HALO Talks

"I'm a tech guy / ex-athlete who became a big believer in this idea that food can get you sick, and food can also become the best medicine that you have," states Ari Tulla, CEO and Co-Founder of Elo. On their site they mention their vision is to "transform food from the cause of disease to medicine."  Ari is a serial entrepreneur and was an early investor in the (now very popular!) Oura ring.  When it comes to nutrition, where there's so much information changing (it seems!) weekly. Tulla says, "There's so many people who are giving you guidance and-really-it's like, 'I already have enough information!' So it's not about that. I can go online and find what I need, but to change behavior? It has to be made so easy that the new change makes your life easier than it was before." Elo aims to be the flag bearer for becoming the first "biomarker-first" and "smart nutrition" company. They built a cutting edge AI from a proprietary analysis of 3,000 peer-reviewed studies, and by looking at various biomarker data, El

Robbie Bent is the CEO and Co-Founder of Othership. As one of the first employees with Ethereum, Robbie is extremely well versed in community building and galvanizing people around a particular cause. When it came to what is now Othership (with a brick and mortar location in Canada and a highly successful app,) he built this community initially in his backyard which grew to 400 people (and then a few thousand) with ~$20,000 a month in revenue.  His initial entre to breathwork was, "As a way to continue to stay sober and build up a social community that focuses on other things besides alcohol. I left the Ethereum foundation and started with an ice bath in my backyard, just building crazy community of neighbors, people coming in using the ice bath every night, doing these crazy bonfires and just creating a really nice social environment without alcohol. . . I just realized that the hot and cold could be used to build amazing class-based experiences for people and a whole new way to socialize," he states.  In on

In one of our most important podcasts released to date, we're proud to talk with Dr. Laurie Whitsel, Vice President of Policy Research and Translation of the American Heart Association & Senior Advisor to the Physical Activity Alliance, a non-profit that, "Brings together stakeholders in the physical activity communities for us to speak with one voice on significant policy and systems changes," states Whitsel.  Joining her is Integrity Square's own Chief Political Architect and policy veteran, Tom Richards, JD who also heads up Activist in Motion. It is critical everyone in the HALO sector know about the work going on behind the scenes in something called the HL7 process (Health Level Seven International) and the steps currently being taken to, "Build standardized measures for assessing, prescribing, and referring physical activity for patients." Concurrent with that is the Time To Move initiative, a multi-year, multi pronged approach which (among other things) involves bringing in and standardizing billi

A veteran of Techstars in 2019 with an app that has 10,000+ five star reviews (along with the the US Air Force as a client!) Tom Kiss, Co-Founder and CEO of Ate-The Mindful Food Diary and Coach, has made tremendous strides in a relatively short period of time.  Formerly a consultant who was often on the road, he entered the HALO sector out of a personal need and frustration. "I had a wakeup call in the form of a panic attack, and realized I had to do something, and my trainer friend introduced me to food journaling," he states. "We built Ate with the belief that everyone is on an inner journey to become healthier and happier, and we think that building the inner curiosity about your choices and habits is the key to sustainable change. We built Ate with the intention to help ignite that curiosity and try to support people on their health journey. We're mindfulness based, nonjudgmental, and all about body positivity." Ate's grown has been impressive. They're up 300% in the last six months both on the revenue an

Integrity Square and TSG go back a long way. . . and we're excited to finally welcome Pierre LeComte, a highly seasoned private equity executive to HALO Talks. TSG began in consumer packaged goods but, "Just realized over time, what we were was brand investors. We really liked to back brands that were on trend and were riding consumer demand waves," states Comte. He continues, "We realized that could happen in a lot of different categories, not just historically food and beverage . . . but that you can do that in many categories, including retail businesses, which we expanded into aggressively over the last 10 or 15 years. We realized what we wanted to do was really focus on businesses that needed resources and support to continue to grow, to create the infrastructure around that, and really have a differentiated consumer brand."  TSG currently maintains both control and minority investments. (They're investors in Planet Fitness) and have a legacy of 30+ years where many of the brands they invested in are sti

Mohammed Iqbal is the Founder & CEO of SweatWorks . . . the company quietly behind the tech of a lot of larger companies you're no doubt familiar with--CrossFit, Spartan Race, and many more. They are, "The leading digital agency in fitness design and technology to create meaningful wellness journeys for everyone." Iqbal spent 7 years at Sharp and, while there, worked on the iPhone with Apple's team which strongly impacted him in many ways. Originally from Dubai, he moved to NJ in 1991. "I dove all in to Jersey culture . . .funnel cakes, the whole bit!" he laughs. "But I got out of shape and started my fitness journey. It changed my life and I asked myself 'Why didn't people get it?'" He started SweatWorks in 2012, around the same time FitBit began, and has been in business for 10 years. The HALO sector though has never been big spenders on, well, anything, and Iqbal chats about how they were able to break through that initial hurdle. He discusses how to reduce churn, (hint: it's not 'set it and forget it!

Carolyn and her husband Paul owned three private training facilities in Orange County, CA which catered mostly to higher level athletes. Nutrition was (obviously!) a significant part of that, and in 2013 they founded Balanced Habits™ as a way to bring scalable, personalized nutrition programming to the fitness industry. "It became something we were known for. It carried us through the financial crisis and really is what put us on the map . . . Fitness and nutrition go hand in hand, and for whatever reason, the industry wasn't embracing that and were kind of farming out nutrition somewhere else," Fetters states.   She discusses how facilities around the country use their program to generate revenue, ways the program is being sold/implemented, tips on bringing nutrition into your club, how their program is managed, the necessity of proper messaging, and much more. The fact is, "more people need to lose weight, than want to go to the gym," says Fetters and she's spot on. This is not something the industry can af

Becky initially began her career in ocean conservation focusing on coral reefs. "I wanted to save the world and see the world. . . and when I found Joyride, I found this authentic community and wanted to be a part of it!"  After moving full time into the HALO sector, she quickly realized there were no cycling studios in the San Antonio / south Texas region. She saw a need, jumped in, and become the first cycling studio to open in the area. Now, as the Founder of her newly launched, Amp Studio and President of Consumer Brands at GoSaga (working with Geoff Schneider, a prior HALO Talks guest) Cerroni discusses her plans for Amp, market differentiators, the importance YPO plays in her development as a business owner, and more! Click here to download transcript. 

"Culture can never be something where you just check the box. Once you've built that culture, you're not done! It takes every single day," states Joel Goldberg, speaker, broadcaster and author of Small Ball, Big Results.   The parallels between sports and business are undeniable, and Goldberg shares some 'in the trenches' stories with Pete on everything from recruiting, finding the right roles for employees (athletes) and more! He also provides some real life examples (involving athletes you probably heard of!) of on-field behavior, how it was handled, and applicability for business.  Joel has spent more than a quarter century on television, relying on relationship building to tell athletes’ stories. His unique access enables him to share lessons learned from the baseball field to the board room as a motivational speaker and to homes everywhere through his business podcast. Joel was very difficult to book as a guest due to his busy schedule, and we're grateful to him and his team for making it happen. This is

Wellness 4 Every 1 aims to increase awareness of the inequalities in the wellness industry and provide opportunities for diverse communities to have access to quality arts and wellness programming, as well as a space for social and emotional well-being. Their programs are currently in 100 public schools nationwide, with 150 classes weekly (new programs are added all the time) and impacting over 10,000 students! How do they know it's working? Among other things, "Every year the schools expand their programming!" states Alison Rootberg, Founder. "The initial frustration was we saw a huge need for improvement in Chicago public schools. But now we work with New York, New Jersey, and others. The school systems do not have funding for these programs! So students are not receiving art, music, dance theater . . . and physical education was the most underserved, least funded programming!" she states. The programs are very affordable for districts as well. $4 provides a 1 hour class to a child.  "We're particularly pro

Kory Angelin has been in the HALO sector for over 10 years. He began as a trainer and worked his way up with organizations like 24 Hour Fitness, Lifetime, Equinox, F45, and is currently the COO of Volofit. "I think I've been in every position along the way," he jokes.  On the culture of an organization, he says, "A business is made or broken starting with the owner or ownership group. You're setting the tone at the top . . . the relationship between you and the customer, even before they become a client, has to be genuine and honest." He and Pete go on to discuss sales, sales training, marketing, the power of not discounting because it devalues the brand. (Apple never discounts, but they provide a gift card!) and more.  Angelin stands firm in his belief that the industry-especially now post-COVID-needs to think very hard about doing things differently. He quotes Simon Sinek, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."   Angelin believes everyone is a salesperson, and it's important to work hard to

Katie Webb was in digital partnerships for 11 years while also working as a fitness trainer and group exercise instructor. She ending up spending a lot of time at GNC and slowly started to learn the supplement industry. "I couldn't really find any formulas that were leveraging food ingredients over ingredients I've never heard of (never mind the 300 grams of caffine!) and a lot of my female clients felt the same."  That frustration eventually led to her starting Aila, the Scottish/Gaelic word meaning "from the strong place." She's raised a small pre-seed and is now moving to their next stage.  She and Pete discuss the (lack of!) quality control around the (mostly) unregulated supplement industry,  which was one of the key reasons Aila is all plant-based, They also supply all their ingredients directly from the US and do multiple rounds of third party testing. "We're doing everything we can to rebuild across the stigma this industry has. There are only 8 ingredients in all of our formulas, and everything is so

Rachel Raymond served as COO for five years at Indigo Ag--one of the fastest growing companies in the space--and it was there where she found inspiration to start Purpose, "A mental wellness company that leverages the science of the microbiome to help us improve our mood." One of their biggest goals is to help the consumer gain visibility into their mental wellbeing in a way that best serves them.  "What you eat impacts how you feel. That's intuitive," she states. "But one of the many reasons for that that may not be intuitive to your listeners, is because the microbes in what you eat interact with all the other systems in your body." Mental wellness is as important to manage as your physical health-- perhaps even more so--and Raymond goes on to discuss the relationship between mental wellness and stress, how the two interact, and why (a little bit) of stress could be highly beneficial.  An experienced entrepreneur with a great track record, she also touches on uses of capital, creating value to the consumer

A computer scientist by training, Ross Lauder, Founder of Single Focus Talent, went through an IPO with Hubspot and has ". . . worked the roles I hire for!" he states. Single Focus is a boutique executive search & career specialist for the SaaS / computer software & technology driven industries, with a focus on sales, operations and leadership roles across the EU and USA. Lauder also hosts the Global Tech Leaders podcast.  "You've got to go inches wide, and miles deep . . . and there's way too many generalists out there, they're not actually getting people the roles in the space." He and Pete discuss the current state of hiring ("there's an absolute war on talent right now!"), how he thinks about candidates, the landscape of executive search, thoughts on what to look for in new hires, a few "do's and don'ts" for interviewing, and more!  Click here to download transcript. 

Dr. Michelle Segar is author of the forthcoming The Joy Choice-How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise which will be released April 26, 2022. Her extensive academic research (and time "in the trenches" as a health coach) focuses on creating and maintaining sustainable "self-care" behaviors such as exercise, eating well, getting enough sleep, etc. Anyone who is in any way connected to the HALO sector needs to read this (heavily cited, well-researched & extensively documented) book. It is that powerful. Her advice is something our industry must heed if we are (finally!) going to be able to reach that 80% of the population who do not exercise or have a health club membership.  "This is a time of reckoning for the fitness industry," she states. "We need to step out with new messaging that will help that 80% rethink, relearn, and reexperience physical activity." She provides some easy, immediately actionable tips for clubs to consider implementing quickly.  Segar goes on to discuss her fo

Formerly in finance at investment banks and a hedge fund, Paul O-Reilly-Hyland is currently the CEO and Founder of ZEAMO. Zeamo, "simplifies and enhances the relationship between fitness partners and fitness consumers with a digital-first approach that meets the evolving needs of the fitness industry while staying true industry partners." Currently in 2,000+ clubs, they conducted a test with McKinsey in 2018/early 2019. Currently with 100 employers on the platform (some with 40-50K employees!), an integration with Virgin Plus, and slightly over 1,000 studios on the platform, Zeamo is on track to meet Paul's goal 5,000 by the spring. "Platforms like us weren't necessarily popular. We were thought of as a discounter, and we're definitely not. We're out there to solve a problem for an employer, but it wasn't easy to do . . . We make it easy for a company to subsidize employees healthcare. We pay the clubs in usage and allow employees to actually join, and reward employees every time they go to the gym." Hyland d

We're pleased to announce the recent merger of The Athlete Book into GamePlan!  "This is a huge strategic initiative for us," states Max Wessell, Chairman of the Board.  The industry leader in the space, GamePlan was founded nearly 14 years ago with the idea of helping athletes get jobs. Currently with 300+ athletic departments, over 100,000 athletes averaging ~1,400+ e-learning courses a day, GamePlan counts the NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL and others as partners. "We help an athlete move through their entire journey experiencing campus," states McCaffrey. "What better place is there than the HALO sector for an athlete to land?"  "We are Mission aligned, with Ryan" says Wessell. "We're trying to improve the student athlete experience, and a big part of that means a better outcome after college, and having employers value their athletic experience in college."  Ryan Drummond, Founder of the Athlete Book, has appeared on HALO Talks twice previously (interviews here and here) and is now part of the GP team. He touches o

Many in the HALO sector already know Lee Hillman. What they may not know however is that prior to entering the space, he was a partner in one of the Big 4 accounting firms. He left in 1991 to serve at Bally's as the CFO, even before it was solely a health club business. He worked with Bally's until 2002, helping grow it to nearly a billion dollar company and is now and an Owner/Partner in Power Plate.  Lee has also been a director for public and private companies and is a self-professed "turnaround and distressed assets" guy. He chats with Pete about what he looks for in a new business opportunity, how you stay psychologically motivated in a distressed situation, how much runway you need, and more. Power Plate has gotten incredible traction over the past few years, and he discusses the strategy behind that as well. "I'm not coming to Power Plate as a zealot. I truly believe this is a product that can change people's lives for the better, and those around me are also just as passionate. We're here on a Mission

Dr. Layne Norton jokes, "I describe myself as a meathead who loves science or a geek who lifts heavy things!" A highly prominent figure in the direct-to-consumer fitness and nutrition space, Norton attended the University of Illinois (perennially in the top 5 for Nutritional Sciences) where he earned his Ph.D. He went on to earn his pro card in natural bodybuilding, and became a world record holder in powerlifting, all while authoring, "conservatively over 100,000+ posts on bodybuilding.com and other various forums." With a "six figure business" coming out of graduate school, Norton is currently the founder of Biolayne, Outwork Nutrition,  Carbon diet coaching app, and author of a good number of books. And he does all of this while--much to enjoyment of his very extensive audience-- naming names and calling out the nonsense so utterly pervasive in his space. When asked how nutrition got so complicated for the general consumer he states, "There are tons of voices out there vying for your dollars. If you're doi

Now with 15 years in the HALO sector Founder of YBell Fitness, Aaron Laurence, found his calling and career relatively late at 35 years old.  He jumped immediately into small group training. "The one challenge I faced was around the equipment I was using," he states.  "Setting up a whole lot of stuff in the morning for 30-40 people was quite a bit of a challenge!" Host Pete Moore has stated many times that the best businesses / solutions are often born from a Founder's frustration, and the YBell's genesis (and quick scale!) are proof of that. Industry veteran and seasoned marketing & advertising executive Mark Livingston explains how YBell has managed to actually grow in the middle of COVID and how they've increased business internationally. "We were one of the only companies that actually had product," he states. He continues and chats about how, in certain ways, the pandemic has even made them a better company! This extremely ingenious piece of equipment (with top-notch content provided as well) deserve