Josh Hettiger With Fitness Premier

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Lee Kantor here another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Josh Hettiger and he is with Fitness Premiere. Welcome, Josh.

Josh Hettiger: [00:00:43] Hey, Lee, how are you doing?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] I am doing great. Before we get too far into things, tell us a little bit about fitness premier.

Josh Hettiger: [00:00:50] All right. So Fitness premiere, we are a hybrid concept fitness model. So our clubs range from 7500 to 12000 square feet. You kind of find us in the middle of an orange theory and a la fitness. We kind of take the best of both worlds, combine it into one hybrid fitness model and serve underserved communities, you know, typically 15,000 people or less. And we provide them with the absolute best fitness facility that we can.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:19] So what are you seeing in the fitness world now? There seems to be so many choices for the consumer. There are so many things they could be doing at home. There are so many boutique clubs, there are so many kind of low priced, you know, opportunities. Where is the opportunity for fitness, Premier?

Josh Hettiger: [00:01:37] You know, I think it’s great that there is so much opportunity for people to invest in their house because that’s really what it is. You know, we typically only need to tap into 10 to 12% of our markets, which we do in all 17 of our locations currently. If that number rises, obviously profitability rises as well. How we kind of tap into that is we give a we the markets, we go into it. Typically, we don’t deal with more than 2 to 3 competitors and we tend to believe that we do what we do better than them. So when we get members in the door, we’re providing them with a solution, not just a treadmill to, you know, walk on a couple of times a week, but we’re providing them a full plan that includes recovery, nutrition, training, and it’s just all encompassing. And it provides a really, really easy way for that individual to make a healthy choice in their life.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:27] Now, is your customer typically the person who is sedentary that is moving maybe to their first or one of the first gyms that they join? Or is this somebody that is kind of been around the block a little and this is offering them something different that’s more customized to the outcome they desire?

Josh Hettiger: [00:02:44] You know, it’s definitely a combination of both. I think the main kind of our main mission is that every person who walks through the door receives the just the absolute best everything. We have a saying like we tell people on their first tour, like, hey, 95% of the people who join gyms don’t get what they joined the gym for. We don’t want that to be you. We don’t want that to be us. So, you know, we’re going to hold your hand. We’re going to make sure you’re accountable to everything you tell us. You’re coming in here for today. We don’t want to see you fizzle out after a month and not achieve your results. So, you know, that could resonate with the person who’s been to five other gyms and hasn’t really seen progress or hasn’t ever achieved what they join the gym for or the person who’s never went into a gym and they don’t really know what to expect. We’re going to hold both their hands and make sure that they give us some goals on that first day that they want to accomplish. And and we’re going to hold them to that the whole way through.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:32] So how do you do that? Do you employ technology to help them stay compliant with their wellness and workout program?

Josh Hettiger: [00:03:40] It’s a mix of both. So obviously a lot of personal contact in that first few visits. Typically they come in for a tour, they might buy up a membership ranging from 24 to 39 bucks a month, super affordable for any consumer. Then from that first meeting, we’re going to we’re going to schedule a one hour consultation with one of our managers or trainers at the facility. They are going to decide and develop a plan together that fits both their monetary and their financial and their time kind of restrictions. Once they do that, we do incorporate technology with weekly checkups, text messages, as well as we have a app that integrates trainer eyes which can actually show them exactly what work out they’re doing each day on their phone. We have an app live attachment that kind of goes with that. So think like less mills or any of the other at home virtual workouts. Any members with us do receive FP live, so if they can’t make it into the gym one day, you know, we’re based in Chicago, so if it’s snowy and they don’t want to get in the car, they don’t want to shovel, they can they can turn on one of the virtual workouts and do it right from the comfort of their home.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:54] And when what do you find? You’ve been in the fitness world for a minute, and historically, the difficulty in an individual being compliant and sticking with the program is is really low and it’s probably much lower than the average person thinks. Why do you think that is? Is it just that the the facilities or the program that they’re with is just not keeping them interested over time? Or is it just kind of how humans are that we’re just it’s just a difficult thing for us to stay compliant with? Like, what’s your kind of theory on why it’s so hard for people to stick with? Any type of wellness, nutrition or exercise program.

Josh Hettiger: [00:05:35] I think it’s a mix of both, right? As humans, we don’t like hard. Obviously, everything we do and today is designed to make our lives more easy, more efficient. So I think someone putting in an hour of work 3 to 4 times a week, that’s that’s grueling to some people. Like that’s hard. And then I think there’s a lot of people who are in the fitness industry who do a poor job of holding those people’s hands and keeping them accountable. Not to say that we don’t lose members and lose people off their plan, but I definitely think it’s human nature to kind of want to stray away. And then I think it’s it’s a downfall on some of the people in the fitness industry who kind of let them walk away. There’s definitely a misconception with like a lot of people have a fear of their gyms kind of trapping them and not letting them in. So I don’t want to say, like, that’s what we do, but we really are personable with our members. We have a we have a program called Team Training where we actually spend hours outside of the gym with our members. We we go to kids baseball games. We sponsor the youth ministry project or whatever the case may be. So we kind of want to become a staple in their lives. So when their lives get hard, they don’t run from us. They’re kind of already integrated with us. So yeah, it’s definitely a combination of both human and downfall on the fitness professionals in the industry, but that’s just one of the hurdles you have to overcome when you’re in this industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:03] So what’s your back story? How did you get involved with Fitness Premier and in the fitness world?

Josh Hettiger: [00:07:09] So I kind of came, you know, completely it was a completely random decision. I graduated college in December of 2019, right before COVID hit. I was a two time all-American football player and had a decent shot at the NFL, worked out for a few teams, went through the whole process. And then March of 2020, COVID shut everything down. So I was kind of stuck in like a standstill. Do I continue trying for football? Do I go into work? And that’s when Jason Markowitz, who is the founder and CEO of fitness premier, who was also an alumni for my college, reached out to me and he said, hey, let’s let’s meet, let’s talk. He kind of presented me with this. They just started franchising a year or two earlier. He had a vision of how many locations he wanted to take the brand to, what he wanted to do. And I kind of just resonated with his competitive spirit, you know, his vision, what he wanted to do, the culture of fitness premier and kind of went out on a whirlwind. It wasn’t my major in college. I always wanted to get into business, never knew what it was, but I kind of seen that vision with him. I started as a franchisee and then elevated into a role where now I had the franchise development of the brand.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:22] Now what do you find the qualities or maybe the personalities of a successful franchisee with this brand? Are they kind of people like you that maybe had a you know, was in fitness in some form, maybe not the business side, but you were an athlete? Or are they kind of these new professional franchisees where they have several brands and this is just a complementary kind of brand in their portfolio?

Josh Hettiger: [00:08:51] So we actually have a very wide, very wide array of franchisees on our team right now. And I think it’s a testament to our back office support team and being able to work with anyone. I think the biggest standout component that you need for to be a franchisee with us is to just want to help your community. We go into, like I said, communities that are 10 to 15000 people and typically they’re underserved when it comes to the service industry. So to become a staple, that’s a that’s a special type of person that wants to show up to the to the league softball game or to show up to the commerce meetings with ten other business owners. I think really just wanting to help that community thrive is is a component. You need to be successful with us. But we have franchisees who are like myself, former athletes, kind of been around fitness their whole life who have found success. And we have franchisees. We have multi-unit franchisees who’ve never really I don’t even know if they’ve played a sport and they have success as well. I think our back office support team does an excellent job with tailoring their service to the needs of the franchisee because frankly, we have some who operate their business day to day. They’re in the training sessions, they’re in those first appointments and tours. And then we have franchisees who are just in the club once or twice a month, and they rely on a general manager or operating partner to do most of that day to day. So. The biggest like I said, the biggest component you need to be successful with us is just to want to make a difference in that community that either you’re from or that you find that we fit the market.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:36] Now, any advice for maybe former athletes that, you know, they finish? You know, they went as far as they can go in their sport and now they’re in that point of transition. And that’s a difficult time for an athlete, especially that is achieved as much as you’ve achieved where a lot of your identity is in that sport. You are a football player and then all of a sudden you’re not a football player. And it might seem like, well, what can I do now? You know, it’s a difficult transition for a lot of folks. Any advice for those former athletes when they’re looking for their next move to consider franchising or to consider a fitness franchise where it is kind of tangentially connected and you are serving people and you are, you know, creating that team atmosphere that you probably enjoyed in your sport. But it also you have the skills to be a successful business person in terms of having discipline, you know, believing in the team, like all these kind of qualities, maybe the softer skill qualities that that are the intangibles of what it takes to be successful in business.

Josh Hettiger: [00:11:41] So I feel like you just took all those lines straight from me because I can’t say that that’s all true enough, you know? I came everyone always is always shocked how young I am. And they’re like, Oh, you’re doing all this at a young age. But I’m like, Honestly, I’ve been doing all this for years. You know, the time management, the work ethic, the drive, the discipline you need to be successful in a sport I think goes hand in hand with business ownership and franchising. So when I kind of fell into this opportunity, like I loved it, I was like, All right, I’m building a culture with my team at the location as well as the corporate team. You know, if stuff goes wrong, it’s on me, stuff goes right, it’s on me. And I think that’s the best thing. I didn’t want to be a part of a chain where I really didn’t make a difference. I think being an athlete, you kind of you kind of always strive to make a difference. You’re always looking to make a play per se. And I think franchising small business ownership gives you that ability. And, you know, if you have if you have those those qualities, like we said, if you’re willing to show up early, you’re willing to stay late, you’re willing to put in whatever work is necessary to make that business succeed. You will find one a more fulfilling career path in this industry and to just, you know, better outcome for yourself, because at the end of the day, no one’s going to work as hard for you as you are when you’re on the field. It’s a really easy analogy. For whatever reason, it gets lost in the professional slash workplace, but I really think it’s something that more athletes need to consider because they do have, like we said, the qualities that it takes to be successful.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:19] So what do you need more of? How can we help? Do you need more franchisees? You need more people on your team to grow the franchise brand, more customers for fitness. Premier, what do you need?

Josh Hettiger: [00:13:32] All the above. Now, honestly, we’re at a we’re at a point of growth right now. We we mapped out we just went through the iOS implementation for the second time as a company. You know, we’re really we’ve dialed in what our growth looks like and now we’re just, you know, we’re executing what we need to to be successful. We’re at 17 locations now. We predict we’ll be at just over 20 by the end of the year. We have four in progress. We’ve signed we recently signed a franchisee in Georgia. We have some plans in Wisconsin right now. So we’re we’re we’re expanding to a few new states. We’re adding people to the team, and we’re constantly looking for franchisees. You know, our process is super diligent with who we kind of let into our team because we are so culture, community based. We want to make sure everyone’s the right fit for us. So all of the above, to answer your question and you know, we’re on that path.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:32] Well, if somebody wants to learn more about the opportunity, what is the website for fitness premier and or the best way to get a hold of you or somebody on your team.

Josh Hettiger: [00:14:40] So they could go to fitness premier clubs dot com or 1851 franchise fit for you franchising dot com. My my personal number is 7082891681. Feel free to call text email me any hour if you’re looking for any of that information, whether you’re looking to come join one of our clubs or come build a club of your own, I’m always available.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:06] Good stuff. Well, Josh, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work. We appreciate you.

Josh Hettiger: [00:15:12] Thank you, Lee. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to come on and talk.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:15] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Franchise Marketing Radio.