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Episode 93: Greg Glassman

October 30, 2017 Personal Development Podcast
Chris Cooper (00:00:00):Have you ever met Greg Glassman? If you have, I’m going to bet you remember everything about the encounter. You probably remember where you were, maybe what he was wearing. You definitely remember what he said to you. To the outside world, Greg has a very iconic appearance. He’s one of the most renowned people in fitness and health today, but to the inside world, to those of his affiliates, he has a much closer connection. I first met Greg in person in 2012 at a regional event where I was the media director. In 2013, I flew out to Seattle to accept his job offer in the parking garage at the Four Seasons to work and write for CrossFit Journal for a year. Last month, when HQ invited me out to do their podcast, I responded to their invitation with a request to get Greg on this show so that he could speak directly to affiliates.   Chris Cooper (00:00:48):Finally, we worked out that I’d fly out to Portland, sit at Greg’s kitchen table with him for an hour and a half and just ask them anything that was on my mind. And so, I asked him about the origins, for which some affiliates are still unclear. I asked him about how things should be in his affiliates today, and I asked him what the future held. At the table were Jimi Letchford and Nicole Carroll; you can hear them chime in a little bit through this interview. This is an unscripted, unedited, free-flow discussion with Greg, of the kind that he no longer really does very often anymore. And so, I feel incredibly privileged and proud to have done this interview from Greg’s house and be bringing it to you. Without any further ado, the man who needs no introduction: Coach.   Greg Glassman (00:01:33):Working with the best people in your community, during what is for ...
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What's L5?

October 28, 2017 Personal Development
CrossFit has provided a unique entrepreneurial opportunity to change lives.     The path to joy requires security, consistency and the opportunity to serve others. Gym ownership ticks all of those boxes. The challenges of running a successful gym are large and diverse: certainly challenging enough for virtually anyone. No one EVER got bored owning a gym.   But…   Some of us, infected with the entrepreneurial virus, decide to pursue another project. Usually this involves broadening our audience, our influences and our minds. It also means our gyms have to run themselves while we focus on this new project.   Two-Brain Business is MY Level 5 project. My interest became an experiment, and then it became a passion; now it’s a compulsion. I can’t NOT help other gym owners. And at TwoBrain, we’re exceptionally rich with owners from all across the spectrum: not-quite-open to ten-years-in. Broke to millionaire, starving to hungry for more. And now that the TwoBrain Workshop is open, it’s clear that other entrepreneurs need help. We stand ready to help with the philosophy of Help First, incubation and mentorship.   The Level 5 Group is where we mentor those who want MORE.   They have a big idea, or a massive opportunity. Many already own a gym, but have moved on from the day-to-day operations and are ready to help a larger audience. Some own many gyms; some are founders of software companies that SERVE gym owners.   I’m not sure if TwoBrain attracts the entrepreneurial, or if business success makes them hungry for more. I’m not sure if Level 5 thinkers are made, or born. But I know that we can help them.   The Level 5 Group is for entrepreneurs whose first business is virtually automated and requires little of their time or attention. It’s for owners who have another big idea that keeps them up at night. It’s for people who, despite being ...
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Discipline and Patience

October 25, 2017 Member Retention
Owning a business requires discipline. Discipline to remain focused through the good times and the bad.  If revenues are up and things are looking great, stay focused—don’t pull back and relax just yet. Better yet, have someone shadow you as you continue to take action. Develop them and then present them with a career-changing opportunity to take over. Then you can be free to pursue other goals or grow the business. If revenues are down, don’t wallow in self-pity. Take a nice big bite of humble pie, accept that things suck right now and then get to work. As long as you are taking action daily, you will see results. You will get out of this rut. Discipline to see one program through before starting another. It can be tempting to launch multiple programs at once. You may believe this will multiply your revenue. Unfortunately, it may do just the opposite. With so many options available, your community may choose the easiest one: none of them. Start with one program and see it through. Document the process and learn from it. Then try again and aim to improve every time. This is slower, but much more effective. Discipline to evaluate staff before giving them more to do. Testing and evaluating is key to developing great staff members. First offer a good staff member a new opportunity. Then test them for one month and evaluate them at the end. How did they do? How do they feel? Can they take on more? If so, repeat the process and add another task or role. Again—slow, but effective. Discipline to review and improve systems often. Your systems are not perfect. There is no such thing. The top businesses understand that how it is done now is not how it will always be done. It may be tedious—even annoying—but you must review and recode your processes often. Aim for a review every quarter. You ...
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Mentoring Your Coaches and Athletes

October 24, 2017 Gym Operations
The Two-Brain model is built on the balance of knowledge and caring service.   My gym is built on the same model. And yours can be, too.   Like our brain, our mentorship practice prioritizes education or empathy, depending on what’s needed MOST at the moment. Virtuosity in mentorship–and virtuosity in coaching–means coordinating both sides, emotional and logical, to work together.   Solving a problem has two parts: First, you have to know what to do. Second, you have to know how to DO it. You have to take action.   Years ago, I started mentoring gym owners with a phone call and a blank sheet of paper. The owners found value in the service, but it took many conversations to explain the concepts and reinforce WHY changes had to be made. Some of these early clients are still with me, and they’re all great friends. The early service was very heavy on care, but weaker on knowledge.   Two years in, I decided that I could put together a course to reinforce the educational side. I’d already published Two-Brain Business, and was writing 2.0 and Help First. I’d been offering online courses through IgniteGym for years already, so I knew the mechanics.   When the course was built, we sold it without an in-person mentoring component. It was very popular, but when I measured its effect at the end, I discovered that many gym owners rarely made the changes necessary to fix their business. They had a TON of education–more than enough–but not enough accountability or personal guidance.   When I launched TwoBrainBusiness.com, I did so with years of mentorship under my belt. I prioritized what WORKED, instead of what sold well, and the results skyrocketed.  Think about it: what else can you purchase for around $5000 that will pay you back in less than 8 weeks, and KEEP paying you forever?   Here’s how we do it now. ...
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Episode 92: Made By HQ

October 23, 2017 Gym Marketing Podcast
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Should Competitors Pay Less…or MORE?

October 22, 2017 Gym Marketing
Winning the Games doesn’t help your business.   What, then, is the benefit of having Games athletes under your roof?   I’ve been around Games and Regional-level athletes often. In my former role as Media Director for several different Regionals, I’ve been lucky enough to meet many of the CrossFit-famous. Most are nice; some went out of their way to greet fans even while preparing for an event. Many understand that their “fame” is specific only to our niche.   The best athletes can provide inspiration and leadership in the gym. Of course. The best athletes participate with other members, and give them a sense of “Look what she can do! Maybe I can do more.” The best athletes lift the ceiling for everyone else. But let’s be clear about what top CrossFit competitors DON’T do:   They don’t pull in new members They don’t always make the best coaches They don’t make your gym “famous” They don’t increase your bottom line–unless, of course, they’re paying more for training than anyone else. I’ll get to that in a moment.   In a very few cases, hosting a Games or Regional-level competitor can even be a detriment. If the athlete is following outside programming (which is understandable), then they’re not interacting with your clients much anyway. And if they’re doing “their own thing”, they’re a distraction to everyone else. In a few extreme examples, the “big dog effect” can separate the pack, causing cliques and making a mess of your policies, space and equipment.   I wish I didn’t hear this often, but I do:   She comes in and stays most of the day. She stays in the corner and doesn’t really talk to anyone else. She’s doing other programming. She usually leaves a mess. She’s not really part of our community. She only talks to certain people. And now those people just follow what she’s doing! And she doesn’t ...
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