REAL motivation

I am working on expanding our message to market our fitness products so we're not only appealing to a person's desire to look great in low rise jeans or look great walking around a swimming pool in a bathing suit. There are other - more compelling benefits which seem kind of obvious, but we hardly ever talk about it.

So this week I posted this request in a forum on the Beachbody message boards: What specific benefits have you gotten from getting fit other than how you look?

The response was quick and compelling. For anyone looking for "chicken soup" type motivation to workout and eat right, or if you have any doubt as to the heart of the membership Beachbody community, it's worth the fifteen minutes of reading the entire thread.

There are recurring comments: "No more back pain" is a big one, like Charline's weight loss and back pain story which is amazing. She wrote: "Pre-Beachbody, I had a doctor tell me, "you are overweight. You have a bulging disc on your lower back and will continue to have debilitating pain until you either lose weight or have surgery." I chose to lose weight starting at over 200. To my amazement, once I strengthened my abs, and lost over 50 lbs of weight, I have not had lower back pain at all. And I used to be down 2 weeks at a time with back pain." For me, back pain sucks the energy out of me like nothing else - so i know what kind of relief that can be.

Improved relationships is another recurring theme. I can only imagine the lifestyle change experienced by Chris Girard who has lost 135 lbs - yes 135 lbs - not by eating Subway sandwiches, but by working out and eating smart. "More spice"/"better sex" was listed by a bunch of people, and even contributed by Dr. Dale, who also listed less sickness because of his boosted immune system - Awesome! A doctor who gets it!

Another theme was getting out of depression. Mahala said her Post Partum Depression cleared up within a week of starting her program.

And then there are the specific stories of triumph, like from Kathy who summoned the courage to end a bad marriage, Virginia who ended her fight with self-esteem issues, Mary (a frequent visitor to this blog) who just completed a round of Power 90 who points out that she is "learning to love myself more".

Dawn ("absmom") summed it up so eloquently with her post, where she actually took it a level deeper than attributing her life-change to the fitness or the weight loss: "Being fit and losing weight didn't change my emotional well being. Being RESPONSIBLE and ACCOUNTABLE changed my weight and made me fit. They are somehow intertwined and cannot be separated. For me the ultimate benefit was becoming a WHOLE person."

How awesome is that? While I'm doing what I can to attend to the operational, financial, and human resource issues of the business side of Beachbody, this is si the human side of what my job comes down to; Creating programs that get real results and elicit this type of feedback from customers. I am grateful for the responsibility, and I don't take it lightly.

But let me be 100% clear -- this installment is not a gratuitous Beachbody tribute. I am not jumping up and down to celebrate the business or urge you to order -- this is a celebration of what happens when people take action, exercise and eat better, and overcome their own patterns in order to succeed. All the information you need to get these same results is available on the internet, in the library, and by using good common sense. Go for a walk. Join a gym. Control your portions. Of course, Beachbody is also a resource for the guidelines to achieve all these results. But no matter what, the proof is undeniable -- the slightest change, combined with perseverance, can have a dramatic change on the quality of your life.

Oh, and you will happen to look great in low rise jeans and you will look great walking around a swimming pool in a bathing suit too. So be it!

"Hit It!"

Water skiing is my first love. I was on two skis by age six, I was lucky enough to train at the legendary McCormick Ski School when I was twelve, meet champion Camille Duvall-Hero through business, and even have my ski signed by Sammy Duvall. The day my family bought a Mastercraft ski boat I felt the love most kids feel when they get a new puppy.


The only accomplishment that overshadows the first time I ever succeeded at gliding across the water on barefeet, is the day I did it backwards. While I never competed or had anything but a smile to show for my passion for this sport, to know me is to know that I am happiest on the water.

Frankly, waterskiing was one of my motivating factors for the development of P90X. I had never had a fitness program that would prepare me for the bursts of power and stamina required of the sport. Selfish, but I figured if I needed something to train me for my sport, there had to be others out there who wanted a solution for their sport as well whether waterskiing, snow skiing, bowling, hurling, curling, etc.

Now generally, I have not seen many people share my intense enthusiasm for the sensation of waterskiing. "Neat" or "yeah that's fun" are about as compelled as I hear most people get. For me though, it is a supercharged experience every time I get pulled up for another run across flat water. No matter how spent my legs or my grip, I'll find a way to get another run in. It is my one true break from whatever is going on in the "real world". Nothing feels as gratifying as a crisp turn into a hard pull across the wake, over and over again. There's just nothing like that sensation for me.

So last week when I was on vacation, and my five-year old daughter Ava asked for the first time, "is it my turn to ski now?", I was shocked, and ready to support her completely. We started on the boom, and she nailed it right away. Then we added a five foot extension. And the next day, it was long line off the back of the boat. I asked her to yell "Hit It!" when she was ready to get started. I barely had to put the boat in gear and this little peanut was up. She is a natural!

And I could not be more proud or excited about the fact that for the rest of my life I can share my favorite sport with my favorite person.

The Huddle

When Jon Congdon, President of Product Partners, leaves the country on business/vacation each year, I sit in on his regular staff meetings for a couple weeks. This year has been especially eye-opening!

From Monday to Friday, it seemed like I kept having the same meeting, with the same 7 people, plus or minus two, discussing the same activities! As I looked around the room and added up the burn-rate per hour, it seemed clear I had found a leak. "This has got to change" I thought.

But by the weekend I realized I was completely informed as to what was happening within each department on key decisions we had made. When marketing makes a move - and they make a lot of them, telemarketing, operations, and customer service generally are in on it because of these meetings. When information systems contemplated cutting over this weekend to a new processing platform, the company was informed, and everyone who needs to be in on that process has been alert to it all weekend, despite the holiday.


These were not "meetings" where the suits talk, and the staff is twiddling their thumbs to pass the time - these were critical "huddles" on highly detail-oriented maneuvers. Just like a football team will circle up into a huddle to make sure everyone is in on the play, my team was doing the same.

If you have good people ("players") and make sure everyone understands their assignment in whatever decision is being made (the "play") then out of the huddle everyone can split-off and perform their function. The key is to make sure you have great players, and then to keep the huddle brief so everyone shows up ready to get the information and then get back to execution.

As I consider the metaphor of the huddle across other activities, this regular perspective on group communication started to show its value in motivation. What we're doing with the 100lb Club can be seen as a huddle of sorts. In fact I intend to discuss with our motivation staff how we might create regular "huddles" so people know that if they check in on these sessions, they will be likely to stay more consistent.

Today I searched around the web to see if I was late to the concept -- if "huddles" were being applied elsewhere. I read how the Fellowship of Christian Athletes was using huddles to describe weekly bible study and how the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, Massachusetts was using their concept of huddles to promote faster communication in shorter meetings.

For anyone who loathes the concept of a meeting when the demands for productivity are piling up, to think of the meeting as a huddle might change your perspective. It might even help you determine if your presence is really needed. I can remember when I was on the Beachbody Across America trip on a chartered plane a few years ago, gathering testimonials for the Power Half Hour program, the production crew at Mega Mace would get together every night to discuss the way the shoots from the day had gone, and to discuss the plan for the next day. I remember being critical of all these meetings. But in retrospect, that trip went incredibly smooth because of their nightly huddle. I didn't need to be in on them, but they were critical for the key players of that frenetic ten day trip.

The concept of the huddle has shifted my judgment on meetings, from thinking of them as a creeping virus of bureaucracy, to a management opportunity for better team execution. In fact, as a guy who generally prefers to work on his own, the concept of the huddle actually opened me up to embrace a more collaborative role.

Sometimes I get weekend ideas and insights that fizzle by Monday, but I wouldn't be surprised this one is a turning point for the quality and quantity of productivity I am able to accomplish, thanks to a simple shift in perspective on the need for intra-company communication... Huddle up!

And the winner is...

not us.

Nine of the senior and most tenured of staff at Product Partners joined me for the Los Angeles Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 Awards, for which Jon Congdon and I had been nominated in the Retail/Distribution category. (Jon was at the Electronic Retailing Association conference in Europe, and thus unable to attend.)

This was a black tie dinner in the same room where they shoot the Golden Globes. I had to go backstage early to rehearse the intricate staging for our on-stage introductions. (I kid you... we had to walk on stage when our name was called, then line up, single file.) It was fascinating and impressive to stand backstage and hear firsthand the success stories of the other entrepreneur finalists. I also got the impression that we were a long shot to win the award. Many of the finalists were there for their second or third nomination. But the process was interesting nonetheless. It was equally fascinating to see 16 executives (and our egos) try and figure out how to maintain the order of our procession to the stage. "Am I after you?" "No - you're after Fred" "Where's Fred?" "Wait - I think you're after Fred." "Who's Fred?" "There is no Fred."


The MC of the event was Christine Devine, a primetime news anchor from Fox-11 in LA. She was impressively personable for a prominent journalist in the #2 media market in the country. And her comic interludes about finding husband material among the finalists was genuinely funny. I especially appreciated how she acknowledged some of the civic contributions of winner Steven W. Streit. She brought a celebration of business innovation and success back around to the human story, and it was a refreshing contribution.


[My interview on screen with Amber Otto from customer service (left) and Heather Hanson from operations in the foreground]

As they set-up each category, they played a video interview and overview of each of the finalists. Surprisingly, Jon and I were the only entrepreneurs with our own bare chested before and after photos featured across the twenty foot TV's. And there was an unmistakable murmur in the room when Beachbody customer before and afters were shown: "There's no way those are all real". It never fails. But when it came time to announce the winner in the Retail/Distribution category, a twenty-six year old shrink wrap/logistics company got the prize.

My flash of disappointment quickly gave way to relief. It was indeed a great honor to be nominated by an acquaintance of Jon's who took notice of what we were doing, and I am very proud to have become a finalist. But as I watched the various winners go on stage to take the spotlight and give their acceptance speeches, I realized I don't like when the spotlight gets focused on me or Jon rather than on the customers or the staff at large. I much preferred sitting around that table with my team, brainstorming how we are going to approach a logistical challenge and a new production opportunity. Solving "the riddle of the day", that's what I enjoy, and this kind of stuff feels like a distraction to me. While I must admit it can have a very positive impact on creating new opportunities, it's just never been my thing to glorify ourselves. I much prefer doing the work than I do reflecting on how we did it. My "award" comes when customers tell us how well the product works and in seeing the dramatic growth and profitability of the business. And when a new concept like the "100lb Club" gets launched and in a matter of days gets over 14,000 hits, I get my real sense of accomplishment and pride in what we have built.

I suppose I might be singing a different tune if we had won. But for now, our focus is tuned on the real prize, and our resolve sharpened. It's back to the ongoing challenge of the job itself!

CEO Snapshot - a day of the fun stuff

Some days there's a clear advantage to being CEO of a company operating under the name of "Beachbody" where the job includes brainstorming ways we can inspire and engage people in fitness and weight loss. The prospect of spending time on creative production, promotion, and invention are what get me out of bed earlier.

Yes, I focus a lot of my attention on balance sheets, cash forecasts and income statements. And clearly we are dealing with a mountain of logistical and processing issues as we grow and the business model evolves. Those issues get attention every day.

But Thursday of this week in particular seemed to include an uncommon variety of creative projects.

My first meeting of the day was to discuss the status of Kathy Smith's Project: YOU! between Kathy Smith's team and our development and marketing VP's. After over a year of development, production, testing, tweaking and re-testing, we got to announce that the marketplace has spoken, and Kathy Smith's Project: YOU! will be rolled out across the country as aggressively as possible over the next year or so. And with that commitment we got to brainstorm other distribution concepts like making the product available through corporate benefit plans, doctor's and chiropractors' offices, etc. We also discussed additional web support concepts as Kathy's customers are very active in the MyBeachbody diet and support club.

One of those concepts includes web streaming of tips and actual live workouts, another innovation we're announcing soon. On Saturday July 23rd, at 10AM ET/7AM PT we're going to stream our first live workout over the internet exclusively for members of MyBeachbody. Tony Horton, the trainer behind Power 90, the extreme P90X, and my daughter's favorite, Tony & The Kids, will lead a couple of customers through a live Power 90 Sculpt routine for around 45 minutes. (We had considered the brand "Down & Dirty" for these online workouts, but once we starting to think through the implications of future workouts like "Yoga Booty Ballet, Down & Dirty", we thought better of that name. So for this first one it will be titled simply "Power 90 Live!". Because of the rapport Tony and I can have, I will be behind the camera, so I can be "the viewer" during the routines, and ask questions about form and objective of some of the moves. This webcast is a real innovation, a live workout for hundreds of MyBeachbody members to join in and participate. That's exciting stuff.

Then I spent a half hour with the web design team to discuss the look and feel of the TurboJam website. The design is very bright and colorful, but doesn't exactly jive with the feel of the workouts which, in addition to a lot of color, music and high energy, have an "underground night club" kind of vibe. We replaced some white space with deep gray, and the page settled down. I love it when a simple change works and saves hours of redesign.

Midday Thursday I stopped into the editing room to find our production team and Chalene Johnson set-up with her "TurboJam" baseball cap and a couple of cameras in her face. They were shooting the last pieces to go on her DVD's as a special feature. Throughout the production of TurboJam, we've been pulling practical jokes on cast and crew. What Ashton Kutcher would call getting "Punk'd" Chalene calls "getting jam'd", and it is absolutely hysterical.
Those pranks will be a special feature on each of the DVD's. And while it sounds a bit like a gimmick, the point is to give the customer a stronger relationship with Chalene and everyone involved in the workouts, beyond the workout itself. When you go to the gym to take a kick boxing class you get to know the trainer and others in the class. This is an attempt to make you feel more connected to the TurboJam cast, and to further position TurboJam as, "the fun one".

The last meeting of the day was to finalize plans for the annual Hawaii trip which we've been doing to celebrate Power 90 success since 2001.
The team is in the groove on this one now, as this will be our fifth trip to Hawaii, to be hosted on the garden isle of Kauai by Pure Kauai. Looks like the cast of Power 90 and P90X customer success stories will be chosen in September for a mid-October week, with an extra emphasis this year on asking customers to submit video along with the letters and photos they normally send in. The timeline doesn't leave a lot of room to promote customer submissions, set up locations for our shoots, and to lock-down all the events that happen on the trip during that popular month in Hawaii. But the team is so on it, they even stayed behind after hours to nail down as much as possible.

Not a bad day. Of course, I haven't listed the three hours I spent reviewing our latest financial projections and CIM (I swear it Jim, I really spent three hours on it!), plus time signing bank documents, approving invoices, revising the Slim in 6 booklet, and working with our media department to expand our Lifetime Network media package.

But all in all, that's a day of the good stuff.

McDonald's Wants A New Image?

This is unbelievable to me. McDonald's has announced a licensing and media venture for branded products like bikes and skateboards, reportedly to improve its image as promoting a healthy lifestyle for kids.

In similar news, Beachbody has announced that it will be licensing its logo to a new line of comfortably padded office cubicles, to improve the image of its customer service department.

Here's my point; If a business has an image issue, it is likely created by a product or service problem. Don't fix the image - fix the problem. Morgan Spurlock's brilliant film Supersize Me, showed how McDonald's may be guilty of promoting a menu that is not all that healthy for you if it is the majority of your diet. And while the demonstration in that film is extreme, it shows how society's expectation of a company changes as it goes from being an interesting success story to a behemoth with massive distribution. It is so massive now, that McDonald's has inherited an additional social responsibility. And that's the way it goes. So be socially responsible! Point the business, and the society you serve, in a positive direction!

The opportunity to contribute to the world and make a profit with that fantastic McDonald's distribution system is amazing. Now is not the time to make a simple symbolic gesture about living a healthy lifestyle. Making us dig into the McDonald's website for nutrition information is not a solution, and hiring an author to help educate people about nutrition is not dealing with the issue head-on. McDonald's needs to apply courageous, visible creativity to the store and menu option, or in other words -- actually show that McDonald's cares about the health of its customers by inverting the menu, and making it easier to find health than it is to find trans fat.

That's how you get back to being a welcome neighbor on so many thousands of street corners across the world.

Actively help the customer know which foods are healthiest. Train your staff (which will help them live a healthier lifestyle as well) and present those healthy options as colorfully and prominently as the fried stuff and burgers. Help us shift from thinking of McDonald's as the evil food empire to a valued food supplier that cares about us. If McDonald's would help me sell my daughter on ordering something called a "Kids Mighty Meal" filled with "Orange Princess" mini-carrots, "Cherry Bomb" tomatoes, and a soy-veggie patty called a "Beach Burger" packaged in colorful game-themed wrapping with contests, quizzes, and jokes that would be as fun as the junk, I would pull through as often as she wanted. Instead when I am driving near a McDonald's at lunch time I am hoping she'll look the other way. Why is that not obvious to this company and its franchisees?

How about an actual weight loss plan, available at McDonald's, where they support their community in banding together to lose weight and eat more healthy? Instead of making people figure out how to construct a 400 calorie meal from their menu, McDonald's could do it for you, right there, with healthy food options. Lay it out for us! Help your community solve the obesity problem.

I can't even imagine the power that brand would wield if they played for the long term benefit of its customers - and ultimately EVERYONE would win. And the other fast food companies would have to follow.

I am not saying take everything else off the menu - just advocate the healthy options as creatively as you push the other stuff. Frankly, Beachbody would find a way to help promote such a move by McDonald's in our weight loss product information and maybe even our $50 million a year in TV advertising. It would help everyone because it would be so convenient when it comes to healthy food planning that the results from our fitness programs would be that much more achievable. Instead, Beachbody has to give advice to its customers as to why people should avoid McDonald's. Too bad. No company's perfect, but the potential is so clear.

As for the business of Beachbody, we've got our own "image issues" too, and we try to address them directly. Logistics and customer service all need constant refinement and improvement to keep up with our fast growth. We don't fade from the hard work and look at a distant way to "appear like we care". We genuinely care. We accept the responsibility. And in order to find the long term solution, we are constantly testing and investing in solutions.

Maybe McDonald's management will approach their menu that way some day by dealing directly with the problem, not just the image. As a consumer, parent, and human being, I hope so.

The kid's got courage

My daughter Ava and I went to the Long Beach Aquarium Saturday to see the Sea life, and there was this fenced-in area where you could feed these birds called Lorikeets.

As you walk into the netted Lorikeet forest with this little cup of nectar in your hand, you are immediately swarmed by these parrot-looking birds who know the deal. I'm not talking Hitchcock here, but at one point I had one on my head, one on my shoulder and two on my arms. I tried to settle into it, but frankly, it freaked me out. And I'm sure you can imagine the delightful Lorikeet timebomb waiting inside each little creature as these birds digest this virtual "nectar parade".

Well, Ava was much more courageous and sturdy with the experience than I was. She was like St. Francis with the "keets". I'm glad she got her patience for animals from her mom.

Ed Knows

I was reviewing the guidebook and diet guideline for a new program we're launching and read with interest a tip to stay in control of your diet even if you are eating at a restaurant. As I read I was reminded of the time when I first witnessed someone take control of their order this way; I was at a dinner with Ed McMahon of "Tonight Show" and "Star Search" fame, and his wife Pam. He had just finished his own health-transformation at the Pritikin center in Santa Monica, learning how to improve his exercise and diet plans. And when the waiter of this gourmet restaurant came to take our orders, Ed proceeded to spell out exactly what he wanted on the menu - and exactly how it was to be prepared. Furthermore, Pam pulled a zip lock bag out of her purse with the only seasonings to be used, plus a guideline for the portion size and exactly how much salt was allowed to hit the plate. This was extreme.

I was blown away - here is a top personality in entertainment, and instead of living a life of decadence, he was proactively making sure that his exposure to heart disease and other diet related problems were much more under his control, simply by not letting the restaurant dictate what he would put into his body. Impressive stuff. This, of course was before I knew starting Beachbody was in my future, and thus before I got my own act together. That night I think I had the steak. The fries. Extra wine. Extra bread.

Not long after that time of my life, I learned my cholesterol was topping 300.

Things have changed in these fifteen years since that dinner! Food choices effect the quality of your life - no matter how successful you are. Ed knows. Now I know.

View from the top

This is the view from the top of Las Flores Canyon - an excruciating steep ride from the Pacific Coast Highway up to an unbelievable overlook. Not a bad Saturday workout though. And it's fun catching and passing cars on the way back down. Cheap thrills.

Try Something Else

The camera crew from Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year came by today to interview Jon and me about the company and our thoughts on what it takes to be an entrepreneur, for use at the 2005 finalist awards banquet.

Funny thing about it is, I don't think I ever set-out to "be" an entrepreneur, I was just driven to deploy my skills and ideas in a direction to improve things, and when I did, people saw what we created and told me; "You're an entrepreneur".

Once I got thinking about some of the interview questions the camera crew had in mind, I got to thinking what sets apart some entrepreneurs from others is how they respond to the challenges and stages of growth. Do you ever "stop being an entrepreneur" and simply become a business person? The short answer, if you want to continue to grow and/or survive inevitable competition, is never. You need to keep solving problems, stay entrepreneurial, be creative, and keep trying new things.

It's very possible to expect there to be some smooth sailing after the turbulent start-up phase of a company. It takes a ton of persistence just to survive for a few years, but if you're lucky enough to breakthrough and see dramatic growth, there comes a choice to keep up the momentum, driving innovation and continued growth, or accept the growth, call it a "success", and exit stage left.

We have chosen not to seek smooth sailing. There's still too much opportunity, too many people who are still searching for a fitness and weight loss solution who haven't even heard of Beachbody.com. Being considered entrepreneurs is not a phase to us, a start-up prospect - it is a mentality that we bring to work with us every day that drives the culture of the company to face challenges with creativity and persistence. What's incredibly important as we evolve though, is that we impart the entrepreneurial spirit to each new member of the team. What used to be a challenge against external forces now has evolved into a challenge to keep the internal forces productive and pointed in the same direction as the vision of the entrepreneurial management. There are always problems in running a company - new problems and new opportunities every day. As an entrepreneur, my job is to look honestly at them, see the opportunities and options, and work with the best quality team I can muster to take on whatever the marketplace brings us. Some days are more turbulent than others, but you never stop dealing. You never stop solving. That's what sets apart some entrepreneurs from others.

There's an anecdote a friend told me once which is a metaphor for how I like to operate when faced with the challenges of growth we face daily at the company. The anecdote describes a newspaper reporter trying to get inside the mind of a Navy test pilot. When asked by the reporter "Let's say your plane is going down, and you absolutely know it's not gonna make it... what's the last thing that would go through your mind?" the test pilot answered back "Try something else." The reporter presses: "Yeah, but there's nothing else to try. You KNOW for certain the plane is going down. What goes through your mind at that moment?" The test pilot looks a little bewildered because the answer is so obvious to him, "try something else". The reporter is also getting frustrated because the pilot is not taking him up on the point of his hypothetical question. So he asks again, "But there are NO other options - the plane is 100% going down... what goes through your mind?" and test pilot says one last time, "I try something else".

That's the way the best entrepreneurs think too. When the going gets tough, which it always does if you're trying to innovate and grow, you have to be prepared to "try something else". There's always hope until you ACCEPT that you have no options. That's why I think a real entrepreneur never stops being an entrepreneur. You're always solving the riddle. The riddle is always changing. And the cycle continues. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and even giant GE prove to me that as long as you stay focused on innovation within your vision, the surge of growth does not have to end.

When an entrepreneur is faced with a challenge in any situation, you just have to "try something else", and continue trying something else until you solve it. And when that solution turns into a success story, you look for the next opportunity. That's how this company, and I, will stay entrepreneurial.

"Thank You For Calling Beachbody"

These are photos from our first "Executive telemarketing summit" for management to experience and improve the way our inbound telemarketing calls work. Beachbody President Jon Congdon (in the foreground of the first photo), SVP of customer service Jorge Molina, super-sales-guy Greg Walker, Director of Telemarketing Joe Camarillo and I took P90X phone calls all morning to experience what our inbound telemarketing agents do when they get calls from our infomercial viewers.

To say the least, it was enlightening, and marked the start of a new era in how we approach this critical piece of our business. THIS is where "the rubber meets the road", as new customers respond to what they saw on TV. It was one of the most exciting mornings I've had at this company since we started -- because for the first time, I got to speak with customers (anonymously) and get a better understanding of opportunities and challenges created by the offers we broadcast.

I kind of feel stupid for not doing this fifteen years ago, or at least six years ago when we started Product Partners. It's like I was a restaurant owner never waiting a table, or a shop owner never walking the floor of his store to hear what customers are saying. Actually, we have intended that every new employee was going to go through customer service training and even take calls for a week a year. But so far that plan has not materialized as rapid growth required us to get people in, trained, and on to the specific task they were being hired for. But now I can see the advantage to this process. And we will certainly revisit that training concept.

For me, something about getting my mind into "sales mode" - which means getting real people excited about what's possible when you really "Bring It" with a fitness program like P90X - got me back into the spirit of what it takes to radically change the trend of obesity. People don't need a little nudge or a new food pyramid, they need true belief in the solutions they are considering and the momentum created by enthusiasm to make the commitment it takes. People don't want to waste their time - and if the program really works, they need to hear that confidence when they call to order.

As I answered calls, I heard people hemming and hawing, questioning the price, questioning the company they're dealing with. And that's when I would really get excited, because I know that if people go for it, if they follow the P90X program as it is outlined, (or one like it... oh, there is nothing else like it) they WILL get into the best shape of their life! The price is just not the point when compared to the cost of being out of shape. And when people consider the short and long term benefits of being lean, strong, and seeing how well their clothes fit, or when they consider what people are spending for big multi-station machines, gym memberships, or even surgery, our systems are the absolute best value offered anywhere to achieve real, healthy body transformation. It's not just about the information or the equipment you need to get results, it's about whether the system you're using supports you through the challenging times when you'll want to give up. That's where we win every time, because we stay there with people to support them at every step. That's where we're unique, and that's what I got to tell people on the phone today.

This was an exciting morning as other Beachbody management and staff visited our mini-test lab to witness the process. And as usual, everyone who stopped by also pitched-in with suggestions for making things better and to cheer on one of us when they could hear us struggling to answer questions on the fly.

And with this effort, Beachbody has once again demonstrated its commitment to improve everything it does at every turn, and to treat its customers with respect throughout the process. So the next time you order from Beachbody, listen close, you may just be talking to headquarters!

The Next Big Thing?

I get asked often by associates and customers “What’s the next frontier for Beachbody? What’s the next big thing the CEO is working on?”

It’s interesting to prospect for opportunity – it comes with the “CEO” title, especially as a creative guy who relishes the start-up process. It’s my job to keep an eye on the horizon for the next opportunity. But in an industry that is enamored of “what’s hot” and “what’s new”, one of the distinguishing things which has made our company successful is our persistence and focus, facilitating growth at the same time we are living within our means.

The more I have kept my eye on maximizing investments we’ve made and doubled-down by investing in fixing the problems which are causing customer grief, the stronger we have grown.

Right now I find myself in that very same situation: Maximize the business at hand more than prospect for “the next big thing”.

We have a great catalog of products which have a compelling marketing message and which are effective solutions for the customer. But what used to be a simple business of one or two offer set-ups has matured into a complex matrix of options. From “Try it free” to “Buy the entire thing today for this special price”, the complexity of offer structure is daunting when you multiply it over all the variations, and the ripple effect of issues all the way through marketing, operations, finance, and customer service gets very complicated. Last year we felt like we were at the top of our game. In an effort to better serve the marketplace, we added this layer of complexity, and the challenge is being felt in every corner of the business – and that means it's also being felt by the customer.

Lately I’ve seen emails from some frustrated customers, some who didn’t really understand an offer, others who didn’t appreciate the way they were treated by a customer service rep. It makes me wince every time I get a customer email that says something like “you obviously don’t care about the customer at your company”, because I wake up caring about the customer, and I spend the day caring about the customer, as does the entire management team of this company. But when you’re growing customer service by 10% a week, the process of training and retaining quality people is a race against time and volume. We’re doing our best. We answer every email. We’re adding technology. We're clarifying offer structure. We’re hiring more people, and investing more in training. And as we inch toward 24/7 customer service hours, it’s a daily struggle to maintain quality. So far, the team is doing a great job, and the entire company is working to improve everything.

My job as CEO is to make sure management is focused on maximizing the commitments we've already made, including attending closely to the customer experience, not just looking for the next new thing. We have to maximize the customer relationship, live up to our promises, and above all else, support the customer in achieving the REAL point of our relationship: the achievement of fitness and weight loss.

Right now I am working on making sure as many people as possible are hearing about the products and programs we have created. At the same time, I am making sure that the people who are responding to our offers are getting the attention -- the same kind of service they would get if this company were just me sitting at a card table with one product and enough cash to break a hundred dollar bill. Bigger will not mean a dillution in overall customer satisfaction -- not here anyway.

That’s not the glamorous priority of the title, CEO, but it’s the part of the job that helps the whole enterprise feel good about the work. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a few new things on the drawing board. Clearly, TurboJam™ has the potential to be a blockbuster. And when that product gets added to the catalog this summer, it will get the benefit of a fortified infrastructure and solid business approach that treats the customer with respect, maximizes investment in development, and stays focused on what’s really “the next big thing”… our growing list of real customer success stories.

Supplement Swallowing Tip!

A smart friend gave me a tip the other day about taking supplements so the body gets the most out of them: Let the pills sit in your mouth for a moment before swallowing. Supposedly letting your saliva contact the supplement before you swallow them does two things: (a) the saliva gets the breakdown of the supplement started efficiently and (b) the enzymes in the saliva transmit so the body knows what sort of nutrients it's about to assimilate. (This is unconfirmed by any scientist or study that I know of - so take it as educated conjecture).

So if you're doing the right thing for your body and taking a high quality vitamin supplement, consider giving your mouth a second to send the rest of your body the "heads up!"

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Every year Ernst & Young stages its Entrepreneur of the Year awards, recognizing business-building and innovation accomplishments in a series of regional events, leading to their national awards in November. A few weeks ago we were nominated by a friend who took it upon himself to submit our names. Then the Beachbody marketing team got involved to put the information together, and since then Jon Congdon, President of Product Partners, and I were formally “in the process” of meeting judges, describing our strategies, and meeting some of the brightest business minds in Southern California.

We learned yesterday that as a team, Jon and I are in the final running with fourteen other contenders to win Entrepreneur of the Year in the “Greater Los Angeles Region.”

What’s most exciting about this kind of recognition is that you get to meet bright visionaries and “change agents,” and learn new strategies for innovation. These are people who take chances, pursue dreams, and make things happen. The whole thing is an inspiration. And we are honored to be in contention of the award.

I’ve already got my tux picked out for the June 28th awards ceremony where they will announce the regional winners. What do you think, too much?

TurboJam is in Production

 
Just moments before they started to shoot one of the first TurboJam workouts, "TurboJam Cardio Party", I snapped this shot with my cell phone. And then the party started - the music is off the hook - the energy is unprecedented - and you cannot help but want to get up and join in.

Honestly - Chalene and the cast are awesome, and everyone involved has done a great job pulling everything we've learned together to make these the most fun you can have sweating off inches. I am very impressed. (Which says a lot, because I've had as little to do with this development as anything we've produced.)

Andrea, the director on this shoot, is the "go-to" director on fitness videos. If they're noteworthy, she does them. And I am always impressed how, even though she's shot workouts for all "the biggies", she still defers to us and the specific details that make a video a "Beachbody" workout. She's a pro, and we're lucky to work with her.

Snack Magic

Snack magic

My five year old daughter and I had a big day planned yesterday, including some beach/sandcastle-building time, the Santa Monica fair, and a movie... Within all that, I knew it had the potential of being a day long fight to avoid junk food vendors. So I decided to make a preemptive strike. As she climbed into the car I challenged her to guess the "celebrity snack of the day". I gave her some hints... "they grow in the ground"... "they are really good for your eyes and might even give you xray vision"... "they're the choice of celebrity rabbits like Bugs Bunny, Roger Rabbit, and even the Easter Bunny himself"...

"CARROTS!" She guessed

No, not just carrots... Mini carrots!

Long story short, she ate this bag of carrots all day, from point-a to point-b... Emptied it. No prodding, no begging. The concept of them being special, and available all day trumped the urge to "think of a snack" if she got hungry.

Likewise, we continued the game of imagining who would eat carrots. Horses, Mickey Mouse, Britney Spears... I was selling. But when the day ended and I realized Ava had not ramped up into a single sugar high for the day, it seemed like the plan worked.

So Sunday, I am thinking of dedicating the day to the "amazing case of the disappearing Cherry Tomatoes".

The Kids of El Faro

Below are some photos taken at the orphanage at El Faro, which we have supported financially from time to time for the last thee years.

I intend on visiting in the next month or so. Tonight was the big annual fundraiser, and these photos helped display the amazing work of Leigh and Adam Smith, friends who have taken it upon themselves to focus enegy on this endeavor... Amazing, inspiring people..

Amazing inspiring work. If you care to or participate, check it out at www.friendsofelfaro.com

"Pump It"

The large workout room at Beachbody is reserved all day today as we prepare for a new product shoot next week. Beachbody’s VP of Development, Lara Ross, and Director of Production, Heather Church look on as Chalene Johnson demonstrates her signature “Pump It” abs move. It's one of her Elite 11 which will be featured in the TurboJam routines we’re shooting next week.

Based on a meeting yesterday I think the entire TurboJam product will be ready to ship in July. All I know is, the entire production staff is into this product - from the heavy investment we've made into the music, to the high-energy vibe Chalene puts into her workouts. I love to see how the Beachbody team improves with every new shoot. They've realized that we're not only in the fitness and weight loss business, we're in the entertainment business - People need to enjoy the workouts they're doing. And based on the reactions we're getting from rehearsals, you are going to love this product.

"Houston, we have a problem"

Maybe it's me... but when there's an obesity crisis in the US, especially in Texas, and your Amarillo, TX restaurant is challenging people to eat a 72-ounce steak, salad, shrimp cocktail, baked potato, and roll in under an hour, you're not really helping things. I guess if a customer eats this monster in under an hour they get the $54 meal comped. I wonder how much the agony of digestion is worth for the next two days?

 

View from the top

Beautiful spring day in Beverly Hills. (We're actually on the East side of Beverly Hills... the ghetto of BH, if you will). Anyway - I thought you might appreciate seeing what we see from the 10th floor as we work at Beachbody headquarters.