Fitness + Technology

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, Bryan O'Rourke shares his interview with corporate finance and strategic adviser, Rohit Kulkarni. Rohit is the Head Internet Analyst at MKM Partners, which specializes in researching and investing in capital markets. Today, Bryan recaps his thoughts on broad questions in the marketplace on big tech and other dynamics to consider in our industry as we approach the new year. One Powerful Quote: 35:59: “I think there may be some pricing power in certain markets, which has not existed for clubs in sometime for certain concepts…so those brands that have the power I think are going to do very well.” 4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 4:09: Bryan introduces himself and his background, and Rohit asks him his views on the table-stakes of the fitness industry prior to the pandemic. 8:18: Bryan articulates his thoughts on the market with demand, valuation summaries, and trends that have accelerated. 11:01: Rohit asks Bryan to further ex

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes Michele Meleski to the show. Michele is the VP of Fitness, Racquet, and Recreation at ClubCorp which operates over 200 clubs and serves over 430,000 members. Her history in the space includes other notable executive positions at The Bay Club Company, Wellbridge, World Gym, and VillaSport Athletic Club & Spa. Today, Bryan and Michelle discuss trends in leisure and lifestyle operations, the impact of technology, and some advice about the industry space. If you are interested in registering for their upcoming eGym webinar series on ClubCorp with Bryan, Michele, & Dana Milkie on December 17th at 2PM EST, you can do so here: https://egym.zoom.us/webinar/register/4016020963874/WN_wahS2ESZRzO8gYC5gEPJAg One Powerful Quote:  4:35: “It’s always people first then it’s programs and then it’s product. And if you get all those things right, those three things right, then it typically leads to a successful business model.” 4-10 Bullet Poin

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke invites listeners to participate in FIT-C’s inaugural 2020 Fitness Technology Innovation Award. This award will be going to the most innovative and technologically progressive fitness professional, supplier, and facility in response to overcoming and innovating as a result of the pandemic. We encourage everyone to apply and nominate those who have demonstrated new solutions to serve their clients in unique and better ways. Winners will receive special awards and recognition for their efforts.   If you are interested in submitting, please visit our website at: http://www.fittechcouncil.org/fits-innovation-award-2020. Self and third party nominations are both accepted. Nominations are due by January 31st.  You can reach out to Bryan at bryankorourke@gmail.com if you have any other questions.  One Powerful Quote:  3:44: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Guest Contact Information: https://www.bryankorourke.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes Brent Darden to the show. Brent’s history in the health club and fitness space began as a personal trainer and working in corporate wellness, most notably as the GM for the Cooper Institute and Telos Fitness Center in Dallas, Texas. He has served as the Chairman of the Board for IHRSA and is Chairman for REX Roundtables. He recently was appointed the Interim President & CEO of IHRSA. Bryan and Brent touch upon some great information in our industry and share their optimism for the future.  If you are interested in registering for the upcoming webinar series with Bryan, Brent, and Dana Milkie of eGym on November 19th at 2PM EST, you can do so here: https://egym.zoom.us/webinar/register/4016020963874/WN_xHTfAqnUQWyFHj7vVT3tOg One Powerful Quote:  18:35: “Crisis breeds progress. It breeds creativity, inventiveness, and it propels action.” 4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 4:44: Bryan asks Brent

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes back friend and advocate, Emma Barry. The two revisit Emma’s views on the boutique studio space as she and Bryan discuss digital and technology ahead of their upcoming webinar series. Emma has lead key senior roles including Director of Group Fitness for Equinox and as a founder for group fitness exercise for Les Mills International. Emma is currently the Chief Creative Soul at Good Soul Hunting which helps health and fitness brands recruit top executive talent. As an author, speaker, and advisor, Emma is considered one of the leading thinkers in the personal betterment sector. If you are interested in registering for the upcoming webinar with Bryan and Emma on Tuesday, October 20th, you can do so here: https://egym.zoom.us/webinar/register/4016020963874/WN_YLAyoIGfSyqODmZKEyNzbA One Powerful Quote:  7:28: “We sit on believe systems. We sit on behaviors… it’s the small things that give the big change. It’s not the big change that I w

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes Mike Studer to the show. Mike is a clinical specialist in neurological physical therapy and a certified exercise expert in aging adult geriatrics. He has served as the vice-president of the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy of the APTA and has been the chair and vice-chair of several special interest groups at the national level in each of the Academies of Neurologic and Geriatric PT, including balance and falls, stroke, and the practice committee in neurology. He has written numerous articles, co-wrote several book chapters, and lectures extensively on the topics of balance, motor control, motor learning, cognitive impairment, and case management. This podcast episode focuses on key trends, neuroplasticity, and the importance of exercise with aging as Bryan and Mike delve deeper into these topics. If you are interested in registering for the webinar on “The Science of Aging” on September 29th with Mike Studer, Bryan O’Rourke, &

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes the iconic and highly respected Sal Pellegrino to the show. Sal is the Senior Strategic Account Manager at Precor where he oversees, directs, and manages key strategic commercial club accounts. With a background in physical education, he has worked in the fitness and wellness industry in a variety of roles, from club owner to equipment sales professional, to industry trend spotter, and advisor to leading organizations. Sal shares with Bryan his insights as well as the story of his professional career. If you are interested in learning more about IHRSA’s Innovation Summit on September 17th, you can visit their website at http://hub.ihrsa.org/innovation-summit. One Powerful Quote:  15:58: “People buy from those they like and they trust. And I think as the career has evolved, when you can carry over those relationships…that is to me as the ultimate complement that people have stayed with me, with the brands that I sell, because I honest

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes well known and highly regarded Adam Zeitsiff to the show. Adam is currently the President & CEO of Gold’s Gym International where he oversees the global icon with more than 650 locations serving 3+ million people across six continents in 29 countries. With a background in technology, Adam shares his views on the challenges his organization faces and in advance of participating in the Fitness Industry Technology Council’s latest webinar on enhancing digital engagement. This episode focuses on Adam’s perspective on technology and how Gold’s Gym pivoted their offerings in the midst of a global pandemic. If you are interest in learning more about digitizing the customer/member experience with Adam, Bryan, & Dana Milkie of eGym on Tuesday, August 11th at 2PM EST, please register for the event here: https://egym.zoom.us/webinar/register/5015962309571/WN_uTjhWui8S7C-qRgDiLagqQ If you are interested in learning more IHRSA’s Innovat

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time colleague and friend Daron Allen to the show. Daron has been in the club business for over 25 years, notably with his positions as GM for The Health & Fitness Connection and VP/Executive Director for Osteopathic Health System of Texas. He currently is the CEO of Visual Fitness Planner which specializes in point of sale and customer relationship management support for personal training. This episode focuses on the challenges for club owners in adopting technology and the processes involved in dramatically improving their operations. One Powerful Quote:  8:00: “I think that the most important thing for a club operator today is… to make sure they choose a technology partner that they can commit to for a long period of time…They need to know they have a partnership mentality, that they are going to work together to craft a future.” Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:40: Bryan asks Daron a

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes friend and FIT-C board member Dr. Ted Vickey to the show. Ted is an educator and advisor with over 25 years of experience and has played key roles as Executive Director for The White House, Senior Advisor for Fitness Technology for American Council on Exercise, and Committee Chair for the United States Golf Association. His doctoral background is in physical activity and social networking from National University of Ireland, Galway. He currently works as an assistant professor at Point Loma Nazarene University as a professor of kinesiology and is the founder of FitWell, a fitness technology management consulting company specializing in operations, design consulting, and professional development. This episode focuses on the dynamics behind health coaching and the impact of technology for fitness professionals. Bryan and Ted have an open conversation about the trends and what this means for the industry as a whole. If you are intereste

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and fitness aficionado Dan McDonogh to the show. Dan is a fitness leader with over 20 years experience and has played key roles as Program Director and Senior Manager for Group Training & Athletic Performance for several global brands including Les Mills International, TRX, and Under Armour, respectively. He currently works as the Director of Performance Programming for GoodLife Fitness where he continues to drive brand awareness, growth, and retention through education and content engagement. This episode focuses on the impact and changes in the marketplace as a result of the pandemic and how industry professionals such as Dan have responded. One Powerful Quote:  20:54: “So when you’re now delivering experiences or sessions, don’t destroy them. Make it about the reunion. Make it about it we’re now back together and give them permission to ease back into it…Take it easy and make it about the regathering and the

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and colleague Tim Keightley to the show. Tim heads up fitness operations and sales as a VP for Texas Family Fitness. His experience track record ranges from creating the largest personal training business in Europe to elevating some of the most successful health club operations in the US as fitness director for Fitness First UK, VP of sales & business development for Les Mills US, and VP of fitness operations for Gold’s Gym, respectively. Listeners will hear Tim’s insights into how he and his team used the pandemic to reorganize Texas Family Fitness and implement new guidelines for reopening their facilities. If you are interested in learning more about the virtual event “Closing The Health & Fitness Gap: How You Can Stay Competitive In the Gym Industry of the Future ” with Bryan, Tim, and Dana Milkie of eGym happening on Tuesday, June 16th at 1pm CST, you can register FREE here: https://egym.zoom.us/webina

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and colleague Dana Milkie to the show. Dana is a key executive leader well known and respected throughout the industry including his positions as Senior VP of ABC Financial, President & CEO of InTouch Technology, and now VP of North America at eGym. As an expert in growth, resources, and profitability strategies, listeners will hear Dana’s insights from his new position and how he is changing the direction at eGym as a result of the crisis in business shutdown and uncertain consumer behavior. Also FIT-C's upcoming webinar "Conquering the Crisis. How Tech Will Help Gyms Pivot" will be on Tuesday May 12th at 2PM Eastern. You can register for FREE now here: https://egym.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oYZTN6fBQ46tgqIsv5DfLA. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes long time friend and business partner Robert Dyer to the show. Robert is a health club and fitness industry executive, leader, and entrepreneur with over thirty years of experience operating a variety of health club business models including consulting and advising fitness facility owners and global suppliers. His most notable position was CEO of Fitmarc, where he nurtured a team of fitness professionals into the largest distributor of Les Mills group exercise and business solutions in the U.S. He currently is an investor in Vedere Ventures, whose portfolio includes VertiMax, Motosumo, 24 Seven Fitness, and Moon Mission Media. Listeners will hear Robert’s advice on continuing to operate businesses and how to move forward together during these unprecedented times. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankoro

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O’Rourke welcomes esteemed colleague Blair McHaney to the show. Blair is currently the President and CEO of MXMetrics, the customer experience system developed by Medallia exclusively for fitness centers. As an educator, practitioner, and student of customer experience management, listeners will hear Blair’s practical thinking on the current state of the industry as it continues to grapple with the effects of COVID-19. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke@gmail.com. If you interested in learning more about MXM and their free access to the Membership Shutdown Survey, visit https://mxmetrics.com/fitness-industry-shutdown-survey/ to sign up. If you would like to learn more about MXM’s Idea Generation System, Crowdicity, register at https://mxmetrics.com/crowdicity/. One Powerful Quote:  34:30:

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke continues his second series of interviews with guests on the ongoing crisis of the coronavirus pandemic. Listeners will hear their insight into how their handling the situation from licensed franchise operations to communication strategies for crisis management. We hope these conversations continue to be of value and interest to you as the situation continues. If there is anything we can do for you, again please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke@gmail.com. Interview 1: Bryan is with Rick Mayo, Leading Franchisor of Alloy Personal Training in Roswell, Georgia. Rick and his team conduct over 60,000 personal training sessions a year with over 1000 clubs licensed worldwide. One Powerful Quote:  15:38: “Stay focus on the things you can do. There are so many things right now that are outside of our control…But there are a lot of things that we can control. Just focus on what’s right in front of you right now.” Bullet Points (w/ timesta

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes special guests from across the industry in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As leading thinkers and experts in fitness and club operations, listeners will hear their foresight into the future and how you can stay prepared in this time of uncertainty. The upcoming podcasts will be a series of interviews we hope will be of value to you as this situation unfolds. If there is anything we can do for you, please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke@gmail.com. Please know, we will get through this. We wish everyone the best. Interview 1: Bryan is with Garrett Marshall, Leading Business Developer, Strategist, & Innovator of Xponential Fitness in Irvine, California. This chain has over 1,800 facility locations and an 8 brand network. One Powerful Quote:  8:47: “We did make a deliberate decision to not over communicate and stick to a 48-hour schedule, so that we could be more formally prepared, and you know, not having the team

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes brand and content strategist, Keri Roberts. Keri serves in a variety of roles, most notably as the podcast host for Inside VOICE and program director for VOICE Summit, one of the largest international conferences for chat and intelligence agents. As one of the leading marketers in the voice automation industry, listeners will enjoy hearing Keri’s thoughts as she and Bryan discuss the importance of implementing voice interface in your brand’s strategy. If you are interested in hearing Keri Robert’s Inside VOICE interview with Bryan on “Voice in the Fitness Industry”, you can listen to it here: https://anchor.fm/insidevoice/episodes/Voice-in-the-Fitness-Industry-with-Bryan-K-ORourke-e816j1 One Powerful Quote:  19:13: “I think voice is something that it’s not just a gimmick. It’s not just something that’s here for a bit and going to go away. It reminds me very much of when social media came out… Voice is and continue to be the same way.

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes back Matthew Januszek from CES 2020 in Las Vegas. CES, the Consumer Electronic Show, is one of the largest exhibitions in the world attracting business leaders and pioneering thinkers to a forum where many industry’s most relevant issues are addressed. Listeners will enjoy hearing Matthew’s deeper insights from this experience and the great impact it had on his view from their previous interviews.  One Powerful Quote:  7:07: “I think in the world of fitness just that the ability to kind of tailor information, support, guidance to you in a way that just never been possible in the history of the universe that was really, really powerful…Technology is a good thing because it allows us to do things that were never available before.”  4-10 Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed: 3:30: Matthew confesses that he felt uninformed on the impact of technology with the fitness/health industry before attending CES 2020.

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes business owner and fellow podcaster, Matthew Januszek. Matthew is the co-founder of Escape Fitness, which specializes in functional training experiences, and leads his own podcast Escape Your Limits. His show along with the success of his business have made Matthew a highly regarded figure in the space. Listeners will enjoy Matthew’s insights as he and Bryan discuss his background, technology adoption, and their overall thoughts on the industry.  If you interested in hearing Matthew Januszek’s podcast interview with Bryan on “Building Trust For the Future of Fitness”, you can watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b0kE524uYY&t=15s or download: https://escapefitness.com/us/podcast One Powerful Quote:  32:20: “I think with the world as it is and technology, you’ve got to find some way to just staying open and connected to all different parts of what goes on and sort of work out what information to pay attention to and what