IAM397- Entrepreneurs Committed to Fitness Build a Row-centric Fitness Boutique

Elliott and Lauren had always been committed to fitness. Whether through running, lifting weights at the gym, skiing, swimming, or pretty much anything else exercise-related, health and fitness have been there. However, there was another aspect that was also always there – injury.
As the couple worked out traditionally, injuries piled up – whether a back injury from lifting too heavy, knee injuries from running too much or hip pain through skiing, fitness goals were continuously being put on hold. The idea for Total Row originally surfaced after another fitness-related injury relegated Elliott to the semi-broken rowers in the back corner of a capacity-filled gym. While recovering from injury, Elliott realized the tremendous benefit of this once-overlooked piece of equipment. He started putting together circuit workouts with the rower as the central focus.

After about a year of planning, saving, and praying, Elliott and Lauren had a lease on a rundown, former hair salon in Buckhead, and 13 rowers in “storage” (their 700-square-foot condo). Total Row officially opened its doors in December 2016. Today, Total Row is one of the largest rowing-centric gyms in the Southeast, and the only one in Atlanta! More importantly, Total Row has built a studio that welcomes anyone, regardless of age, experience, or ability, with members ranging from their teens to their 70s!

• CEO Hack: Book- The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday
• CEO Nugget: It's not as easy or as fast as you think, give it time
• CEO Defined: The last one – there's no one behind one

Website: http://totalrowfitness.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/totalrowfitness/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/totalrowfitness/

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE.

Transcription

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 0:02

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 interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless 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.

Gresham Harkless 0:30

Hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and have a very special guest on the show today, Elliott Smith of Total Row Fitness. Elliott's awesome to have you on the show.

Elliott Smith 0:37

I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

No problem. Super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Elliot so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Elliot and Lauren have always been committed to fitness, whether it be running lifting weights at the gym, skiing, swimming, or pretty much anything exercise-related health and fitness have always been there. However, there was another aspect that was always their injury as a couple worked out. Traditionally, injuries powered up whether a back injury injury from lifting too heavy knee injuries from running too much, or hip pain through skiing fitness goals were continuously being put on hold.

The idea for Total Row originally surfaced after another fitness-related injury relegated Elliot to the semi-broken rowers in the back corner of the capacity field gym. While recovering from injury, Elliott really realized the tremendous benefit of this once-overlooked piece of equipment. He started putting together circuit workouts with the rower as a central focus after about a year of planning, saving, and praying.

Elliot and Lauren had at least a rundown former hair salon in Buckhead and the 13 rowers in their “storage”, Total Row officially opened its doors on December 26, 2016. Today, Total Row is one of the largest growing Citrix gyms in the southeast only in Atlanta. More importantly, the total has built a studio that welcomes anyone, regardless of age, experience, or ability with members ranging from their teens all the way up to their 70s. Elliot, are you ready to speak to the IMCEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”] – Beginning

Elliott Smith 1:55

I'm ready. That was a wonderful intro.

Gresham Harkless 1:57

Exactly. Yeah, I was gonna say my drop at the end. But that was nothing else to say. But um, I know, I touched on a little bit, but could you tell us I guess a little bit more about like your SEO story, what led you to get started? What made you like want to scratch that entrepreneurial itch?

Elliott Smith 2:11

Sure I can. And honestly, that was a great job. So I might be a little repetitive here. But um, my wife Lauren, and I did start Total Row about three years ago. And at the time, we had been looking to do something together as a business. So we both had separate careers. And we'd looked around and nothing seemed to work for a variety of reasons, either too expensive, or it didn't make sense, or, you know, we didn't enjoy it. At the time, I started experiencing the injuries that you talked about between skiing and anybody who's run knows that, commonly runners are getting injured.

And the one exercise that I kept being able to do was a row and so I kept coming back and kept coming back and over time realize, hey, this is an awesome exercise. Like I can do everything sitting on this one piece of equipment. So we kind of put two and two together and said what if we tried to build a gym based on rowing-centric workouts because you know, the boutique fitness industry has just been exploding, and it still is.

And so it was it was an area we wanted to go into. And ultimately, you know, after keeping 13 rowers in our 700-square-foot apartment for about a year, developing the concept came to fruition. And it's something that's really exciting. In this past year, we've actually franchised so we're now a franchise and are looking to expand quickly starting in the southeast, and then hopefully across the whole country.

Gresham Harkless 3:36

Nice. Congratulations. And obviously frustrating I remember when I started a lot of these blogs and this podcast and all this stuff, I actually tore my Achilles tendon. So injuries are never great to have but it's always good to hear just like with you, it sounds like something good comes out of it at the end.

Elliott Smith 3:52

Yes, absolutely. There's always a way sometimes you just have to maybe look a little harder or kind of go that nontraditional route. But um, that's our bread and butter is taking people that have been hurt elsewhere, or just injured. We have an older population. And it's a lot of fun, makes a really cool, fun community that's very supportive, and everything we do scales.

That's our big thing. From beginner to expert, we have literally had in a class, an Olympic gold medalist sitting three feet from a grandmother, and they're doing the same thing. And they're both getting exactly the workout they want to get and that's that's what we love about Total Row.

Gresham Harkless 4:28

Yeah, absolutely. I love that concept. And I always feel like sports and working out always bring so many people together. So it's kind of great to hear that you guys have that community. I wanted to hear a little bit more I know you touched on Total Row, is there anything additional that you can kind of tell us about you know, the company, the franchise, and everything you guys are doing?

Elliott Smith 4:43

Sure, yeah. So it is you know, the maybe the definition level Total Row is a rowing centric fitness boutique. Maybe that makes a little more sense if you think about a spin class, which I think most people are familiar with. Essentially what we've done is we take the bikes, we take them out, we put in rowers, there's a coach in the front. And then within the class, we also have all kinds of different tools we use. So we have TRX bands, kettlebells, slam balls, we do bodyweight stuff, we have yoga that we've recently introduced.

And we created this really cool concept, where circuit style class again, coach led small group fitness. So we have Max 13 people per class, very fast-paced, and we do everything from classes that are rowing only to about classes, 50% rowing, 50%, off machine stuff like I just talked about. And then we have actually circuit style classes and a rowing flow, which is half rowing, half yoga.

So it's all class base, we do have some ancillary services, we'll do some body composition, we do some nutrition and personal training, but it's really those group classes that drive total row for the franchise, it's very new, we've had a lot of interest, and we're excited to make some announcements in the near future of some new locations.

But, um, basically, we've taken the key points of Total Row, and we put them into a franchise package. So it's a very, it's a very scalable offering, we try to go after a very diverse broad set of people, you know, as founders, we were just in that position three, four years ago of trying to do something, so we have a good understanding of the costs and the limitations that people are going through. So we're very excited to be doing the franchise right now. And I think that's pretty much it was.

Gresham Harkless 6:29

Nice, I definitely appreciate that. And I think that anybody who's building a business, whether it be something that is trying to be franchisable if that's even a word, or even just trying to create a franchise, you have to have that process and systems in place so that it is replicable to other, you know, places and locations. So it's a great reminder that you guys have been able to do what it sounds like from day one, and now you're starting to ramp up those opportunities.

Elliott Smith 6:51

Yeah, and that's a, that's a fantastic point. So one of the things that we do with a total row in the franchise is a system we call a single-employee model. And the way we have designed the Total Row franchise to function is that it should be able to scale from an owner-operator. So if you want to open a studio, you want to manage it, you want to coach it, maybe you have your buddy come in and help you but you know, you're the guy up to an investor who's got managers who's got coaches in multiple locations, that's a really hard thing to do.

The way to do that is you've got to first start down at that owner-operator model, and you need systems that are affordable enough that an individual person can use them at a smaller scale, but then you need to have the processes and systems in place where those can be addictive. So that you do not have to have completely new systems as you grow.

And that's, something that we have really, really pushed hard in our franchise, many franchise models are very big, very expensive. And that's just, that's kind of unfortunate. You know, it's what we do in Total Row is we want to bring everybody and we don't care we came from, we don't care what shape you're in what you look like, what your history is, we don't care, we're all here together. And we've, with our single-employee model, we've really tried to push that into our franchise as well.

Gresham Harkless 8:10

Nice, I definitely appreciate that. And even like you said, you know, even from the people that are actually doing it from the 13th to the seventh row, as we talked about, or even people that want to purchase it, you can have that mass range of people that can actually come to the studio.

So I think that's important, when anybody's thinking about, you know, figuring out what franchise and actually finding that franchise, so and I know this is actually on your website. So I'm happy to see this. I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. You might have already touched on this, but what do you feel kind of sets you guys apart and makes you unique?

Elliott Smith 8:36

Yeah, so our secret sauce, it's, I hope obvious, but it's, it's our ability to incorporate rowing into our classes. It's one of those things that sounds kind of like well, yeah, of course you're rowing studio. But to be able to create, a portfolio or a program that has the breaths to scale up and down with one central cardio component real challenge. Fortunately, rowing makes that a lot easier. So the big three was rowing, the keys are, it's zero impact.

That's the key number one. Total body so works nine of 11 muscle groups, and it can burn up to 900 calories an hour. So what that means is you have essentially a workout that everybody can do for the most part, because of the low impact. And it's a one-stop shop. It's super, super effective. And what we have done is we've spent the last three years honing how we teach our form, how we teach people to row correctly, and how you fill in those gaps that rowing doesn't hit with all of our off-machine exercises.

So that's what I would say within the classes that's that's really something that we do that not everybody does a lot of other higher-end boutiques. It's usually sort of a one-and-done. super high and super fancy, which is awesome. But it's usually just that one thing that they specialize in. We've tried to broaden that out just a little bit. And then with the franchise, secret sauce, I would say is the single employee model that's, that's a lot of franchises tend to give you a, you know, a list of this is exactly how you're going to do things.

And if you can't do it, that's too bad. We really don't believe in that. And so that ability to scale up and down. It's something that we learned and developed in classes every day that we've hopefully successfully brought into the franchise so that they can scale up so it fits their needs as well.

Gresham Harkless 8:36

Nice. And I definitely, you know, appreciate that to the I feel like there's always, it's always hard to create something new. But I think the opportunity to create something new is when you merge, sometimes two, three, or four different things together, and you create that secret sauce because you're trying to make it more creative. So I appreciate you know, what you guys are doing and inherent exactly how you guys went about doing that.

Elliott Smith 10:50

Thanks. We appreciate that. And it wasn't easy, but it's never it's been fun. As the CEO shows, and I think as any CEO would say it's, you hope it looks good on the outside. But it's when you turn off the camera and figure things out. That's when you know, but it's been a lot of fun.

Gresham Harkless 11:10

Yeah, always the behind the scenes is always the most interesting part, you always see the end of the end product, but a lot of it with a lot of work and time and energy, probably ups and downs definitely into it so we appreciate you. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this could be like an app or book or habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Elliott Smith 11:32

So I don't know if you'd call this a hack, it is a book, have it here actually, I keep it with me on my desk, I don't know if you can see it. It's by Ryan Holiday. I'm not sure if you're familiar, but I keep it here, one of my favorite books is called “The Obstacle Is the Way”. I would consider this a mandatory reading for any CEO or manager or anybody who's in charge of other people and processes. Nice.

Gresham Harkless 11:55

Thank you definitely for sharing that. And I've seen that book. I can't remember where I've seen it. But I definitely think that's a great concept, especially because when you were saying that one of the things that came to my mind was there's a quote that not everything's not happening to me is happening for me.

So understanding those obstacles that pop up is not a roadblock, it's something that's telling you to pivot or to go around or you have to find a better solution. So it's it's something that's happening for you and only helps you build that greater business. And now I want to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And that is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine. What would you tell your younger business self?

Elliott Smith 12:29

Probably something very similar to what we talked about. And I think in the sense that, it's not as easy as you think it's, not as fast as you think. And pretty much nothing is gonna go as you plan. You know, it's just that's kind of the reality. And many times when you see these successful stories and CEO stories and company stories, you're coming in, and like for another sports analogy, like it's the seventh inning like you've missed everything before.

And when you actually are the one that gets started in doing this stuff, it's really hard. And it's just kind of a common piece of knowledge when starting companies is that the ones that fail, we're usually so close to being successful, and they were right there, and you run out of money or you run out of steam, or you run out of just you get bored, whatever it is, I would, really suggest to people to slow down to realize that a lot of businesses fail. And this is really hard, and you're doing something really cool and fun. Give it some time.

Gresham Harkless 13:31

Thank you for that. I think that's an incredible nugget for all of us. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Elliott, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Elliott Smith 13:43

When I think of a CEO, I don't think of the glamorous person in the ivory tower who's not a successful CEO. To me. CEO is the person who's always the first man or the one that you know, for a Total Row, I've cleaned the bathrooms, I've not only installed the floors, I've mopped the floors, I've been there for five, six in the morning, I've taught every class.

And that's what's common of CEOs is that you got to be the person that when no one else will do it. You've got to be the one because you're the last one, not only do you need to be the first man, but you're the last backstop. There's nobody, behind you and what makes being a CEO so unique, in my opinion. That's just my opinion.

But I think it is the only job in an organization where your number one responsibility is to make more successful everyone else, your shareholders, your stakeholders, your employees, your teammates, your customers, it should always be you know, your value as a CEO is promoting other people.

Gresham Harkless 14:47

So Elliott I truly appreciate your time. Appreciate all the awesome things that you're doing. What I wanted to do was just pass you the mic just to see if there's any additional you can let our readers and listeners know and of course how best they can get ahold of you.

Elliott Smith 14:57

So maybe to just follow up on what I just said. I think being a CEO is cool, I love the podcast, I love what you're doing. I think it's cool to shed light on this position because I think usually it should be in the back where nobody knows about it. And this is a chance to come forward and you know, talk about the opportunities.

Again, I would strongly recommend entrepreneurship to people, even no matter how small it is just getting in this role because it doesn't take long in this position to know that you will learn more as a high-level manager or CEO than you will do anything else. Doesn't matter what what you're doing, you're going to be doing finance and accounting and marketing and sales and human resources. And it's just a tremendous opportunity.

And it's something I would really, really suggest. For Total Row, our website is TotalRowfitness.com. If you just put slash franchise on the back of that you get to our franchise website, and we're on all social media stuff. So please, I'd love to hear from people. I'd love to hear from your listeners and followers if they have any questions. And I think this is really cool. So I appreciate very much you letting me be on here.

Gresham Harkless 16:03

No problem. And I definitely appreciate you for all the awesome things you're doing and all the insightful information and nuggets and hacks that you gave to us as well. So we will have all those links in the show notes as well so that everybody can follow up with you regarding the website, franchise, and anything else that they have in mind. But thank you so much again, Elliot, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Elliott Smith 16:21

Thank you, you too.

Outro 16:21

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.

[/restrict] – End