Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, guys, welcome to another episode of the FBU podcast. I have a very special guest. Today I'll tell you his name in a second. But for many years, this podcast is now, I think, nine years old. I'd just been yakking into the butt of my phone telling you guys how to run your gym better. And that got me to the number one ranked podcast in the world. Not according to my mom and not according to my wife Vanessa, but according to some very obscure, weird website I've never heard of that ranked us the number one fitness business podcast in the world. But what I've had been doing a good time with, I have been having a good time with is uh bringing guests on. And I've I I really enjoy interviewing people. I really like I feel like I've been doing so much content in the last decade that I enjoy just having a really good conversation with cool people. And I've been having guests from the fitness industry on, but I've also been doing once a month a guest of a member in the SPF Mastermind. And today I got a good one for you guys. He's a Jersey guy like me, and it is none other than Caesar Augusto Hernandez. That's your that's Facebook name. Caesar. Welcome to the show, brother. What's good, Vince?

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Grateful to be here, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah, man. I'm glad you're here. And uh we got a great story to tell for you guys, Caesar and I. We go way back, you know, and way, way back. I mean, many guys don't even know this, but I used to actually have another podcast. I used to co-hosted a podcast with a couple different guys back in the day called the Million Dollar Gym Podcast. Like it seems like so long ago that I was doing that. But and I I ran a mastermind with another guy, and Caesar was part of that group. So this is like not taking me way back. But and then I restarted SPF Mastermind, yeah, I think in like 2018. And I believe you jumped in during COVID. I think it was like around 2020.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Uh yeah, right before, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Right around, actually.

Caesar’s Gym And Second Location

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Yeah. Also, just so just tell us about the gym a little bit. Just tell us like where you're at, what kind of gym you're on, just give us like the basic stuff of the gym so so people can get the context of your stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Yeah, for sure. So I've been in business now for 12 years. I've been coaching for 21 years. I've I think I've known Vince now for a decade. And my gym right now is located at my headquarters, uh, is in Gottenberg, and we help busy adults there. It's a group training business. We have about 170 members, and uh we've sent it to Just explain where Guttenberg is because I think that's yes, yeah, sure. So that's in in the Hudson County, right across from the city. So right near New York City, right near New York City. Yeah, yeah. We're right in between the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel. That's a good visual there. And yeah, 12 years strong there, and we just opened up our second location and got the keys about eight weeks ago, and we're rolling there. We're still in the pre-sale period, and sure we'll unpack some of those things in a bit. But yeah, that's it in a nutshell.

Rock Bottom And “Stop The Bleeding”

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Awesome, man. No, and I was really excited for this. I've been doing a lot of these different ones, and I was really excited for yours because you just got a great story. Like some of the some of the guys, you know, have better stories than others. You got a really cool story, and so let's take me back. Let's, I guess, start with the time. Uh you know what? Maybe we should just start with the consulting day, you know, that you had with me, right? And where you were. And I think that this is one of the reasons why I like to do these interviews is uh I I think that you know, someone's a gym owner sees a guy like you, Caesar, you're killing it, open second locations, you got a team that's managing the first location, and they see you and they're like uh they think that it was all always great. Right? They see you and they're just like, oh well, Caesar must be just a gifted gym owner. And he's like, and and when you're about to hear the story of that couldn't be further from the truth. So take us back and like give us the the dirty uh of the whole of the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Yeah, for sure. All right. So consulting day, man, that was the uh turning point for me, honestly. It was the the conversation I needed to really turn the ship around. So at that point, I was in the deepest, darkest, probably the toughest period of my adult life at that point. The business was burning cash. And I remember the theme that we came up with that day was stop the bleeding. And I had gotten to that point where I had one foot in the door and one foot out the door of the business. I was pretty ready to call it quits. I was ready to throw in the towel. You know, I've been in the game for a bit already, gotten pretty beat up by it by that point. And yeah, that that conversation, just that sit down, it was a it was a hard look in the mirror of look at looking at some of the realities. Up until that point, it for me was just always being a great coach. And what I've and one of the big takeaways from being in this group was just learning about business, marketing, leadership, and all the other stuff that I'm sure we'll unpack. But yeah, by that point, that's that's pretty much where I was. I was in the worst position I've ever been in.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

I want to unpack that a little bit more. Like what were because you you I think you said something important that I want not gloss over. You you said you know, we were one foot in and one foot out, and I'm gonna tell you right now, that never works. It never works. And the it here's how I know it never works. Because have you ever heard heard the story of me and Vanessa almost getting a divorce?

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Yeah, I remember.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Yeah, so so I told that story, but I haven't told it the podcast. But like we it was like our first year of marriage, and it was an absolute really hard time. And we were seeing like a marriage counselor, and he drew this circle and he said, for this to work, you need both feet in the circle. It doesn't work if you have one foot in and one foot out. If you're gonna make this marriage work, you need both feet in the circle. And I remember him drawing the diagram of like feet like in the circle, and like that changed my life, it changed my whole marriage. So, like, talk about that for you. Like, talk about that with I got one foot in and one foot out. Why? Like, why did you have one foot in, one foot out?

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah, I think number one was I grew a ton of resentment for the business. Like I had just fallen out of love with it. Like, I just I was again, I was letting it run how it was. I wasn't my head wasn't in it, my heart wasn't in it. I was at a very lost period in in just entrepreneurship business, blah blah blah. So, yeah, and a lot of that had a really dark lens on it. I was not grateful for it, which is something that I got out of that conversation. And I actually I have some of the notes still written right here on my wall. I've just the notes that we took that day, literally it's right there. And I remember you just reminding me of what the business actually brought you to at this point, which was like the that mindset shift that I needed because again, I was just looking at it as man, I'm done with this thing. I'm done with the struggle of it, the figuring these things out, blah blah blah. And yeah, that's that's pretty much what had one foot in, one foot out. The the other the reason the foot was in, because it was at the end still paying the bills, and that's where that's where my mind was. It wasn't about growing the business much, it was just survival in a sense, right at that point.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Okay, and do you think COVID had something to do with it? I mean, do you think that it was just like going through because this was a was this this was post-COVID, right? Yeah, yeah, this was it. Do you think COVID had something to do with it? Do you think it was just 12 years in the business? Was it not making the amount of money you want to make? Like, what was the thing that because I I wanna here's what I wanted to say to you. I really appreciate so this is a tough story. I know it's a it's a hard place to go back to because it was wrong. I was with you there in that day. But I'm gonna tell you right now how many people you're probably helping right now because I I guarantee you there are people that listen to this podcast that are in the exact same spot right now, they're burnt out, they're toast, they want to get out, and they don't think that they can turn it around. And here you sit someone that did. So I I want to one commend you for telling the story, but two, I think the deeper we go into this, into why I think we'll someone's life is gonna be changed by this podcast because of you. So what yeah, what do you think it was?

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Yeah, for sure. COVID definitely knocked things out. I'm gonna say uh you you mentioned it earlier, I was part of the group right around COVID, and I ended up stepping out because uh by that point I was already kind of starting to be this sunken ship, in other words. But yeah, by the time COVID hit, uh it was almost like an identity shift of before the years prior to that. I was just focusing on being a great coach and building this community up. I wasn't really about money or business and things like that, and that was an important part. So COVID hit, it just had a big identity shift for me. And also just the business side. I didn't know the business side. You don't know what you don't know. Here I was by by that point, I needed to do something, I needed to figure this out, I needed a group, I needed this conversation, needed all the people around in the group so that I can see what the realities are like what it actually takes to make things happen. Because that but even 12 years in the game or whatever, by that point it was six years, I still didn't really know what it took to grow the business properly.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

So what was it like going home during those days after a day? Walking into the house, do you have kids, you have young kids, you had young, real young kids at the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Yeah, at that point, I was I had my my second kid on the way, and it was a really tough time. My wife had also lost her job at that point, and it was just a lot of things thrown at me at that point, but yeah, it was uh it was very tough, just sleepless nights, not knowing if I was gonna make it through the next month, and yeah, just like that. I was lost at that period for sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Okay, so you got to a point where you feel like all right, I gotta do something about this, or you didn't want to keep going away. And you booked the consulting day. And I was in we did it in the hotel embassy. I remember the first we spent the first half of the day at the embassy suites in the lobby, right? We didn't even go into a room or anything, we just sit in the lobby, yeah. And we talked for like a few hours and we got lunch, and then we finished. Did we finish the day at GFP? I think we're doing GFP. Okay, so talk me through that day because it seems to be, I don't want to take credit for the turnaround, but it seems to be that that day pinpoints to a turning point for you. Would you agree? Definitely, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Yeah, that that day is in my core memories as as turning point for me for sure. Needed the conversations, I needed the reality in the face. You know, I got a ton from the group, but having that one-on-one where you put it right in front of me, and we're like, no, this is the truth. This is the truth, Caesar. And you shine the light on it, and then you made me realize some of the things that I just wasn't paying attention to, and I just didn't have the like the sight on that. It was just again, just looking at it in a deep dark space, and I was that again the worst spot. So um, so yeah, those the questions you asked me, unpacking, you know, looking at my PL, and I thought I was in a better position than I really was, which was a funny thing because I had money, but it was from debt. I was paying myself off debt. It wasn't it was an actual profits in a sense. I haven't I didn't I haven't profited, I didn't profit since COVID up until that time period, I'm gonna say, and then it took about six months for me to actually start after that to actually start seeing some of the dividends pay from that.

One Foot In One Foot Out

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Yeah. Yeah, so I think that's a big one is you know, there's a line from one of my mentors, Dan Sullivan, that says, All progress starts with the truth. And one of the things that, you know, you got Uncle Vinny that day, you got some tough love. And sometimes that'll need to be hard. Sometimes that we really just need to point out what's the brutal facts of the situation. And sometimes our financials, our profit and loss they would show the brutal facts, right? And uh it it's my guess that's stuff that you weren't looking at, you know, on a regular basis, and you know, so that was one of so that so that's a really big key point for someone that's struggling is you gotta face reality, uh right? Yeah, but you had the courage to sit down with me and face reality. And we didn't know what was gonna happen from that day. You might have just walked away, you might have just quit. But what you needed to do was know what reality actually was, and that's not easy to do. Yeah, so that was kind of one of the first things we did, right? Was face reality.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah, and and Vincent, I just want to say if I didn't have that day with you and I didn't turn things around, we wouldn't be here. I might be selling insurance or I don't know, doing something else to figure out and then take your job, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Exactly. They'd be really fucked. Yeah. So what else did we do in that day? Like, what were the other things? Because I remember you texting me some of the notes that you took, like afterwards, you what were some of the other themes of the day, and some of the could uh let's pinpoint some of those things for people because this shines the light on if someone's in the situation that you were in, like what are the things that you not need to start unpacking? So, what were some of the other things that the big takeaways?

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Yeah, for sure. The know your numbers was definitely number one and what they actually mean. Because you you can you know you can look at it all, but what does it all really mean? Like, all right, here's what you're actually netting. Are you putting away for taxes, blah, blah, blah, all the all those other things, but those are things that I ended up learning through more and more time. But at the end, the overall lesson was know your numbers, number one. And we spoke about stop the bleeding because I was just overspending with no business doing it. I was just overspending on people to take care of the business rather than me stepping up and leading. And that's simply because again, I had one foot in, one foot out. So I was I was paying people, I had too many people just on staff. So one of the things we did, we we made some trims there, we cut the fat around, we cut a lot of fat. So again, it is just we're spending way too much there. And I was like, Why are you doing this person? I was like, what is this person doing? You're like, I don't know. Exactly. Yeah, I just had way too many people doing different things, everybody was just getting, you know, money for doing little things, so that definitely helped me identify, you know, what mattered most for the business, at least at that point, and it kept evolving through time. But going back to that day, that was definitely another one. And then, like I mentioned before, the whole gratitude thing, just kind of uh getting my mind back in the game for that. You made me write it down just a look right now. It was you had me write things like my business provides the me the opportunities, the clarity, and the purpose to build the future I want to create. So that was like one of the things that I ended up writing down, and it was just again a reminder of being grateful for where I'm at.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

And I I remember this because you it that led from what created that statement, I remember because there was the resentment that you had for the business. Yeah, you were looking at it as something that you didn't like, and what I tried to do with you was switch that around. It's like, no, your business is the vehicle to help provide the life that you you that you want to provide for your family. Your business is that vehicle. So you better start loving that thing because that's the thing that gets you what you want. Yeah, and it's a it's a mindset shift. It was just a mindset shift. Very cool. Yeah. Oh, awesome, man. This is so good. This is so helpful. I I guarantee you, I'm telling you, there's way more people than you think that are struggling right in this spot. So this is this is great. What were the other things that we did, you know, in that day? You know, probably we did some more tactical things, um, you know, maybe with we definitely did a lot with staffing. I remember I know I remember that. We did a lot with the org chart, and we got rid of we got rid of a bunch of people. But talk about you, let's talk about your role. Like, what was the you know, the shift towards you're not the first person I've had do this, and and basically I had to kick your ass right back into the business. I was like, you need to go run your business. You're not running your business, you need to go run your business, right? I remember you. There's so many people that I've done this with, but talk about this one.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Yeah, I remember you said uh you're not Jeff Bezos, Caesar. This is true. I had like an assistant, I had this, I had that. It was uh that I remember that for sure. So so yeah, after after like a lot of the mindset stuff of awakening, we closed it out with uh like the overall strategy like what's it gonna take to get just again stop the bleeding was number one. Let's actually start making some money. And again, but prior to that, I didn't have that lens. It was in about like making a ton of money, but I needed to in order for the business to survive and now thrive and get to this point. So so yeah, in terms of that, it was the trim the fat, it was just start getting back into business again, start talking to my team, leading them, loving onto the business, pouring that energy that I did before. I just had to do it a little bit differently at this point, and you know, thankfully so, loving where I'm at now.

Truth From The P&L

SPEAKER_00 18:01

So and were you did you step in and start to do the selling as well? Or did you were you were doing a lot of the sales at that point?

SPEAKER_01 18:11

By that time, yeah, I ended up shifting back in there again, you know, into calls, just stepping back into the business period. I got my hands back into everything, and I started really looking at all the data because again, I wasn't looking at numbers, I didn't know what our attrition was, I didn't know anything, like really. I didn't break down the expenses. You've helped out with a ton with the uh fixed variable and like the taxes and all that kind of stuff. You big time. You've helped me really understand numbers a ton, and that's that's shifted a lot. That's really helped me, you know, keep my finger on the pulse of the business.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

I think that's a big one too. Like when you're in a tough spot, you have to get clear on your role for the company. And that's one of the things that we did. It's like, all right, what is Caesar's job? And like there's a there's a whole bill of Bill Belichick line of, I don't know if you're I think you're probably a Giants fan, but there's the Bill Belichick line of do your job, do your job. And that's one of the when I do these days with people, it's one of the most important things that I can do is like have you walk away, like, this is what you're responsible for. You are responsible for making the sales in this business, you are responsible for generating the leads. And crystal clear clarity on the highest and best uses of your time is ultimate in these situations. Okay. Anything else? Anything else you can think of that we did from a tactical standpoint? We I don't even know if we got to marketing too much. I think it was very sh like just strategic. Very, it was a very strategic day.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Very strategic. Yeah. Yeah, it was not uh like anything that was gonna happen within the next month. It was yeah, month. Like we're all right, that's just one stop the bleeding first. And then getting into and I know you've mentioned this before, but focus is a superpower, yeah, and like you're just talking about, and I definitely now am the areas where I'm doing that for the business. I'm I'm much more focused on the key areas to grow the business.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Awesome. So let's but let's start with what happened because I I have so many texts from you of like the progress and the updates and stuff like that. Where was the business? Let's call it let's call it where was the business before you open the second job. You've got the business to be a in a position to open up the second one, but what what was the like give me a snapshot of the first business when we like when like hey, we I got this thing under control. What'd it look like?

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Yeah, I remember by the time we had the console day, it was we were making around 28k a month and just about, and now we this right now we're averaging right around 45k, 48. We're on pace to hit our first 500k year this year. We're 20, we're uh yeah, 20 better this year than we are from last year. So we're beating 2025 by 20 in the top line revenue. And then year over year from that consult day, I'm gonna say we've grown 10, 15, 20 over the last four years, called it almost 50, like oh no, 100% of the business. Like we and we've almost doubled our revenue from that day.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

So yeah, that's I think the important number to share is you were doing 28k at the consulting day, but we were negative profit.

unknown 21:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

It's like 28k, that's not as that's a decent revenue number. That's not like too shabby, right? We were literally losing money. Exactly. Uh 45k, yeah, 48k, and the margins are super healthy from you know, when I see you come into the CEO mastermind, I look at your profit and loss statements and the margins are beautiful. You know, so which got you to the point where you got the uh Uncle Vinny grant permission to open up your second location. Okay. I gave you a certificate that said you're allowed to do it. So that's amazing. I mean, you're you were 28k from losing money to 48K, and you're profiting a healthy business enough to be able to start a second location, which is in uh pre-sale right now? So are you yeah, yeah. You're in pre-sale right now, and that's really awesome, man. Uh what's life like for Caesar personally? Like, what is the difference in your mindset, in your energy, and your attitude? What's the and we talked about the business being the vehicle? What what is the how has improving the business improved your life and your family's life and everything like that?

Cutting Staff And Owning The Role

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yeah, before we had our meeting, I was like I'm thinking about these questions, and I think the one thing is I can sleep good at night and I can wake up in the morning and my business is taken care of, like HQ right now. I I haven't coached the session, I think, since last year at some point. So it's running really well. Our team there is really strong, and I feel at peace there with the business. And I'm proud of the team and everybody else, everything else that we've built there. It's a great community, and uh, I'm excited to continue seeing it grow and evolve through time with led by the people that are there. So, so yeah, I have that that's one of those things for sure. Another one is just being able to have breakfast with my kids every morning from 7 a.m. till like 8 30 a.m. That's my non-negotiable family time in the morning, and I'm able to do that. That's something I wasn't able to do years ago with my my first one, my first kid, uh barely saw her just early mornings, late nights. So now I get to do that, and that's a beautiful thing. And then same thing with dinner time, able to have dinner with them and spend a little more time with them, quality time, and be present with them. So those are big important things. Same thing with my wife, just having that time with her as well. So, yeah, as far as uh life lifestyle goes, that's those those are the two big things as of right now. And I have the time, the freedom. I get to have this conversation with you now, and we're just creating more and more opportunities for the people that are in our team and the businesses that we're building. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

What the hell else could you ask for? It's I love that answer. It's like I can sleep well at night, which shows that hey, and there's still challenges in business all the time. There's challenges, it's always gonna be challenges when we own businesses. But the fact that you sleep well at night really you've come to the conclusion that you can trust yourself, believing yourself that whatever problems that you're gonna face, that you'll be able to handle it. And then the second thing is just uh time with family, right? Growing relationships, being a present father. And at the same time, it seems like you're enjoying the ride, right? Yeah, you're enjoying the ride as a gym owner, whereas before, you know, we weren't. So the the people listening to this at home, I think they sometimes get into this mindset of like, I'll never be able to turn this around. And the only way to feel different is to exit. And I think a lot of people exit uh too early. I think they don't give it the fair shot. That's one of the reasons why I'm writing this Four Stages book, is because uh the Four Stages book really highlights the problems that people will face. It highlights what are the challenges that you're gonna face in each stage of business. And so you've been able to do that beautifully, and you're now in the CEO mastermind, and you're opening second locations, and you have time to do this podcast, and things are going great, man. I uh want you to answer this last question. And if you had a gym owner, we kind of were citing back to people in your situation, and I guarantee you there are, but if you had a conversation with you know younger Caesar struggling, questioning whether he wants to stay being a gym owner, and he's faced with a decision to get help for his business, like you did. What is Caesar Augusto Hernandez's expert advice?

Results Life Change And Final Advice

SPEAKER_01 26:08

I would say I I I wish I did this a lot sooner. And I know I've tried and all that kind of stuff, but in the past, I definitely you know wish I had dug my feet into looking out for mentors a little bit faster than I than I did, and really make that investment. And I know like even on the council day, but when I invested in that, I had no business investing it. We had no bunny coming in, really. And I still just made it happen because I was like, this is it. I'm my last Hail Mary right now. And this is where I was, and that was the turning point. And sometimes you'll surprise yourself in those moments, especially through business. It's cyclical, it's not it's not always gonna be high, you're not always gonna have wind on your back. You're gonna get punched in the face here and there. And it's always good to have community around you for sure. Support, guidance, like everybody here in the SPF group. I've learned from from everybody, Joe, Leo, you vent, of course, and and all the other guys just seeing seeing the stories and having conversations like this. And I'm excited I get to be here right now and be one of your one of the stories. And my hope is that this uh does inspire somebody that might be on the fence or might be at the rock bottom, wherever they are.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Yeah. I hope that uh closes that out. Awesome. No, that was amazing. And uh, I I tell you, I was like, I told you I've been doing a lot of these, but I was super excited for this one. It did not disappoint at all. I thought you did a great job of going back to some times that I know were tough for you to dig up. I know that times like you know, in my life where I've struggled and had challenges, someone's asked me questions about that time. It's just like you're like unpeeling an onion, and it's just like, oh, that doesn't feel great. But I appreciate you you doing it. But I again I'll I know that someone listening to this podcast got something from this, and likely you telling your story is gonna change someone's life from listening to it. So I'm very proud of you. Uh I'm super excited for you. I'm super excited for what you got coming up. And you know, I know you're in a great group of guys that it's tough to be in that room and not push the envelope, right? So we're pushing the envelope, right? But you're doing a great job. You're doing an awesome job, very proud, and thank you for doing this.