Episodes

Natacha Nelson's journey has been one of resilience and determination. In college, she faced the disappointment of not making any sports teams and struggled to find her identity as a mixed-race individual. Battling addiction, she eventually left. Not too shortly after, a moment of realization pushed her to make major changes. Working tirelessly in multiple restaurants, Natacha decided to return to a junior college to pursue her dream of going into the medical space. Starting with anatomy and phy...

Rechelle Balanzat, an extremely determined, driven, and resilient entrepreneur, has overcome the rather large challenges of breaking into the highly competitive dry cleaning market with her company, JULIETTE. With her immense success in this competitive space, Rechelle now helms three different brands and 6 locations in NYC. New York has been her home for over 20 years, enabling her to understand the city's unique mentality and lifestyle. Her expertise with the fast-paced demands of New Yorkers ...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore interviews Blake Richards formerly with Nike as a Senior Data Quality Analyst, then Senior Global Membership Ops Process Coordinator and now as the Founder of Wunup. Wunup is a one-of-a-kind app that dives into world of gamification and peer-to-peer challenges in the fitness industry. Blake shares his journey from working at Nike to creating his own company, and how the culture and innovation at Nike influenced...

In this episode, Cale Owen of Gym Launch dives deep into strategies to help engage gym members, maximize profit, and help take business owners to the next level. Cale opens up about the challenge many gym-goers face - the reluctance to put in hard work and effort. He shares his recommendations on how to combat this and engage members by regularly reaching out to them, checking on their progress and well-being. (The simple handwritten card can be a game-changer in client retention!) Pete and Cale...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore interviews long time friend and serial entrepreneur, Chris Place, Founder and CEO of RINGO. Chris got inspired to create his incredibly innovative product by a gathering of friends in the Florida Keys. During their reunion, they struggled to capture a group photo on a small boat while trying to lean the phone up against their water bottle. (Can you relate?!) This sparked an idea – why not create a water bottle t...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcome the powerhouse Mother/Daughter team of Nikki Warren and Coral Warren from KaiaFit Nikki and Koral are two, super passionate individuals who began their journey in gymnastics. While watching children at gymnastics facilities, they realized the joy and love that came from being active and connected with their bodies. However, they also noticed that many mothers on the sidelines had lost their enthusiasm fo...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes back (for the third time!) the team of Austin Cohen and Justin Turetsky. FlexIt's mission is to empower everyone with flexible Interconnected Health experiences, including Virtual Personal Training, Virtual Nutrition, and Virtual Physical Therapy – Wherever, Whenever®. The platform is the ultimate tool for motivation and accountability, helping users reach their health and wellness goals through live,...

Please go to http://bit.ly/haloacademylive and fill in our 2-question survey. Whether we go ahead with this iniitiative will depend solely on the survey responses we receive, so if you're at all interested in this. . .please do us that favor. It'll take 30 seconds or less. With appreciation, Pete Moore-Managing Partner & Founder, Integrity Square David Ganulin-Chief Marketing Officer, Integrity Square & HALO Talks Executive Producer

Joining us on this episode of HALO Talks are a cast of veteran actors and incredibly talented individuals who have combined their love for performing, writing, and a newfound passion for pickleball to create something truly special: Pickleball is Life-Dill With It! Watch the hilarious trailer here! Today's guests include Carol Ann Demarco, Susan Gallagher, Catherine Curtin, and Leigh Anne West. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Carol Ann and Leigh Anne found themselves brainstorming ideas for ...

Russ Meneve, an entrepreneur and inventor, experienced a life-changing event when he suffered a severe injury from a free weight bar a few years ago. It left him with a torn shoulder, requiring surgery and a grueling year-plus recovery period. Throughout this challenging journey, Russ realized there was a notable lack of safety measures available in the market to prevent such accidents. He embarked on a mission to create something that could prevent injuries during free weight lifts. After mont...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes Laura Munkholm, President and Co-Founder at Walla. Laura, seven months pregnant with her second child, was running her Yoga 6 location and facing a frustrating lack of insight into her teacher's performance. Determined to find a solution, she partnered with Doug Hecht to create a game-changing product in the face of fierce competition. Laura chats about her journey of identifying frustrations and build...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes back Emre Ozgur, long time industry veteran and Founder of Safe Sweat. (See Emre's first HALO Talks chat here.) Emre is the Co-Founder of Safe Sweat, a revolutionary fitness concept that was born out of the pandemic. After recognizing the challenges faced by individuals who felt intimidated by traditional gyms, Emre and his team embarked on a mission to create a safe and comfortable space for everyone....

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes Carol Ann Chambers, Director of Workforce Innovation & Community Partnerships, Adjunct Professor at Lionel University. Carol Ann has dedicated the past 15 years of her life to the HALO (Health, Active Lifestyle, Outdoor) space. Although she started as a volunteer coach without any certifications, her passion for fitness and health led her to establish her own nonprofit organization focused on kids' fit...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes back Andrew Menter, CEO and Founder of Physmodo. (If you missed his first show, check it out here.) Physmodo uses computer vision to deliver a quick, objective, automated and easily repeatable movement assessment to quantify how your body moves. It's a must-have for any fitness facility that offers personal training! Andrew and Pete chat about the latest advancements in software and how it can impact t...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes Kimberley Clayton, CEO and Founder of SKOP Reformer, the world's first patented data analytic Pilates reformer. SKOP is positioned to disrupt the physical therapy and telemedicine sectors, allowing people to prevent and predict injuries as well as train, enhance, recover and rehabilitate physical movement. Not one to enjoy conventional workouts, Kimberley reveals that Pilates is the exception for her, ...

Eric Epstein is a seasoned private equity professional with over 30 years of experience. He began his career at the prestigious Blackstone Group in New York City, where he honed his skills for a few years before moving on to work with various private credit funds. Afterward, Eric joined the private equity group at Cerberus Capital and spent a decade working in their New York and Los Angeles offices. Currently, he operates as an independent sponsor. Eric has built strong relationships with family...

Kristin Peterson is one of the three Founders of Volee that specializes in high-end, pickleball accessories. Their site states, "Volée is a Newport Beach based brand founded by three best friends inspired by their passion for court sports, style, fun and community. The retro vibe of California adds a sporty sophistication to the brand, making Volée's elevated, multifunctional and fashionable bags and accessories stand out." Alongside Co-Founders Ashley Rose and Kasey Martin, the idea was sparke...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes Ahmed AbouElezz, the founder of FITT Finder. Ahmed shares his entrepreneurial journey, beginning with arriving in the United States with only $3,000 in his bank account and working as a nightclub bouncer. He recounts sleeping in his car in San Francisco and strategically parking near a popular cafe frequented by startup investors. He reveals how he would act like he was ordering coffee and do some netwo...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes Taylor Watkins, founder of Digital Revenue Systems. They discuss topics such as ancillary revenue via in-club ads, using local businesses to create an ad network, concerns around in-club advertising, and more. Digital Revenue Systems tailor their programs accordingly based on a club's goals and preferences, whether it be advertising, communication improvement, or employee engagement. They emphasize prom...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, host Pete Moore welcomes special guest Paul Amoruso, Founder & CEO of bodQR. Paul discusses how his team solved an initial frustration for themselves, and then quickly realized they could sell the solution to other businesses in the space. The development of their software took years of iteration and testing different positionings and features. They rolled the app out in waves to different target markets and believe there is a ...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, Pete Moore sat with Yvette and Neal McGaffin, Co-Founders of Reform RX to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the connected Pilates space, what it's like to get involved with manufacturing, and more! They delve into strategies for the HALO sector during COVID, highlighting that partnerships with gyms and studios may be a more effective approach versus trying to go direct-to-consumer initially. They also emphasize the im...

Live from the floor of the March 2023 IHRSA Trade Show in San Diego, Pete Moore sat with long-time fitness industry veteran Jarrod Saracco, Founder of the Health Club Doctor, to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the industry. This wide-ranging conversation touched on a ton including the importance of finding qualified and committed employees, and what are some of the key metrics to be aware of around unit economics. Jarrod also offered some great advice on understanding the marketplace...

Garret Marshall has been in the fitness industry for 20 years, starting way back (kind of "falling into it") in 2003. His first job was teaching swimming lessons to kids at Lifetime Fitness where he stayed for five and a half years. Prior to that, he was heavily involved in athletics growing up and playing hockey after school. Over the years he had "every job you can think of" in the health club world. Garrett's currently President of Fitness Streaming for Xponential Fitness. He and Pete discus...

Jason Crowe has had a varied career in healthcare, spending the first 15 years in what he calls "reactive healthcare" in various roles. Feeling a desire to make a difference in the healthcare system, he transitioned to the HALO sector (Health, Active Lifestyle, Outdoor), joining Precision Nutrition as part of the business development and partnership program for four successful years. Crowe's experience in both reactive and preventive healthcare has made him a seasoned professional with unique in...