Today's episode is brought to you by Capital One spark business. Whether it's your first day at the new headquarters or another day getting payroll out by the First Capital One Works seamlessly as your partner credit card provider and Business Bank. Hi everyone. It's Rebecca. You're listening to superwomen today's guest. I had the pleasure of doing a live podcast with in Phoenix, Arizona and malam the founder of solid core. She's Dynamic. She's energetic. I have hopes that my zero pack maybe could one day be a two pack in ABS and we talked about what inspired her journey what's next for her? So take a listen. I'm thrilled to be with an and have a conversation. For those of you who don't know. I launched a podcast last year. We were doing these amazing toxins my store. The fire code was 72 and I was like, there's got to be a better way to just get more women to hear these stories of incredible women so launch the podcast we've had everyone from Katie Couric to And fill in whatever Marie Claire to you know other inspiring women in the hopes that you get a little boost along your day or you get some great inspiration. So I'm thrilled to welcome you to the live podcast and Mom the founder of solid core. So for those of the women, I guess we'll to know what solid core is. What is solid core. Yes a solid core is 15 minutes of intensified Pilates the people who are attracted this workout because it's so challenging and hard are like just as badass in the yo as they are outside the studio and we always make the statement that you'll hear from our coaches of if you're not going to work for it in here. You're not going to work for it out there. So really challenging people to show up for themselves and those 15 minutes that they're spending with us. So I'd love to hear a little bit of the back story. I need solid core in my life bad because my daughter still thinks I'm pregnant. She thinks I'm pregnant all the time and she will let me know she's five. So I'd love to hear like, how did you discover the method you developed and what sort of inspired you to launch it? Yeah, so I think like probably most women if you guys want to be vulnerable with me, like how many of you had body issues food issues. Yeah, so I throw up my food for 10 12 years on and off and it got really bad in my 20s and it's like looking in the mirror. Like I can't believe you're doing this is so ridiculous. You're not doing this today and then like that night like there I would go again and also working out as many hours as I could find in the day eating tofu and egg whites and like lying to my parents and Friends of like why couldn't go to dinner as why I couldn't for Thanksgiving. It was just like all consuming and also felt that how much time I was spending working out and thinking about my body. I'm like, why does it look better than it does and so I was conscious super frustrated and I took this pilates class in Los Angeles when I was there for work and I kind of went in with a little bit of an ego because I'm a marathoner and I work on all the time and I got my butt kicked it was so hard and it was so hard and like places that I think as women we try to tone our ABS our obliques, you know, our legs our bodies like mentioned all of our body parts, but you know like everywhere. Yeah, but I kept doing it and I finally started to see my body evolve in ways and I'm like, that's how my body should look for how much I care about it and how much I want it to look my food issues sort of went away. So when I was going through all this sort of Love of Pilates, I was trying to figure out what was next for me after the nonprofit. It and I was like I got to build a business around this because I know there's women out there who are just as frustrated as I am with their with their bodies and they don't have a workout that's working and they don't have a community that's really sort of supporting them. So I was like, that's what I'm going to do. So lots of people have that idea and then they launched a studio right in there happy with that. How did you know how to not only launch one Studio but you have over 50 now. Yeah and it take I mean, I know you can't tell the whole the whole Every single detail but like that's a huge jump. Yeah. I know people always like ask like, oh did you ever think that you would have so many studios and I'm like, yes. Yes. I never wanted to own a single studio. Now, this Vision I had for solid core was this Empire and building this brand and it's like nailing the first one, right? So like making sure you get it right from the very beginning and I don't know if you guys know this story of Subway. It's a little kind of like Cars, but I always loved it. So the first Subway was like totally not successful wasn't working very well. So they were like we should open a second because then people will think we're doing great and I was like guys so brilliant the think like, you know, so I opened my second Studio literally within three months. We were we were doing really well. I'm busy but it was like this power of momentum and capitalizing on that and realizing there's something special here. I want to get out in the marketplace and I just kept reinvesting the It's in the company. So 2 to 3 to 4 to 5. And yeah, we have projections to be to a hundred Studios by the end of next year. Wow. Yeah. So in in taking it from 1 to 3 to 4 to 5, and then you know up over 50. What was what's been the hardest part of that? Is it people finances? Yeah, I mean everybody in here who runs a business and a company knows that you've got low lows and you got high highs and a lot of my Lolo's happens sort of in the beginning. It's frankly just cause you don't really know what ton so you go fully and on something like shouldn't shouldn't have done that. So I've gone through three lawsuits and Every time a year goes by I'm like I wasn't sued this year like amazing, you know, so that was hard right away of like someone's suing me over ownership in my company and being really angry and frustrated about that and realizing like those emotions aren't getting anywhere and frankly having to settle that lawsuit and like I've got so many principles but it's like it's not do you want to do you want to be right or do you want to run your business and I'm like, I want to run my business. So that was super challenging. I had to close our first Studio. Oh that we ever open because we didn't attenuate the sound appropriate appropriately and people could hear us in the morning at 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. Waking them up and they'll be please set the door like multiple times in the morning or like hey Danny, how you doing? So that was also like a challenging piece to be like we didn't get this right it's time to close. So those were some of the two of the the biggest things and then yeah, the Personnel stuff can be hard and for anybody, you know growing their company as rapid as we are. It's just mentioning this table like you can outgrow Talent sometimes and people aren't the right fit anymore. And that's tough conversation. We orbit. We've had a reorg like three to four times and people always feel like I've been here the longest therefore I should be the CEO and it's like that doesn't think that it works and it's not what's best for the company. So I feel like we're constantly trying to set expectations in our culture while showing appreciation for our people but also doing what's best for the company and that's a really delicate things out there. Look at dance to do so. I'm sure as with most of the women in this room and raise your hand if you feel this way, but as we've scaled our company, we've had trouble, you know, you know, if it's just me the founder, right? How do you get your employees and and with franchises right? Like how do you get these people to love and dedicate and put in everything that you put in? So how do you sort of motivate your team to do that? Yeah, I think mean I am always big liver that leadership does start at the top and I know that's an old adage but so solid core is Corporately owned and one of the first things I did once I took an investment was I created an employee pool. So everybody in my company has won two part of a long-term investment program. So when the company sells everybody gets something and so they feel like actual ownership in it and it's 10% of my personal Equity because it was sort of thinking of like, I'm a good Democrat like, I'm a liberal. I'm really vocal about my politics. You can go and read about my experience with the banca Trump if you'd like to but I want you to tell some story. I'm happy. I'm happy too. But like I'm so vocal about what I think is right and then when I took this investment, I'm sitting there and thinking gosh when we sell this company, which we frankly hope to do in the next 24 months. The only people that are going to benefit our me and my investors like the top 1% of this company and I had a real big problem with that. How can I say that my politics like our this but the way I run my company is this so that was a really important piece and I think people really, you know up. Shaded a leader sort of not just talking the talk, but walking the walk and we're also super transparent and I think we're really authentic and how we lead. I've cried in front of my, you know team in moments that I felt. I've been appropriate and I've let them know when things are hard and I've also you know shown up I think for them and real like leadership situations that they know that they can count on me and they know I'm always going to make the best decision for the company. So you took you ended up taking Taking some investment Equity with Peterson partner. Yes. What was the sort of catalyst to say? Okay. Now I need money. And then how did you decide to deploy the capital? Yeah, so I was raised looking to raise money in 2017. I wanted to grow faster. I get I get bored quickly. It's like this add thing where I'm like, okay, I've got mastered this two-by-two. Let's now go 3x3 and I started to reach out in the way that I sort of knew how which was through some just some men through back on my feet and like getting their contacts. And then I was like, I need to talk to some women honestly and I knew somebody who knew Julie rice from Soul cycle and I got ahold of I texted her and she called me right away and she's like, I want to help you need to call my lawyer. He's expensive but he's amazing and need to meet with him and he will help you and I literally pick up the phone and call this guy. I'm like, hey Steven, it's an he's like, yeah and like Julie told me to call you and he's like, oh, so we met that day in New York. He was amazing. Connect me with seven different firms mainly in New York one in Utah who we end up using which is Peterson partners, and we've had an amazing relationship with them and they just were like we want you to keep doing what you're doing as also mentioned the stable. My partner's aren't Utah and they're Mormon and I walk in there with a crop top tattoos, and I'm like I drink tequila and you guys need to know that because you can be who you are. But if you're not going to allow me to be me like this isn't going to work and we've just had this ridiculously like Credible partnership ever since and I wanted the capital to hire talent talent when I couldn't afford without it and to just get more Studios open across the country and they were on the same page with that. What were some of the land mines you knew to look out for with taking on an investment because I know when our company, you know, I call it you're more connected this person than your actual spouse or we are wedded to and had the our our prior investors had controlled the company I wouldn't be here today. So, how do you how did you sort of know what to Look for yeah, I mean listen character pretty I think shines through. I also talked to plenty of references. Right? Like I don't want to just talk to people references like when things went well and like do you have a couple people that when things were hard and didn't go well and I wanted to see how Peterson showed up for those situations and hear it from from the people on the receiving end because everything's great when everything is great, right? Like what's that little song? Why men great till they got to be great. Right? Like it's the truth and when everything is going awesome in our company has not had a downturn. They're really easy to work with but when and if that happens, I want to know that these guys have my back and that were on the same page. So the best way to do that is to check references the same way that you kind of wish boyfriend's would have references be like, I want to know how you treat. It really good. The girls are for you. So everyone in the room here is here because of their incredible high growth. So what advice would you have to keep that growth going? Yeah, I give out the best a lot of Fitness Studio owners and I like I want to open my second Studio. Yo, and they kind of get stuck with one and they're really kind of like I don't know how to do this Beyond this because I'm so engrossed in this one brick and mortar spot and I think the best advice is you need to embody your brand but your brand can't embody you meaning if you are the reason why this is working. It's a really dangerous company to grow because you can't be everywhere and I think as a Founder the most serious responsibility you have is to make sure what you're building works. Without you and if you're not you're not building the company, I feel like in the right way for the right reasons if it's all about you. I think your company is going to crash and burn and you won't be able to scale. So getting the right team and infrastructure in place to do that and working every sort of six months depending on how fast you're growing to reassess and say how have I grown in this company and my still working on the same responsibilities as I was six months ago? Why can't I Let Go, what's the problem? What is the stopping a Apps and if you can't figure that piece out your company is only going to be so big. So I feel like and I think we all know this Fitness is huge right now. People are spending more money on Fitness and eating frankly than on handbags, which is really annoying but I like it. I love it. But so, how do you how do you continue to sell yourself apart? It's far as like, you know with the sole cycles of the world or you know, all these incredible companies. How do you continue to innovate and set yourself differently. I for you as we are now going to be hopefully in I had to go try solid core you will see it's just different than as somebody who did every workout I thought was out there. It is different than any other workout that you ever will. Do you do it slowly for one? You're also in a cool environment. You've got, you know dark Lighting in there and your coaches awesome and we teach we actually train our coaches technically of course, but they go through this whole inspirational training as well. So you feel super motivated in class. There's no more than 18 people in there. So you really get connected with your teammates that are also doing the same workout, and I'm sorry. Hi, everybody in here who's sitting here knows that you have to have an amazing product if solid board didn't work and people weren't seeing results. We won't sit here and have 57 maybe 58 by wouldn't today is over. I don't know but but like that doesn't happen. If you have a fluke product, like people stopped coming and showing up and so we just spend a lot of our I would say like our marketing dollars continuing to invest in our operations the best coaches and yeah getting testimonies from our clients about how strong an I feel and how their bodies have changed from incorporating solid coordinate their regimen. What's your favorite part of going to work every day? I knew love the people I work with and it's like such a fun group of people like super sarcastic, which is my personality and like, you know, we don't agree all the time and that's really important too. But we've got this massive you no respect for each other and that's super fun for me and I sort of Love providing. I also love getting emails from clients. Like I never get sick of that of like Here's my story. This changed my life when he was why it makes you feel like you're doing something really important and sort of just think why you started the company and like wow, this stuff is actually happening that people feel so much stronger based on this product. So that doesn't get old. But yeah, it's like providing this amazing opportunity for all these folks who get to work for a company that they believe in we've got a lot of employees who are working doing something else and thought I want to get into fitness. I don't know how and we're like we've got a VP of marketing job and it's like what like I can go to a VP. Looking for Fitness like anyway, it's kind of been a fool journey to be able to provide the people. Who do you turn to and who do you let your hair down with when you're having a really shitty day? It's hard to let my hair down. I mean I got really good advice from Mary Wittenberg who used to be the CEO of New York Road Runners and I was a younger sort of CEO running back on my feet and I'm like gosh I just like get no appreciation at work, you know, like no one ever says thank you or like like I'm working so hard hard trying to build this thing and I feel like no one even takes notice and she's like and you got to get that shit at home and I thought it was so it's like I'm like she's so right right like you need to have this great home life outside of your work like your work is never going to love you back the way that you love it. So first off change your expectations if that's what you're thinking so my boyfriend Sam is incredible, you know, and if I've got something to talk through with him or frustrations or anything like I go there first, But don't do that in your company. It's the worst thing you can do like just get it outside of the walls. Are there any women you turn to? Yeah, like other Founders. Yeah. I mean, I don't have a lot of other like sometimes I'll still reach out a little bit to some folks like, you know, Mary's still send a Founder litigation, but I found her really impactful and my mom of course who's not a Founder, but she knows me really well and I feel like she always gives me great advice, but I have not found a huge Collective of women who are founders and Well today today, they're all here. Yeah, I mean, I'm clicking on your name Tracy and I are just talking and had a lot of things in common on you know things that are going on in our business that we're sort of, you know sharing with each other. So that is something I know look forward to continuing to get in my life and also providing advice for anybody who wants to continue to grow their company and I can share all my mistakes with you. I love sharing mistake the other women. I know the best form of therapy. Yeah, so it's been written about that Michelle Obama. Mama is a fan. Yeah, we give it up for that Michelle Obama doing solid for. Yes, so, I'm sure you're a Bound by NDA is that are the strongest any one of us has ever seen but what what advice did did she ever give you advice or what was that process like working with her? Yeah, there's no she still comes when she comes to class twice a week still and she's great. She's like been we've been out to dinner together. We play flip cup together at my place, which was our first time playing flip cup. She did not win and do you pinch yourself and like, oh my God, I'm playing flip cup with Michelle Obama. Okay. Yeah. There's a little tequila so it was a little surreal anyway, but yeah, I mean it means she just becomes you know, anybody who's she doesn't see herself as that way. You know, she's as humble as you sort of would think she is she's really got her feet on the ground. And yeah, I remember the first time she came and took class. She also had this mentality that this is Pilates how hard could it be? So she like worked out with her trainer in the morning and then came to class and we're like in the middle and Stella core has these sweat Lana's at you as you heard from Stacy and it's a It was potty or reformers from a machine and she's standing on top and she just like let's The Carriage go and she just has towering over me and I'm like you can do it. I don't you know, I'm like I didn't know what else to do, but I felt like she was going to kill me and her assistant for bringing her there. So yeah, I still like randomly will show up and I'm like I'm coaching today and she's like great you're going to see you're going to kick her ass. Yeah, but she works really really hard and she's been like really lovely to get to know. So you before you started solid core, you had a non-profit back on my feet. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, so back on my feet started in 2007 and you know talk about humble beginnings. I was running by a homeless shelter and Philly and these group of guys started to wave at me and I start to wave back at them. I'm from North Dakota. So if you talk to me when talk back to you and we sort of developed this relationship and I was in this place in my life where I was like, what is my purpose? Oh my God. One tell me what it is and I'll do it and I was looking underneath the proverbial rocks and just trying to get more meaning in my life and so both this relationship with these guys outside the shelter. My dad's also an addict. So there was sort of this weird connection that I had with these guys and I was like, I'm going to start a running club for this homeless shelter and like this makes so much sense. How can one has ever done this before and it took a while to convince some people the director of like oh this will work and he's like homeless people don't run and I'm like Well, let's ask them and you know, it was just this thing and then all of a sudden there was these nine guys who wanted to run and I'm with these nine guys and all this media showing up and it just became this big thing and after a little while the first few weeks of us running together three days a week. I was like, this is what I'm supposed to do with my life. I'm supposed to use running as a vehicle to make people feel really strong change their identity and if we can change their identity, then we can get them jobs and homes and housing and I'm like this makes so much sense. Everybody else was like, what are you talking about? Out so I called mentors and people that were in my life who are older trying to find someone to tell me that this was a good idea and nobody did right there. Like you're being irresponsible. What do you mean you want to do this for your job? You're going to raise money how you can pay yourself and I'm like, I will figure all of that out. But when your life starts to make sense in the way that I felt it was with my dad being an addict and feeling what I felt for those guys and seeing the power of this Sport and watching these guys get excited about running and who they were I was like, Worst thing that happens is this doesn't work out and I think we convinced ourselves a lot that the worst-case scenario is way like more interminable than it is and it's like you don't die. We don't live in a video game. So yeah, I like I just I just went for it and I spend on myself with people who are smarter than I was and we built a six and a half million dollar annual organization that had 50 staff when I when I left and still has 50 staff and had twelve chapters helping thousands of people living in shelters. Luther's gaining new identity and then moved to employment because we're in a Marriott Marriott has employed over a thousand of our members. They've been a great employment partner to us and it was like Marriott's an amazing company, but it again it's sort of like here's this idea. Like I'm going to disrupt homelessness, like wait what and so it's just no one thought it was a good idea. No one thought that would work and then when I was like I'm leaving this too. Open a fitness studio. I was like, this is stupid. What do you mean you're going to open a fitness studio? Aren't you going to Africa to save all the children? I mean, you just helped all the homeless, you know, like so yeah, like everybody probably in this room, you have come up with resistance for your idea people telling, you know, don't take the risk be responsible make the smart choice and that's what not that's like not when entrepreneurs are made of can you sell your energy at your locations to it's amazing? Yeah. Thanks. So what's next you mentioned? You want to have sell the company in the next 24 months. Do you want to stay on is the goal? What's the goal? Yeah, the go like is not to stay on. I think people freak out when there are ends two things right when something ends. It's like oh my god what happened? It wasn't worth it when a relationship after four years and it's sort of oh, you didn't get married and have kids what a waste of time and I don't really look at life. That way. I think that most things should come to an end so that you can have a new beginning and just Back on my feet. I built that organization to a level that I thought was this was my work and it's now stable and there's an amazing board amazing staff. Like I'm no longer needed and frankly. There's someone who's way better at running this thing than I would be at this point because it's sort of needs a great operator and Cellucor is little bit of the same right now, like my job is so far removed from the day-to-day operations, and I feel like, you know growing to a hundred Studios next year selling the company. I'll help with the transition and then it's time to do something else. Like I'm a Creator. I like to build I like to try new things and I think that's my gift to the world. So I think it would be the easier choice just to stay and keep doing this and I'm excited to find somebody who will like take as good care of it as I have and that will also be the same process of like constantly interviewing folks who they've worked with and making sure that I'm turning this over to hands that I trust awesome. So on the podcast, I like to ask my guests to things the same. Questions to ever guess. So the second to last question is what is something we'd be surprised to know about you. I share very personal things on the podcast. You can share personal or not surprised to know about me. Yeah. I meant. Yeah I mentioned my father is an addict right? He's very okay with me talking about that. So I grew up in North Dakota, which is probably something you guys wouldn't have guessed and yeah had more little challenging, you know, High School upbringing didn't come. I'm from then come from obviously a lot there but my personal my personal life has really driven my family life. My personal life is really driven my entrepreneurship and something else which is not that vulnerable but I can walk on my hands like 50 yards and I will right now I knew she wasn't a spy and I literally send video whatever but I'd also tell Rebecca. I broke my femur this summer. So I don't have the quite that how you broke your femur Yeah, I broke my friend ran into me on a jet. Ski, that's exactly my response. Yeah, so it was a little bit of a rare. I had a compound femur fracture in the water. And yeah, seven surgeries multiple blood transfusions 15 days in the hospital. So it was a little bit of a vengeful but uneventful summer for me. I'm like this Sunshine here is amazing feel so good to be outside. And on the same note is that I was three weeks out from my injury at home and was like, I got to get my life back. Like I'm not going to be this person afterward that is not going to be stronger before the injury. I want to be stronger after so I made this commitment and I signed up for a marathon on March 28th, which will be like nine and a half months after my accident and I just started to ask some people of my friends to do it with me. And as of this morning, there are like four, An 85 people signed up to run this Marathon. Well, it's the DC Rock and Roll Marathon on March 28th. So some of you are from DC or trying to get to 500 by the end of the week. So if you're looking for like a goal and accomplishment, we've got this team called stronger together. And yeah, I'm just like so humbled and amazed and grateful and it's beyond my wildest expectations to see people that I don't even know like being like I want to do this too and join this amazing team of people who are trying to just be a little bit better than they were yesterday. Awesome. So my last question, okay, you is any last piece of advice? These are all very accomplished women. So the advice you would not necessarily give to young up-and-coming but for like women who have all clearly incredible careers. Yeah, I think 20 you guys are thinking about growing your company and I think we that also can be, you know forced upon us if you know grow grow grow and you really need to ask yourself what you want your life to look like because it does change when you've got one Studio verses Versus 50 versus a hundred and what you want your life to be what are your actual priorities and how much you're willing to give to the business whether you do have children at home or you want to travel other things because it's doesn't the work doesn't get any easier right as the company gets bigger. So don't be forced into growth because you know, there's you social pressures that are telling you if you're not growing there's something wrong like make that choice for yourself and decide what your priorities are love it. Thank you. Thanks, Rebecca. Thank you. That was a mom to find out more about her insanely amazing workout. You can follow solid core go take a class. I'm going to be going and I probably won't be able to walk the next day, which I'm very excited about. Thanks for listening.
This episode is sponsored by Capital One Spark Business. Special note: This episode contains a short discussion of eating disorders that may be sensitive for some listeners. Anne Mahlum isn’t going to sugarcoat things for you. She tells it like it is, and that’s probably one of the reasons she’s been so successful, first starting a non-profit to benefit the homeless and then starting her line of wildly successful workout studios, [solidcore]. People thought she was out of her mind when Anne, upon befriending some folks outside of a shelter in Philly, got the idea to start a running club to boost the spirits of those living there. Now, over ten years later, the non-profit is active in 13 cities and has a strong partnership with multiple companies that gets participants employed across the country. Anne took that same can-do attitude with her when she started [solidcore]. After trying a pilates workout on a business trip, she realized she could pair that with strength training to give the slow burn workout of a lifetime. [solidcore] now has 50 locations across the country and is slated to double that by the end of 2020. Here’s to a good sweat! Thanks for listening! We love our listeners! Follow Superwomen on Instagram. Big Ideas   The paramount importance of setting an example as a leader in your company, and creating transparency around that. [06:56]  How scaling is all about the company’s ability to run without you. [11:43]   The value in having a great support system outside of work. [15:20]   ---   Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/superwomen/support 