Eric Malzone With The Future of Fitness

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Coach the Coach Radio brought to you by the Business RadioX ambassador program, a no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to Barak’s Ambassador Dotcom to learn more. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today, we have with us Eric Malzone with The Future of Fitness. Welcome, Eric,

Eric Malzone: [00:00:42] And thanks, Lee. It’s good to be here, man.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to tell us about the future of fitness.

Eric Malzone: [00:00:48] Well, that’s a big topic. You know, I’ve been so the Future Fitness is named after is the name of my podcast, which I’ve been doing since 2017. So I’ve been involved pretty heavily in the fitness industry for she’s aging myself probably about 15 years now, I guess, if not more. And having been a former multiple gym owner back in California and selling those and moving on, I want to play a bigger role in the future of the industry. So would a better name than the future of fitness. And I could tell you, having done two hundred and almost 250 episodes now as it’s a weekly podcast and having seen the dramatic changes that have been brought about to the industry, the future of fitness is looking pretty good.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:37] So now is your business, this podcast or you have a coaching business in addition to this?

Eric Malzone: [00:01:42] Yeah, I would classify myself as what a friend called a multi potential. Right. I like to do a lot of different stuff. So I have the podcast is definitely, you know, now sponsored and has been a great source of business development for me. I do handle anywhere between six and ten, one on one coaching clients and they’re generally entrepreneurs. You know, with businesses in the half million to the one point five million mark seems to be my sweet spot. And then I also do contract business development for a fitness technology startup. That is, we need to get launched this summer. So a lot of different things going on like to keep it busy, but it’s mostly focused on the industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:26] So everything is around fitness and you’re just doing it in kind of by any means necessary, anything that kind of catches your eye that you’re interested in. You kind of poke around and see where it goes.

Eric Malzone: [00:02:36] Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. I mean, you give a little background. And when I did sell my my brick and mortar facilities back in twenty seventeen, my wife and I went nomadic. So we’re traveling around moving about every three to four months over a period of three years really until the pandemic hit made us locked down here in Montana. And so anybody who’s ever taken a venture like that, we’re moving around a lot. You kind of have to get creative with how you you make your money and support the lifestyle restricted in what you do. And so for that reason, I just probably started over that span for different businesses with varying levels of success. But this seems to be a really nice flow that I’m in now and frankly, I enjoy every day and the diversity that it brings for me.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:25] So when you decided to sell kind of what was your thinking at that point? Did you think, OK, I’m going to sell, I got a pile of money and I’m out? Or did you always think, OK, I’m going to have to, you know, have some revenue coming in? I don’t have enough to, you know, survive just on that pile of money. So I got to always have revenue. And now let me try, you know, X.

Eric Malzone: [00:03:46] Yeah, that’s a really. So I’m trying to put myself back into that that mindset of twenty, sixteen, seventeen. And really, you know, if I’m. Open with myself is that 2000 was a very tough year, personally, my wife and I had a series of loss, you know, friends, family, even our dog passed away that year, loss of a pregnancy. And it just it made things. It changed my mindset around the urgency with which we live. You know, everyone talks about, you know, well, someday I’m going to do this or someday I’m going to live in this place. We always talked about someday we’re going to live in a mountain town and my wife’s from Brazil and someday she’ll learn how to ski. And, you know, with some reflection and looking at I came home one night and I just told her, hey, we always talk about living in this mountain town, you know, someday. What if we did it now? Sell these businesses and I can’t remember. I remember her reaction so distinctly, it was. Well, first of all, are you messing with me? No, no, I’m not. I’m actually pretty dead serious. And she said, well, why don’t we go live in a bunch of them and figure out where we want to live. And I was like, that sounds great. Let’s do that. So the selling in the business was more of a lifestyle decision. Anybody who’s own boutique gyms know that, you know. Unless you own maybe 10 or more, a successful exit isn’t going to be life changing money. It was great. It gave us a launching point for this next phase of life. But I always knew that my work was really not. I knew I was going to look at it as a as a stepping stone to something that maybe was more scalable and more suitable to a lifestyle that we really wanted.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:25] So then what was that first move? What was the kind of first digital business or at least some kind of flexible work location? Didn’t matter. Business that you pursued was a coaching.

Eric Malzone: [00:05:37] You know, coaching actually happened quite organically. The I started actually coaching people when I still in my gym, I started what I guess people will call mastermind group. I just called an entrepreneur club that met once a month for coffee. We will go over people’s businesses. And so and then I just sporadically I never really focused on coaching and just kind of happen. People come to me and I’d have a conversation with like, hey, I could help you with this. Let’s let’s start getting some regular meetings. So that just happened rather organically. The first business that I started after I actually started as I was selling the gym was digital marketing. So it was Fitness Marketing Alliance with a friend and colleague, Doug Hall. And it started off great. I mean, we actually hit profitability extremely fast, but we just diverged in the directions we were going with our lives and what we want to do with business. So kind of dissolved after about a year and a half. So that was the first one.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:32] So you now in this mastermind group, were you charging people to be part of it or were this kind of like a friends helping friends situation?

Eric Malzone: [00:06:40] Yeah, I was just a friends helping friends thing. It was, you know, everybody there was a member or an employee of mine, so a member of the gym or an employee. And, you know, it started off just like, hey, let’s, you know, a couple of people having coffee and then we start to put some structure behind it, which, you know, anyone who’s been part of the mastermind, that’s always nice to have like a specific hot seat. We’re going to work on one particular person’s business. But it was just a great way to get outside of our normal rhythms of business, have coffee and breakfast, you know, once a month, and just discuss entrepreneurship, because I think people who are entrepreneurs know that maybe the problems that you face on a regular basis are not relatable to people who are not in business for themselves. It’s just different and have that ability to talk to people about problems that other people understood and recognize was just really valuable and enjoyable thing.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:35] Right. And it’s that there’s a reason it’s been around for years like that. It’s helpful. People want to be vulnerable in front of people that can help them, especially if you can structure where it’s noncompetitive and you know, you’re not sharing trade secrets with your competition down the road, but you’re all trying to help each other. And, you know, you’re a sounding board. You know, you get to play devil’s advocate. You can, you know, test people’s ideas and then help them through difficult times, by shared experience. So it’s been around for hundreds of years. So there’s a reason it’s very productive and a lot of people benefit from that peer to peer conversation. Now, for you. When did you start? When did you did you just stumble upon something that’s like, OK, this is going to start generating money for me and then now I’m going to start getting a cash flow from here and then and then you found another one and then you start cobbling together a variety of revenue streams.

Eric Malzone: [00:08:31] Yeah, so I’ve done a mixture consulting, so really everything I think I use my podcast. In I guess not the ordinary way, I think most people start to show that, like, well, build an audience. I will, you know, maybe get sponsorship or do affiliate partnerships and things like that, and I’ll kind of monetize a more traditional way, I found that for me being in a future fitness as a B2B fitness industry, very specific. And the people I talk to, I like to have on executives, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, people like that. I know a lot of people listen to my show now or maybe investors, executives within fitness industry companies. But I found that and you’ll probably understand this to me is like it’s very easy. It’s much easier to get somebody on the phone or in a conversation if you’re asking them to be on your show. So people who I use it as a way to talk to people who I think could be prospective clients of mine, open those doors, get to know them, you know, kind of build that, you know, like trust factor with them. And a lot of times it turns into what I would call indirect revenue for my podcast. So finding out ways to help people. And I’m a big believer in just being a person of value. You’re always trying to sell people anything, anything and everything. I just want to be there to help people. So many times in my conversations on my podcast, that kind of concludes after recording that, hey, you know, I love what you’re doing here. I like to be an asset to you. You know what? Can I help you achieve the actions you need, your expertize or what is it that you may need? And it’s turned out really well.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:15] And then those folks that are coming to you, you can help them from a business standpoint as a consultant to help them with whatever challenges are having in their business.

Eric Malzone: [00:10:26] Yeah, yeah, that’s correct. I mean, even you know, I’ve worked with large franchises like 45, they had a very specific problem that they are looking to address. So I built out a system for them as well as their trainer certification. So that was kind of on a higher end. And then I’ll work with, you know, maybe the solo entrepreneur who, you know, has some revenue coming in but really needs some experience as someone to bounce ideas off of and how to, you know, turn into something scalable. So it’s really a wide range. But I think the factors that define who I work with most of the time is if I think it’s a cool business, that’s it. If I enjoy it and I think it’s something I’d like to talk about, then I generally get really excited and I’ll probably work for free for a little while until we figure out the game plan and then we’ll engage in some sort of contract.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:17] And then can you share a story maybe where you’ve had an impact on the company? You don’t have to name the name of the company, but maybe share, you know, what their challenge was and how you help them get to a new level.

Eric Malzone: [00:11:29] Yeah, yeah, actually, Ali, who owns a three location swim school. In the in the south, here in the United States, she was referred to me by another coaching client and you know, she is at a point where she is the ultimate doer. Right. Someone if you give her a task list, she will absolutely crush it. She will do it effectively. And she’s not scared to take action. Where she was, you know, a little blurry in her vision was how to deal with certain circumstances, how to formulate her business. So essentially, over about a year and a half we’ve been working together. We have redone our business model. We have put in place, you know, solid marketing principles of email marketing, social media and things like that. Nothing fancy, just the solid basics of it. And we’ve, you know, changed the way she hires her hiring process and just roll mindset around the long term growth strategy for her business. And she’s doing great. She just had she’s hitting record months this right now. And she’s hit that point where she looks at her bank account. She can’t believe that she’s doing something she loves and making a great living doing it. So, you know, there’s many little mini stories within there, some tears along the way, both her and me, probably. But that’s something where I just really enjoy working with her. I think she’s a great person. I want to see her succeed. And it’s it’s been working out really well.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:03] Now. How did you come up with kind of your methodology and the rates that you’re charging these folks? Since everything sounds like it comes very organically? It’s not, you know, this calculated formula of, OK, this is this tier, this is that it sounds like you’re very kind of OK. Let me just check this out. Let me see if I can be helpful and serve you and then let’s see where it goes. Is it based on, you know, kind of value you help them achieve? Is it based on just a flat rate or a retainer?

Eric Malzone: [00:13:34] Mm hmm. Yeah, I do everything. That’s a really good question. I am. It does. I have a minimum that I work off of. Right. But I do look at each individual coaching client as someone like this is a partnership. You know, I’m I’m looking at it not just to make a sale, but I want to make sure that it’s somebody that I want to work with long term. And then I want to invest my time and money. And I literally look at it as an investment. So I’ll take maybe two, even three meetings with them to figure out if I personally would invest in this company, not necessarily monetarily, but time wise. And that’s the case then. I also don’t want to be a financial burden on the company that with that stops growth. So I do have a bit of a sliding scale depending on where the company is at. And then I tend to grow with my clients as well as they hit certain benchmarks. We talk about raising my rate and we continue to grow. So I look at it as a long term relationship. So for that matter, I’m very picky with the clients I want to work with and I take my time in deciding whether or not I’m going to offer my services in a longer term contract.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:44] And then so but you’re the methodology that you’ve kind of developed. The philosophy has some kind of benchmarks and milestones. And if we achieve this, then I get a raise kind of thing.

Eric Malzone: [00:14:58] Yeah, yeah. It’ll be it’ll be a pretty simple conversation. And to be quite frank sometimes. Lee more often times than I would imagine if I had predicted people will say, hey, I feel like I should be paying more and I’m like, OK, great, let’s talk about that. I don’t disagree with you, so we’ll do it that way. So a lot of times the clients would be so happy that they want to have me along for a bigger role and I get to grow with a company. So, yeah, that is probably for some people listening. That may seem like a pretty loose from the hip way to do things, but it seems to be working so far.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:38] And what I love about it is that you’re doing this by your rules and you’re choosing the clients by your rules. You’re the curator of your clientele and you’re really helping folks and you don’t have a kind of set in stone way of doing anything. This is your business and you don’t it doesn’t have to be built to kind of scale or to replicate or franchise. You’re just doing what works for you in the manner you want to work. So kudos to you for pulling that off. I mean, that’s, I think, the dream a lot of people have. And then they they kind of are afraid to do some of the things you’re doing in terms of serving people first, investing in relationships to the level you do before trying to sell anybody anything.

Eric Malzone: [00:16:26] Yeah, yeah. I appreciate that. You know, I did have a vision that eventually what I wanted because being a gym owner, really, you kind of set to eat in one stream of income. Really, it really does dominate your time if it’s a boutique gym like what I own. But I also have a ton of coaching experience within the fitness and health realm, which isn’t that much different than business. So I’ve learned over the long run that. You know, having clients that. Are not are far from the ideal of who you want to work with become. Tough like they generally don’t stick around, like you’re not enjoying the conversation, energy’s not good, the relationship isn’t strong, then things just generally don’t tend to last that long and it becomes almost a waste of everybody’s time and resources. So I try to be selective in that way. And and I learn a lot of that through fitness. Right. Like, if I don’t have a good relationship and I don’t understand or feel comfortable with helping you reach your goals, then this relationship is doomed from the start. So I think over time and having done a form of coaching for you know, I’ve done multiple forms of coaching for decades now, and you start to realize that that that work ability between the two parties has to be there. Otherwise, you’re standing on a very, very faulty foundation.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:46] Now, let’s give some advice for folks out there based on what you’ve learned. Share with us a little bit about how you help people make these kind of big decisions, or maybe they seem big at the time, but maybe in reality they aren’t as big as they fear.

Eric Malzone: [00:18:03] Oh, yeah. Yeah. So this is one of my favorite topics. I think, you know that making big what I call big scary decisions BSD. You know, I think there’s so many points in my life. And it’s funny because when I do interview a lot of entrepreneurs and successful business people, they seem to have a very, very similar framework. Maybe they just haven’t. You tagged it the same way. But there are three questions that I think people need to ask themselves. If they are facing a big, scary decision, whether it be in life or business. You know, for example, when I was thinking, well, OK, let’s sell my businesses that I’ve been building for nine years, I’m going to move to a mountain town. You know, I went through the framework. And the first question you have to ask yourself as well, what is the worst possible thing that can happen? And this is a really critical thing because, you know, once you boil down to, you know, let’s just go back to that moment and like, well, let’s sell the gems and, you know, we’ll go travel and found this mountain. What’s the worst possible thing that could happen was, well, really the worst possible thing that happens. We just live out of our trailer. Now, things don’t go well on the business side of things, and we have a great adventure to, you know, and then we have to go maybe go find a job in corporate America again. And that was the worst possible thing. So for me, my risk tolerance was like, hey, that sounds not so bad. Actually, the worst possible scenario actually sounds kind of fun. So you kind of have to boil it down to that and then you have to adapt that to what is your risk tolerance? What are you aware of? Because I think so many people want to say, well, burn the boats, go all in.

Eric Malzone: [00:19:34] I don’t think that’s a very practical way to look at things. And most successful business owners and entrepreneurs rarely just burn the boats and go all in on what they’re doing. They kind of do it methodically over time. So first question, ask yourself is what is the worst possible thing that can happen? And then we get into the second part? Well, you know, well, first of all, you have to ask yourself, you can you can handle that. Right. And then after that is, you know, well, what’s what’s the tiniest first step that you can you can take in that direction. And to me, like when I was selling the gym, that was just simply, well, I’m just going to write a list of people who may want to buy the gym. That was it. I’ll just have to start with a paper list, and that created momentum to get towards my goal. And you know those. When you start looking at it that way and that that framework lead, that first question is so critical because like I said, so many businesses I’ve talked to, you have a varying form of that same question before they go into ventures. So I think that’s that’s a really good framework for people to start. And this could be anything. It could be, you know, should I start a new job? Should I start this relationship with this person, whatever it may be, these are all scary decisions that we can build a framework around.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:52] Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. Is your ideal client still in the fitness industry or have you broadened beyond that?

Eric Malzone: [00:20:59] I have broadened out. I’m working with a couple of clients outside of the fitness industry. I guess, you know, technically, a swim school is not really fitness working with a great company, actually. McCulloh at Mobile Home, she is a kind of a niche Airbnb service, you know, for specifically for monthly rentals. So it’s addressing a very specific need. And she’s growing every month. It’s awesome to see. So, yeah, I’m all across the board, but I’m just looking for good, solid businesses with with people who have a great vision for where it could go.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:28] And that’s why I like to work with. And then what’s the pain they’re having where you’re a good fit for helping them get to a new level?

Eric Malzone: [00:21:37] Yeah, I think the biggest pain is spinning your wheels because you don’t have a long term growth strategy. And that’s that’s what most business owners are missing as they probably got to where they are with, you know, maybe grit and hustle and maybe some reactivity. But they’re lacking now a long term growth strategy to get to where their goal is and then the implementation thereafter of that strategy.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:03] So they’re kind of plateaued and they’re frustrated that they feel like they’re not kind of get moving the ball fast enough

Eric Malzone: [00:22:09] Or maybe they built a business that is actually now a prison, which we know that happens often as well. You build this business, but you’re the one working sixty, seventy hour weeks and you don’t know how to get out of it. And that’s very common as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:24] Well, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team. What’s the website.

Eric Malzone: [00:22:30] Yeah, two websites and thanks for asking me. You can go to the future of fitness Dot Seo. You can find ways to contact me or look at my podcast, listen to my podcast. And please, if you do, go subscribe and leave us a nice review. And then also you can go to level five mentors, which is more about the coaching practice with with one of my friends and colleagues, Ken Andrew goes so that as level level the number five mentors, dotcom, good stuff.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:58] Well, Eric, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Eric Malzone: [00:23:03] Thank you. It’s great having been on your show, man.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:06] All right. This Lee Kantor will tell next time on Coach the Coach radio.