Yves Lamothe with Rockbox Fitness Rockledge

Intro: Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio. It’s Franchise Marketing Radio. Ready to revolutionize your franchise with AI? Franchise now empowers franchises with advanced AI solutions, automatic processes, and enhanced marketing strategies. From personalized customer interactions to predictive analytics, we help you harness AI to drive growth and efficiency. Transform your franchise with the power of AI. Visit Franchise Now to learn more and take your business into the future. Now here’s your host.

Rob Gandley: Welcome back, everybody to Franchise Marketing Radio, where we connect with the most dynamic minds in franchising, marketing, innovation, and entrepreneurship. I’m your host, Rob Gandley, and today we’re diving in to a powerhouse conversation with Someone who is literally launching rockets by day and launching dreams by night. Joining us today is Yves Lamothe. I got him laughing. If you can hear him in the background there. He is a NASA project leader, serial entrepreneur, certified life coach, and the visionary franchise owner behind Rock Box Fitness in Rockledge, which is in Florida. Yves brings a truly unmatched fusion of leadership, discipline and purpose to everything he does, from commanding mission critical operations at NASA to empowering lives through fitness, entertainment, vending tech, and nonprofit work. Yves is a community builder, a marine Corps veteran, a motivational force, and a man who understands what it takes to drive excellence across sectors. We’re honored to have him here today and explore the strategies, stories, and systems behind his success and how franchising plays a pivotal role to it all. Welcome to the show, Yves.

Yves Lamothe : Oh, hey. How’s it going, everybody? How’s it going, Rob?

Rob Gandley: Great to have you. I know it was a it was a it was a quite the intro. But like in meeting you, I was kind of blown away. Gotta say in the, in the diversity of what you do and do. Well which we’ll talk more about. And I also know you have a book that you just released. You’re going to share that more with us today. But one of the one of the questions I have and stuck in my brain is like, when you hear about NASA folks, like, no doubt, like when we talk about projects with you guys, it’s like in the nine figures, right? Hundreds of millions of dollars. A lot on the line. A lot of most a lot of pressure. Big teams. You’re doing that. But somehow knew inside you are also a person that wanted to help others and be entrepreneurial and create new things. And here you have all these other projects. So I want to start with, how did those two paths meet and how did you become an entrepreneur? That was also a NASA. A NASA project leader.

Yves Lamothe : You know, one of the things that I’ll say is, um, what it boils down to the common denominator is intent. Right. Um, you know, over at NASA, you can still people you can, you know, help them grow, you can help them be a better version of, of themselves now that the money you manage is, you know, is for the people itself. Right? All the work that we do is for the benefit of mankind. And when I look at business, um, I think about what can I do for my community. Right. Um, NASA is what can I do for the world? And, you know, my businesses is what can I do for the community, right. And then because the intent is the same, that’s where the similarities like, you know, come in like, really, really, really deep in for me because whether I’m, um, you know, I’m here leading my team with all the work that we’re doing in support of the Artemis missions, um, at NASA, or if I’m in my businesses and I’m beating somebody up in my gym, or I’m providing healthy food alternatives for them, or I am helping people with Parkinson’s and autism and veterans and or if I’m, you know, out there DJing, entertaining people, uh, it’s all about, you know, I’m doing my part to give the community, you know, the people around me, the people, you know, um, around this planet, uh, a a, um, uh, a better life to live, you know? So, um, I’m a servant leader and, uh, and, and, you know, and I’m also internally, I’m one of those people that just loves to live life on purpose. Right. And and so if I can do it, man, if I can experience it and if I can, like, you know, put a smile on someone’s face or help somebody out along the way, then why the heck not?

Rob Gandley: Well, I gotta say, like I, I’ve been a student of the way you’re speaking, right? Um, most would hear you and say, and I, I would tell this to any young entrepreneur or someone getting started in business, you know, one thing at a time, right? And, you know, when you look back at what you’re doing now, you just rattled off some major things that a lot of people would be daunted just to do the DJ thing, right, or whatever. And so but that’s, you know, what I heard is a lot of sowing and reaping, a lot of, uh, open hearted, you know, there’s more than enough room, right? I have more than enough capacity. It’s for the right reasons. I’m sowing the seed in the right places, and I’m having the capacity to give back. And that, to me, is you’re demonstrating it. You’re living it. You’re you’re you’re representative of it. You’re not just talking about it. So. But tell me though, like, just so we can tie it to franchising a little. Interesting guy. So what was compelling about the rock box connection and the franchise idea, because you were already sort of doing things on your own and already pretty accomplished in different ways. But what drew you to that sort of franchise business model and approach?

Yves Lamothe : Well, you know, um, that that one is, uh, is is so interesting. You know, I I’m, I’m a, you know, textbook story, you know, grew up, um, at a younger age. Um, I was a chubby kid. And then I started, you know, at some point in my teens, I started playing sports. Felt really good about myself. And then I was like, man, you know, I want other people to feel that good, too. Then I joined the military, and and I just wanted my favorite thing in the military was the training. I love, love, I mean, the traveling was good too, but the training was was man, this is it’s hard. But for whatever reason, I, I loved it. And, um, and because I, I am, you know, one of those people that I, I want to help people live their best life. I want them to feel good. Um, it’s like, I feel like there’s always been a coach inside of me, right? And, um. So for the longest time, you know, I’ve had, um, many groups of friends that we would work out together, do all these, you know, sort of crazy, crazy things together. I competed in bodybuilding. Um, and and I’ve coached at various gyms and then and at some point, right.

Yves Lamothe : With my entrepreneurial mind, it was man, you know, I want to have my, my own place. I, you know, I want to I want to be able to have more of a say in what I bring, what I bring to the people now. And, you know, there there are some pros and cons with, you know, say, having your own, your own gym, your own place, your own thing. You do you run it however you want it. Um, you know, the nice thing about franchising is, um, is there’s, there’s a platform that you work on and it makes it a whole lot easier and manageable to, you know, to go ahead and, um, and lay that out and be able to bring people in and help them change their change their lives. But, um, you know, in regards to fitness, it is just something that I that’s that’s even to this day, um, I my alarm goes off at 1:55 a.m. every day. I’m in the gym at 2:30 a.m. every day, and, um, and I go, I start my day off with, um, with that workout, and, um, and I and I love, uh, that that I have my, my own, my own gym and that I’m able to bring people in and share that with them and help them feel good about themselves and help them change their lives and, and give them that outlet that, that they need, like after a long day at work or before they get there, before they get their day, their day started.

Yves Lamothe : And, um, you know, particularly with Rockbox, it’s um, I’ve coached at many gyms and, um, and one of the things that I really loved about Rockbox was this combination of functional training and, uh, and boxing, it’s just a combo that I, that I never really seen anywhere with, with, um, any, any other, um, fitness boutiques and, um, and a buddy of mine who, um, we were both at F45 and he and he said, hey man, you got to come up and check this out. And I literally bought a plane ticket, flew up to North Carolina and tried to class and met the, you know, the CEO and the folks that were behind, you know, on what they were doing. And I just I just fell in love with it. And in two days later, I bought three territories and I said, I’m going to spread this all all over my community if I in any way that I can. And and here I am today.

Rob Gandley: That’s that’s beautiful. So yeah, I was thinking of the military. I love talking to military guys of utmost respect. Um. Thank you. Yeah. And I, I know what you mean by changing your life. Just the idea of discipline and fitness and and just having pride and purpose and and all of that. But, like, you know, being an American and having, having, having the military by our side, I mean, we just don’t think about it. In my lifetime, I haven’t had to worry about my safety. Uh, so I appreciate the people that pay those sacrifices, right? And I know you enjoyed it and got stuff from it. Uh, so that was good. But thank you. And, um, but my question is, how does how does that discipline, that training? How would you say that overlaps with some of the experience you had becoming a franchisee in a sort of a structured path, kind of a business model or entrepreneur journey? How did that kind of with any overlaps, anything that you were pleasant to see that, you know, kind of matched your the way you are?

Yves Lamothe : Um, you know, I would say and I can’t I’m not going to speak for everybody, but I do know with me, um, a lot of the discipline and structure that you get in the military, um, I mean, my gosh, that was almost 30 years ago for me and I, and I still it still lives with me. You know, I feel that, um, you know, a lot of times when I talk about, you know, doing something, getting something done, then it’s, you know, I have to get it done. I have to be a man of my word. I have to, you know, follow through. I have to, um, have integrity. I have to be disciplined. And and those are things that I carry with me, um, at, at with everything that I do with all endeavors. Right. I want to I want to commit to, um, to what I’m doing, and, um, and, you know, the way I see it is, I’m either going to grow up or I’m going to learn something from it. So, you know, just just get it. Get it done. Right? Yeah. Um, so there there is, there is quite a bit of of of over of overlap. Now, um, where there needs to be a balance is with military is, you know, failure is not an option. Right. And, and so you always do what you got to do to accomplish the mission.

Yves Lamothe : But you could never, ever, ever forget about balance, right. You know, um, when you have wife and kids. Um, when you have, um, you know, friends, family and other obligations, you can’t be so, you know, like gung ho that you miss out on, on on them too. Right. So you gotta, you gotta know, like, how to balance, like, all the things that you have on your plate. Um, everything that all the people that are, you know, that you surround yourself with and make sure that they, they get that time to make sure that, you know, that there’s good balance when it comes to, you know, it’s easy for me to say between, you know, writing books, TV shows and movies and my full time job at NASA, owning businesses, including nonprofits and and all those things, man. Like, you know, that’s that is a lot for for for one, for one person, right? And when I say one person, I say that very lightly. Because with every single thing that I do, it is so important that I have a team behind. Me that I trust that I, that I can grow, that I, that I know that if I put this in their hands, they’re, they’re going to continue to get to get things done and make sure I interact with them so that, you know, they’re we’re always in sync.

Yves Lamothe : We always know what’s going on. We’re always like, you know, moving in in the right direction, so to speak. And and again, that’s where that balance comes in, where I can step back a little bit and make sure that I have enough of me for all those things around me, plus time to myself to, to be honest with you. You know, one of the things is as an entrepreneur is there is um, or business owner, I should say entrepreneur, business owner, there are going to be so many things that you’re going to have to deal with, you know, payroll, you got to pay the bills, you got employees, you got to reprimand someone, you got to fire someone, you got to hire someone. You got to train someone. You got to keep the business coming in. You got to partner up with other businesses. You got competition. Oh my God. Right. Um, it can it can certainly be, um, over overwhelming. Um, Um, but where the discipline I’m going to turn that back to discipline with a discipline comes in is, you know, there I believe that businesses fail because folks don’t do what they’re supposed to do, right? It’s it’s, um, you know, I think it’s easy for people to talk themselves out of.

Yves Lamothe : Well, I don’t want to do that, or I’m not comfortable doing that. Like, say, you know, you’re not comfortable doing cold calls, like, you know, calling people and asking them to come to your business and give it a shot and things like that, you know, um, and if you don’t want to do it, that’s fine, but hire someone who will, you know, um, so you got to do the things that you got to do to keep your to keep your business alive. Right. Um, the concept of build it and they will come is it doesn’t always work like that because there is there are so many people with that mindset. Build it and people will come and and so when you have like two too many businesses and people, you know, they, they will go to various places and you may not get the business. You you may not be able to execute the business model that you’re necessarily looking for. Um, so so there’s a lot involved in running your business. And that includes, you know, again, growing your people, trusting your people and, and, and delegating to them so that you, they, they can keep things rolling while you go expand work and and do and do other things. So it’s it’s a it’s definitely a balancing act.

Rob Gandley: So you you said a tremendous amount. And I think there’s something some gold in this for, for people listening because in most cases people are sort of they’re sort of um, in a one trick pony, if you will, or they’re, they have one business and they struggle with family, they struggle with personal obligations. They’re all in. And much of it has to do with the comments you made about trusting and growing people, and because you wouldn’t be able to do what you do. I can speak for anyone that doesn’t know, like what the amount of stuff you’re doing is on purpose because of the way that you treat people and the way you balance things. It’s amazing. You’re saying, look, I’m doing 19 things, but somehow I have balance like that. It’s the balance that enabled in my from what I’m hearing. And you can give us more input on that. And maybe your book gets into some of these ideas. But to be sure, this person that can have a corporate career, that they just happen to love and don’t want to leave, right. You want to be there, and then you have this desire to have a way to help the community.

Rob Gandley: Right. And then you have these other desires to do different things. You know, playing on your abilities and how do you balance it and still look at it like, I’ve got to take care of the family. I’ve got to take care of the people. And it’s in that exploration of giving and sharing with others and helping others be their best. That allows you to do more instead of less. Yeah. And it’s interesting. So I’m just dying to kind of dive into that. But before we get into your into your book, I know kind of explore some of these ideas. What I wanted to do is get back to Rock box for a minute because you you said something earlier on about how unique it was. And what I wanted to ask you is the idea of kickboxing and high energy. Like, what is it about the blend of what they do that makes it so unique? Because you had mentioned it. Now I want to dig in a little deeper. What is unique about that approach?

Yves Lamothe : Um, you know, so, you know, you do you have the functional training, which I think everybody needs that, right? Um, you know, where you lift weights, um, you know, you do some bodyweight exercises and things like that. All all of that, um, is important and it and it works well. Um, but there’s there’s just something about, um, you know, the, like, hitting the bag. Like, there’s. There’s this this power. There’s this energy that there’s this thing behind it. Um, and it’s like, um, the same endorphins that that are released when a runner goes for a run, when they have, like, a really, really good run. It’s, it’s it’s the same, same kind of ordeal for, um, you know, for the boxing and kickboxing aspect of it. Now, um, you know, another thing for me is like, I’m a very, uh, you know, I would say more or less a nontraditional coach, right? Um, even even as a, as a DJ, as a personal trainer, as a life coach, as a one, one of the most important things is knowing how to read people. Right? And, um, when I have a class full of people and then I, you know, I, you know, I think I always feel that I’m responsible for setting the energy in the room. I’m watching all my members, how they’re moving, what they’re doing, what they need, what they’re capable of, and etc. and and that’s how I deliver the same thing when I’m deejaying. Right? I’m looking at across the room and I’m. And I’m trying to figure out like, okay, I have I have grandma over there. I got some young kids, I got some, you know, some mid, middle, middle aged folks or whatever now.

Yves Lamothe : And that music has to marry the crowd so that everybody has a great time, you know. And and so my classes, my classes are run the exact same way and then and the, the synergy of, you know, like how I coach my classes, the music is blasting, the lights are on, the folks are primed and they’re ready to go. And oh my God, man, I’m those people. Listen when when I have, you know, 30, 30, 35 people lined up in the morning because they want to come in and get some of that, you got to be doing something good. You know, when you wake up at 4:00 in the morning just to go to the gym and work out because it’s like, you know, you’re going to feel so good after you get done doing what you you know, what we’re going to do? It’s it’s it’s, uh, it’s definitely, um, something something great, you know? Yeah. Um, but but, yeah, it’s it’s, uh, it’s just the, the combination of, you know, the challenges. It’s not just a jab cross. It’s not just a hook hook. It’s not just a front kick. Right? It is. It’s a combination. Depending on what body part we’re working of, how you execute the exercise. And at the same time you’re challenging them. But they’re having a great time with it. At the same time. It’s it’s this weird. Think of it as like, uh, mixing sir mix a lot with the Beatles, you know, and it’s like, whoa, wait, wait a minute. I mean, why do I like this? You know? Yeah. It’s different.

Rob Gandley: It reminds me.

Yves Lamothe : Yeah. And but it works. It works so good, you know?

Rob Gandley: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s very cool. Um. All right. Well, I appreciate that. And that is something to say. I mean, that people are committed. I when you said earlier. Yeah, I get up at, uh, 155 or something, I said to myself, that’s crazy. That’s just crazy. Then I thought about it. About him like, but yeah, you got to be there earlier than everybody else. Maybe. I mean, if you want the personal time, I kind of understand. I’m thinking your best customers probably come at 435, whatever it is. Yeah, like whenever the door opens. Um, but. Yeah. So. So that is the case. Uh, so now go ahead.

Yves Lamothe : I’m sorry. You know, I was going to say, um, you know, one of the things, because I’ve had this conversation with so many people and it’s like, you know, oh, my God, I can’t believe you wake up at 155 and, you know, and this and that and, um, you know, anything is only as crazy as you let yourself think it is, right? Um, I, you know, I remember, um, this documentary I watched about Mike Tyson and Mike Tyson said, you know, he’s the kind of person, you know, he’ll wake up at 3:00 in the morning and he’s going to go for his run, and he’s going to get to the gym, and he’s going to work on his moves and and this and that. And and if he heard his competitor was waking up at 230 to go, he’s like, well, I’m going to wake up at 130 and go, you know. And if his competitors is waking up at, you know, whatever time he’s going to wake up before them because, you know, in, in his mind, it’s like, no, he’s not going to work harder than me. You know, I’m going to be the hardest working person in the room. And I’m and I’m just going to get it done. And it’s a it’s a mindset. It’s a mindset that, you know, if you limit yourself or if you say it’s impossible, then of course, yeah, it will, it will be. But if you’re committed and you want it and you’re you’re going to do whatever you need to do to make it happen. And I and I think that that’s a mindset that folks, you know, should have especially like if, if you’re starting a business right there, there is no oh my God, this is no, it’s I’m going to do what I need to do to make my business successful. And and so what, what what what needs to be done. And let’s, let’s go get it.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. Well, there’s two things I thought of like. One is I heard a motivational speech by Arnold Schwarzenegger once, and he kind of said something in a different way. He’s like, there are no rules. You know, don’t break the law, but break the rules. Meaning why do you think that in your mind, who put that in your mind that you can’t get up at two in the morning? Right. All right. If you go to bed at midnight, maybe that’s not a good plan, right. But.

Yves Lamothe : Right.

Rob Gandley: But like, who says you can’t adjust your life and put that effort in. Right. And just do that right. And it just becomes your mindset, like you said with Mike Tyson. So okay, with that being said, I want to kind of dive into the book because I know it’s it’s a new book and it’s been on your heart and mind now for a while and getting that all together. So why don’t we talk about that? Tell us about, first of all, the name of the book and the and the inspiration of it. And then who is the real audience of it? Like what? What problems are you solving? What message are you getting out there? So everything right? World peace?

Speaker4: Yes, exactly.

Yves Lamothe : Um, the book is called, um, built for this, and it’s, um, from burnout to breakthrough in, in business and in life. That’s the name of the book. And, um, the audience is for, you know, those that are curious, those that are already in business, those that are starting a business. And, um, and, you know, it really, um, it’s one of those things if you’re going to endeavor in that, if you’re thinking about it because it’s, it’s something that you feel like it’s inside that you want to go do, or if you’re in the midst of it and it’s and you feel stuck or you, you have those you’re having those moments. Um, it’s a good book to read. Um, you know, to, to, um, find your balance, you know, and I talked about that, um, earlier and, um, and, you know, the way you know what, what I’m really going to say is, um, the way you you talk to yourself like if if, um, every time something bad happens, you’re like, oh, my God, this is hard, you know? Then you’re always going to think like it’s hard, right? If, um, you have an employee that, you know, um, you know, is not working the way that they need to, but you’re you don’t like confrontation. You don’t want to hurt their feelings or you don’t want to fire them or whatever. Well, you know, don’t wonder why your business is failing because you don’t have the right folks that are, you know, putting into your business, like like you need them to. Right. Um, it’s never anything personal.

Yves Lamothe : So, um, you know, you said it, um, you know, well, when you were talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger breaking, breaking the rules there when it when it comes to, you know, how you run your business and what the things that you have to do to be successful, those hard things. Right? You can’t be afraid to do them. You can’t be afraid to let somebody go. Um, because they’re not performing. You can’t be afraid to let somebody know how they can improve. Give them that feedback. You can’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call somebody and ask them to come check out your business and then come buy services from you because, you know, you offer, you know, um, good stuff. You you can’t be afraid. Um, you know, to to lead a team. You can’t be afraid to stand to stand out front. You have to. If it’s truly something that you want to do, you have to own it holistically. But going in knowing that, yes, I’m going to put in the work, but I’m also going to take care of myself because I need to remain balanced so that when all these crazy things happen, I’m here, I’m present, and I’m able to deal with them. Right. And so so the book really talks about things like there’s, there’s, you know, sections about business to business, like, you know, when you’re partnering up with another business to help promote your business and help get yourself out there in the community, how you deal with your employees. Um, you know, um, how even you do like some of your, um, accounting.

Yves Lamothe : Counting, right? Making sure that you know you’re setting aside money to pay the bills. Money for emergencies. Money for yourself. Because if you don’t do that and then you just kind of kind of let it be. Um, you never really kind of you’re never really able to really kind of look at your, like, say your, um, your profit account and say, yeah, you know what, man? I worked and look at that, I have money, I did that, I did some there’s, there’s, there’s the fruits of my labor right when it’s all jumbled up like, you know, we look at things jumbled up. So it’s really about the psychology behind, um, you know, what it takes to be a business owner and how you go about running your business, how you treat your people, how you talk to yourself, your own belief system. Right. Which is that that can either break you or make you right. Um, if you don’t, if you don’t talk to yourself, if you don’t, if you if your inner coach doesn’t give you good advice, right? Um, and and you see that whatever you know, your inner coach told you to do, you did, and it didn’t work. And, um, if you can’t tell your inner coach to shut up. Right. Um, this this is not the right thing to do. Um, then you’re always going to keep repeating the same. The same mistakes, right? So, um, you always you always want to make sure that, you know, again, you know, at your core, you’re very well centered.

Yves Lamothe : You’re balanced because things are going to come at you and you just got to be ready. Ready, you know, ready to deal with them. Um, and I feel that, you know, for me, with everything that I have going on, it’s, it’s something that I’ve learned to master because, you know, I’ve been in situations where, you know, hey, somebody didn’t show up for an event. Somebody decided that they were just going to walk off and quit. Um, somebody got in a in a in a car accident. A member, um, came up and they were, you know, going crazy because of something that happened and etc. there are going to be situations where it’s like you got to be able to keep your cool. Okay guys, well, here, here’s what we’re going to do and let’s go. Let’s go address the problem. That’s that’s that’s the biggest benefit that I’ve seen from that is I am very confident in how I deal with things and I’m not so worried. Okay. It’s like something happened. All right. Here’s based on the circumstances, the situation or whatever the case may be, let’s do this to, you know, to hold off and then and then we will we’ll get back on track as soon as, as soon as we can. It’s never the end of the world. It’s never a panic. It’s never oh, my God. You know, I don’t I don’t I don’t have those oh my god moments because I’m able to remain balanced at all times with all the things that I have going on.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. So tell me more. Are you. We’re hitting on some amazing things I think are are freeing, not just from a business, but just a life point of view.

Speaker4: Yeah.

Rob Gandley: So like when we talk about fear, like you mentioned, you know, the dealing with fear. Let’s talk about that for a second. And then the other part I wanted to get into is do you believe words create a reality, right. And that inner game that you talked about. Right. So like let’s start with fear first, because I think we all feel that when we do new things, most of us. Right. We the whole idea of doing something the first time. Right. It’s like, I don’t know how people can react or I don’t know how they’re. So how do you recommend folks just quick idea of like how do you deal with things that you maybe that you’re a little bit apprehensive about, like you said, picking a phone up or looking to reach out to a business partner and maybe strike a deal or whatever it is. You have an idea, right? And then you don’t execute. Maybe it’s fear blocking it, right? How do you how do you how would you recommend people deal with the feeling of fear? Because I know the feeling can be there, but it’s how you deal with it and execute around it and through it. But can can you help the audience understand maybe how that.

Speaker4: And so.

Yves Lamothe : Um, you know, fear, fear for me is, um, um, you know, the best, the best way that I, that I can, I can describe it is, you know, you you you don’t know, right. And then, so a lot of times, um, if, if I don’t know how somebody is, is going to react to something or what’s going to happen if I try this or or that. Uh, a lot of times I feel like it has it has something to do with, with the your, your inner self. Right. You know, some people have fear of rejection. Some people, um, what if they don’t like it? What if, what if, what if, what if. Well, you know, um, I, I really and and, you know, it’s hard for me to even go back in the beginning when, when I’ve, when I’ve ever even had, like, a thought about this kind of stuff. Um, Um, but I tend to always look at those kinds of things as opportunities. Right. And then so what I mean by that is, um, if I call someone and, you know, they, they’re like, yeah, no, thanks. I don’t I don’t want to try your product this and that, blah, blah, blah or whatever. Then for me, it’s an opportunity to maybe, maybe I need to change my approach. You know, maybe let me try the call like that for the next three. And then if I get nothing, maybe let me try a different approach. It’s it’s like if I’m a baker, if I, if I, if I make a cookie. Right. And then I, and I have you tried and you’re like, oh my God it’s terrible, you know.

Speaker4: Then let me look.

Yves Lamothe : Let me look at the ingredients. Right.

Speaker4: Let me what did I.

Yves Lamothe : Put in there. You know. And so I always look at, you know, the unknowns as opportunities like, you know, it’s it’s an opportunity for me to, to to grow. It’s, it’s not a, it’s I don’t let it be like a, a reflection, so to speak, like, oh my God, like I’m I don’t want to be rejected. I don’t want somebody to like, not like me or not want me or not want my product or not want my service or whatever. I know that I’m not going to be for everybody, and I accept that. So there’s an acceptance part of it, acceptance part of it, where it’s you have to understand that like there’s different strokes for different folks, right? And sometimes it’s not even it’s not even about the product. It’s it’s about the community. It’s about you. It’s about how you treat people. It’s about the customer service. Right? I tell my people all the time, like, you know, we don’t we don’t sell things, right? We sell relationships. We sell relationships. That’s that’s what we’re selling. Because the way you treat people, um, that draws them to you if you treat them kindly, if you give them the support, if you if you, you know, sometimes it’s not there might be a better product out there, but because they have a relationship with you, they’re always going to come to you, right? Um, and now it doesn’t mean that, you know, you don’t do whatever you can to always improve and and level up your quality and, and things like that.

Yves Lamothe : But it’s all about the relationship. It’s all about the relationship with the people and how you treat how you treat the people. But again, you know, for me it’s um, fear is it’s opportunity. I look at it and what I’m doing is I’m reframing what fear is. Like, oh my gosh, I don’t know. Well, let me go learn. I have an opportunity to go learn. So so people going into business, they have to learn how to reframe these things in their, in their minds so that it it’s it doesn’t hold them back. Right. If, if I, if I, if every time I hear fear I’m like, oh okay. What can I learn? Then I address fear very differently. It’s not an issue anymore.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. You’re just checking yourself. I mean, it’s so much about your inner game. It’s it’s about how you look at things. And I love the word frame. I use it constantly as a marketer and and as a communicator. It is. It is important to understand a frame, right? What is the frame around that idea? But that was brilliant. Thank you. Um, I wanted to make sure, uh, that we I wanted to ask you just briefly, because we do talk about marketing a lot. Um, just in your experience, because you mentioned a few times and, and, you know, we both know that being a local business owner gives you an opportunity to know the community around you. And, uh, that’s part of it. And part of the marketing is the experience and the word of mouth. But tell me is, you know, if you could sum it up, what are some of the lessons you’ve learned about marketing a local business, and what are some of the things that you would, you know, tips you might share with other new business owners or even new franchisees? Even knowing franchising, they give you a playbook. You’ve learned a lot. You again, you had to just do what it took. I know sometimes you got to go a little outside the bounds of the. Of what the exact playbook is. But tell me, what have you learned from a marketing standpoint with this type of business?

Yves Lamothe : Um, you know, when it when it comes to marketing, it’s it’s value. Um, what what kind of value are you are you giving to, um, the people. Right. And then if you can stack value, um, then it almost seems like you’re cheap, like, oh, my God, I’m getting all of this. And and I only have to pay that. Holy moly. Okay. You know, but but that’s, um, that’s the thought that you kind of want, um, someone to, um, uh, someone to walk away with. Um, anytime they see your, your ad, if they see an ad, it’s got, you got a stack value so good that they’re like, oh, my God, I got to go check this out. Right? And then when when they come see you again, like, the value has to be, like, so big that they feel like why would I walk away from this deal? Like it does not make any sense. Like, you know, I need this in my life, right? And so, um, the way, you know, even marketing, marketing is, um, is truly a, um, um, a psychological, um, thing, right? And, um, and the other thing, too, is, uh, with one thing that I think that is very important for any franchise owner is to always remember that it is not your job to spend other people’s money. Right. Um, you know, when if I am, I, I tell my staff this all the time, um, Mercedes doesn’t they don’t change their prices, right? Every car dealership has a sale. Sure. Okay. But, you know, if you go to a Mercedes dealership expecting to pay the, you know, the price of a Pinto, right? They’re going to they’re going to say no, we can’t do that.

Yves Lamothe : And, um, when you go buy a Mercedes, um, you know, it’s really up to you to figure out how you can afford it now. They’ll they’ll have different financing options for you. They’ll have, like, you know, different things that they can offer you. But as far as the price goes, they’re keen on it because they they believe in the value of, of their product. So when, when you market, it’s, um, you know, Mercedes is going to tell you at the end of the day, Mercedes is a car with four wheels and a gas tank and a steering wheel, and it gets you from point A to point B, right? But when I stack value and tell you you’re going to have beautiful colors, serene sounds, and the sound system is going to be so amazing, it’s going to drive so fast, the seats are going to be so comfortable, they’re going to heat and they’re going to cool and they’re going to oh my gosh. And and now you, you kind of fall in love with what it what it represents. Now, can I go buy a Toyota that will give, that will take me from point A to point B? 100%. You know, um, and then so but but they again like it’s, it’s, you know, no matter what you’re marketing, you know, know the value of what you offer and, and make sure you stick to it. Let other people figure out how to spend their own money. It is not your job to do that.

Rob Gandley: I love that, I love that, and it made me think of one of the first things going back maybe 15, 20 years. I learned something called a a book, a short book written by a gentleman I learned a lot from. His name is Mark Joyner. Um, but he has a software company and some other things. And and he wrote a little overview. It was a book called The Irresistible Offer. And it was all about value stacking. It was making it ridiculously no brainer. You know, and I just you’re right, because people have very quick attention spans and you glance at it, read 3 or 4 bullets and be like. Did I read that right? So if you can pull that off, you need to get to that. What is that irresistible offer? But anyway, I appreciate that was it was beautiful. So as we wrap up and I know, you know, I want to respect your time. Thank you, uh, for for sharing everything you have. Um, I just there’s so much we could talk about. But what I’d love to do is many people that listen to the show, they’re. They’re wondering about franchises. They’re wondering about starting businesses. Maybe they are thinking about investing more in your kind of model. Is there is there anything that you could share that you’d want to share just as encouragement or, you know, or what to, you know, maybe what to look out for, what to ask yourself, what to look inward about. Right. Since we were talking about that. What what are they looking for in themselves to know is the right time for a business? And how do they. How can you help them make the right decision.

Yves Lamothe : Yeah. You know, um, I think that, uh, you know, I have this this whole thing that, you know, I live life on purpose, right? There’s a there’s a life to live. I don’t go through the motions of life. I live life on purpose. And what that really means is, if I’m curious something and I want, I want to key in on the word curious. Um, then then I. I want to tickle that curiosity. Right? I want to know what it what it feels like. I don’t want I want to know the if. Is it possible? Is it is it something that I can do and, and and I’m going to go do my research and figure it out. Right. And um, you know, so, so with that, you know, my, my biggest advice for anybody looking to get into business or anything like that, I would tell them to tickle their curiosity, you know, I would tell them like, you know, whatever, whatever it is you’re you’re curious about, you know, like, go find out, because I’d rather know that. Hey, I tried something, and it’s not what I thought it was. And so, you know, it didn’t work out like I expected it to. And then so I moved on to something else versus wondering for the next 30, 40, 50 years, like, man, you know what? I should have done that I wonder what it would have been like, you know, and so take that curiosity and and who knows where where it will take you, you know, who knows, like the kind of people you’re going to come across, the people, the kind of people you’re going to work with, or, you know, the kind of doors that it’s going to open for you, what you’re going to learn from it, you know, so tickle your curiosity.

Rob Gandley: I love that because, you know, you’re you’re tapping into something that I know is very true. In marketing. We talk about marketing being very psychological. We talk about micro-commitments online. Right. Just a little stuff. To me that was beautiful because it is. If you. If you go way too deep, you’re going too far. Just just tickle your curiosity because you don’t know what’s behind the conversation or the person or the interaction. It could lead to something you never thought of, even if it wasn’t the thing that you were tickling your curiosity about as being true to that intuition inside you, leading you that way. And that’s that’s what.

Yves Lamothe : Yeah, yeah. And you know, and and once those doors open, you learn so much about yourself. You learn so much about, like, your, your abilities, you I mean, it’s, it’s it’s a fascinating thing to go through and and you do it once, you know, I guess for me, I’m addicted because it’s like, I, I seem to can’t stop opening businesses and stuff like that. But, um, you know, I, I’m, I’m all about living life on purpose, and I tickle my curiosity all the time.

Rob Gandley: Yes, apparently you do.

Yves Lamothe : Yeah.

Rob Gandley: And it was a long intro Today I had to I had to squeeze it all in. But listen, I really appreciate you being on the show today. I want to make sure we wrap up and give people clarity about how to reach out to you, either the rock box locations that you have in Florida or of course, the book. If you could share a little more how they can get access to that. But could you do that? Maybe just share with the audience how to get Ahold of you and what you’re about?

Yves Lamothe : Absolutely. So, you know, of course, like I am based out in Florida. I live in Rockledge, Florida, and so is my rock box studio, my book that I just wrote. If you search my name on Amazon, you’ll actually find it. And it’s called built for this. Um, from burnout to, to breakthrough in business and in life. Right. And and so and with the title. Right, it talks a little bit about how you can easily get burnt out. Right. And, and you have you’ll have moments of breakthrough and my, you know, for me. Luckily for me, early on, my breakthrough is understanding what that balance means. And because I’ve been able to attain that balance, I feel like there’s nothing I can’t handle. There’s nothing that I cannot do. And I have, um, uh, what I call intelligent selfishness. Right? And I, and I talk about that, um, in my book, and that’s when I know when I need to take time for myself so that I am, I am good, I don’t run it, run it, run it, run it until I break. I know when to scale back and then take the time that I need so that, like, I’m always fresh and ready to handle whatever, whatever, um, comes my way.

Yves Lamothe : But, um, you know, you can download my book on Kindle. Um, you can buy it on Amazon again, if you search my name on Amazon, you’ll see that book. Um, I have I also have a book on, uh, leadership and management. Um, I have a couple kids books. Um, and it’s, um, you know, talking about how to deal with adversity. And, um, and I also have a, uh, a novel that I just wrote, um, and it’s called The Secret Girlfriend, and it’s, it’s psychological, um, drama, which, um, the mind. The mind is just something that I’m really in love with. Um, the way people think, um, the way they do, the things that they do, why they do the things that they do and how they navigate through life and, you know, things of that nature. Um, and then and my and again, my gym is, is located over in Rockledge, Florida. It’s, it’s rock box fitness of, of Rockledge. And I’d love to have anybody come on by, take a class, feel good and and let’s build relationships.

Rob Gandley: I love it. Thank you for for sharing that. It made me think, uh, you know, when you talked about the burnout versus breakthrough is really understanding the flow or the seasonality of of life and situations. And if you can stay centered, then you can stay anchored for the breakthroughs and deal before the burnout happens. Right? You don’t get burnout. You balance right.

Yves Lamothe : You totally avoid avoid burnout.

Speaker5: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rob Gandley: That’s the only way you could do what you do. So you’re clearly doing it. I gotta, I gotta again, once again I know all the stuff you’re doing and you’re really good at what we just said, which just getting a glimpse of that would help anybody, um, in their life. So I appreciate you for the work you do. Uh, so thank you again for being on the show. Yves lament. Uh, and I just want to thank the audience again for tuning in. If you see the value, feel the value like I do every week, every every episode, please share it. And we appreciate you. And bye for now.

Speaker6: Absolutely.