SPEAKER_03: 0:00

What's up guys? This is an interview that I did with husband and wife team in my SPF mastermind. They started with me doing$7,000 a month. They've pretty much maxed out their first gym and launched their second gym that already has 50 members. They're doing really, really great work. And I sit down to interview them about their best practices for how they've had such explosive growth in such a short amount of time and have been able to give themselves freedom of time and freedom of money. So if that's you and you're looking for tips to get more freedom of time and money from owning a gym, this is a really great interview to listen to. Check it out. Welcome to a very special episode. The purpose of these interviews, these interviews that I'm doing are a series of interviews with gym owners that came to me in stage one and have gotten through stage one and into stage two and beyond. That is the purpose of today's interview with Bobby and Maria. And it's the purpose of the series of other interviews that you have seen and will be seeing. The premise of this interview is based around putting it inside my new book. And my new book is called The Eight Profit Levers. And the purpose of the book is to help gym owners in stage one get to stage two. That is the entire purpose of the book. And I selected some case studies and selected some specific people that have done it brilliantly. And I'm super excited to have Bobby and Maria here. They are the founders of Big Day Fitness in Massachusetts. And I'm super excited to have them on. So let's kind of start from the very beginning. Okay. I do believe I remember Bobby where you actually heard of us or came from, but just kind of like talk about what life was like before you joined with us and what was the business look like? What was life like? What was the question marks of everything? Give it paint that picture for us of where you were.

SPEAKER_01: 2:14

Yeah. So I started with the mastermind probably 15 months after I opened the business. And my game plan was I actually talked to the SBA, and I was just like, you know, everybody needs training. It's COVID, so people want to do one-on-one. So like my plan is to train everybody. And you know, the SBA lady was like, oh, that's a great plan. You should do that. So for the next year, I was just training everybody. I was doing kids, adults, athletes. I bought like five grand worth of wrestling maths and was teaching wrestling and boxing in jujitsu, doing boot camps and strength training, like literally everything. So the first year, I was I was doing like six to eight sessions a day, spread from six in the morning to seven at night. And I was doing Saturdays, I was doing Sundays. So the first year was just a grind. It was really just a lot of energy, not having any systems, not knowing what my market was. I had the cleanest gym in in town. You know, it was like I was always mopping the floor, doing spreadsheets like outside, trying to like track attendance and stuff. So it was just like inside the gym, grinding hard, and then doing a bunch of like random shit outside the gym that wasn't really important. So after a year of that, I was drained. I was like, this isn't what I thought it was gonna be. I'm tired, I'm like an asshole outside of the gym. And yeah, I was like ready. I I won't say I was ready to hang it up. I wasn't thinking about quitting, but it was like moving in that direction. And that's when Maria moved here. And because we uh we got engaged before what was what was making you move in that direction? What was making me move in that direction?

SPEAKER_03: 3:55

Yeah, it towards it. Doesn't seem like you got to that point, but what was making you what was the biggest thing that was making you move toward that of possibly quitting?

SPEAKER_01: 4:04

There was no vision. I didn't know what it was like, like I didn't know what opportunity there was. I saw like, you know, I'm making a hundred thousand dollars in revenue is what I made I'm close to that the first year, which like felt kind of cool, but at the same time was like if I'm like to make more money, do I have to do more of this?

SPEAKER_03: 4:22

Like there was about 8k a month?

SPEAKER_01: 4:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 4:25

Doing 8k a month.

SPEAKER_01: 4:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 4:28

Yeah, so like Yeah, you were stuck in the day to day, but you got no idea where you were going.

SPEAKER_01: 4:34

Right. Yeah, there was no vision, no direction.

SPEAKER_03: 4:40

And what was the feelings that you were having at that time? The emotions.

SPEAKER_01: 4:47

Yeah. I was angry, I was upset, I was sad. I was like feeling the whole the whole gauntlet of it, and just that general sense of you know, it's like the the opposite of vitality, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 5:00

Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

SPEAKER_01: 5:01

Sluggish. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 5:03

And he wasn't fun to be around. I guess moved here from Spain, like he was saying before. We got engaged right before COVID. So during COVID, I got stuck in Spain, and when I was able to come back after 18 months, I left my family and my job, I left everything to move here and get married. And those months were supposed to be like the best months ever. And he wasn't there because he was miserable with work, and there was nothing that I could do to help him. And I was super sad, crying around the corners, and he wasn't there b to to support me because he couldn't. He had to be at the gym all the time, and there was nothing that I had to do at the gym at that point.

SPEAKER_02: 5:46

So yeah, he and how did that how did that make you how how did that make you feel?

SPEAKER_00: 5:54

Honestly, looking back now, I see how bad that was. In that moment, I was so so sad and so like just trying to find my place here that I didn't even realize oh, this is not going the way that it should. Because yeah, he was just not in the right header space, I wasn't either. So it was a daff, it was a deaf cut.

SPEAKER_03: 6:24

Okay. So you're going through this struggle. Can you can you talk a little bit more about the money side of it? Was that a frustration I know you said you did 100k, like was that a frustrating thing to you? Tell me about the financial side of being in that time.

SPEAKER_01: 6:42

Yeah, I mean, I was tracking all of my finances and stuff. And when I say that, I mean I was like color coding an Excel sheet, you know, like it wasn't very sophisticated. So I was like kind of aware of what I was doing, but I was just like, oh wow, like I generated like a hundred thousand dollars. Like that's like you know, kind of cool. But at one point I did the math and I was like, wow, I just made like you know, 30 something grand. Like I made a little bit more than I did at my training job, and this was way more work and you know, yeah, it wasn't very exciting.

SPEAKER_00: 7:14

Right, the money wasn't in your pocket.

SPEAKER_01: 7:16

No, yeah, and and to speak on that, I also didn't I I had some boot camps going on, and I never had the gall to like get trainers to do sessions for me, like for like one-on-ones and other things, but I had them do some of the boot camps, and uh the boot camp model is you pay trainers like 45 bucks and you try to get a like it's a numbers game, like a ton of people in, and then it becomes worth it. And I was like leaving and I was feeling like self-righteous, and like, you know, they didn't value me at this last gym, and like you know, they didn't value my friends either. So I brought them in and I paid them more to do boot camps at my gym. I paid them$60 for a session, and I would just like do the math and be like, well, if I get five people to do the session, I'll make$15, which is like I'm getting paid to not be at the team right now, you know. So like my understanding of it wasn't very good either.

SPEAKER_03: 8:05

That's funny. Well, I want to ask a question. So you were doing about$30,000 in income, yeah, and you had a training job before that. What were you making at the training job?

SPEAKER_01: 8:15

It was probably like$20,$28,000.

SPEAKER_03: 8:18

So around the same. Yeah, so you're making this same, you're making the same money now.

SPEAKER_01: 8:22

How many hours were you working to make the third probably like 25, 30 hours, something like that?

SPEAKER_03: 8:32

Like nothing, not even for the no for the gym.

SPEAKER_01: 8:36

Oh, for the gym, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 8:38

Oh, yeah, like 70 hours, like yeah, so like you made the same money in the so you ended up like making probably like ten dollars an hour.

SPEAKER_01: 8:49

Yeah, it was uh definitely not a promotion.

SPEAKER_03: 8:52

Yeah, it's funny, it is like what I have friends that that do college football coaching, and they would take how much college football coaches, especially if you're like a GA, they don't get paid very much money, and they would calculate they would work like 90 hours a week and calculate how much they get paid, and they would be make like one my buddy told me he made like 25 cents an hour. Like it's like something like that. But it's like, yeah, that's one of the pieces I touch on in the book a lot, is like you go from trainer to business owner, you think you're gonna make more, but per hour that you're actually working, you make a whole lot less, you know, in the very beginning. So, well, yeah, so you guys did, you know, I appreciate you sharing that. I know sometimes that can stir up some stuff, like as it does for me when I think about back in the day. You got you two at least made it. Me and Vanessa didn't even make it, and we had to patch it up. I talk, I actually talk about that a little bit in the book. So let's talk about. So we're you're doing about 7, 8k a month, you're working, you know, twice as much as you've ever worked before for the same or less money. Your business structure is kind of all over the place, you're training all these different types of people. What was the thing that made you well? First, actually, how did you learn about us? How did you learn to come to one of our programs? Maybe we share that.

SPEAKER_01: 10:17

Yeah. So I was, you know, I started the business and it was with a like a coach mentality. So I was listening to Strength Coach podcast all the time.

SPEAKER_03: 10:25

I just wanted to my friend Anthony Renna. Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 10:28

Yeah, it's awesome. And you know, I thought that the better I got, the more people would come. That was like the only thing I had clear was like, I just need to be a better, better trainer. That's what's going to get me successful. So I heard you one time do a pitch on like small group, and it it made so much sense. I was like, I have all these clients that could come and train together and you know make make like recurring money. And it it it really spoke to me. So I ended up getting your book, but I didn't take any like any action on it. I was just in your I was in your uh like email list for email list, yeah. Yeah. So you uh you threw out a nine-word email, something that we've used a lot now that's helped us make a lot of money. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_02: 11:10

Very cool.

SPEAKER_01: 11:11

And uh, you asked if we were interested in doing some like one-on-one business coaching, and I was like, Yeah, like at this point, it's December, Maria's been here for three months.

SPEAKER_00: 11:20

Not working, I couldn't work yet. So what he was making was for both. And we were lucky because we were living at his parents' house, we still are, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 11:33

So she was uh at the gym with me, and I was like, you know, I was about to get on a call with you, and uh, we got on the call, and I told you, you know, you asked me everything, like, you know, how much money we're making, and I told you like 100k, because this is December, so like the year's about to end. I was like, this is about to be a hundred thousand dollar year, and I told you how much I was coaching, and the words you said to me were, I don't see why you can't make$200,000 next year and be on the floor less.

SPEAKER_03: 12:01

So it is I did say that. That's a pretty bold statement, huh?

SPEAKER_01: 12:05

Yeah, yeah, that's what you said. Well, you didn't say you're gonna you're gonna make it. You said I don't see why not. Because like as we learned the next year, it's like the the resources at SPF are all amazing, and it's like, but it's on it's still on you to take the action, yeah, yeah. So so like it felt like like looking back at it, what you said was just honest.

SPEAKER_00: 12:24

Yeah, and you said that, and then you said what was the investment? And I remember being in one of those wrestling mats at the gym behind him. I was just stretching or something, and when you said that number, I was like, like, like, no way, we're not doing this. That's like half a salary for the year in Spain, like it was a crazy amount of money for me. Yeah, I just yeah, just moving from Spain, like at that point, it was like three months after.

SPEAKER_01: 12:53

And so she listed all my wrestling mats on eBay, and we uh we started with SPF.

SPEAKER_03: 13:00

Oh, is that how oh you so so wait, you you you sold stuff to get the money to do SPF?

SPEAKER_01: 13:06

Yeah, well, we saw we saw the direction in the promise. It was like, well, wrestling camps aren't gonna be our uh main source of revenue, so that was uh it hurt a little bit, but it made sense.

SPEAKER_00: 13:16

Yeah, he kind of convinced me that if this worked, Ago Club being so worth it. And looking at how things were going, we didn't really have many more options because we didn't know we didn't know better, so we had to give it a chance.

SPEAKER_03: 13:34

Yeah, okay. Amazing, and so let's talk about what started to happen, right? As you guys got started to do some work, started to get some advice, you know. Obviously, I you know, you know that the book highlights eight profit levers, right? And one of the reasons why I picked you guys and the couple other people I picked, because I tried to think about, I mean, the majority of people that have had success have used these levers. But when you start to think about which of the levers, you know, you were you you started to put into place, let's start to kind of weave that into the conversation here. But if you could think back and to be like, what what were the things that started to happen in your business that made you start to be like, oh, we're actually making some progress. This is kind of a good thing that's happening here. What kind of lead us down the path? I'm sure that there's definitely a series of stuff that happened, right? So lead us down that path of the story of how things start to get better.

SPEAKER_01: 14:45

Okay. Well, the first thing is just, and you mentioned in the the packet, like what's what's the one moment? And uh, I'm going into the gym one day after being in the group for a month, and we didn't change much. And uh just being like, you know, sick to my stomach and was like, you know, this isn't it. Like I hate this. So I I called sick to all the clients. It was like, I'm I'm not in today. And I called Marie and was like, hey, like, I need help making this small group thing happen. Like, can you help me turn it around? She was like, Yeah, let's do it. So we came back and were in my parents' living room for three days.

SPEAKER_00: 15:17

Literally. Like his dad would pass by and he could look at us. We are like, What are you guys doing here for like another day? He was like getting concerned.

SPEAKER_01: 15:26

Yeah, and well, but and then looking at it for the the course. So did you guys did you guys close the gym? Yeah, I was sick for the next four days. Yeah, you're sick.

SPEAKER_00: 15:35

Three days sick. It was literally we had the whole living room full of papers and pens and and schedule plannings and price sheets and notes from conversations with clients, and notes about the app that we were gonna set up, the newer schedule, the new training model. It was like it was like a movie, like papers everywhere in the walls on the tables.

SPEAKER_01: 16:02

Yeah. Yeah. So that I mean that that one like time kind of set the pace for the next couple of years of growing where we've we've done that a lot, where you used to say paid to think. Like realized like every time that we've had a period of we're sitting down for three days and figuring shit out, it always led to a lot of growth. So that first time we got a schedule down where like now we're not at the gym for 13 hours, we're there for six to seven hours. We have a standardized program, so we're not doing different shit with different people. We have an avatar, we have we're we have one person we're trying to help, and like we know who that person person is. So after that, like one sit-down and meeting, that set the tone for the next six months to a year, where we just started to grow by a couple. So so we did that and we got to$7,000 a month again with 35 members.

SPEAKER_00: 16:53

A small group. Yeah, so we we got rid of the boot camps and all the messy services that we were offering, and we just offer one thing, a small group, and whoever wanted to stay could stay, and whoever didn't want to stay, they could leave.

SPEAKER_03: 17:10

So essentially what happened was you restructured the business, right? Because that's like one of the things I a point that I make in the book is that you know what in the when you start, and you guys are you know, textbook, the business structure doesn't make any sense, right? And so your big move was shifting the structure around where you were able to make the same amount of money, but in I mean, a fraction of of the hours and a fraction of the time with seemingly probably a smaller client base as in a smaller program and everything like that, right?

SPEAKER_00: 17:48

Yeah, no, it was recurrent revenue because everybody was okay.

SPEAKER_03: 17:52

So so just real quick, what was the model before? It was just everything, so you did large group. You did you do any small group when you started?

SPEAKER_01: 17:59

Like I did semi-private training, so okay, got it. Yeah, you know, like I had friends that would train together, but it wasn't like wasn't like this.

SPEAKER_00: 18:06

People go pay by session or they could buy a package and he would have to punch the the card. There was no secure payments, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 18:15

Got it. So no recurring revenue at all. No. Wow, okay, good. All right, so you guys, this is awesome. Like, I can just see you guys now sitting in the living room papers everywhere, restructuring the whole business. That must have been scary, huh?

SPEAKER_00: 18:30

Oh, yeah, setting up an app that we had never used, a new software. It was so freaking scary. Like we weren't actually sick to our stomachs for three days.

SPEAKER_01: 18:39

And that's uh that was one of the crazy things too, because starting the business, starting big day, people would always come to me and be like, dude, like you started a business, like good for you, like respect. And like I always just like, you know, like that that's like implying that it's like a scary thing, you know. I was like, I was never scared to run the like to open the business or to run it. It was just like hard as fuck. Like it was uh I'm gonna swear in the back.

SPEAKER_03: 19:03

No, you're good, you're good, you're good.

SPEAKER_01: 19:04

It was it was just hard, you know what I mean? Like it wasn't scary, but then we joined SPF and like then then everything kind of got scary because you're like telling us to do these things, and it's like I have to have some hard conversations with people, I have to set some different boundaries, and like all that stuff was it was like scary to do. So, yeah, this was we were definitely out of our comfort zone doing a lot of these things.

SPEAKER_03: 19:24

So, when you made all those changes, like how did it go? Like, did people start liking the product but better? Like, how what was life like? Like, as you started to make that structural change, what were the things that started to happen that made you realize, oh okay, this is good, this could work.

SPEAKER_00: 19:44

Well, it's funny because we didn't do it progressively, we ripped the bandage, you ripped the bandage. And some people liked it and state, and some people were freaked out and then left. And it turned out to be that the people that left were the ones that were promoting culture that we didn't want at the gym. So that whole change in the business model led to a whole change in the culture for good too. So it wasn't easy, like we got a couple hard weeks answering people's questions and having to face them and having to face the this is so expensive and things like that. But then we got more comfortable and we just kept going.

SPEAKER_03: 20:44

And how many small group members did you have at that point?

SPEAKER_01: 20:47

We started with around 35 after we collected everybody and that was already at the gym.

SPEAKER_03: 20:53

35. And how many do you have at your current facility?

SPEAKER_00: 20:57

We have with in the 145, yeah. 145, and then one week there at 50.

SPEAKER_03: 21:03

Nice, awesome. So I want to not I want we're gonna fast forward to the 145 and the second location where you guys are in at a second, but I want to start thinking about all right, I we made these big changes, this big shift of a model, but we're still at 35 members, we're still making$7,000 a month.

unknown: 21:22

Right.

SPEAKER_03: 21:23

What were the things that you started to do? Right? Let's start thinking about these levers. Like, what were the levers that you started to pull to grow your because at this point it was like growing the client base now going from you know, and this happened obviously over time, but you guys have gone from 35 smuggler members to 145, really to 200, right? Because you have the psycho facility, which is incredible. So, what were the things that you guys started to do? You mentioned nine-word email as as one of them, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 21:54

Yeah, all of that. So we um we started, you know, building a list and emailing it. We got a website like before we had a website that I made, which was like, you know, like any any website that you make on your own isn't that great. So website that just attracted our audience weeks that the SPF crew taught us like how to run and execute and document your success with pushing referrals. That was a big thing at the beginning because it, you know, we had great people that loved us and they saw us. They everybody that's with you, you're that's that's small, you know, they like you and and they want to help you, and they were trying to bring their friends in, and it just promoted like an awesome culture.

SPEAKER_00: 22:34

Yes. And we started good doing more things outside in the community, like tabling at different events. We spent weekends out talking to people, handing out flyers. Like I remember him coaching a one-on-one session and me coming every half an hour to bring flyers because there was an event next door, and I was putting flyers in the cars, and I was like, they're gonna put me a fine for doing that, but I kept doing it, talking to everybody. We went to a Bob Marley concert to try to get clients, and that didn't work out, but it was a good time. We were just exposing ourselves a lot out, and it was hard in the sense that it was a lot of time and a lot of thinking, and we were with the foot on the gas all the time, but then it kept giving uh results, and we realized that all these things are hard to implement because it's exhausting mentally because you do them and you don't see immediate results, right? But then with time, like if you just keep doing it, then they come.

SPEAKER_03: 23:43

What made you keep going?

SPEAKER_00: 23:46

Well, because we wanted to keep roaming, and there was nothing that was telling us that something wasn't working.

SPEAKER_01: 23:52

For me though, for me, it was seeing the difference in just the change in schedule. I was like, I don't hate this anymore. Like, this is doable again. Like, I I kind of like this, you know. I could I could feel good about bringing coach in to do this because it's not awful, it it makes sense, you can teach somebody, but your answer I think will be more interesting because Maria had a a gig lined up at a$80,000 a year tech sales job. Okay, I drove her to, and like I want her to stay because she's fucking she's awesome, but also like I understand like she's a lawyer in Spain, right? She's like she's somebody who can really go and do some cool things. So I drive her there and I'm fully expecting her to go and take this gig because it's like a final interview.

SPEAKER_00: 24:34

Yeah, so there's the I remember I remember this.

SPEAKER_01: 24:37

I remember this, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 24:38

Yeah, I I so I went through I think it was four or five interviews, and I go to the the last one, and I remember being on the calls asking you because I really wanted you to tell me what to do, and you never did. And I and Bobby's like, you just want him to answer, right? And I that's all I wanted, and you kept like just answering me, giving me hard answers, so I had to make the decision. And I remember talking to Kathy Jennings and crying on the on the Wednesday calls, like, I don't know what to do, please, guys, help me. And then I got to this last interview, an hour away driving. Bobby brings me, and the guy runs out the door and he comes in the office again and he's like, the job is yours,$80,000 base base salary, uh, plus commissions. And I looked at him and I said, Can I think about it? I left, I go to the car, I looked at Bobby, and I said, I don't want it. He's like, What? And I'm like, I don't want it. Like, this is our opportunity to grow our own thing, and this is like we're never gonna have this opportunity again. And he was like so excited because he wanted he's getting emotional, but I'm getting emotional, exactly. Yeah, he didn't want to he wanted me to stay, but he didn't want to force my decision, yeah. And so he stayed on the side, and he just said, Whatever you decide is good with me. But I just saw the opportunity and how good we were with each other working, and I said no, and I I think is the best one of the best decisions that I have ever made because since then we just went up because we had no limits, it was just us. So I said no to that salary that translated into Spanish salary, it was like I was rich. For some reason, the finance side of things to me is very important, and for some reason at that point it didn't even matter, which I still don't understand the logic, but that's what happened.

SPEAKER_03: 26:38

That is incredible, and you know it's funny I opened one of the chapters with with talking about belief and how belief in yourself is such an important piece, and part of belief is feeling that you deserve the success. And you guys have heard me teach the concept why not me. And I hope people listening to this take what you said and take that story and take the belief that you had in yourself and that that you had in Bobby and that you had in this business and this company that's doing such great work to pass up something as secure. I mean, that's more money than most gym owners make. Right? Most even doing at 300k, I mean, that salary is more profit than a gym at 300k. You know, so like you that was a it was a bold move, but wow.

SPEAKER_00: 27:37

The best part is that I said no, and then they called me two days after and they said they said this to me widget. Unbelievable, but they said how much? And I was like, no, you don't understand, it's not about the money, and I had to give them the the story like this is our opportunity to grow something that is ours, and if it doesn't work, I'll find something else again, but it's not even about the money anymore. So they came back to me with another like barrier to get me, and again I said no, so it was clear.

SPEAKER_03: 28:09

Wow, amazing, amazing. Let's keep going down this line of I'm kind of using this where you're at now at 145 members and where you started at 35 or whatever, and we're working towards that. We're getting to the point where we'll talk about your second location and all of that. But you started to hire some staff members, right?

SPEAKER_01: 28:32

Was there a price raise in the middle of this? So, well, we we changed the prices initially. We didn't have the confidence at the beginning to do what we said when we tried to switch to the group. So, this is another thing. We we went with, you know, I think 60% of what we were doing for one-on-ones, and it was a big shock to a lot of the people. Yeah, I had a group of like eight girls in a session one time. I was like, huddle up, like you know, things are changing when you small group, and I passed them out pamphlets, and one girl's like, This is$38 a session. And I was like, Yeah, and they were all just like not about it. And so me and Maria kind of talked and we were a little freaked out at the response. So we found a price that was more than what we were doing by far, but it wasn't quite 38 yet, and and we built up from there, so we built our confidence at a more premium price point, but not what we set out for. So we that was from the very beginning, that initial like reset. Then when we got to Maria saying no to the job, we were at 16k a month, 65 members, I think. And then January the end of December of that year, we we hit 100 members, and you're gonna love this part. The revenue we made for that year was$200,000, like on the money.

SPEAKER_00: 29:45

What you said, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 29:47

You like nailed it.

SPEAKER_02: 29:49

Well, I believed in you guys.

SPEAKER_00: 29:51

So throughout that process, we never raised prices to current members, but when we did the switch to a small group, but we did price raises.

SPEAKER_03: 30:00

You did first for new members very like three or four times.

SPEAKER_00: 30:05

Yeah, you've got to bring price. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 30:07

Good. Good. Excellent. What have been some of the biggest drivers for you guys to get new customers? We've gone from 35. I know you talked a little bit about the community stuff, but what are the other things that you can lean on? Like you know my marketing glove concept, but like, so what have been the fingers on the glove, the things that you've been leaning on the most to get new customers?

SPEAKER_01: 30:32

Yeah. So referrals has been our our biggest thing the past few years. Like 40% of our members, 45% of our members have come from referrals. And a lot of the referrals already know us. Like it's not their friend isn't always the first point of contact. So they've seen they've driven by, they've seen us at an event outside. They've, you know, on our marketing list because they came in from a Facebook ad or they've been on our website one time. So we've been like hammering out all the different ways that like you guys have taught us to to reach out to people and and keep them in the in your bubble.

SPEAKER_00: 31:08

Yeah. Email, referrals, community events, social ads.

SPEAKER_01: 31:15

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03: 31:17

You guys are you guys are have been running paid ads, correct?

SPEAKER_00: 31:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_03: 31:20

Yep. Good. Good. Okay. Awesome. So let's kind of paint the picture, right? We've kind of like talked about all the things that got us to this point. Tell us where the business is right now. Like, where's the first location that you started? Where's the second one? Talk about the staff. Talk about your roles. Like, give us, try to paint a to paint me a picture of. We just painted a picture of. We had a crappy business model. We were making 7k a month. I was burned out. And this. And now we're fast forwarding a few years later. What do we got? Tell me, paint the picture for me.

SPEAKER_00: 32:03

Yeah, November is gonna be the fifth year of the first location. And now we are 145 clients in location one. We are hitting around$50 to$55,000 a month. The projection for the year for that location is gonna be around$620,000 or something like that.

SPEAKER_01: 32:29

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 32:29

Uh we have a team of in total five with us included. So we have three full-time trainers for both locations, and we are about to hire a fourth one. And the second we have the second location. We just opened September 1st. So this is our fourth week. And we are, I think, exactly 47 clients. We have already covered the operation, how do you say? Operating costs.

SPEAKER_01: 33:02

Operating expenses.

SPEAKER_00: 33:03

Yeah, operating expenses. And that facility is run by one of our coaches right now with my help. So right now Bobby's in location one with the other two coaches, and I'm in location two with the other coach. And we have more time. We are working all the time because you know how it is. But we have more time freedom to do it whenever we want to do it. We don't have to be at the gym all the time.

SPEAKER_03: 33:35

Well, you you guys did take a two-week vacation to Spain, right?

SPEAKER_00: 33:39

We took a two-week vacation, but we went to the West Coast.

SPEAKER_01: 33:42

We oh the two-week vacation to Spain is still coming out.

SPEAKER_00: 33:46

Yes, we are leaving in a month. We are going to leave in a month 10 days to Spain for a wedding. Yeah, so yeah, we got more.

SPEAKER_03: 33:55

So you wait, you but going back to the California trip. Is that where you were? California?

SPEAKER_00: 33:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_03: 34:00

And you took two weeks full weeks?

SPEAKER_00: 34:03

A little more. We I think it was 19 days.

SPEAKER_03: 34:07

Yeah. 19 days. I gotta get on your plan. Um I haven't had 19 days off in a long time.

SPEAKER_00: 34:13

Yeah, we we took the that time off, and at that point we didn't have the second location open yet. We were running pre-sale. So we in that trip, we were still working and selling people on the phone for pre-sale, but the physical gym was open and run great.

SPEAKER_03: 34:29

And what yeah, tell me about how the gym ran uh for 19 days. That's unbelievable. Tell me like what happened during you know that you know, how did things go during those 19 days?

SPEAKER_00: 34:43

We are one of the things that we are very proud of is the team that we have built. They just run everything smooth. They are they care, they enjoy what they do.

SPEAKER_01: 34:55

The clients love them because they connect with them and they feel a sense of trust that's a lot of yeah, like they they liked this, like running it on their own and seeing they could do it. They knew one of them was getting elevated to being the facility leader of a new location, and they feel that sense of like we're building them up too. So it's not just yeah, you're a coach at this gym. It's like, hey, we're growing and we want to take you with us. So it was it's cool for us to be able to give them that too. We feel really good about it.

SPEAKER_00: 35:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 35:25

But the another thing I wanted to add to that like just still blows my mind is last year for profit, we made combined with like Maria's salary and everything, it was$265,000, which is just like it's just like crazy to to even think that that's where we we've ended up, you know, like the time off, the money, like it's like it's actually a real thing, and it's really possible.

SPEAKER_00: 35:49

And uh and that cuss allows us to open a second location without having to ask for a loan.

SPEAKER_03: 35:55

We were in so you funded you funded the second location with all your own money, yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_00: 36:02

So it's yeah, it's a lot of work, but it's worth it, and it's giving us the freedom to make the investments that we want for ourselves and for the gym for the business.

SPEAKER_03: 36:18

I'm like speechless right now. This I I knew you guys had a good story, I didn't think it was this good.

SPEAKER_00: 36:24

It's so for us, like that I I'm I'm telling you that he's like, hey, it's not that crazy.

SPEAKER_03: 36:29

It's really good, it's really impressive. What what was the number again? 200 and how much? 265. Yeah, and that's gonna grow exponentially because of the second location. So that's gonna that's about to get that's about to get a lot more. Okay. So you literally went from doing thirty thousand dollars a year in salary to you know close to a quarter million between both, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 37:00

I know that I have told you this many times, but to me, like now we have more clear what the future looks like for us and what are our goals and where we want to be. But to me, one of the biggest things was to have the time and the money freedom to go back home to Spain whenever I want. And we are there, so yeah. To the point, yeah, no, this is it's gonna get even better, to the point that we are getting married again next year in Spain because we had we are wedding. It was beautiful, but it was here without my family, and now we have the time and the money to do it again in Spain.

SPEAKER_03: 37:54

I want to come. That is absolutely incredible. I'm so proud of you guys both. This is like warming my heart to hear this story, and I you know, I was about to ask about how it's impacted you, how this we kind of bled right into it, right? Because I originally just asked about how what the business was like, but it it has bled into what it's done for you guys on a personal, on a on a personal level, that when you get that time and you get the freedom, that a lot of really cool things can can start to happen. So this is amazing. I I think I want to end with just this last piece, right? I wrote this book for gyms that it were in a position that you guys were in. And there's a lot of them. There's a lot of gyms that are doing below 10k a month, that are struggling, that are tired, that are burnt out, that have a structure that's not right. And if they keep the the biggest fear I have is that they stay there. Right? There's a there's a statistic that I use in the book that 81% of gyms fail in the first year, which is amazing, right? But the worst statistic to me is the gyms that make it that constantly just struggle, that never get to where you guys are. And I want you guys to put yourself in the shoes of those people where you guys were. And I want to know what advice you would give to other gym owners that are in the position that you were in, and they're trying everything that they can to do and know that it's not the right place, know that it's not, you know, that it's really hard. What advice do you have for those guys?

SPEAKER_01: 39:53

Yeah, I think aside from like the obvious of hiring an awesome business coach, it would just be to it would be to go to a mastermind event, you know, because then it's for me, I didn't have a vision of what what it could be. So to to go to one of those events and see people who are who are normal, that have a gym that like just like you, but they're killing it, and and to be able to have that sense of like, oh, this is what I could do with it, is that's that's that's more than enough to you know make want to make some changes. And then just like even personally, the first mastermind event I went to changed my life. Just seeing how how how clear these people thought and how successful they were. It it it personally motivated me to want to be better, not just for the business, but like for myself, because I admired a lot of these people. So I think finding people who are doing what you want to do is is really important.

SPEAKER_00: 40:50

Yeah, surround yourself with the people that already have what you want or that are in the path, like you always say, you become the three people that you spend more time with. And for me, besides that, it's just taking action. And with all this, like throughout these five years, we have realized that the things that were the hardest for us to decide on or to implement have always been the ones that had the biggest return. So every time you're doing something scary, don't think of I don't want to do it, think of yes, it's scary, but I know that this is the right move because it's scary. So taking action and trying things, not thinking of the results and just practice and put yourself out there. So I think we have been big since the beginning on taking action on everything you guys have been teaching us on the calls, and some things work and some things don't work, but until you don't try it, you you never know. So taking action and not being scared of doing scary things because they always have the biggest returns. And like Bobby said, this group not has only helped us grow the business, but we have changed personally like so much. The the two people that we were at the beginning of our marriage, those first three months, we are completely different. We have an awesome communication between each other, we understand each other, we work with each other, and we are all the time together 24-7. And that comes because we are much better people than we were five years ago.

SPEAKER_03: 42:37

How do you think you became better people?

SPEAKER_00: 42:41

Well, you I don't want to give you too much credit, but you always teach us how to the the mindset side of things, right? And how to if you're if you're not in the right place mentally, your business cannot keep growing. So we didn't just focus on doing things at the gym. We spent a lot of time on reading self-improvement books, listening to podcasts, reading about business, listening to other business coaches, other business owners. And just it's a constant work on ourselves, on communication skills, on leadership skills, and all of that is translating not just into where the business is going, but on us personally, how we connect with other people, with the clients, just building other relationships.

SPEAKER_01: 43:35

Yeah, I think the like the the first year, like I said, it was it was really hard and grinding, but I don't think I changed much as a person that first year of just being by myself. Like I may maybe became a better coach for more reps, but it was as soon as we started doing like the scary things that you know you guys told us we needed to do to grow. Like you start, you have to face your self-limiting beliefs. And sometimes, like, you know, things don't work out, but when they do, it's like shit, like this worked out better than I even thought it it could have. And you just realize how much there is on the other side of of your fear, and like when that stuff starts to open up, like like there's you know unlimited opportunity is what like that's that's how we view stuff now, which is like it's such a cool mindset to have. Like all the little wins that we got, they're they're nice to look back on. But the fact that we walk around today and we just know like like we can do anything is fucking like priceless.

SPEAKER_00: 44:29

Yeah, it's different now. Like if someone quits today, it's gonna suck, but like we know we can go back and do it and build it up again, so it's not scary anymore. Do we want to do it? No, but if we have to, that's okay.

SPEAKER_03: 44:44

Yeah, amazing, amazing. Any final things that you like to say to those gym owners? I love that I want to sum up what you guys told them. Take action, which is huge, and you guys have done that better than most, Bobby. You're to your point of you know, being around other people that are doing what you want to do and are possibly ahead of where you are. And then yours, Maria, was amazing. Working on yourself, growing. I think a lot of people too, they don't do that because they feel like you know, they don't do the work on themselves because they feel like any work on myself, I feel like I'm broken by working on myself. And there it there is some humility that's got to come from that. You have to be able to be like, I'm not perfect. I have things to work on, I have, and I think that the other day when you realize that everyone is walking around with stuff. Everyone. And and and sometimes like we think that these people in our lives who are our mentors, who are people that we look up to, we look at them and we almost think that they're bulletproof and they have no challenges and they have no problems. And I think that's a when that mindset tends to get you to think worse of yourself, or you look at this person, you're putting them up on a pedestal, when you have to realize that that person that you respect, that person you admire, they also have stuff that they're working through as well. They may just be better at masking it than you. I think any final things for for for people that are in this place of zero to 25k that want to get past the next level, any final things to say to them?

SPEAKER_01: 46:35

I mean, just going off what you just said, I don't think this answers the the question directly, but you know, the business has gotten a lot better, and then the pro like you guys are so down-to-earth normal, and you're easy to learn from because you're really doing it. You have your own gym, and also like it's funny saying this, but like we're both in therapy because of you. You know what I mean? Like, like you guys, you normalize like working on yourself and not making you feel like you're broke in in those things. And I think like the return we've seen on that is just as much as any of the other tactics and stuff that we've done in our business, because you have to be yeah, you have to be humble and and have a sense of humility to go and do something that you know is is gonna fail. So we've we've appreciated the uh the help the past four years. It's it's cool to we're glad we found you.

SPEAKER_00: 47:21

So whoever is like there thinking like in a situation where they cannot afford it like we were before, just give it a try and put the work and then see if it's for you. So I think it's it's worth the shot and surrounding themselves with the mastermind people and being under your wing. Yeah, it's totally worth it.

SPEAKER_03: 47:50

Yeah, so having the investment mindset. Yeah, good. Well, guys, that was an amazing interview. I cried three different times, but super proud of you guys, super grateful that you did this interview. And I think that this interview is going to inspire a lot of people. I really do. I think there's a lot of people probably listening to this that are struggling, that we're where you guys were. And you know, I think your this interview and this recording will give people hope that you can do amazing things. And the cool thing is for you, you guys are just getting rolling. Right. I know I know Bobby looks like he's only 19, but it he you these guys are getting just start started, and to see what you guys can accomplish over the next several years is gonna be amazing, and I can't wait to watch. But thank you guys so much for doing this. I appreciate it, and congratulations on all the amazing success you've had.

SPEAKER_01: 48:49

Yeah, thanks for having us on, Vince.