elements of professional sports people rarely get to see! 

"The fitness industry is notorious for having terrible retention rates. New leads are the lifeblood of any business," states Patrick Cundiff of Loud Rumor. Having worked with over 2,000 fitness studios in the past 5 years, their agency is well positioned to know what works and what doesn't. This discussion focuses on why it's necessary to consider pivoting part of your business online, retargeting, lead capture, continuing to provide value as facilities start to reopen, why it's important to keep advertising--especially now--and more.  

"Everybody moves and everybody wears socks! It's what we call the movement cycle. . . and there's an entry point for everyone and that's a great opportunity," states Jared Verteramo, President of Lasso Gear. Lasso is a highly unique, patented sock in the "hybrid sports with medical benefits" space. This wide ranging discussion covers how to compete with other, huge companies in your space, dealing with excess inventory, how to stay lean and deal with downstream demand, plans for scaling in the future and more!

"You can get great experience working with other companies, but you always have to have something bubbling . . . if you want to create your own thing. You have to be ready to take the risk," states Isaac Calpito on how his super popular workout, Torch'd, got started. Isaac came to NYC the day after high school graduation, lived on his friend's floor while auditioning, and eventually ended up on Broadway for 10 years doing 8 shows a week. It was there that Torch'd began. Isaac has over 20,000 people virtually doing his workout, since raised nearly $250K for the No Kid Hungry charity, and counts many celebrities as clients. Listen now as he discusses how to manage your business as it grows (perhaps much more quickly than expected!), thoughts on virtual training, and more!

As the Managing Director and Founder of Exaltare Capital, Omar's group was one of the first inside the Planet Fitness network.  He was able to "see around the corner" and jump in very early. With his background in consulting and private equity (he worked on the highly successful 24 Hour deal among many others) he states,  "I enjoyed being close to the portfolio companies and really wanted to be more hands on." In this wide ranging discussion, Omar shares his position on private equity, what being an "independent sponsor" really means, thoughts on scaling businesses in the COVID environment, and more. 

"The level of conviction has to be high enough even if it seems to be insane by everybody," states Alex Plonsker of SplitGym, referring to how crazy it can be as an entrepreneur. In essence, SplitGym is becoming a, "StubHub for the fitness industry. People can sell unused classes or days for cashback and more or less creating a secondary market." SplitGym is fully integrated with MindBody, so it's a seamless transaction on the consumer side. Alex has rolled out in New York and is now on the hunt for funding to help scale. Listen now to this former banker turned  entrepreneur about the challenges of a "non-tech guy" building a tech company, managing a team, making the jump into becoming a business owner, and more!  

"Two of the most important elements in the golf swing are your glute strength and hip mobility," states Trillium Rose. Trillium is recognized as a Top 50 Teacher by Golf Digest and the LPGA and honored as the 2017 Middle Atlantic PGA "Teacher of the Year.” Trillium dives into the latest in golf tech, training and education. Her area of expertise is in helping golfers develop their skills as quickly as possible and help them practice efficiently. She is a graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University with a Master’s degree in Motor Learning and Control. Listen now to this wide ranging discussion about an incredibly popular part of the HALO sector. 

"Just move! It doesn't have to be about how many sets, reps, and time. There is no magic pill. We are the magic pill!" states entrepreneur Joana Meneses. Founder of BodyRoots, Joana has been in the HALO sector since 1999. She dove into Pilates head first just as it was gaining in popularity and quickly became one of the top Stott Pilates Master Trainers in the early days, travelling all over the world training trainers. On her return, she began (and ran) the highly regarded Pilates program at the former Printing House Fitness for 8 years. She recently went "back to her roots" in the Azores and established Liquid Roots, running sold out retreats biannually for the past 5 years. Listen now to learn more from this experienced industry veteran! 

"Kids who exercise up to an hour a day will do up to 40% better on tests in school," states Lee Spieker a 30+ year industry veteran. Lee has done it all! From everything to working for Weider in the early days, to selling Universal equipment (remember those?) to owning health clubs, to producing the well known Buns of Steel workouts, and eventually starting Railyard Fitness as well as the non-profit, 1houraday. This wide ranging discussion focuses on the critical importance of fitness for children . . . and (unfortunately) how we're failing as a country. Lee gives his thoughts on what can be done. . .everything from working with public education officials, to how parents can assist, to what vendors (and fitness facilities) can do is touched on. This is a must listen for anyone who wants to help (hopefully) reverse a dire issue in our country. 

"We need to accommodate people who have low ability levels, while also not limiting what we offer to those who have high performance abilities," states Mike Donnelly, Director of Fitness for Greco Fitness. With plans to be the largest boutique facility in Canada, Jenna York, Director of Operations and Mike chat about Greco's quick rise, Greco's strong reputation in the market, working with investors, their impressive roll out to a paid, digital revenue stream, maintaining quality control around franchising, the benefits of having "patient capital" support your brand, and more! 

"You've got to build a business model before you build a product!" states Colin McIntosh, CEO. Sheets & Giggles began in October 2017 with an initial raise of $284,000 through crowd funding. Currently at a $5M per year run rate after only approximately 17 months of sales, Colin reviews everything from his revenue funded business model, to marketing, to how and why he choose eucalyptus sheets, to his plans to start working with top athletes, and much more. This is a fantastic brand who, while clearly not taking themselves too seriously, are posting up impressive numbers in a short period of time. Listen now to this wide ranging discussion! 

"We can control our efforts in life, we cannot control the outcomes," states Dan Millman, a former world champion athlete, gymnastics coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor--has authored 17 books published in 29 languages. His best-known, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, was adapted to film in 2006 starring Nick Nolte. Dan was way ahead of the curve when, in the 1970's, he had his first business called "Rent-A-Coach." He has seen the HALO sector evolve over 20+ years and in this wide ranging discussion, chats about training athletes, where the sector is going next, and much more!