Episodes

A computer scientist by training, Ross Lauder, Founder of Single Focus Talent, went through an IPO with Hubspot and has ". . . worked the roles I hire for!" he states. Single Focus is a boutique executive search & career specialist for the SaaS / computer software & technology driven industries, with a focus on sales, operations and leadership roles across the EU and USA. Lauder also hosts the Global Tech Leaders podcast. "You've got to go inches wide, and miles deep . . . and there's way too ...

Dr. Michelle Segar is author of the forthcoming The Joy Choice-How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise which will be released April 26, 2022. Her extensive academic research (and time "in the trenches" as a health coach) focuses on creating and maintaining sustainable "self-care" behaviors such as exercise, eating well, getting enough sleep, etc. Anyone who is in any way connected to the HALO sector needs to read this (heavily cited, well-researched & extensively documente...

Formerly in finance at investment banks and a hedge fund, Paul O-Reilly-Hyland is currently the CEO and Founder of ZEAMO. Zeamo, "simplifies and enhances the relationship between fitness partners and fitness consumers with a digital-first approach that meets the evolving needs of the fitness industry while staying true industry partners." Currently in 2,000+ clubs, they conducted a test with McKinsey in 2018/early 2019. Currently with 100 employers on the platform (some with 40-50K employees!),...

Dr. Layne Norton jokes, "I describe myself as a meathead who loves science or a geek who lifts heavy things!" A highly prominent figure in the direct-to-consumer fitness and nutrition space, Norton attended the University of Illinois (perennially in the top 5 for Nutritional Sciences) where he earned his Ph.D. He went on to earn his pro card in natural bodybuilding, and became a world record holder in powerlifting, all while authoring, "conservatively over 100,000+ posts on bodybuilding.com and ...

Now with 15 years in the HALO sector Founder of YBell Fitness, Aaron Laurence, found his calling and career relatively late at 35 years old. He jumped immediately into small group training. "The one challenge I faced was around the equipment I was using," he states. "Setting up a whole lot of stuff in the morning for 30-40 people was quite a bit of a challenge!" Host Pete Moore has stated many times that the best businesses / solutions are often born from a Founder's frustration, and the YBell'...

CEO & Co-Founder of Boutique Fitness Solutions, Julian Barnes joins a rare club of HALO Talks guests making their second appearance! (First one here.) We're proud to join him at BFS's 4th Summit, April 28-30, 2022 at the Westin Times Square. In a quick "state of the industry" after 2 years of COVID, Barnes tells us according to IHRSA, 30% of the studio market is now closed unfortunately. He discusses why that is and more importantly, what those studios who've remained (and in some cases, thrive...

Jared Hanley is the CEO and Founder of NatureQuant, a company that "quantifies" nature in a sense. In a nutshell, their tech assesses and promotes nature exposure. Hanley's background was in finance using big data, analytics, and machine learning . . . but he's always been passionate about the outdoors. "I wondered why do we feel so good when we get outside? I wanted to apply my skill set in that area. Nature never had any real data attached to it, it never had any kind of measurement, and I th...

Keith began his career in the HALO sector from the ground up working as a commission-only salesman at a Powerhouse Gym in Augusta, GA. He slowly became interested in the tech side of the business as well--which was "pre-Windows" era when you had to connect computers with coaxial cables! Trawick became an evangelist for technology in the sector as the years went on. He states, "Tech companies now are trying to be too many things to too many people . . . Organizations should be allowed to have the...

Benj has had fascinating career path into the HALO sector. Currently the General Manager of the College Park Athletic Club, he's always been into sports as a kid (thanks in part to his Dad who coached in high school.) He lived in Sweden for a year and eventually became a Pastor for 7 years at a small church in Michigan. After returning east, his friend gave him a job in the club business, and he hasn't left since! On navigating COVID, Ecker states, "We're a program driven club as opposed to mem...

The former CEO of In-Shape, Schuler now serves as the CEO of the California Fitness Alliance, an advocacy organization working to galvanize all subsets of the fitness industry in California. "It took this crisis to realize how important advocacy is, how hard it is to get heard in an industry that's just trying to get people healthy . . . and how much of a disconnect there is with policy makers," she states. The well-represented Alliance is also looking at other powerful, highly effective organi...

Ntiedo has had quite a career both in corporate America and as an entrepreneur. Originally from Nigeria and the Bahamas, he learned six computer languages before age 11, eventually made his way to McKinsey, founded FitGrid (originally called YourGuru) and, along with Julian Barnes (his HALO Talks here), co-founded Boutique Fitness Solutions, Etuk became interested in the HALO sector because his group ex classes helped cured him of his plantar fasciitis! However, he saw a big need that wasn't bei...

Joining us for his second appearance on HALO Talks (first interview here), Founder and CEO of Flexit--Austin Cohen--chats about rolling out their new virtual personal training platform mid-COVID and how it's been an "absolute game changer" for both their B2B and B2C customers. Virtual personal training "fits into a real white space in the industry," he states. Flexit built out their own system with features specific to the modality. Suffice to say, it's definitely not ZOOM . . . and they did so...

Conor O'Loughlin, CEO & Co-Founder of Glofox, is a former professional rugby player who is taking his lessons learned on the field and finding great success in the business world. Glofox raised a "humble" $2M initially, and recently received another round for a total of nearly $25M. With a fast-growing team of approximately 200, Conor and his (initially) small team bootstrapped everything, started as a basic "professional services" company, and evolved from there. Any entrepreneur (at any level...

An industry veteran in the sector since the early 90's, Paula Neubert has been with Club Greenwood for 19 years. A high end, massive, 150,000+ sq foot fitness resort in business for 34 years, Paula and her team have built something extremely unique in the HALO space. "We look at the competition as ways to make us better. I can say with 100% certainty that our club is built on referrals . . . it's like a family," states Neubert. She continues and discusses the critical importance of marketing me...

Pete Moore appeared on Matt's podcast in August, and we're excited to introduce him to the HALO Talks audience if you're not already familiar. Co-Founder of Escape Fitness and host of the excellent, Escape Your Limits podcast, Matt's company started in the UK, progressed into Poland, Germany, and 10 years ago came to the states. He trades stories with Pete about his early trade show days and how to stand out. (Hint: clothes from The Prodigy!) "We always asked ourselves how can we continue to i...

Petra Robinson (aka "Mama ZUMBA!") got into the HALO sector while living abroad because of her passion and desire to help others. She studied with industry pioneers Jacki Sorensen & Judi Sheppard- Missett, became certified by AFAA in 1986, and eventually became their VP and ran their convention for 10 years! Now with ZUMBA since 2005, Robinson runs 100-120 tradeshows a year for them. She and Pete chat about how ZUMBA became one of the most successful companies in the HALO space, and why it cont...

Robert's first HALO Talks was in 2019 where he chatted with Pete about the up's and down's of scaling a business-to-business software company. "A B2B SaaS business caught me completely off guard. It's a different totally different ballgame from running a gym!" he jokes. (Jackson also owns the high end Forma Gym in San Francisco.) Since then, he's sold Fitness BI (which he started with only $100,000!) to ABC Fitness, and chats with Pete about the process of exiting / valuations, working through ...

Recorded live at the 2021 IHRSA convention in Dallas, Brent has been in the HALO sector his entire career. With degrees in both exercise physiology and exercise science, he's served as the VP of Cooper Aerobic Center, (see Dr. Cooper's HALO Talks here,) owned TELOS Fitness Center, and is recently coming off of a fantastic job having served as the interim CEO of IHRSA prior to Liz Clark's appointment as the new CEO. (HALO Talks here.) "Crisis breeds progress, inventiveness, and creativity," he s...

A passionate and driven voice for the industry, Andrew Wall states, "For me, being on the front lines in helping to support and to bring education to the industry is one of my passions. It's a dream job, and everyday I get to wake up and do what I like." Wall is the Director of International Business Development for the American Council on Exercise, a long time, industry leader in education for fitness professionals whose Mission is, "to get people moving." Andrew and Pete discuss the current c...

"You have to crock pot a manager, you can't microwave one," is a quote Terry offered in his first appearance on HALO Talks - which subsequently made an indelible mark on a good number of people, including ClearLight partners, the firm Terry partnered with. He initially had 18 Orange Theory Fitness stores and, in Sept 2018 after completing the deal and doing a number of acquisitions, now have 135 stores in 6 different states. Currently, they're the second largest OTF group in the country. Terry h...

A 30 year veteran in the HALO sector, Doug Katona has been the CEO of American Barbell for almost two years. AB is a Las Vegas based company where everything is manufactured by hand! ("It's a Ferrari with a BMW price!") Doug studied exercise science, was a college athlete, with a partner they began the first personal training organization in Newport Beach, and more. He started at the front desk and worked his way up. "Fitness chose me, I didn't choose it!" he joked. "I continue to gravitate tow...

As former college athlete, Peter brings his many lessons learned on the field into all top companies he works with. He currently serves as an Advisor, Board Member, CEO and Investor. Having worked at Fortune 100 companies in the past, he now works with Xponential Brands, Yoga6, was the former CEO of Velocity Sports, is a Senior Advisor to Athletic Republic, Chairman of UpperHand, and others. In this wide ranging conversation with Pete, Peter discusses the top three things an executive must cons...

After 7 years at Equinox as one of their top membership sales people and then moving on to Xponential, former competitive athlete Hensley Ellefritz now owns her own consulting firm with a team of 7 serving over 100 studios. "Any successful fitness business, or any business in general . . . operates as a sales driven business with a conceptual overlay. Once you capture what makes a person tick and that specific emotion, there's no dollar sign which can be attached to that," she states. Ellefrit...

"The industry has changed so much . . . ideally a PE firm should be complementary and supportive from a strategy standpoint," states Richard Steere, Founder of New Heights Capital. He spent 10 years as an M&A advisor before moving into private equity, was one of the earliest investors in the sector, and a first mover in the HVLP 2.0 model. He's done minority, preferred, structured equity deals and others. . .and was also an initial investor in The Edge Fitness Clubs, Fresh Meal plan, Orange Theo...