IAM1238 – CEO Helps His Clients Enhance their Wellness through Stretching with Strap System

Tony Zaccario is President and CEO of Stretch Zone – the leading practitioner-assisted stretching model in the U.S.

Stretch Zone, which was established in Miami Beach in 2004, utilizes a patented strapping system to expertly position, stabilize, and isolate muscles, to offer a full range of motion and improved quality of life for guests.

As a CEO, Tony leads all expansion efforts for the brand, including managing franchise efforts and partnership opportunities. Under Tony’s leadership, Stretch Zone has seen exponential year-over-year growth, boasting over 135 locations in 22 states nationwide.

• CEO Story: Started with 4 to 5 locations, he managed to grow the business into 135 locations through franchising and partnerships, and growing steadily.
• Business Service: Strapping system for body stretching which is a lifestyle and wellness enhancer.
• Secret Sauce:  Good Habits, a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a wellness concept. A positive mind is critical.
• CEO Hack: Take tidbits of information from YouTube, podcasts, and audiobooks while doing a workout.
• CEO Nugget: Patience. Don’t be hard on yourself especially if you’re in a new position.
• CEO Defined: Being a leader, leading from the front. Serving others. Leaders create leaders.

Website: www.stretchzone.com

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Transcription

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00:19 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:46 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Tony Zaccario of Stretch Zone. Tony, it's great to have you on the show.

00:55 – Tony Zaccario

Gresham, thank you for having me.

00:57 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, super excited to have you on and hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. Before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Tony so I can hear about some of those awesome things. Tony is president and CEO of Stretch Zone, the leading practitioner-assisted stretching model in the US. Stretch Zone was established in Miami Beach in 2004, utilizing a patent strapping system to expertly position, stabilize, and isolate muscles to offer a mus range of motion and improvement for guests.

As CEO Tony l efforts for the brand, in efforts and partnership with Tony's leadership, Shred year-over-year growth, bo in 22 states nationwide. To have you on the show. I know you're doing awesome things. I'm glad we can get a breath from you. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:46 – Tony Zaccario

I'm looking forward to it.

01:47 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, let's make it happen. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit here, a little bit more on what I like to call your CEO story. We'll let you get started with all the awesome work you're doing.

01:55 – Tony Zaccario

Yeah. No, first of all, and again, thank you guys for having me. I've actually been looking forward to this. I've actually dove in and listened to a lot of your podcasts. And so I listened to a lot of your awesome guests and I'm honored and appreciated, appreciated to be able to come on here. And so it's really my story began to grasshopper and kind of aligns with the stretch zone is for me personally as CEO, you know, I'm a young CEO, 28 years old, actually born and raised in Florida, had a few background operations running operations for a timber company.

And really, I came across Jordan's story and Jordan Gold, who's the founder who created the pad to trapping and stabilization system that we utilize in our stores and which really differentiates us in the market and the industry as a whole. And really what he did is he pioneered the stretching industry, especially from a retail model and from a consumer-based model. And so I kind of stumbled across Jordan, I guess now has to be almost close to 6 years ago. And at the time when I stumbled across him and his story and really the impact he was trying to have with clients all across the country.

And at the time it was just in South Florida and there were around 4 or 5 locations when I first found StretchZone. After seeing the service and experience and just hearing about the impact it had on people day to day-to-day lives, it really kind of lightened a passion in me or lit a passion in me to say, this is something I want to be a part of. And that's when I joined on. And so back then we had about 4 or 5 locations, helped design really the business model around the stretch, as we like to say, and then led into the franchising model, which started in 2017, late 2017.

And today I'm proud to say that we have actually 146 locations. We're opening about 3 a week currently. And so we're growing at a substantial pace, not a single-store failure. And really what we're focused on is just making sure that we find franchisees that share our core values and share what we're trying to do in the community as a whole. And we think as an organization, that's what's most important.

And that's what resonates with the clients because ultimately the stretch itself and the pad and stabilization system and the stretching methodology and all these other components to our product and the service that we offer, come from a very soulful place. And it really started with Jordan's grandfather and we wanna make sure that we maintain that soul and that we also maintain that little bit of gratitude that we can spread throughout communities nationwide.

04:15 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I appreciate you so much and sharing that and really hearing you can hear the strong foundation, the passion that you all have, and even the strong foundation as far as the principles and his grandfather and all those things and everything it sounds like you're doing in the soul, I guess, of the company for lack of a better term. So I guess could you take us through a little bit more about what you're doing, how you're serving your clients, and how you're making their impact?

04:39 – Tony Zaccario

Yeah, so essentially what Stretch Zone is and the actual service that we're talking about is so Stretch Zone is practitioner-assisted stretching. So essentially what happens is we have a patent stabilization system where clients come in, they lay on a table, we do all the work, and you get all the benefits. It really is just that simple. I always joke around because I say don't take my word for it, go try it for yourself, which is why we offer the first stretch free across the country so people can experience it firsthand.

And the whole idea is understanding that stretching as a whole is really a lifestyle enhancer and it really is a wellness enhancer. I think more and more people are coming to the realization Stretching is not new by any means. Most people just don't do it because either they don't know how to, which is a large majority of people, or they're a little lazy, guilty of charge.

So what we're able to do is kind of package it, and using the intellectual property and using the patented techniques we're able to then kind of package that and then apply it to every individual across the spectrum. And the fact of, you know, our biggest motivator is understanding that, hey, stretching can benefit anyone. It's more so our job and with our trained practitioners, making sure that, hey, we're finding and designing a program specific to your needs and your goals. That can be a wide variety of things that a lot of clientele that come in, the way you make an impact, you know, some of it is activity related.

And so there's a lot of active individuals, golfers, runners come in that may want to, you know, injury prevention, all that normal things that might pop up in your head, but also a large majority are people with sciatica, low back pain. We live a very sedentary lifestyle. Unfortunately, many of us have done exactly what we're doing right now, just sitting at a computer, for far too long over the last year. And with that come a lot of imbalances. And that's what we aim to fix, you know, through our unique programs that we desire for individuals.

06:33 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. I appreciate you sharing the full breadth of that because I was actually gonna ask you that just, I feel like stretching is something that as you said, can impact an entire life. As you said, whether you're an athlete or you're getting ready for your next 10K or whatever it might be, or you're training for whatever or somebody that is going on the day to day because I feel like it's one of those, I don't want to use the word again, foundational elements that sometimes we step over or forget and we sometimes don't realize the impact until we're not in sometimes the best place.

07:00 – Tony Zaccario

The stretch on methodology is something where stretching as a whole can get you there to just enhance life and maybe do what you want. Good. Do

07:08 – Gresham Harkless

I love that you know you all have been able to work and create something that helps again to I guess empower and help people to live the lives that they want to live. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So you might have already said this, but I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself personally, the business, or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

07:27 – Tony Zaccario

I mean, I think the company we talked about made major differentiators, obviously the strapping system and the nationally recognized training program, which our people go through good habits. So I'm big on working out and being disciplined, healthy body, healthy mind, obviously in a wellness concept and something like stretch zone. So I make sure I wake up at 430 most mornings, not going to try to kid myself and say all mornings, but most mornings and work out I think from a CEO perspective that helps you clear your mind.

You know, it's one of the very, very few times of the day when your phone's not going off. And I think those moments of clarity are really important, especially as a leader of any organization, whether it's CEO or leader of your department, whatever it might be, because, in any kind of operational element, you always get bogged down in the weeds. And there's always fires put out. And there's always things going on during the day and I'm big on, you know, plan your work and work your plan, but often plans go awry and it's your job to be the firefighter.

And so if you don't allow or really allocate that free time to let your mind go and educate yourself, whatever it might be, you're not going to be able to be proactive in your thoughts and your thought patterns. You're not going to be able to be proactive in planning strategically for the organization. And the happiness piece is more so like, you know, listen, positivity and that's kind of aligned with what you're saying. I think positivity and positive minds are critical. You know, I always joke in the organization with my team, and this is a general broad stroke and might be a little bit of a ride, but I think a lot of people confuse professional success with happiness.

And so that's why I always like to, when I was trying to relay it was a little off the path of probably what you're asking, but I always like to caveat that with, because I don't want people to think that, hey, the only way I am going to be happy, AKA, and they confuse to or successful is by being and getting up to a CEO. But for those who want to be a CEO and truly find happiness in it, then yes, there are those disciplines that you should follow, like tackling the morning, winning the morning, whatever you wanna call it. I think the other big thing and tool that I've used is, I'm like, so you referenced Tony Robbins.

I'm not a big, I'm not dogmatic about any individual, and nor do I think you should. I think for leaders, it's important to find your style. I think nobody should be a comprehensive read, so to speak, meaning like, you know, Tony Robbins, a lot of respect for Gary Vaynerchuk and a lot of things that he says. But still for me as my own person, I'm going to take tidbits and I'm going to listen. So you know, I'm big on listening to podcasts. YouTube is widely available.

So even when working out, that's a great time when I like to listen to Ted Talks and audiobooks. That's why I listen to a few of your episodes and then listen to you and kind of found you as well as working out and actually listening to it. And that's a good way to do it because these people have been successful in what they do and they know some tidbits. So it's taking a little bit of everything that you like and don't like and also challenging yourself to listen to different perspectives.

10:27 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So you might have already touched on this as well, but I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something if you were to hop into a time machine, you would tell your younger self.

10:40 – Tony Zaccario

I think this is a big one. It's just patience in general. And we're just selling that. And my team will probably laugh when they hear this. I would like to think I'm the most patient person in the world. And they would, along with my wife probably strongly disagree. And so, by the way, and a lot of times I think impatience is, it can be a strength too, because it pushes urgency and stuff like that up. But patience with your own journey is, I think, important.

And just for anyone that's in a new position, maybe it is a VP and you get a great opportunity in the organization, basically, the advice I'd give is don't be too hard on yourself and realize that, everyone's gonna be critical, right? There's always gonna be critics out there watching you and then listen for the CEO position rightfully so. And that is their job to hold me accountable as well as the team to hold me accountable. Yeah, everyone's gotta do it for the first time and that's the only way you learn.

11:32 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I love that. And it's so funny cause this past year, even the year before I should say, with the pandemic, one of the things I always said is kind of remind myself to give myself grace because I think so many times we could be hard on ourselves and we can listen to the noise and people saying, do this, that, or the third. But giving yourself grace when, you know, as best as job as you can and understanding that a lot of times, even if the job is exactly the same, I think what we learned from the last year or 2 years, things are completely different. Even the playbook that was, that everybody executed is completely different now. So I think giving yourself grace to understand that, you have that mission, you have that passion, you have that spirit, and you continue to try to make the best decisions that you can.

12:10 – Tony Zaccario

Yeah, and I think it definitely applies to leadership, but in anything you do, in anyone's role or anything in life, and obviously with COVID, completely throwing a wrench in everything, nothing like COVID has ever occurred, right, to some extent and the impact it's had and I think the giving yourself grace is a phenomenal way to put it. But I think especially for leadership roles or in life in general is when you recognize that hey This is your first time and everyone has to do it for the first time is also insinuating There is no defined right way to do it there is no defined right way to live life or to be a leader or be department head or start a podcast or whatever might be is, you know, you have to figure it out.

And there are a lot of ways to be successful in the podcast. There are a lot of ways to be successful in life. There are a lot of ways to be a successful CEO, and there's not one defined way.

13:05 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. I love that and just understanding the quote-unquote freedom, I guess, an opportunity that we have no matter what title or role we have in order to make that impact that we ultimately have. So I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So Tony, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:25 – Tony Zaccario

I think being a CEO is really just being a leader and leading from the front. And, And part of being a leader is also part of the serving and it's serving the team around you. And so a lot of regards to the facilitator. And the biggest thing is, I'm a big believer, as I said earlier, leaders create leaders. And so It's all encompassing and you really are the orchestrator that makes this whole show go on and it's helping provide that vision. It's also helping provide that motivation. And when you can foster other leaders around you, you create this environment of accountability.

And it's funny because, you know, here at Stretch Zone, we are our own biggest critics. And, you know, when something goes awry, and this is what happens when you create a good level of accountability, good level of leadership, also in an honest and transparent environment. And I think that starts at the top with being a solid leader. So whenever I hear that question, that's the first thing that goes to my head.

14:22 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. I love that definition, that perspective. You can definitely hear it in all the growth and the opportunity and excellence that you all have had. But I think, like you said, I agree too. The best leaders are those who are able to create other leaders and realize that we all have our gifts, our talents, and our abilities, and to be able to empower somebody to have that shine and of course, support that mission is one of the most impactful and empowering things that you can do as a CEO, entrepreneur, business owner, whatever title we might give ourselves.

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well Tony, truly appreciate that definition. I of course appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic so to speak just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best they can get ahold of you and your team and find out about all the awesome things that you're already doing.

15:05 – Tony Zaccario

Yeah, I mean, the best way to get ahold of me is either, LinkedIn is a phenomenal platform. You can find me there. As far as the organization, we're doing exciting things. We just launched a charitable arm, the organization GiveZone, as a way to give back to the communities that have been so gracious to us. And I will say for StretchZone, you can guarantee yourself that it is coming to a theater near you soon with the amount of growth that we're having, and the amount of franchisees that are coming on board.

So if you want to experience and really see the life-changing results firsthand, go try a stretch for free and go online to stretchon.com and look for a location near you because now truly don't take my word for it. You know, of course, I'm going to say it's amazing, but I think it's important for those listening to try it firsthand and really see the benefits they can have on their life.

15:51 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, absolutely. And to make it even easier, we're gonna have links and information, the show notes as well too so that everybody can get a hold of you. Of course, come to that theater to see that awesome show as well too, that's gonna be coming to a theater near us. So truly appreciate you, my friend, for talking to us about how important it is to make that impact how we're able to do that, and how, of course, you all are doing that as well. And I hope you have a phenomenal day.

16:12 – Tony Zaccario

Thank you, Gretchen. I appreciate it.

16:15 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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