HALO Talks

After being diagnosed with Crohn's disease, Celina Semente, a stubborn yet determined (former!) fashion major, decided to take matters into her own hands, changed her field of study, and embarked on a journey of self-discovery to heal her gut and help others as a holistic health coach. With a hat tip to Mike Pesca, host of the Gist podcast for the initial intros--and a happy client himself--Celina is now a highly skilled health coach whose experience with Crohn's continues to fuel her passion for helping others. With a degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences from Montclair State University and a holistic health graduate degree from Georgian Court University, Celina brings a wealth of knowledge to the world of holistic wellness. Her dedication to understanding the root cause of symptoms and promoting a healthy lifestyle has led to countless success stories among her clients. As an advocate for self-care and personalized health solutions, Celina is the perfect guide for individuals seeking to improve their overa

After her husband and son became ill, Michelle Zipper (practicing out of the Well Center in Westchester, NY) fiercely pursued a career in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, determined to find answers and help others, unlocking a powerful inner strength and courage as she faced the challenges of balancing her business ambitions with her family's needs. Michelle has spent over a decade exploring the world of holistic health and functional medicine. With a background in graphic design, her passion for wellness began when her husband was initially diagnosed with Lyme disease, and she took the reins in healing him with nutrition and lifestyle changes. Her expertise grew as she also dealt with her son's autoimmune struggles, leading her to pursue further education in health coaching, functional diagnostic nutrition, and obtaining a Master's degree. Through her diverse experiences, Michelle has become a champion for listening to the body and creating personalized protocols for her clients. At the Well Center, she com

Mark Moyer is (clearly!) our long lost, Brother from Another Mother! He is the Founder and CEO of the Win Again Academy and the author of Win Again: Turn Athletic Success Into Business Success. He shares our desire to help provide athletes with the resources and connections they need to transition to a life outside of sports when that time comes. His ecosystem will help current and former athletes discover their identity beyond sports, develop the structure needed to succeed again, and receive the tips, strategies and actionable advice that allows them to WIN AGAIN and be elite in their next great career.  Mark's expertise lies in connecting them to business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors. By leveraging their unique skills and abilities, he helps pave the way for countless athletes to excel in various entrepreneurial endeavors. His dedication to bridging the gap between sports and business makes Mark an invaluable resource for athletes seeking meaningful and fulfilling careers after retirement. Tran

In this engaging podcast, our guest Brian Socolow from Loeb & Loeb, LLP shares his insights on the psychological and legal components to consider before jumping into a private equity deal in the "post-COVID new normal." With a focus on protecting and monetizing technology ideas in the sports and health and wellness industries, Brian reveals the checklist of factors to consider when seeking investment or selling a company. He also offers valuable advice on legal protection, insights for entrepreneurs seeking capital investments in sports, navigating due diligence, and much more. This is a must-listen for anyone in sports law, private equity, or the HALO sector. Socolow states, "Businesses that protect their intellectual property and form a clear, compelling corporate story are more appealing to investors . . . Fostering honest communication and setting expectations is essential when transitioning from entrepreneur to employee or board reporting – an invaluable mindset shift that can make all the difference

Mike Geenen is the Senior Director of Investments at EPR Properties. EPR is a 25+ year old, publicly traded REIT with $6.5B in investments, 350+ assets across 44 states and Canada, with more than 200 partners and tenants. A REIT is a real estate investment trust which owns (and sometimes) operates income-producing real estate or related assets. These typically include things like office buildings, malls, apartments, hotels, resorts, self-storage facilities, and so forth.   Geenen states, "We bill ourselves as the diversified experiential REIT. And what that really means is that we focus on investing in real estate venues that facilitate out of home, leisure, recreation and social experiences . . . The majority of our investments outside of the theater business are with independents that are not necessarily private equity backed. We're in a bit of a niche market for the most part." EPR is also the largest owner of movie theater real estate in the country since the theater space is their legacy business. They a

With her unique perspective as a historian and deep roots in the fitness industry, Natalia Petrzela, Ph.D embarks on a mission to uncover how fitness has gone from a "suspect" activity in the early days, to an essential part of modern life, leading to the crucial question of how we as an industry can make it more accessible to all. "I think we've got to find a way to talk about obesity, health, and morality that isn't just about like, well, 'you look that way, make better choices,' because I don't think that's fair. We have to make it easier to work out and to eat healthy food," she states.  Natalia is a historian and professor at the New School in New York City. She is the author of the newly released book Fit Nation, The Gain's and Pains Of America's Exercise Obsession. Natalia has always been curious about how the fitness industry has changed and evolved. She "found" the gym as a teenager, leading her to become certified and take a deep dive into the industry. Through her extremely thorough research, she

When Matan Gavish, a former Special Forces commander in charge of combat training, discovers the "silent pandemic" of rising sexual assault against women in urban areas, he repackaged his Krav Maga skill set to empower a reluctant and fearful audience to learn to take back their safety. He is the Founder of FITHIT in NYC and is passionate about solving this problem. Gavish states, "Somewhere along the line, it became crystal clear to me that there is a problem, a real big one that is not being addressed by anyone, and I have the skillset to solve it. And that is the problem of sexual assault against women in big cities. It is it is being referred to as a 'silent pandemic.' It does not get the attention that it deserves."  Gavish found himself in a unique position to potentially help address this. He worked hard to "repackage" Krav Maga into something that would be attractive to those least likely to enjoy or want to partake in the activity. He came to realize that most of his target audience's fears were ment

Jarlo Ilano is a martial artist, physical therapist, and entrepreneur. He is the Managing Director of GMB Fitness, and has been at the forefront of the 'alternative fitness' movement for over two decades. At the age of twelve, Jarlo found himself in karate classes at the local community center. As he grew, he explored more martial arts and fitness-related activities. After his parents encouraged him to pursue physical therapy, Jarlo began to see the potential of combining his own passions into a PT career. With the help of mentors, he eventually started GMB Fitness with partners Andy Fossett and Ryan Hurst. These guys are the "OG's" in this space, and have been at it longer than most. No hype. No nonsense claims. Just good, solid, progressive, well-balanced programs for all levels. Through the ups and downs of the business, Jarlo has stayed the course and found success in the industry, inspiring others to make meaningful changes in their lives to help them reach their goals. He states, "In terms of success, w

Eve Nasby is the President of Band of Hands, a company now in 11 states with a disruptive business model that helps small business owners manage their staff without having to worry about the administrative burden of being the "employer of record." She has over 30 years of experience in the staffing industry and is passionate about helping businesses succeed.  98% of businesses in America are small businesses-those with less than 50 employees. And (putting it mildly), staying on top of the latest rules and regulations (like California's AB5, Gig Worker Law as a recent example), is extremely onerous and time consuming. Eve experienced this herself when she owned a small business and struggled to manage her staff and keep up with all of the paperwork. In an industry that's so old and staid, BOH is poised to blast off! She states, "You've got to surround yourself with people that aren't 'Yes people,' that are going to challenge you, challenge the way you think, and challenge the way 'things have always been done

After decades of success in the fitness industry, George Jackson created TG-The Gym in 2018. It represents the next step in his career and a distillation of all he has learned. TG is an umbrella organization offering a license to independent gym owners with a tremendous number of benefits and proven business model that's readily deployable.  George is a well known, long-time industry veteran who started with Gold's Gym around 1983. He's gone through multiple iterations over the years, taking what is useful and constantly refining his model . . . and it's working! Peter San Nicolas is the The Gym's first licensee. He's another industry pro who decided to rebrand his facility to The Gym-Ramona and he joins us on the podcast as well.  George states, "Starting the brand in 2018, we just saw an opportunity, especially for people like Peter. You know . . . independent guys that would now have an opportunity to be supported with a bigger group. As Peter knows, I'm never gonna tell him what to do, but if he comes to

Dr. Sal Arria is one of the Founders of Lionel University (formerly ISSA College of Exercise Science), and an educational leader in the fitness industry. He's been around literally since the inception of the personal trainer education space. He continues his life-long mission of creating highly educated fitness professionals to help people change their lives. Sal had a serious wake up call many years ago when, after presenting his plan to a Vice President of a very large insurance company, he was met with the conversation stopper, "Sal. Stop and do the math on this! It doesn't work for me!" Sal promptly threw $100 on the table and walked out. The very real reality is the fact that the medical insurance industry doesn't make money from healthy people.  Arria states, "Could you imagine walking into a physician who spent eight years in college, many years in residency and say, 'Hey, I earned my certification . . . I took one class.' You can't do it! A single certification is great for entry level, but think abou

Taylor Stull, a former product manager for preventative health solutions, is the Co-Founder of Flowell, a platform that provides team-based experiences and lifestyle games to help clubs and coaches build communities and keep people healthy for life – all while navigating the challenges of helping them make good decisions for long-term success. "At the end of the day, we're working to try to keep people healthy for their whole life by helping them make good decisions. This way they can hopefully have longer, more enriching, more fulfilling lives. That's really what I'm here trying to bring to market," he states. Taylor was determined to find a way to help people make better choices after his own health journey and he wanted to pay it forward. He developed Flowell, a team-based fitness gamification platform, to bring the community together and nurture relationships, as well as motivate healthy lifestyle decisions.  Through trial and error, Taylor found that community, fun experiences, and rewards are key to lon

Doug Young, currently the COO of Easalytics, faces the daunting task of leveraging technology and machine learning to help struggling fitness businesses maximize value from their existing members, and increase revenue retention - all while avoiding unintended consequences. Doug is a Connecticut-based software and AI expert who has been in the tech industry since the late 90's. He has a background in ecommerce, SaaS, and ed tech, and has been in the HALO space for a bit over four years. He specializes in customer onboarding, product adoption, and using machine learning and AI to scale businesses. Doug saw the potential of data-driven analytics in the space, but also quickly realized many people lacked the time (and knowledge) to make the most of it. With the help of machine learning, Doug was able to help business understand new opportunities and help drive value from members. The ability to discern member value (and potential member value) enabled clubs to be more proactive and prioritize their highest value

Growson Edwards is a software entrepreneur and founder of CIPIO.ai, a Community Commerce marketing platform that helps brands mobilize & monetize their brand communities. He has extensive experience in the SaaS space, having grown his last company to $100 million in revenue and sold it. After meeting his two partners, they took on the challenge of building a Community Commerce Marketing Platform. A year later, he had close to 50 brands on his platform, including some of the biggest in the fitness industry. He was able to help them understand their followers better, as well as help influencers understand their own influence. His dedication to helping brands reach their goals has paid off, and he is now on a mission to elevate the lives of others. "Influencer marketing" is a very loaded term, and (generally speaking) tends not to be thought of highly (for various reasons.) Growson dives into that headfirst in this marketing masterclass! He states, "People who buy followers. . .it's a real issue and a very c

"No matter what industry you're in, you need to find someone with the trait of being passionate about what they're selling, teachable, and who has naturally high energy - those are more important than anything else," states Jeff Sanders.  Jeff was 17 and, and at one point had to sleep in his truck. He literally had no place to go when he decided to take control of his life and "become teachable." Through various jobs at AT&T Wireless, substitute teaching, a Smoothie Factory franchise, nonprofit and church sectors, LA Fitness and others . . . he learned the in's and out's of business, developing a passion for helping people and learning the power of relationships along the way.  His tenacity and skills eventually got him recruited to work at Radio Shack, where he learned the importance of operations, systems, and the value of sales training. This inspired him to create an Ambassador program at his current job, Energy Fitness, where he serves as Chief Growth Officer. His team is encouraged to reach out, get

Len Fridman was laid off from his corporate job in 2009 after nearly a decade, and upon doing a bit of soul searching, he decided to pursue his passion for fitness instead of continuing on in "corporate life." He started a small boot camp business in a local park which quickly went on to become the most successful outdoor program in Canada in multiple cities. Eventually, a need/business frustration presented itself on the software side, which then led him to his Co-Founder Sasha Davids, who promptly jumped onboard. They started out small but have now scaled to where WellnessLiving is now quietly powering 5,000 studios, and were recognized by Deloitte in the Fast 500 and Fast 50 in Canada. Len was able to bring on Don Williams, their Chief Revenue Officer after recently securing a $66M investment from McCarthy Capital. With a team of 354 strong and growing, WellnessLiving is able to create amazing tools with the sole goal of helping fitness studios continue to expand. He loves giving back to the community as w

J.Dennis Jean-Jacques is an experienced investor with over 20 years in finance. He is currently the CIO at Ocean Park Investments. His work is based on lessons from renowned figured such as Jeff Ubben, Peter Lynch, and Warren Buffett, and specializes in deep dive, fundamental investing and long-short equity investing. Dennis and HALO Talks host Pete Moore make this a master class! This episode is a "must listen" for anyone in the HALO sector who wants a basic primer on types of investments, deal flow, private equity funds, hedge funds, and more.  J.Dennis was inspired to pursue an investment career after Buffett's visit to his Harvard Business School class. He dedicated the next 20 years of his life to fundamental and long-short equity investments.  He eschews "trends," and . . . by following basic business fundamentals . . . is able to identify great opportunities in the public markets. He learned to find the best investments by understanding the deep reality of the businesses and avoiding fancy strategies f

John Merris is the CEO of Solo Brands, a public company that's making huge inroads in the outdoor space. With strong, in-the-trenches experience in sales and growth (he started as a door to door salesman!) Merris joined the company as its 7th employee and has since helped them acquire 3 other brands that now fall under the Solo Brands umbrella: Solo stove, Oru kayak, Chubbies apparel, and ISLE paddleboards. When he was approached by the founders of Solo stove, a smokeless fire pit company that was actually based in hometown which he hadn't heard of previously, he was very intrigued and, nine days later, ended up joining as the 7th employee! Through his growth mindset and track record of building teams, John was soon asked to become the CEO, successfully acquired the other brands, and helped take the company public. Going public, however, also brings some unexpected emotions and tricky waters you have to navigate as a leader. He quickly realized that by taking care of customers and maintaining a long-term view

Helaine Knapp, a self-professed "tech junkie" with a Big Ten education and a penchant for healthy living, risks it all to launch a boutique fitness empire, only to discover the water is colder and the monsters more fierce than she ever imagined. City Row is over 10 years old and they were one of the first to "make rowing sexy" and bring it to the forefront.  She is now an expert in connected fitness, having built a best-in-class software platform and content production.  Helaine was always a fitness enthusiast, but she had to learn the hard way to take it slow. After college, Helaine was working in tech startups when her love for fitness kicked in again. She was a "Spinning junkie," trying to out-work everyone else, but it led to her herniating three disks in her lower back. After this, she developed a concept for a boutique fitness studio, and recruited her old college friend Annie Mulgrew to help. Together, they built City Row from the ground up, and in the process, created an empire. Despite the challenges

Hassan Shah is an avid gamer and entrepreneur from Pakistan who is passionate about the intersection between connected fitness, sports, and gaming. He's set out to transform the fitness market with an innovative open world game, mixing Peloton and Zwift, which (among many other things) creates an all-encompassing experience with a unique monetization system. His company is called X-Originz and based in the UK. They're currently looking to raise £2.7m to order their first batch of 10,000 bikes and take them to market.  When it comes to starting a new business and the challenges it brings, Shah states, "Life is nothing without struggle. And that's always kind of stuck with me, and hopefully I'll pass that on to my children and we persevere and we keep going."  Hassan took note of the rise and fall of Peloton, some of the shortcomings of Zwift, and set out to create an app that combined the two, providing an engaging gaming experience. With his vision of a centralized data system and a bike costing next to noth