S03E94 INTERVIEW WITH AUSTIN MALLEOLO, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL GYM OPERATIONS CROSSFIT LLC

Special guest @amalleolo, Director of Global Gym Operations for @crossfit joins us today in a special interview about the company's goals for the future. Eight time CrossFit Games Athlete, CF L4 Coach and Seminar Staff Coach, and CF affiliate owner as well as a co-founder of CrossFit Affiliate Programing, Austin discusses with Dave and Sam how success is defined in the future for affiliate owners, what responsibilities CF HQ has to affiliate owners and members, and the question of domestic versus international growth of CrossFit affiliates in reaching the ambitious goal of 30 million athletes by 2030.

@crossfittraining @crossfit @crossfitgames #crossfit #sports #exercise #health #movement #crossfitcoach #clean #fitness #ItAllStartsHere #CrossFitOpen #CrossFit #CrossFitCommunity @CrossFitAffiliates #supportyourlocalbox #crossfitaffiliate #personalizedfitness

whether the methodology of CrossFit needs to be refined, how to reach the ambitious goal of 30 million athletes by 2030, how to improve the quality of affiliates and athlete experiences, as well as potential new partners in marketing CrossFit.

How will CrossFit HQ rank affiliates on their website? Could we see a comprehensive CrossFit app on our phones in the future? Which professional sports and athletes would you love to see partnering with CrossFit?

@crossfitbison @crossfittraining @crossfit @crossfitgames #crossfit #sports #exercise #health #movement #crossfitcoach #clean #fitness #ItAllStartsHere #CrossFitOpen #CrossFit #CrossFitCommunity @CrossFitAffiliates #supportyourlocalbox #crossfitaffiliate #personalizedfitness

S03E94 INTERVIEW WITH AUSTIN MALLEOLO

[00:00:00] David Syvertsen: Welcome back to the Herd Fit Podcast. I am coach David Syon, who with my co-host, Dr. And Coach Sam Re And we are still on the RX Plus guest list of the Herd Fit Podcast. We have Austin Ello. Am I saying that right? Nailed it. Oh, so sweet. Nailed it. Um, a, I mean, I don't even know how to start in talking about him because he's been, he's probably one of the supermen of Cross that's been around for so long, so many different roles.

CrossFitter, a games athlete coach, seminar staff, Flowmaster box owner right now, currently the GM of Affiliates, global Affiliates. And Sam. Let's give a little bit more background on Austin for those that live under a rock and may not know who he is. Yeah. .

[00:00:41] Sam Rhee: So as you said, he's an eight time games athlete.

Wow. He backs started at Reebok as the general manager of Reebok, Jim and Wellness. Yeah. Was owner and development of the Ham plan, which, became, cat programming. Yeah. For CrossFit affiliate programming at, CrossFit, was, owner of CrossFit one Nation in Waltham, as well as, CrossFit.

, one Nation Boston. Yep. Yeah. And then, and then for, as you said, he, he's been on seminar staff. He's an L four, what do they say? Cert certificate.

[00:01:11] Austin Malleolo: Yeah. Level four coach is I think the, the technical term for the level four now that it's officially kind of rolling out, which is exciting. Yeah.

[00:01:17] Sam Rhee: Yeah.

And then, you've been, us gym Operations director at CrossFit. Uh, And now you are the global Affiliate Gym manager.

[00:01:25] Austin Malleolo: Yeah. That's, uh, that sounds about right. .

[00:01:28] Sam Rhee: Yeah. I've done all those. Right. And also he's one of the few people who was able to deadlift 600 pounds and then run a marathon literally hours after that.

Wow. Uh, in 2019. So, uh, you know, he is clearly a very fit individual.

[00:01:44] David Syvertsen: Yeah, we had, we had Austen in, we, we worked out this morning with him and Don fall and I just felt, you know, it'd be a gracious host. Let him, let him win the workout by a half a rounder two. So, ,

[00:01:54] Sam Rhee: you were so determined to try to smoke him beforehand.

You're

[00:01:57] David Syvertsen: like, I'm gonna beat Austen . No, but all, all good nature. But I, I think Austen, without knowing him personally very well. This is kind of just like the epitome of someone. How you do anything is how you do everyth. You know, there's, he just excellence everywhere. No matter whether it's your career, whether it's your, your family life, whether it's, um, your, you know, your ability to rise through the ranks and CrossFit.

And then as an athlete, the obvious, you know, you've reached the peak multiple times as you got older. As the competition got more, more and more challenging as the years, it's, it's an impressive, you're an impressive person to be around. Allison, I really appreciate you coming here and as I said to Don, uh, just an hour ago, I've never been this.

um, about the CrossFit leadership at the top ever. And we're in year 10 now, and I you're a huge part of that. And then when I saw that you were gonna be in the position you were in, it just strengthened the notion that we're just getting started.

[00:02:48] Austin Malleolo: Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. And it's, uh, you know, I think for me it's, it's a, it's a responsibility in an, in an honor.

I don't take lightly to be a part of this community. Um, you know, it's. It's our community's just like an affiliate where we don't exist without our affiliates. And just like our gyms don't exist without our members. Correct. Yeah. No, we're, and that's what we're in service of. . Um, and I think that's something that is, I think it's easily taken for granted when you're in it, but when you pull back is that, you know, we have affiliates all around the world that are, are doing unbelievable things.

Mm-hmm. and that's something, and, and running a business is not easy, uh, you know, by any means. So having the ability to be surrounded with, with individuals like yourself to be in a community like this, I mean, obviously your gym right now, given the circumstances is flipped upside down. Yeah. But you can even just tell by meeting some of your coaches and, and, and just things like that where the community is so,

Mm. And that's the, that's the red threat. Mm-hmm. , you, you know, ha. Having the opportunity to travel around the world, go to a lot of gyms, there's a lot of ways you can run a successful CrossFit affiliate, but, There's one thing that is the same, and unequivocally the most important bedrock to a successful gym is the strength of community.

Mm-hmm. , and that's a reflection of the, the ownership. Mm-hmm. , you know, the whoever, whoever steers that ship. And I think that's, that's our job at leadership, at at at CrossFit, is to kind of instill that same aspect of our community. is the most important thing, and that gives us the, the, the equity and the runway to do other things.

Mm-hmm. , right. That we need to keep pushing the ship forward. Mm-hmm. ,

[00:04:16] Sam Rhee: you have been, uh, GM of affiliates since December. Yep. Gary Gaines was there before. Yep. What has been your plan since then to be. What will be the same? What will be different in terms of what your plans are?

[00:04:30] Austin Malleolo: Yeah. It's a, it's a great question.

I think, and I think it's, it's, it's, it's less of what is different and it's more of less the, you know, the, the root in which we were always going down and sort of keep pushing that ship forward. We say that, you know, our job is to keep moving the ship in a, in a positive direction and from an affiliate perspective.

And I think the important thing is as a company of CrossFit, you know, our goal is to support our affiliates. , our coaches and then the members, right. The broader community. And that's really when we think about, you know, that's, that's our ecosystem. Mm-hmm. , but specific to gyms is how, how can we, and how can myself and the team help affiliates be more successful?

Right. And, and that is, and, and that's my main focus now. The next question should be, well, how do we define success? Right. Um, and I, and, and, and we could probably spend multiple hours on a podcast about that, that question. Mm-hmm. . But I think that, you know, from a 10,000 foot view, and I always say when I engage in this, this conversation, I, I assume that our affiliate owners and coaches care, they love CrossFit and they act and they care about unequivocally the.

Of the product on the floor, which is coaching, which is what we do. And, and so once we have that understanding, there's this whole other side of the equation is how do we run a healthy business? Mm-hmm. , how do we, how can we run something that is sustainable, um, and, and make this our, our career, our profession, and allow our affiliates to be successful across the board.

And that's, and that's a discussion. We haven't, we, we as CrossFit hasn't, haven't really engaged in over, over the years for a lot of reasons. One of which is when we first started that, you know, was like, Hey, Let's. , get some people in our garage and throw down and like, awesome. And now, you know, but now you have a, a 300 person gym here and it's, it's a, it's an operation.

It's huge. Yeah. It's, and, and, and that's, and then how do we help all of our affiliates if they want to? I think that it's like, success is also what you want. Mm-hmm. , but, you know, so if, if this is something that you want, how can we help you go down that path? So that's really what, what our, our focus is.

And I think you're starting to feel that and, and feel that shift a little bit in the sense of how can we be you. A business partner, how can we be trusted in, in helping you move forward? Uh, whereas before it was more hands off by design and, you know, so that's really the shift. And as we move forward in offering that support, but also staying true is like, Hey, we're, we're, you know, and just like cross, you can't force anyone to walk in here, Jim.

Mm-hmm. That never works. Mm-hmm. . Like we're, and same thing, like we're not gonna force anyone to do anything. That's not what we do. But there's oftentimes when you're like, Hey, Hey, look what these guys are doing over here. It's really successful. Let's learn from them and how do, and how do we leverage each other and, and leverage the thought leaders in the space to highlight what, you know, what is possible.

Mm-hmm. .

[00:07:17] David Syvertsen: Yeah. No, I love that and I love how your answer actually started off with the human element. Yeah. And you know, I've, prior to, prior to this gym, my business acumen was, was nonexistent. Like this is my business acumen and I still feel like I have to do a lot better with a lot of the things that we are, you know, doing on that side of things.

But it does start with the human element. Yeah. Right. And I've seen, I, um, , some unsuccessful gym owners. Again, what is success? We can go down that path another time, but Jim's eventually just kind of give up a shut down for whatever reason. Right. I think that has always been one of the common threads is that it's humans first, business.

Second, they do have to both grow together. Mm-hmm. , uh, can you touch on that from your perspective, but also you've been a boxer, you've been a coach, you've been the coach and crossed it for forever. You know how much, I mean, you could even tie this to the programming. How much human element needs to go into the programming with the, the personality of your gym, um, how much that human element really should kind of just overshadow everything and then everything kind of grows

[00:08:17] Austin Malleolo: from there.

Yeah, it's, it's a great question and I, I think, I think the, the, the short answer is it's the, it has to be the number one focus. Mm-hmm. , but it can't be the only focus. Right. We can't, we can't live in that, that, that tunnel vision or echo chamber. and, and I think when we think about this, this element of.

your why. Why are, why are we doing what we do? Why are we here? And and I think that once we anchor and we understand that our pur what our purpose is, is. And I think that, I truly believe that all affiliates at their core are very similar. Why we we're in service of others. We truly believe and know that CrossFits methodology is unequivocally and unmatched, and it is the best.

It changed, usually it started selfish, it changed our life. Mm-hmm. personally. Yes. And then from there you're like, this is awesome. I wanna share this with others. And then, Whether that's becoming a coach and then opening an affiliate, it's to share that experience, to give others that opportunity. So, and CrossFit's so effective that even implemented poorly, it's effective.

Mm-hmm. . Right. And that's what, there's a beauty and a banin to that. And what I mean by that, that's why like say programming. Mm-hmm. , you know, the workout that. The, that workout that's on paper pales into comparison on how it's actually applied. Right? Right. And that's that human element, that coaching element.

And, and not only not your, your efficacy and your ability to teach, see and Correct. Manage a group and demonstrate and have prince and attitude, but. But the emotional intelligence of knowing your people. Right. Right. Where so you can meet them where they are today. Right. You know, a as we talk about in our seminars, you know, we, we, we scale to meet the physical and psychological tolerances of the athlete today.

And, and I, and I say that because that's the human element mm-hmm. . And so it doesn't matter how good you can write a workout. Right. What matters is how you can actually put it into play, deliver it. That's right. Yeah. It doesn't matter how well you can, you know, write a business plan that you can, you know, manage a p and l.

It's because that's, it's. And with all due respect, that's not hard, right? Mm-hmm. writing workouts, once you understand a few key MO things, it's not hard. Right? Right. Agreed. It's it now, putting it together, right. Putting it in play, that that's in harmony with why we're doing what we're doing. Mm-hmm. , I think that, and that's the human element, and that's what you know because.

it's, it's not hard to, to make something and have it be sterile. Right. Right. You know, and I mean, CrossFit, we wanna be the opposite of that in our affiliates. I mean, and the beauty of that. You walk into this gym and, and you feel it like it's, this is your gym. , there's an expression of your community, your feel, and you know, and traveling all around the world, going to gyms.

Like when you, when you walk into a gym and you feel that, you're like, it's awesome. Right? You feel that that's that human element. And so I, I think that at, at the core is that is the most important aspect, and it is somewhat ambiguous, right? It's somewhat esoteric, but, and it's, it's also intoxicating to get stuck into that.

Mm-hmm. and, and forget about some of the other fi finer things that mo for, for most of us, we. Go into business to do. Right. And that's another thing is like, it's not our default. Mm-hmm. , our default isn't to, let me look at this spreadsheet, you know, it's like, no one's like, that's awesome, but like, so it's some, and, and, and it's just like CrossFit, where like, all right, we have to identify areas of weakness and sometimes spend more time on that.

Right. And same thing when we think about business, where, well, what do we really good at? What do we like to do? We have to be careful. We can't do that too much. Mm-hmm. because then there's a blind spot that we're, we're allowing to to, to fester and to grow. And so I, I, you know, yes, I'm a bit of a nerd when, when drawing parallels to our methodology.

Yeah. But I do think about that when we run the businesses, you know, well, what are we not good at? What are our weaknesses? What don't we like? There's usually something there. Got it. Love that.

[00:11:56] David Syvertsen: Now in regard to programming, just because it got brought up a little bit, um, hand plan, that's something I've always had a passion for is programming in and of itself.

But I've always had a passion to potentially, Start programming for other affiliates that either wanna take it off their plate or they just want some guidance, some. , can you just talk about some of the challenges? Cuz I do think that programming is maybe a little overlooked in terms of the level of importance and the art behind finding the blend of challenging, fun, safe, responsible, um, you know, you're never gonna have a scientific equation that says, all right, we have to do this on this day.

That on this day, um, you guys do a great job at the L two. Talking about the programming to some of the basic parameters, like you said, um, do you ever envision. , CrossFit, being able to, uh, kind of, I don't wanna say enforcing, but making people do cap. Mm-hmm. or formally hand

[00:12:44] Austin Malleolo: plan. Uh, it's a, it's a really, so the short answer is we're.

No, we're not there. We will never force or make mm-hmm. someone. Mm-hmm. . But I think you, you're pulling on a heart stringing, which is important of, um, expectation of quality. Yes. Okay. Um, and again, expectation of quality is also predicated on its application. Right. So there's, I think there's two, there's two paths to go down here.

Um, and equally as important, and I, and I do see us going down a path of. You know, not only with with cap, but also with oth. There, there are other programmers in the space that are very good. Yeah. That offer very good quality and, you know, so it's, it's very similar. You think about what is, what is that, that level of quality that is expected and, and putting a stake in the ground of, hey, like, here, here are our foundational guidelines and, and, and what we, what we expect.

And here are, you know, some people that. Right. Similar to think about like the SME program, um, where like we have subject matter experts. Mm-hmm. , there's a level of quality and auditing that, that goes into that, where a lot of people can teach something, but who is, who has, who is the best at it? Mm-hmm. . Um, because that's important to us.

And, and that's, that's who we are as a community of, you know, we've always been, you know, yeah, we, we, we have a stake in the ground, but there are also really good people in this space. Um, and, and from there setting the standard of what is expected and, and. That's our stake in the ground of there is an expectation of quality and here it is.

Mm-hmm. , um, and clearly outlining what that looks like because it's okay. It's like driving on day one. We're not good drivers, but we drive when we're 16, we have to learn. And same with programming. Like, you know, now how do we, we we, we drive in a parking lot on a Sunday when there's no cars to practice when we're 16.

Right, right. So we don't, we we don't get on 95. Right, right, right. And, and, and, and, and go Wild . So. So same thing with programming, but like, you have to start, right? And then, but having a North Star to get to and having some sort of awareness and guidelines, oh, this is, would be really helpful, right? Mm-hmm.

So those are, so, yes, I see us moving in that direction without a doubt. Great. And then tangentially to that is we, we need to equally provide the resources to make sure that it's, it's for our coaches to be able to implement it right? And, and, and understand how we can apply that. Mm-hmm. , right? . It's not just, you know, we're not cheerleaders, right?

We have, we have a very specific job, but to your point of like, you know, once the art in the programming is, is handled, making a class fun, making enjoyable, that's, that is very much predicated on that coach. Mm-hmm. , because I would say that no matter what work at you, the coach is, is is the end, the end all boss.

And probably Kenon should make changes on the fly based on what's happening in front of them. Yep. Right. So those are the thing, and, and, and, and that takes a level of confidence and, and competence. Mm-hmm. , um, to apply that on the floor where, hey, you know what, I'm in my, my, you know, my 12 o'clock class, these are a bunch of shift workers.

You know, they're, they're tired, they're showing up late, they gotta leave early. You know what, I'm gonna tweak this warm up a little bit and just get 'em on the bike a little bit. Mm-hmm. and, you know, get 'em a live alert and at least falsely enthusiastic Right. because like, whereas like. You know, your, your, your four your, your four PMRs are coming in rip roaring from the day.

Right. So just even that, that awareness And so there, there are those two pathways and, and yes, like our, our charge is how do we, how do we push both down? Mm-hmm. . Yeah.

[00:16:06] Sam Rhee: What are your thoughts about. The, um, for example, like mam, they have a number of Mayhem affiliates now. Mm-hmm. . So in addition to being CrossFit affiliates, they're layering on an additional.

Branding, which is basically, they are in a Mayhem affiliate. You go to the MAM website and, and you can see who's following Mayhem programming, who's listed as a, a MAM type affiliate, and I feel like CrossFit, because of all the leadership changes over the past couple years, it's, they're, you, you guys are getting your traction now, but it, it was a little.

Cap had come out two, three years ago, four years ago. Yeah. Now there are a lot of players in the space, which they're not bad for, for CrossFit. It's a market for everyone to grow in. But it's also one where, if someone's like, do I follow CAP programming? Do I follow linchpin?

Do I follow mayhem? Like these are people who are really hungry, established, and, and let's face it, CrossFit. Is the standard, but these guys can kind of experiment and do all sorts of different things. They can have a body building track they can do. Yeah. And, and I was talking, um, to Boz last night and he said, listen, there is a way of doing it the right way if you do it this way.

You will become fitter. Mm-hmm. , you don't need to do it 15 different ways. You don't need a bootcamp, you don't need this. You, you need to do CrossFit. Right. And, and I do believe that, but when it comes to marketing, to growing, to branding, these guys have the ability to experiment with a lot of different things, which maybe HQ can't.

Yeah. How do you feel about like working in that space with all these different players? ,

[00:17:52] Austin Malleolo: she went a lot of places there. , . So, so let me start by saying that I, I think that, you know, having, and, and it kind of, and it kind of goes to, to, to the previous question of, I think there are pla individuals in the space like mayhem, you know, proven other others out there that, yeah.

That offer, you know, and I'll just say specifically for affiliate programming to start, right. That offer, that offer good quality programming that we, that affiliates are joined, members are enjoying and, and they're, yes. I see us moving to a place where it's saying, Hey, like, you know, , there's, there's a group of, of providers that are, you know, they're doing good work.

Mm-hmm. , right? And because we've always, and, and, and if we think back historically, we've always done this, whether formally or informally, when you think at the level one, it's like, Hey, we want you to go program, but go learn, go to main site and go, you know, and go to find other people that have been in the space doing it and learned from them.

So we've always been at that grassroots of, Hey, if there are people out there adding. To our ecosystem. We wanna uplift them. Now we ha you know, CrossFit, we have cap, and, but we also know that, you know, not ev it's, it's sort of like there's a lot of ways you can eat healthy. Right? Right, right. And, and you just may not like this way.

And that's, and that's okay. Right? There's a lot of ways you can weigh and measure food. The zone is one way. You can have macros here, you can, whatever it might be. What we wanna make sure is that, hey, are we actually achieving the end goal? And I, and I, so I think like we have, we have programmers in the space that are doing really good things.

Mm. and, and, and again, you and, and you look at the other end of the spectrum, you take a look at street parking, right? They're not necessarily for an affiliate, but they're doing really good stuff reaching a group of people. And that's important. And you start, you've seen that shift that, yep. It's like, hey, like, you know, Miranda and the team are doing really good things and it's impressive, right?

Yeah. So, Yes. And I, and I do think that, you know, over the past couple years, like there's sort of been like, you know, are we on? Like, aren't we on the same team? Are we not on the same team? I, and I think about it, no different. We talked earlier about affiliates in, in our local area Yes. An abundance mindset as opposed to a scarcity mindset.

Right. I think that's important is that there's an abundance of affiliates, there's an abundance of athletes, and there are people that are, that are serving the same mission and goal mm-hmm. and, and now there should be a quality expectation. Mm-hmm. . Yes, absolutely. Um, and I, and. With setting that can actually be really helpful for the ecosystem.

Right? So I think that's, that's, that's something that we are absolutely working towards. So it's like your mind is right where we are now. To, to your second question of like the, like, yes, like one, one thing is that, you know, CrossFit is CrossFit the methodology, you know, variance functionality, intensity.

Now there's no ill will towards other methodologies and to your point, experimentation. But I think what's important is that we at CrossFit need to be. We are the truth tellers of what CrossFit is in that methodology. And I also think, and you know, and, and I lo, you know, Bo I think says this more eloquently than I do, and then really anyone can.

But I think it's important to know that oftentimes when we start to, you know, even like as you say, experiment and think about other things, I, I ask why. , what's the root cause? And, and oftentimes I think through of, you know, I've been doing personally CrossFit for almost 15 years. Mm-hmm. and my goals have changed, right?

Like, I started out as a competitor and I, and, and you know, and now I'm more or less like I l and I love CrossFit and I think about application. I've had the opportunity to coach thousands of people. And if CrossFit is implemented really well, . It, it is so effective and, and we should not, it, it will be seen the results, but will also, it should also be improving the longevity of an athlete's career and their, and not only physically, but psychologically.

Mm-hmm. now, and that's really hard to do. So sometimes it's easy to, when things are hard, look for different options. Mm-hmm. right. and there's nothing, and there's nothing wrong with doing something cuz you like it. I think that's also important, but it's just probably not CrossFit. Right. Where it's like, I mean, good we all know somewhere, if not ourselves are like, I'm gonna go weightlifting.

Yeah. Right. We did, we do the weightlifting track, right? Yeah. Yeah. And the next it's like, I'm gonna start weight. Which is great. I mean, weightlifting's been around forever. There's nothing wrong with that. Right? Right. There's no, you know, hey, I wanna, I'm gonna go run a marathon. Mm-hmm. something. and, and CrossFit is always beg, barred and steel from specialists.

Right? If you think back of like, I mean, I, that's how I learned CrossFit, right? Mm-hmm. going and looking at, oh, like the power lifter, the Olympic lifter. Mm-hmm. , all, you know, rowing coaches, you name it. Mm-hmm. , you know, and I think that that's, there's a difference between beg, barring, stealing from specialists and, and sort of sprinkling in other things.

Right. And I think that's important of like, . We, you know, and, and, and Boz talks about this of like the salt shaker. It's like, Hey, we have this methodology now. We'll learn, like, CrossFit's also progressed a lot in the sense of, if you think, if you go to the main site from 20 years ago now mm-hmm. . You, you'll see like testing and learning and shifts.

Just different, like no different in, in. Think about when you started your affiliate to where you are now. Mm-hmm. , you, you, you're, you were in steadfast in everything. You're like, oh, you know what? I can do something better. Right. Be more efficient. Sure. And that should always be the case. And it, and that's also the beauty of having a ecosystem like we have that lets people kind of push, push a little bit.

Right. But that's, that's good. But cuz what we need to be solely focused on is CrossFit. And that's important for us. And, and I think that that's a responsibility that we have to our affiliates and our communities. Like, hey, like we are the. And, and we are the, we, you know, we will unequivocally tell the truth.

And like Nicole Carroll and the magic of CrossFit, if you've seen that like mm-hmm. , that's kind of that message. Mm-hmm. . And, and that's, and we need to be that shoulder that people can kind of lean on when they need to. Mm-hmm. .

[00:23:23] David Syvertsen: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's almost like just the two sides. I mean, we're all one, but it's the stronger you are, the stronger we are.

That's right. And the stronger we are, the stronger you are. That's right. And I think, and I think that way about affiliates too. Yeah. Um, you can talk about these different programs who, you know, these. People that are very good in the space. I think that needs to be front and center. And you have to be emotionally, be emotionally, emotionally disciplined to know that at all times.

You need to keep that in front of your mind that if those around you get stronger, it should make it, uh, strikes on you as well. That's right. And we say that to our athletes here. The ones that get a little too competitive with each other. If they get better, you should be thankful because it's gonna make you better.

That's right. And it's, that's the beauty of all. building off of some of the growth that CrossFit wants to pursue in the next five to 10 years. , where do you feel, Don asked me this on the last episode when we talked about his 30 million number. Yeah. And I asked him, how realistic do you think that is? And his first question back was, do you know 10 people that don't CrossFit?

Do you, do you We all do. Mm-hmm. . And it, it challenged my way of thinking right there, like maybe I actually do need to kind of go into my own personal life a little bit and get some of these people on board rather than just wait for them to come to the gym. Where do you see the growth coming from in terms of, is it just, Hey, we all know 10 people, , do you want to go after people that are sort of drinking the Kool-Aid with like some other high intensity programs or, you know, is it, you know, the marketing campaign for a while was people carrying milk cartons off the couch and stuff.

Yeah. Where do you think that growth comes from?

[00:24:55] Austin Malleolo: Well, yeah, so it's a great question and, and I, and I love Don's responsibility, you know, 10 and so like, it was great challenge me the, the law of, of sort of sort of exponential adding up and I think, you know, and I guess. Where, where does the growth come from?

Well, and and, and let me ask you a question from as a business owner Yeah. This is, and where does your growth come from for your affiliate? I

[00:25:16] David Syvertsen: mean, the immediate area of, of reaching out to, I mean, our friends and family, it's been an organic growth. Yeah. And that kind of core aligns with what we just talked about with Don.

It's, we all know people's that

[00:25:28] Austin Malleolo: need this. That's right. So, and let me ask more specifically of like, so. . I guess in summary, most of your growth comes from referrals. Yes. Right. Which is the best way to grow. Mm-hmm. , right? But with that is where, where is the gap, right? Between where we are and where we want to be, right?

Mm-hmm. now, and, and what I mean by that is the gap is you're, you're only getting those that are within that referral network, right? And that might be, and that might be okay. Like that's not a bad thing. It's worked right here, right? to that point when we think about that big number. Yeah. And, and this is also where the abundance mindset, where, you know, oftentimes we talk about affiliates and locations and how many, it's like, well, there's no shortage of people.

Right, right. Especially in this area. Yeah, exactly. So if an affiliate were to open up, you know, 10 miles down the road mm-hmm. , that should have zero effect. Negatively, in fact, only positively. Mm-hmm. because no doubt this referral network. Right. Will grow. Mm-hmm. and it will start to cross pollinate. Yeah.

Right. So, but more specifically is where is an area that you feel like you would have an opportunity to grow if you had more resources or you know, where like what don't you do just because it's not within your skillset or with, you're just not used to doing it. Right. However you might reach those individuals.

Right, right. Um, , and that's more of a rhetorical question because sometimes you have to like, well, I haven't even thought about it. Right, right. And you have a very successful gym, so it clearly is working. Mm-hmm. . And, and so I think when we think about growth at that level, well, first is who are those Right?

Who, you know, who are we trying to talk to? Mm-hmm. and, and I look at it, I think it's hard. there when I am outside of our echo chamber of a CrossFit gym. Mm-hmm. , right? Yeah. And I'm like in public, God, God, God forbid. Right. Um, it's in an airport. I'm like, oh my goodness. Everyone needs CrossFit. Mm-hmm. like, I dunno if you ever have this moment of like, like, and I, and I sometimes go into this like existential debate of like, Oh my goodness.

Like this is, this is like, I, I get, I get panicked. Yeah. And so I look at that, I'm like, well, these people need that. But Yes. You know, and that's why we are who we are because we have that feeling, but we are not reaching them. Right. Right. And there's public and you know, and if we are, it's, it's falling on deaf of ears or, you know, whatever it might be.

And I think that's, That's where we have the opportunity. Mm-hmm. . Um, and I think that's where as a lot of gyms have an opportunity to, well, how do we reach those individuals? Mm-hmm. , I think. And, and it's not an easy not to crack. Yeah. But it's something that, you know, we, we are very good at talking to who we are good at talking to, right?

Mm-hmm. , right. And how do we kind of lean outside of that and start to get a little more exposure. Um, and I think part of that too is like, you know, for us is, is there intermediary. . Right. A lot of people will before they walk into a, I mean, the, it's not, I don't think it's a CrossFit gym. It's gym in general.

Mm-hmm. stepping into a gym. Yeah. Even engaging with the gym. Like, you know, like, hey, like I'm interested in joining is a monumental psychological step. Yeah. Right. Huge. So it's those things of like, you know, so we're running like, like a beta test right now of like, you know, with, with getting started, which is a tool of like, Hey, is there, it's, is there a way for us to, you know, give affiliates a tool to like give like a, Hey, here's CrossFit at home.

It's like a virtual. to see if we can achieve that. Like give this to people that you know won't come here. Right. It's, it's that notion of, hey, everyone has 10 people that they want to do CrossFit, but they just won't come for whatever reason. So if you give it to 10, if you give this thing to tenants, basically just, it walks you through what CrossFit is in your at home with a, with a PVC pipe and you know your body weight stuff and it breaks down some of the, the, those barriers, real or not.

Does that say, Hey, like at the end of that, you know what, I'm, I wanna go in and try this out. Mm-hmm. , so we're, we're testing things like that to see if it works. God, I love that. You know, cuz we, a lot of us on the ground floor too, as an like, we don't. , like we're, we're running our business. Right. It's hard for us to think about like, how do I get that person?

Yeah. Right. So, and that's part of the, that's part of our charge is how do we equip our community with tools mm-hmm. that you can easily just like, hey, like press play and get some people in there that we just probably wouldn't connect with cuz they're, for whatever reason mm-hmm. . So that's, I, that's how I think we get there.

Um, but I, I also think that it's on us as a community and, and our affiliates need to really challenge themselves. To like, how are, like, how are we gonna handle more, like more people and, and, and how are we gonna handle, I mean, you, you've been around long enough to know that the people walking in your door today are a lot different than they were 10 years ago.

Oh yeah. And thankfully so. Mm-hmm. , you know, where we need to be better coaches. Yes. We need to be more, um, emotionally and psychologically aware of, of where people are coming in, when they're in the gym. You know, we're, which is we, so we just need to be better too. Right? Yeah. Um, Gone are the days when someone walks in, they're like, you know, they're ripping off their shirt, ready to crank out some pull-ups, you know, like, you know, we got them.

Yeah. They're already here. Like they're here, you know, um, and we love 'em, but it's also like, you know, I want, I want the person that, you know, that are, that's walking in and is really shy, is really shy, really nervous, and, you know, and, and we. , you know, meeting them where they are. Mm-hmm. , that's, that's, you know, for a lot of us, we have to really understand, okay, I need, you know, every, the entire experience has to be calibrated so we can make them feel comfortable.

Yep. Like that. Where do you

[00:30:59] Sam Rhee: see the percentage of growth, if it's 30 million in 2030 from the us and how much of that is gonna be

[00:31:06] Austin Malleolo: international? It's a, it's a great question. So, you know, right now we're, we're roughly 60. Uh, international to the us. Um, oh wow. Really? Yeah. So more international? We're more international right now.

Yep. Um, and now it also, when we think, now, bear in mind, that's main, like affiliates and open participation. Got it. Um, I would, I would probably. , and this is like, we need like probably say that we, it's probably closer to 50 50 of total people. CrossFitting. Mm-hmm. . And, and, and, and what I mean by that is CrossFit's been around so long in the states, is that like there are people that are doing CrossFits, you know, on their own or in different way shapes or form because of, you know, sort of the life cycle, right?

Which we, we want to clean up and tighten up to keep them in our gyms or within our community. But I do think we have a lot of, of, of individuals that it's like, hey, they're doing it, but we might not, they're not in a gym. , but you know, the growth of CrossFit is, you know, around the world. We think about, in the states, most of us are aware of like, all right, we, you know, five, five years ago.

So we, we saw a huge uptick. So the, the around the world, it's, it's tailing about about five or so years. Um, so you're there, it's, you just seen that a very similar growth pattern just in years behind. Okay. So I think that, and to answer your question of where this has come from, I think it's going to. , uh, I, I think we'll actually lean on a balance.

I think it will end up balancing out because I think this sheer opportunity in the United States, it's that allows us to hit that critical mass very quickly. Mm-hmm. , and I think there are a few key markets that we need to, to lean into. Um, . Oh, that are just challenging too. Just, Hey, how do we get exposure?

Mm-hmm. , um, like, like a China, like in India mm-hmm. , places like that where there's a lot of people mm-hmm. . Um, but, you know, understanding how to like culturally break through to make sure like, hey, like get, let's get CrossFit available. Um, so I think the, there's some really big opportunities and places like that.

We have super strong communities in like France and the UK and Australia. Um, so those places, Very similar to the the us but because of this, the, the volume, it's like you're, we'll, we'll see that sort of balance. But in, in, in the states, I mean, just take this area, the tri-state area, right? Mm-hmm. The sh the sheer amount of people.

Like, it's, it's a, it's a percentage game. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Um, so I think that's where we're gonna see it. And, um, and, and also we're just in a unique timeline of where that look, what that looks like. So, and maybe I'm a little US biased, but, um, but right now our international is very strong. Mm-hmm.

Which is really good. I mean, hence, you know, we had that, the open announcement in Spain and. , you know, we have the, the, uh, the semi-final coming up in Berlin. Like, like you'll, you'll see like the energy internationally is just out this world. Out of this world. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and, and I think that we will, we're, we're climbing back in the States specifically.

We know we have our semi-finals on the east and the West coast. Like, I think those things will start to really help like, you know, kind of permeate a little bit, um, and get the ground swell back to where we need it. Okay.

[00:34:01] David Syvertsen: All right. So, so wrap this up. We have. Two things I'd like for you just to what affiliates can do to make CrossFit better, and then also two things that you guys as management staff can do to make affiliates better.

Ooh, great

[00:34:18] Austin Malleolo: questions.

[00:34:20] David Syvertsen: They can be rapid fire. They don't have to, you don't have to go too deep into it. Yeah. Two things. You want affiliate because you've been in a coach, an owner. What are two things you think macro level affiliates could do better to make the

[00:34:29] Austin Malleolo: brand stronger? Sure. Yeah. I think, I think the, the main, the main thing that affiliates can do to make the brand stronger is pursue virtuosity.

Mm-hmm. and excellence and, and really be honest about. What are, you know, so my question to affiliates and, and is what are you doing to be better? Hmm. You know, what is your definition of an excellent coach? And, you know, and this is, you know, me putting on my affiliate hat is that, you know, I want every, I want every affiliate to want to ha get their coaches to their level two to get their level three and pursue a level four.

Okay. And the reason being is that, No matter what we talk about the quality of what we deliver on the floor, that's our pursuit. And I hear like, what are we doing about quality control? Quality control, wealth, you know, we've always said rising tides will rise all the ships and we need to hold each other to that standard.

And if you, if this gym, you know, pushes all their staff to get a higher education, the gym down the road will, will as well. Mm-hmm. , right? And, and, and then if they don't it. , you might leave 'em behind and that's that. But that's always been how CrossFit is, is that the cream will rise to the top. And we've been unapologetic about that.

And I think that, you know, for our affiliates, that's, we can't ever lose sight of that. You know, it's, that is, that's what we do. Mm-hmm. . Um, and then second to that is, the second piece is help each other. Mm-hmm. , right? Where. It's the abundance mindset where, you know, reach out to your local, local community.

I, you know, there's no shortage of people and lean on each other. And we're not nec, we're not necessarily competitors. We are, we have the opportunity to make each other much better. Agreed. A gym down the road that's super successful will make your gym more successful. Agreed. More people doing cross.

We'll meet more people walking into your gym. And I think that we understand that then, then we will be very, very powerful. Um, so we are, we are very, we are not as strong when we're fragmented, we're much stronger, merge together. Great.

[00:36:29] David Syvertsen: And lastly, yeah, the two things that, again, you've been on the other side, two things that you think CrossFit HQ could do to help the affiliates to make them better.

Yeah.

[00:36:39] Austin Malleolo: So I think, I think one is, um, consistent, unified. vision. Mm-hmm. and, and in sort of, you know, who we are and what we're doing. I think it's been, it's been a rocky, uh, you know, up and down Yep. For the last couple years. So I think one thing that we can do, and I think we're, I hope, I hope we're trending towards that, and I feel like we are internally, and hopefully it's permeating out, is that.

we have a consistent purpose and vision and that, and that we are dedicated in that. So that's one thing that, and we, and, and my ask of that is hold us accountable. Mm-hmm. to that mm-hmm. . Um, and, and I know that's a big ask, but, um, that's something that's really important. Mm-hmm. , and certainly, as you know, as working for CrossFit for over 12 years and being in the community, is that just that trust and stability is something that, that we need to do for our community.

And, and then I think secondly, one thing that, that, that we are going to really lean in on helping our affiliates is running successful businesses. Okay. Um, and, and helping there being, you know, putting a hand out there because for most of us, it's not why we started mm-hmm. to open up a gym, um, and. . And also it's, we, we want, if, if you wanna make CrossFit your life and, and, you know, we want to help in that pursuit mm-hmm.

um, and how do we do that to share? So you can share that with your coaches, your staff, and then, and your members. So if we want to grow, we need to be able to help you achieve that. Okay. And I, and that, and that, and that is a responsibility of

[00:38:03] David Syvertsen: ours. All right. Great. All right. So Austin, we are just a, a few hours away from the 23.2 announcement.

Yeah. Just before we wrap. Give us your prediction. If you know the workout, you're gonna have to lie about it.

[00:38:14] 2023_0223_0856: Just , .

[00:38:15] Austin Malleolo: Um, God, what is my prediction? Okay, so last week we, we did, I feel like we did every movement in the world. Yeah. Every pattern. Yeah, every pattern. Um, I mean, let me be, um, selfish. I would love to see deadlifts.

And box show. So you can set the world's record again. Yeah. Maybe box show, something like that. Yeah. So I mean, and, and just out of pure selfishness. Yeah. We can, you know, I moderately heavy deadlift for high reps would, uh, would be very nice. I don't know if we're gonna see it since we did some, some pulling Yeah.

Uh, last week. But that would be, um, I dunno if that's my prediction or just my, uh, my, um, you know, your desire. My desire. That's right.

[00:38:48] David Syvertsen: Yeah. All right. Well thank you guys so much for being here. Like I said, you guys, uh, have kind of just like lit a fire in. I should say lit this fire even brighter inside of me because of who's in front leading the way and who we can look up to.

Um, and I'm really kind of just proud, honored to have you here at our gym. Um, I've been pinching myself for the past few days just knowing what's coming, what's happening here. And the fact that you're here means a lot to us. Um, I know you, you don't live down the road. It's a commitment away from the family and I, I'm very much appreciative of that.

And, uh, hopefully we put on a good show this afternoon.

[00:39:20] Austin Malleolo: No doubt. It's an honor to be here. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:39:22] David Syvertsen: Thanks. Thanks guys. See you next week.