When You Are Authentic, Your People Will Find You

About Today's Guests

Jill Miller is the co-founder of Tune Up Fitness Worldwide and creator of the self-care fitness formats Yoga Tune Up® and The Roll Model® Method. With more than thirty years of study in anatomy and movement, she is a pioneer in forging relevant links between the worlds of fitness, yoga, massage, athletics, and pain management.

She is known as the Teacher’s Teacher and has trained thousands of movement educators, clinicians, and manual therapists to incorporate her paradigm-shifting self-care fitness programming into athletic and medical facility programs internationally. She has crafted original programs for 24 Hour Fitness, Equinox, YogaWorks, and numerous professional sports teams.

She is the creator of dozens of DVDs and online video programs, including Treat While You Train with Kelly Starrett, DPT, and is the author of the internationally bestselling book The Roll Model: A Step by Step Guide to Erase Pain, Improve Mobility and Live Better in your Body.

Based in Los Angeles, she is a wife and mother of two small children and is currently writing her second book.

Robert Faust is an entrepreneur with a focus on identifying and capitalizing on undeveloped niche market opportunities. Currently, Faust is president and CEO of Tune Up Fitness Worldwide, Inc., a wellness company with a mission of bringing simple self-care healthcare practices into daily living. Through a catalog of professional education programs based on two proprietary fitness formats and a line of self-care fitness products, Tune Up’s breath, movement and mindset pillars empower people to live better in their body. Faust and his wife, Jill Miller, co-founded Tune Up Fitness in 2009.

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Episode 58 with Jill Miller

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Show Notes

We change this up a bit this week and begin by talking about how Jill Miller met her husband, Robert Faust. Prior to fitness, Robert’s background was in the entertainment and marketing industry, and so his expertise combined with Jill's creativity made for the perfect partnership, both in life and business.

We begin by talking about the importance of our intellectual property (IP) and how we can often feel pressured to give our content away for free in exchange for the “opportunity” and “exposure.”Robert reminds us of the importance of remembering the hard work and hours of research and practice that you put into your programs and products, and that it is always good to get advice when these types of opportunities come your way. Intellectual Property can be broken apart, and so Robert also invites us to look at all aspects of the content we own, to future proof our work and our future career, that we all have worked so hard to create. It is always good to have everything written down, so there is nothing left to chance.

We talk about how we can expand our reach and do great things in the world, doing something for the greater good but not the expense of our own health and happiness. We explore the poverty mindset that often comes with being a creative and the importance of facing our money stories and beliefs around finances and success. We go into how our self-worth will contribute to how we view our worth in the world, and that this is work we all need to do to be able to find the balance between giving to others and taking care of ourselves.

We move to talk about the "free" culture, and how it is essential to look at how you can inspire others and grow your profile without giving "everything" away. I talk about why I do the podcast and how we can all create content that ties back to you, your purpose, and how you want to impact the world for good.

We discuss how Robert and Jill try and balance, work, family, children, and life. I love the honesty of this part of our conversation and how it can be challenging to balance passion, purpose, and self-care. Jill talks about the balance between creativity and productivity and how it can sometimes be hard to find, especially when it comes to motherhood.

Robert reminds us of the importance of planning. He believes that a lot of people fail to plan out their vision and understand the steps and milestones that it takes to accomplish their goals. He invites us to also look at what it takes to work backward and come up with just a few first steps that will get you closer to that next milestone. When we plan it helps us build both the confidence and competence to reach our dream goals. Jill reminds us that in addition to being strategic and doing the marketing, we also need to have people around us, who believe in us, and who will give us a chance to put our work out in the world. Our creativity and ideas cannot only happen in our heads, but the place where they will grow into their potential is out in the world as we beta test our materials.

We wrap up the show talking about the importance of being authentic, as this way when you share your unique voice, the right people will find you. Robert also reminds us to credit the people who we have learned from. Once again, it is the ripple effect and allows us all to remember that the world is big enough for us all to succeed.

"Let Movement be Mandatory but Exercise be Optional"

About Today’s Guest

Lawrence Biscontini, MA, has made fitness history as a Mindful Movement Specialist winning the highest number of awards from ACE, IDEA & Inner IDEA, Can Fit Pro, and ECA since 2002.

Lawrence travels the world offering world-class secrets in mentoring, fitness and spa consulting, and presenting for professional conferences, and working also on the Advisory Board for the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), Senior VIP Consultant for Power Music®, and reporter-in-the-field for the International Spa Association’s #ispaDoyou campaign creating #ispaInterviews worldwide.

He has programmed for Equinox, 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym International, Bally, and more, and his creations received the Conde Nast Traveler Awards‘ Top Ten Awards placement for innovative spa programming worldwide.

Lawrence as a Mindful Movement Specialist enjoys celebrity clients like cast members of ABC TV’s soap opera “General Hospital,” and appears on news (CNN Headline News) and television (“LIVE! With Regis and Kelly”).

He is a Registered Yoga Alliance Teacher (E-RYT 500), an AFAA Certification Specialist and Contributing Author and Content Specialist for industry publications like SCW Fitness Education Certifications and AFAA’s American Fitness, IDEA’s Fitness Journal, and the Spa Industry’s Pulse Magazine. His books include the most recent fiction Stories of Color and nonfiction Active Aging SCW Certification Manual: The Life in Our Years specializing in active aging research and practical approaches to movement for people over 50. He has also authored for charity a cookbook, Meals & Musings, a fitness textbook used at universities worldwide, Cream Rises: Excellence in Private & Group Education, and one of the only customer service books written for the spa and fitness world, “Running the Show.”

Lawrence created Fitness Group 2000 (FG2000) at the turn of the century whose profits benefit several charitable endeavors, including the outreach work of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Save the Children, and the Biscontini Scholarships he has created for most major international conventions. Over 80% of all revenue from sales generated at www.findlawrence.com support these programs.

Show Notes

Lawrence and I begin the show reminiscing about chocolates, or rather how I first remember meeting Lawrence after he took my step class at the Reebok Sports Club, as it was known at the time. After class he gave me the most delicious chocolate truffles, and so of course from the very beginning he held a special place in my heart.

Lawrence shares how he got into fitness out of necessity because he was the fat kid from Philly. His Father died when he was 18 and when the doctor said "you're next," Lawrence decided to make some changes, including beginning to workout, which led him into his career of fitness and wellness.

Lawrence obtained his ACE Gold certification and started teaching in college while he was also working on his masters in communication. After college and while teaching part-time, Lawrence worked for American Airlines teaching their emergency procedures, which was amazingly and coincidentally related to fitness and health and the beginning of diversifying his career, which is a running theme throughout our conversation.

We talk further about the importance of having diversity within what we offer, regardless of our career, and also the importance of seeing yourself as a business, even if you love what you are doing. Passion is wonderful, but passion alone does not pay the bills.

Lawrence gives us a fantastic exercise to do so that we can look at where we spend our time and how that input of time is related to our output of income.

Take out a pen and paper.

Put all that you do in terms of where you place your focus in a row at the top of the page.

Underneath each row put all the tasks that are associated with that item.

List how much time is spent in each column.

At the bottom of each row write down how much that particular project adds income to your bank account.

Notice if where you spend most of your time also brings in most of your revenue, or is at least moving you closer to building a profitable business. Depending on the results it may be time to reevaluate how and where you place your focus and spend your time.

Lawrence talks about the importance of having great mentors. He also goes a step further and believes we all need two mentors, one who is in the industry that you are working in, and one outside of the industry. One leads the way on “what to do” and the other leads the way on “how to be.” He also talks about how to reframe failures and rejection, and that when we hear the word, “no” that the reframe of the meaning is, “not yet.”

Lawrence invites us to look at movement being mandatory and exercise as being optional. It is this reframe that will help the fitness industry reach the people, who in the past, may have felt as though they “failed at exercise.” This way we can help open their ears by using the word movement over exercise, and also open their hearts to happiness. He believes that we also need to create compelling experiences instead of simply teaching classes and executing exercise.

Lawrence goes onto say that it should be our goal to make everyone feel successful. That the “s of experiences” is not only to build a community, transcend exercise and make everyone feel challenged but most of all help them to feel successful. It is then people will return, tell their friends, and then we have built a community, or a tribe a tri-mmunity, a combination of tribe and community.

Towards the end of our conversation, Lawrence shares that he has three philosophies that he has honed from working in fitness.

1. Never burn your bridges.

2. Love is always the answer. Never Jealousy. Never greed. Never backstabbing. Never unfriendly competition. Love is always going to be the answer.

3. Stay true to who you are inside and never sell out. Stay true to yourself and listen to your inner voice.

Wise words for sure.

"Nothing Replaces a Face to Face Conversation"

About Today's Guest

Chantal Brodrick worked for 15 years  in senior sales and marketing roles in the media industry before transitioning careers.  In 2008 she became a qualified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor.  Soon after she combined her corporate background with her love of fitness and became a Fitness Business Coach.  In 2015 Chantal became the host of The Fitness Business Podcast.  Now with over 217 shows and 350,000 downloads, it is the world's leading podcast for fitness business owners and managers.

Chantal has interviewed over 250 fitness industry leaders, coaches, consultants and authors including Jim Worthington, Rick Caro, Bill McBride, Brent Darden, Derek Gallup, Alison Flatley, Mo Hagan, Carrie Kepple, Emma Barry, Ryan Holiday, Jeb Blount, Michelle Segar and hundreds more.

In 2019 Chantal was recognized as 1 of 20 'Women Who Inspire' by IHRSA's Club Business International Magazine and this year she is a featured speaker and MC at industry events across the world including, IHRSA, FILEX, IDEA, Athletic Business Show and FITEX.

Show Notes

We begin the show by talking about how Chantal’s first job began with a 15-year career in media and marketing roles. Fitness was her second career and even though she got a relatively late start in the industry, her marketing background made up for any time lost.

After three years of juggling her media and fitness careers, she took the leap to move into fitness fulltime. Chantal shares that the first three years were a struggle, as despite having a business background she was finding herself piecing things together and was becoming too spread out over too many areas to make an impact and almost gave up. However, once she decided to tap into her past and utilize her media background in her present career she soared and she became determined to use her skills to help others in the industry who were also struggling and teach them the business skills necessary to turn their passion into a sustainable business.

Chantal encourages everyone to really think strategically about any move that you want to make and invites you to keep your eye on the long game. She believes the strategy piece behind everything that she does is the key to her success. Chantal asks us to think not just about just selling our services, but focus on the overall blueprint of our business. In addition to providing a service, she invites us to think about the following when visioning your best future career:

1. Who is your target market?

2. What do they want?

3. What sort of products and services do you need to deliver to them?

4. What does your business look like - not only right now in this present moment, but what will it look like in six months, in 12 months and in three years?

5. What are the financial goals that you are setting for your business?

6. What's the vision that you have?

7. What's the mission that you are trying to achieve?

We move to talk about the struggles that can arise when trying to balance our passion with the idea of making a profit from our passion. Chantal believes there are key areas that she feels are essential to turning passion into a profitable career.

1. Identify your passion and ask yourself is it a sustainable interest?

2. Can you stay in it for the long game?

3. Are you confident that there is enough content, products or services that you can provide to this market to make it sustainable?

4. Is this market big enough to make it sustainable?

5. Is it something that you can build a business around?

Chantal reminds us that doing research around the needs of our target market is absolutely key. That will mean going out and talking to your customers, talking to the people who you feel are your target market. And in addition to researching your target market – research your competition.

After looking at your competitors (for inspiration) find your unique point of difference or your unique selling point - what can you offer that nobody else can offer? Chantal also encourages to take the time to check back in every so often with the people we want to serve to make sure we stay on top of the changing needs of our customers.

Chantal wants us all to remember that while it is important to collect that data, and stay on top of the research - that nothing will beat sitting down for face to face conversations with the people you want to help. Even if your business in online use the amazing technology like Skype and Zoom to look people in the eye as you connect and collaborate with your audience.
“People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Additional Takeaways:

1. Always be a student and always be learning, both inside and outside of your industry
2. Ask for help and find a mentor
3. If you go to conferences and events be sure to step outside of your circle and take the time to meet and connect with people you don’t know
4. Get your backend systems in place so you can run a great business on the front end/
5. Make your business as efficient as possible
6. At first, try all things and then narrow down your market as you learn where you do your best work and who you enjoy working with the most
7. Put your learning time into the areas where you feel the least confident

"Be a Student Always, Be a Teacher Sometimes"

About Todays Guest

Sue Hitzmann, MS, CST, NMT, is the creator of the MELT Method®, a simple self-treatment technique that helps people get out and stay out of chronic pain. A nationally recognized educator, manual therapist, exercise physiologist, and founding member of the Fascial Research Society, Sue is the author of the New York Times bestselling book The MELT Method®: A Breakthrough Self-Treatment System to Eliminate Chronic Pain, Erase the Signs of Aging, and Feel Fantastic in Just 10 Minutes a Day!, which has helped over 200,000 people lead a healthy, pain-free life.
Sue’s journey to help others began in the world of fitness. In 1999, she starred in the Crunch video Boot Camp Training, which has sold more than half a million copies.
Sue's interest in manual therapy began with her quest to find answers to her own debilitating pain. After receiving her Masters in Exercise Science from New York University, Sue went on to attain certifications in manual therapies.
In 2001, Sue was inspired to create "homework" for her manual therapy clients, which led to the development of the MELT Method – the first-ever form of Hands-off BodyworkTM. Now with the bestselling book The MELT Method and the products, Sue personally designed – including the MELT Soft Body Roller and MELT Hand & Foot Treatment kit – anyone, anywhere, can take steps to restore whole-body efficiency and lead a healthier, more active life. Sue has personally trained more than 1,300 professionals worldwide and is a leading presenter for national organizations such as IDEA, ECA, and PMA, and a CEU provider for ACE, AFAA, NASM, PMA, and NCBTMB.
Sue has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, Nightline, Good Morning America, The Rachael Ray Show, and Live! with Regis and Kelly, and the internationally translated MELT Method book has been featured in magazines such as SELF, More, and Prevention.

Show Notes

Sue was recording from her New York office and so please enjoy the city sounds at no extra cost.

We begin talking about how Sue made her "fitness pivot" in her late nineties, due to an injury. On doing her research she found was there was a dirty little secret of fitness, and that was that almost everybody in the fitness industry was injured and Sue decided she wanted to "fix" that in addition to healing herself.

As Sue began her new fitness journey to figuring out what her own pain was and how to heal it, she found the emerging field of facial research. This discovery changed her perspective and passion within the fitness industry and eventually her entire career.

We talk about the idea, that if you have a passion, a purpose, a belief and you really have persistence, you can achieve anything that you want. And with her newfound purpose and own persistence, Sue created a new health and business model. In 2004 she coined the term MELT, began teaching her philosophy, beta testing her format, creating her methodology, and developing her Intellectual Property that is now taught worldwide.

Sue believes that education is one of the most empowering tools that we have and encourages us all to be a teacher sometimes, but a student always. She invites us all, to never stop learning, keep asking questions, and look to those people that you admire and ask them for help.

"Walk the walk, talk the talk and be the best possible self that you can be so that every day you can live your best life."