From Passion To Profit: Owner of Helena Health Club Brandon Booth's Entrepreneurial Journey in Fitness and Nutrition

Summary

Podcast Summary: Locally Owned Episode Title: From Passion To Profit: Owner of Helena Health Club Brandon Booth's Entrepreneurial Journey in Fitness and Nutrition Release Date: January 30, 2025 Host: The Street Smart Entrepreneur

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Introduction: The Non-Linear Path of Entrepreneurship

In this inspiring episode of Locally Owned, host Dave engages in a candid conversation with Brandon Booth, the dedicated owner of Helena Health Club. Brandon's entrepreneurial journey is a testament to resilience, passion, and the unwavering commitment to helping others achieve their fitness and nutritional goals. Through a series of insightful discussions, Brandon shares how his early interests evolved into a thriving business, overcoming numerous challenges along the way.

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Early Passion: From High School Enthusiast to Fitness Advocate

Brandon Booth recounts his initial foray into the world of fitness during his high school years. "Around my sophomore junior year, I really started getting into weightlifting and, you know, at my family's gym or my uncle's gym, Ironworks Fitness, and just started seeing those kind of body changes" (02:06), he explains. This period marked the beginning of his personal health and fitness journey, igniting a passion that would shape his future career.

Brandon's transformation was not just physical but also nutritional. He shares, "I started really slowing down and I'd make better choices" (03:45), highlighting his early awareness of the importance of nutrition in achieving fitness goals. This dual focus on exercise and diet laid the foundation for his comprehensive approach to health and wellness.

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Educational Pursuits and Career Shifts

Brandon's academic journey was marked by exploration and adaptation. Initially enrolled at Shelton State with an emphasis on personal training, he voiced his struggles with the scientific aspects of nutrition and athletic training. "I was failing it miserably and I was like, you know what, I don't think this is going to work for me" (08:16), he admits. This realization prompted him to pivot towards athletic training, only to face further challenges.

A pivotal moment came when a mentor cautioned him about the demanding nature and insufficient pay in athletic training: "If you want to work 70, 80 hours a week... it's going to pay you like a garbage man's pay" (10:00). This insight led Brandon to reassess his career path, ultimately steering him back to his passion for nutrition and fitness management.

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Building Benchmark Nutrition: Overcoming Financial Struggles

After earning his master's degree from Florida State's unique program combining nutrition and exercise, Brandon founded Benchmark Nutrition. Without the means for a brick-and-mortar setup, he adopted a concierge model, offering personalized nutrition consultations at clients' locations. "I jump into the role at the health club, and I had never taken on something this big before" (11:11), Brandon reveals, highlighting the steep learning curve he faced.

Financial hardships were a constant companion in the early stages. "Working through years of being broke and paying back loans just shows Brandon's tenacity and dedication" (17:27) underscores his commitment. With support from his uncle, Terry Brazil, Brandon navigated these turbulent times, eventually stabilizing his practice and expanding his clientele through grassroots marketing efforts, including networking with sports physicians and coaches.

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Key Turning Points: From Local Success to Collegiate Consulting

A significant breakthrough occurred when a couple seeking to maintain their diet while enjoying their favorite foods led to a consulting opportunity with Alabama Football. Brandon recounts, "When we lost their weight but kept their chocolate cake, it led to one of the athletic trainers contacting me" (21:29). This unexpected opportunity catapulted his career, establishing him as a reputable consultant in collegiate athletics.

Brandon's dedication and thorough preparation earned him further consulting roles, including with UAB Athletics. His story illustrates the power of personalized service and the importance of seizing unforeseen opportunities: "Success rarely comes as a grand opportunity. It's the result of how we handle every opportunity" (24:22).

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Innovations in Fitness and Nutrition: Tailoring Solutions for Diverse Needs

Brandon's entrepreneurial spirit shines through his innovative programs at Helena Health Club. Observing the improper lifting techniques of young athletes, he developed specialized strength-based classes focusing on form and performance: "We developed a class from that that we ran this summer for the first time" (28:13). This initiative not only addressed immediate needs but also laid the groundwork for expanding similar programs for adults, demonstrating his ability to adapt and evolve based on client feedback.

Additionally, Brandon addresses contemporary health trends, such as women's health in the premenopausal and menopausal stages. "There's an opportunity to help with what we do professionally and hopefully get people where they're trying to go" (26:25), he notes, emphasizing his commitment to meeting the evolving needs of his clientele.

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Navigating Business Challenges: Financial Literacy and Strategic Growth

Brandon candidly discusses the financial hurdles of running a health club and a nutrition practice. An almost business collapse prompted a deep dive into financial management: "I got really financially literate really quick" (31:37). This experience underscored the necessity of balancing passion with business acumen, leading to more structured and financially sound operations.

His proactive approach to marketing, including creating a website from scratch and sending out targeted letters to sports medicine professionals and coaches, highlights his resourcefulness: "It's knowing not just the places to market at, but how to structure your message or your offer" (50:35). These efforts resulted in organic growth through word-of-mouth and referrals, solidifying his reputation in the industry.

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Philosophy and Community Building: Creating a Third Space

At the heart of Brandon's success is his dedication to fostering a community within Helena Health Club. "It was just part of my core, my ethos, I guess. You know, I want people to get results" (54:40), he states, emphasizing the importance of personal connections and a supportive environment. This philosophy extends beyond fitness to overall well-being, making the health club a "third space" for members to relax, de-stress, and connect.

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Addressing Modern Health Trends: Sustainable Weight Loss and Muscle Preservation

Brandon addresses current health trends and challenges, such as the use of weight-loss medications like Ozempic. He advocates for sustainable, muscle-preserving weight loss through nutrition and fitness rather than quick fixes. "We could help someone lose weight in a more healthy, sustainable way. Yes, their weight's dropping. But if you lose your muscle mass or your bone density drops... it's more efficient" (60:57), he explains.

This approach not only aligns with his commitment to long-term health but also positions him as a trusted advisor in navigating complex health decisions: "You're going to having a more healthy, sustainable way that they would have success" (19:43).

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Future Endeavors: Expanding Services and Enhancing Community Outreach

Looking ahead, Brandon plans to expand his offerings to include more specialized classes and services tailored to diverse populations. These initiatives aim to enhance the holistic health experience for Helena Health Club members, ensuring that the club remains at the forefront of fitness and nutrition innovation.

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Key Takeaways

• Non-Linear Career Paths: Embrace exploration and adaptability in your entrepreneurial journey.
• Passion and Perseverance: Building a successful business requires unwavering commitment and resilience.
• Community Focus: Creating a supportive and engaging environment fosters long-term client loyalty.
• Innovative Solutions: Identify and address unmet needs through tailored programs and services.
• Financial Literacy: Balancing passion with sound business practices is crucial for sustainability.
• Sustainable Health Practices: Prioritize long-term well-being over quick fixes for lasting results.

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Conclusion

Brandon Booth's journey from a high school fitness enthusiast to a successful entrepreneur underscores the importance of passion, adaptability, and a client-centric approach. His story is a source of inspiration for small and medium-sized business owners aiming to turn their visions into reality through dedication and strategic innovation.

Notable Quote:

"Success rarely comes as a grand opportunity. It's the result of how we handle every opportunity." – Brandon Booth (24:22)

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For more insightful episodes and actionable strategies, subscribe to Locally Owned on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or visit streetsmartentrepreneurship.biz for show notes and additional resources.

Transcript

[Host]

I've had the privilege of interviewing small business owners and being involved in the world of small businesses for a good bit of my life. And from that, I've observed that entrepreneurial journeys are rarely a straight line to success. Today, that's especially true for my guest, Brandon Booth, the owner of Helena Health Club. He navigated his way through a lot of detours till he finally found a path that he needed to be on. And it's not that he was ever really on the wrong path. It's more that he was on the wrong path. For him, being an entrepreneur is not about building a successful business as much as it is about discovering how you, through your unique way of seeing the world, can offer value that comes from your true self and genuinely resonates with others. I'm excited for you to listen and hear how his passion for fitness that started in high school launched his journey into weight training and health and nutrition and gave him the unique understanding of how all that blends together that he has today.

[Dave]

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Locally Owned Today. My guest is Brandon Booth, and he is the owner of Helena Health Club, and he's got a long career in health and fitness and nutrition. And I'm really excited to talk to him today. He's a great guy, a lot of fun, and, Brandon, welcome to the podcast.

[Brandon Booth]

Thanks for having me. Appreciate it, Dave.

[Dave]

Yeah. So excited to hear your journey, and I'm excited that you get to share it with people. Your influence in fitness and health started way back in high school.

[Brandon Booth]

Yes, 100%.

[Dave]

From what I remember, it was your junior year that you started getting into fitness, and something about it really stuck for you.

[Brandon Booth]

So my. My family has been involved in the fitness injury basically my whole life, but I didn't really get into strength training, weightlifting, or anything. So around my sophomore junior year, I really started getting into weightlifting and, you know, at my family's gym or my uncle's gym, Ironworks Fitness, and just started seeing those kind of body changes. I mean, I'm not a tall guy. I'm short, but I was also very stocky. And so you start seeing the changes, then obviously people start noticing. I. E. Girls start noticing.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

And then so you. You kind of ramp it up. You start, you know, you started getting compliments about this, that, or the other, whatever. And it just led me down this path. It just basically kickstarted my journey. And I just. I really loved everything about being in the gym, the working out, the results, everything like that. And I had started just on my own. I Don't know why, but I started even changing my nutrition a little bit. Not so much what I ate, just I realized that I was a fast eater. You know, if I had hot food, I didn't want to eat so slow that it became cold because it just wasn't as good to me anymore. So I was always very fast, and it was like I would inhale my food, and so I don't know what time it was. Sometime in high school, sophomore, junior year, I started to really slow down just how I was eating. I mean, still ate school lunches, still ate fast food with all my friends and family and whatever, just about every day after school, but I just started eating.

[Dave]

Wasn't that wonderful back then? You could eat all that.

[Brandon Booth]

Know, it's funny.

[Dave]

No downside.

[Brandon Booth]

No. And then you. You just start looking at it, you know, like when we'd get home, you know, we took the bus to and from school every day, so the parents were still at work, so we'd have to fend for ourselves. Whether it was walk to, you know, Jack's or something, or in Pleasant Grove or cereal or pop tarts were usually the go to because that's what I knew how to cook myself.

[Dave]

Fortified with eight essential vitamins.

[Brandon Booth]

I ate that. And the. The what? Super Nintendo or the PlayStation? I was good to go. But. But so anyways, I started, you know, just really slowing down and I'd make better choices, sure. But it was that. And then I just started seeing more changes and more things happening. And it just. It just kind of lit a fire in me. And I just enjoyed it. But I didn't quite understand it, I guess, because how could I? Yeah. So, yeah, that. That kind of got me into my own personal kind of health and fitness journey. Was that whole era of my life.

[Dave]

Was there any body or any maybe defining moment that made you go, this is what I want to do for a living, even back then, or was it just, you know, I'm getting results, I just want to keep getting more results?

[Brandon Booth]

Well, so every time. Yeah, so. And I guess in that sense, as far as to realize that I wanted to be in the profession, it's kind of a combination of things. So one, every time I went into, you know, my mom's gym lady works in Pleasant Grove, it was the environment. It was just fun. It was welcoming. It was. Even me being a high school kid, it was still just a fun place to be. And then when I'd go to Hueytown and go to Ironworks to actually work out me and my friends or Just me, by myself. It was the same thing. Like, I just, I liked everything about it. And I'm a very shy person, kind of an introvert, I guess, but. But I liked being in that environment. It was just, it was fun. Everybody was joking around, having a good time, but putting in work and getting, you know, hopefully getting some type of result from it. So I always knew that I wanted to work in athletics or with active people. I just didn't know in what capacity or how. And so I went through several different career paths, but I always knew that I wanted to be involved in the fitness industry somehow.

[Dave]

Yeah, as a matter of fact, you went to, you know, you went to school for it. And most people don't really, you know, they pick something because they gotta start somewhere. But a lot of people don't really know, you know, right out of high school what they really want to do. But you did, you know, you knew you wanted to be involved in fitness, but then you changed your major three times.

[Brandon Booth]

Yes.

[Dave]

You know, how, how is that?

[Brandon Booth]

So I am the stereotypical Southerner that went to school for the football team. You know, my friends were doing acts and sats and trying to get high scores, and I didn't have a clue like any of that was. I didn't study for it. I think I got like a 12 or a 14 or something really low. And so I went to Tuscaloosa just basically for Alabama football. And then when I got there, I started off at a junior college, Shelton State. I wanted to be with active people or work with active individuals in some capacity, whether it was athletes or at a gym setting or whatever. I was at Shelton. I started, I had an exercise emphasis, fitness emphasis, to where basically at the end of my two year stint there, I would have a degree in personal training. So that was initially my route. And then I think I'd mentioned to you previously, you know, I was in high school and I was talking to my uncle. You know, I think it was my senior year. At the time I was working out, just, just chatting with him at the front desk, just hanging out. And he had made a comment to me that, hey, one thing that we're really missing here at our works is a nutritionist. And still to this day, I still don't think he knows what a dietitian actually does. But regardless, and that kind of, when you, when you look at that, most people don't either. No, they really don't. Everybody thinks that we just create meal plans. They. Hardly anybody understands the, the medical side of what we do. So anyways, that, that conversation kind of had my gears turning that when I went, went into Shelton and I was like, okay, I'm going to go down this route, but I am interested in nutrition, right? So the nutrition part kind of piqued my interest. And then I got into the science of nutrition and I think it was like the Biology 2 class or something, like I was failing it miserably and I was like, you know what, I don't think this is going to work for me.

[Dave]

So I feel it because sometimes I'll come across an article and it'll be something that I'm interested in as far as nutrition goes. And I start reading it and like, at some point I'm just like, oh, this is getting way too deep into the science of it. And just, yeah, I just wanted to know whether carrots really do help my eyesight, you know, or whatever. You know, it's just like, you know, I'm just looking for something that's a fat burner, you know, like, and it's just too deep.

[Brandon Booth]

And that's funny because the science of nutrition is so in depth and is, is so broad and so vast and has so many intricacies to it. But the message, the art of nutrition, as far as relaying the information to the public and kind of quote unquote dumbing it down is, you know, yes, carrots can be good for your eyes. Do you care about the science of the beta carotene and how it gets in there and everything does what it's supposed to do to help the eyes? Not really. You just, everybody just wants to know. And so that's the hard part is you gotta, you gotta be able to mold and take the science of it and create the artistic side of delivering that message that's palatable and actionable.

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah. That's why we hire people like you.

[Brandon Booth]

So, so yes, I did end up changing my major. Long way to get to the answer to that question. I did end up changing my major like two or three different times. I went from nutrition to athletic training. And about this time I was finishing my two years up at Shelton and I transferred to Bama and I got into athletic training, you know, as an athletic trainer. Not related to personal training. It's the medical staff, you see, run onto the field if someone's injured or something like that during a sport, football game or whatever.

[Dave]

So it's, it's somewhat of a medical degree.

[Brandon Booth]

It is, it's, it's, it's kind of like a certified athletic trainer, physical therapist or Kind of similar modalities. And so I got into athletic training.

[Dave]

Now that must have been pretty tough education as well.

[Brandon Booth]

It was. It's everything I went for. Had very, very much a science, kinesiology, physiology. Yeah. Chemistry background to it. None of which I was really good at it.

[Dave]

Just want to lift weights, people how to do it better.

[Brandon Booth]

Yes, yes.

[Dave]

Pick it up, put it down.

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah. And so I was a, I guess a semester away from being accepted into the athletic training program at Alabama and I was shadowing with athletic trainers for the football team and other sports. And I remember one of the gentlemen, but he was like, yeah, if you want to work 70 or 80 hours a week. And I believe this is his quote, so I hope I'm not offending anybody. He goes, but at the time, get a garbage man's pay or something like that. He's like, this would be a great profession. And that stood out to me. So I changed. Like they accepted me into the program and I was like, yeah, I'm not going to do this. I'm going to switch back to nutrition.

[Dave]

Right? Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

And so I don't know something about that comment that he made to me. I was like, that doesn't sound like really what I want to get into, right?

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah. A lot of work for little pay, right?

[Host]

Who does?

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah. So I, I ended up changing majors, owning a business.

[Dave]

Sometimes there is a lot of that.

[Brandon Booth]

I can speak to that. So, yeah, so from there I ended up going back to nutrition and I, I dabbled into fitness management or a business degree or something like that. And I was like, no, nutrition is kind of where I want to be. By that, by this time I had developed enough of an understanding of it and appreciation of it and I wanted to learn more. And I still wasn't getting what I wanted. So I had a lot of my stuff on the nutrition side was more clinical based stuff and that really wasn't my interest. I wanted to know more about the nutrition from a performance standpoint, from an athletic standpoint, from a body composition standpoint.

[Dave]

There's a story that you had told me where you were working with this couple and they wanted to still be able to eat their cake. And that led to something pretty exciting.

[Brandon Booth]

Yes. So after Bama, I got accepted into Florida State's master's program. And what was unique about their program is it was a combination of nutrition and exercise, whereas the other different colleges didn't have that. So I ended up during undergrad. I'm working at Northridge Fitness. My boss and mentor, Mary Carte reached out to me right after grad school and was like, hey, I want you to come back, you know, to Northridge and start a nutrition program. And so I was like, absolutely.

[Dave]

Don't mean to interrupt, but what is Northridge? Like, what type of gym is that?

[Brandon Booth]

So Northridge Fitness, one of those 20, 30,000 square foot facilities. It's family focused. It really embodied everything about kind of who we are at the health club actually. They've got everything and then some you could ever need. And so it was an amazing first job for me. And Mary introduced us to CrossFit. At the time, it was very early on. It was like 04 or 05, something like that. Okay. And she was trying to bring that to Northridge, to the North Port Tuscaloosa area, whereas many people were like, no, this is a fad. This isn't gonna last. Don't do it. She was like, no, this is, this is where it's. Where it's headed. Yeah. And she was actually correct. So, yeah. So that Northridge was. It's more of a family focused facility. They have group fitness classes in childcare, they have like indoor half court basketball.

[Dave]

Oh, wow.

[Brandon Booth]

A little facility inside. And now at their new iteration of what they are, I think they have all Those things, the CrossFit and Sport specific training, all in the same facility.

[Dave]

So you got to see a lot of different aspects of owning a gym and what you can offer and.

[Brandon Booth]

Yes, and cleaning non stop as well. But yeah, a lot of aspects. But. So I didn't really have as much work experience in the fitness facility until, oh, four, when they opened Northridge. And that was cool because I got to be a part of the build out of that gym. And I always tell people like, you know, putting the TVs up and loading the treadmills and putting them together and stuff like that. So it was a really neat experience that I didn't realize at the time how valuable it was for me and Mary.

[Dave]

Like, how is she related to you?

[Brandon Booth]

Well, it's. I don't know exactly how, but apparently a lot of folks in the state at the time knew Terry. So I think Mary, if I remember correctly, she taught spin class at Ironworks for a little bit with Terry.

[Dave]

And Terry's your uncle?

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah, Terry Brazil. Yeah, he's my. He's my uncle. And so I, I don't really know how they got connected initially, but there were several people like that that he ran into or met. Like he met a couple out of New York that ended up moving down here and he helped him open up a gym in Pelham called Lady Works. So that's how I got introduced to Mary. And then when they had told me about, hey, we're about to open this gym in Tuscaloosa or Northport area, you know, do you want to be a personal trainer here? Yes, because I think I was working at Parisians in Tuscaloosa at the time, but I was like, absolutely, yeah. So that kind of officially jump started my career in the fitness industry. So, I mean, I'm still in school as I'm, as I'm doing this. So when I was at Florida State, I was just like a nurse or doctor, whatever. You've got to have clinicals essentially before you can take your, your RD exam or pass your boards. So when I was at Florida State, I was able to come back here to do my clinical internship. I did it at Princeton Baptist.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Brandon Booth]

And because of something about. Because of the length of time it's. I was in school, I had to add an extra month of internship. So whereas a lot of my, my classmates, I think I had to do like one month or whatever it was, I ended up having to do double that. And so I was doing that full time. And it was hard to do that and have any other source of income, at least that I could think of at the time. So it wiped out every bit of savings or money that I had. And so as I'm finishing that up, because I'm essentially done with my masters, I'm just finishing up, you know, I got to defend my thesis, I got to finish my clinicals, and I'm good. So that was all in the same time frame as when Mary and them had called me and said, do you want this position? And I was like, yeah, I do. But then when they told me the pay, I was like, I can't afford my bills. And at the time it was car insurance and rent at an apartment. And so that's when I was. I was talking to Terry about it. He was like, well, I'll tell you what, for the first year, I will help offset, you know, basically just your main bills, you know, so, like, the necessities, I will help pay that difference. And I forget what the amount was. And so he did that for the first year. And by then I was able to build up my training clientele enough, my nutrition practice and just the hourly pay I got for sales and kind of managerial type stuff as well, to where I was able to cover it, but I was still taking losses. But it was more of a Passion play. You know, I loved doing what I was doing. Even though I couldn't afford to make a living doing it, I still stuck with it.

[Host]

It's a good reminder that most businesses face financial struggles, especially in the beginning. I have yet to meet anyone who started their business and was profitable from day one. Every business takes an incredible investment of not just money, but time and energy and heart. It's amazing that any business makes it at all, because the first few years are so rough. But working through years of being broke and paying back loans just shows Brandon's tenacity and dedication to what he knew he could contribute to his industry.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

And that, in this time frame, is kind of what you were alluding to earlier about working with that couple. I had started one of the. My clients, they just gotten into CrossFit. They were seeing some good results, but they wanted to take it kind of to the next level. And I want to say they were probably in their 40s at the time, and I'd have been mid-20s. And so when I was working with them, they were like, all right, here's the deal. We will do anything that you ask, but we want to keep our Zoe's chocolate cake. And I was like, all right, cool. I can do that.

[Dave]

Customize plan.

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah. And so that's what it was. So I developed them a plan, and they were absolutely.

[Dave]

Did you approach Zoe's about selling them that plan?

[Brandon Booth]

I should have. So it worked out. And like, they. They basically implemented everything that we did. They got amazing results, and they got to keep their. Their cake. And during this process and what I didn't know.

[Dave]

Work out and ate their cake, too.

[Brandon Booth]

They did. Yeah. I mean, it was a home run for. It was a win. Win. Yeah. You know? Yeah. The diets don't have to be all that strict. It doesn't have to always be broccoli and tuna and oatmeal and all the boring stuff. It really.

[Host]

Early on, you could see Brandon's understanding of the importance of seeing every client and their unique goals and needs. And rather than hand them some cookie cutter meal plan. And yes, sadly, I admit I did intend that pun. Anyway. He customized a diet that allowed for their strongest cravings. Being smart enough to realize that cravings are often what defeat most of us, he worked with their cravings to ensure that they would have success. That is so smart.

[Brandon Booth]

And so during this process, what I didn't know about them is they were big boosters and contributors to Alabama athletics. I think both of them. I think the gentleman was a Cheerleader, and I think his wife was a gymnast, if I'm not mistaken, at Alabama. And so they were talking to the athletic training staff, sports medicine staff, as well as the coaches at some event or something like that. And this story got brought up about their results. They were kind of, I guess, bragging on me.

[Dave]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

And so that led to one of the athletic trainers who I think recently just retired actually this year, she came into Northridge and did kind of a secret shopping situation. So she came in and did a tour at the gym. And when we got done at the tour, and she had signed up to be a member, and she knew Mary as well, because Mary trained the gymnast at that time. So, you know Mary. Everybody knew Mary Carti down in Tuscaloosa. So anyways, so she comes in and we get her all signed up, and then we start talking nutrition. And she wasn't asking me regular nutrition questions. Um, it was definitely more, can I eat chocolate cake? No, it was more like, you know how when you do, like, a wall sit and your leg starts burning because of the lactic acid buildup and stuff like that? So she asked me something about that and asked me about sodium bicarbonate, if it helps with reduce, you know, kind of the. The acid or that lactic acid buildup and stuff. And I was like, wait a minute, what is. What is this? And then she was like, hey, just want you to know I'm an athletic trainer with. With Bama Athletics, with the football team, and we want to bring you in as a consultant.

[Dave]

Oh, wow. Wow.

[Brandon Booth]

Yes.

[Dave]

Yeah. That's exciting.

[Brandon Booth]

It's. It's pretty crazy when I think about it, because I'm literally wrapping up grad school, getting my rd, and my first consulting gig is with Alabama football and Nick Savan's, I guess, second year, because that have been.09. Pretty. Pretty wild.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

As far as getting my career started.

[Dave]

You probably felt like, man, you stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park.

[Brandon Booth]

I couldn't have been swing.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

I couldn't have been more nervous. I spent the whole.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

As soon as I accepted the gig, I spent literally, this is no joke, two to three days not sleeping and just researching. Researching everything. Because at the time, there was these list serves where I could go in and see other sports dietitians that worked for collegiate teams. They would talk about different issues and athletes and things like that. And I probably read every single thing that I could on those. Those listservs with the other sports dietitians so that I was as Prepared as I could be going into that gig.

[Dave]

Well, you know, the fact that you did that, though, is really the reason that you're getting the gig is because they recognized you're the kind of person that is going to work hard and is going to, you know, make sure you know what you're doing and offer the best. Like, they recognize something that said that to them, you know, because, like, an opportunity like that, you can't make it happen. You know, it just happened, but it could have just gone quietly into the night if you hadn't taken that couple seriously, you know, if you hadn't helped them achieve that kind of success. And that takes you really knowing what you're doing and making sure you're serving your client in the best way, because they would have never recommended you, stuck their neck on the line, you know, if they didn't see something to make them say, no, this guy is worth looking into.

[Host]

Everyone's success has some randomness to it. There's no way to know that this couple would lead to a secret shopper. That would lead to a consulting gig for the football team in Alabama. That would lead to other athletic programs seeking out his expertise. You never know when a huge, huge opportunity is going to show up, because it often doesn't show up as a huge opportunity. It more often shows up as a problem to solve. For instance, this couple wants to have their cake and lose their weight, too. Brandon could have told them no way, gave them some standard diet plan, but instead, he saw it as an opportunity to draw upon his background and knowledge and found a way to serve his client that was unique to them. Was it more work? Of course. But it's going that extra mile without knowing where it would lead. That was the difference maker.

[Dave]

But you can't make opportunities like that happen. But how do you maybe optimize new opportunities now knowing you never know where it could lead?

[Brandon Booth]

Well, that's a great question. The answer is, that's why I got this show. Yes. No. So for the most part, in that regard, as far as maximizing opportunities, it's kind of what you and I were talking about before, before we. We got on air here is, is it was kind of looking and seeing, okay, you can see trends, you can see things changing, especially when you're in your industry. You know, If I was 20 years younger, I probably wouldn't see the same things that I see now, being 20 years older than when I started in the profession. And so, like, we'll, like right now, I think a big thing and something that We're. We're starting to lean into is women's health, especially in that post premenopausal perimenopausal era, I think is becoming like, a real big thing. And. And it's. I think the awareness level of it is pretty high, and the education behind it is starting to grow. And. And people are starting to ask questions. Well, instead of just being like, okay, well, my body's slowing down. I've had to have a hysterectomy, or this has changed, my hormone levels have changed, and this, that, and the other, but they don't, you know, they just go to doctors and doctors and they. They take the prescriptions or whatever, but they don't really see any changes. And so you. You look at that population, that group, and they are looking for answers. So it's like, okay, well, there's an opportunity to help with what we do professionally and hopefully get people where they're trying to go, which is kind of the ultimate reason for being in this industry, is to help others. And so it's like that same thing. Like, we were at the gym, me and several of the other trainers, Marcus particularly, we were noticing that we'd have a bunch of young athletes come in and lift weights. Same. Like, I don't know if you worked out when you were in high school or younger. I played the guitar still.

[Dave]

That was my ticket to finding girls. And it didn't work well, but I.

[Brandon Booth]

Played video games, but I still worked out. I'll never forget that you said that, especially with the. The Marines you were talking about. It was a Navy SEAL at Northridge. When we first started CrossFit, we're like, hey, do you want to do this, do this with us? And, you know, we told him about it. He goes, yeah, we just call that circuit training. And I was like, oh. And, you know, and I'm obviously, you know, Navy SEALs, which I didn't know at the time, their level of training. But, yeah, when he said that it all. It has stuck with me. This is 20 years ago, roughly, and it has still stuck with me. I was like, okay, valid point, man. Yeah, I was like, that's true. This is. This is just a. A normal day for you as far as the type of training that they do. So. But. But back to the opportunities, you know, like, so I know when I was in high school, lifting or even with the teams, football, sports, whatever, it was like, you just get the weight up, however you get it up, especially if you don't have a coach in there watching you or Supervising you, whatever. And you know, your form is not great. Well, the beauty of what CrossFit has done, I think personally is it has gotten so many, this generation or the last couple generations coming up more interested in like barbell stuff. You know, it's not, not just bench press, you know, for me, for us growing up, it was a lot of bench press and biceps and stuff. And the generations coming up are doing a lot more like deadlift and back squat, front squats, power cleans and stuff like that. And I feel like it has stemmed from that. Now. The sports world has always done it, but not your recreational, everyday exerciser. And so we started noticing some of the kids that were benching and girls, right? Yes, yes. And so we started noticing some, some technique stuff with, with some of our younger kids in the, in the gym. And that's when we were like, hey, this might be a really good opportunity for us to offer a strength based class, you know, to teach form first and foremost so that they can execute this stuff with confidence or if the, you know, if they're going off like we had several that did it, that were seniors in high school going off to college, but they didn't really know how to do like a back squat with good form or a deadlift or whatever it may be. And so we focused on those main three because those are the three you typically see most younger teenagers do. And so we developed a class from that that we, we ran this summer for the first time. Oh, wow. Yeah, so it was kind of like what you were asking about, looking at various opportunities and things. And so that was just. That class developed, you know, because of what we saw, you know, just day to day in the gym. And what's interesting about that is a lot of the parents kept telling us, man, we wish you would do this for the adults.

[Dave]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

And so that's going to be our next generation. Hopefully this year we'll get to launch like an adults version of that class.

[Dave]

I still don't know how to do a squat Right well.

[Brandon Booth]

And that's what it's, it's really, it is really involved. And I just got through working with a gentleman, setting him up with good deadlift form because his son is into weightlifting and deadlifting heavy weight. And so they got to talking about it and, and I guess Josh and each other and he was like, I kind of want to get into it now. So.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

And now he went from, I think in just the few days I was working with him or the, the day or two that I was showing him his form. He went from just like 95 pounds on the bar to 200 and something. And this is just in a few weeks. And I was like, good for you. Yeah. And he's, I don't know, he's probably late 40s, early 50s or so and never deadlifted a day in his life. And he's rocking and rolling with it. It's, it's awesome.

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

So I think that will be something like, like that you'll see in, in 25 from us is we're going to try to do this for the adults as well.

[Host]

I love how Brandon is always evolving his services and not resisting change. But this class he offered wasn't born out of some great idea from some guru. It was a simple observation. Seeing all these kids that were eager to hit the weights but lacked the proper form spawned the idea to offer a class. Innovation should always be the result of seeing how a business can meet an unmet need or meet a need better. And you know, you nailed it. When like Brandon, your innovation leads to other spin off innovations because others want you to do for them what you did for someone else.

[Dave]

Oh, great.

[Brandon Booth]

And what's wild is, is when you talk to various, like physical therapists and, and folks in the profession and even strength coaches and stuff. Actually deadlifts can be one of the best things for your back. Everybody's like, I don't want to deadlift because I want to pull my back out or slip a disc. Well, actually the reverse could happen. It could make everything stronger. So you don't have to worry about that.

[Dave]

Wow.

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah, it's usually the right opposite. Like a lot of we. I hear that put that in the.

[Dave]

Marketing for the class.

[Brandon Booth]

I really do. I hear that so much. And I was like, you'd actually be surprised if you went to a therapist. They'd probably prescribe a version of this for you.

[Dave]

Yeah, well, so you in early on you were mentioning, you know, just how you were broke and your uncle subsidized part of your bills for you so that you could take this job. So. So how much of that plays into how you handle your finances now? You know, did that create a mindset.

[Brandon Booth]

Or, you know, that's a great question. And to a certain degree it significantly impacted me, I guess is the best way to say it. Because also at that time, you know, something that I don't think really many people know is like one of my best friends was getting married at that time and he had a bachelor's trip to go whitewater Rafting. Well, at the time, I told him I couldn't go because of work, blah, blah, blah. Well, in reality, it was because I was dead broke. I didn't have the money to go, but I didn't want to tell them that. And so it really, as far as my finances, it really kind of got me in the mindset of saving and making sure that I can save or have enough for a rainy day or if I ever get in a situation like this. But on the flip side, again, something that, you know, not anybody knows is it probably didn't help me enough because, you know, here I am at. And I know we hadn't talked about it yet, but, you know, I started Benchmark Nutrition, my private practice, which was an inn of one of employees. You know, it's just me. And so I jump into the role at the health club, and I had never taken on something this big before. You know, having a staff of 20, 30 people this morning, moving parts, you know, making sure that the business is. Is financially sound. And I think about three years into the health club being open, we almost went under.

[Dave]

Wow.

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah. And it was me, for lack of a better term, quote unquote, taking my foot off the gas because I thought we were in a good place. Those situations in my life have played the biggest impact on how I manage my finances now. I got really financially literate really quick. Yeah. After those instances, especially the combination thereof. Because, you know, the. The early years issue was, hey, I never want to be in this position again, you know, where someone's having to, you know, subsidize me or I'm having to ask mom or dad to help me cover my. My car note, because I don't. I don't have the money for it yet now. And then the issue at the health club was like, okay, I can love people and love helping people, you know, do what they do, get results or do things they haven't done or whatever. But if I don't have the financial business savvy part, it's. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. We're going under.

[Dave]

Yeah. I mean, every business requires money to run, and that's just, you know, there's no getting around that. And so. And it comes down to the owner to make those decisions on how to do that. You know, it's easy to forget the financial part, but just to get this in my head, you took this job at North Rich, and then this couple comes in and you get recommended. And so now you're doing this consulting gig for Alabama, and you're barely getting your, getting your started in your career. And so you, you find yourself doing that and you started a private practice with nutrition, right? Consulting and called Benchmark Nutrition. And it is concierge sports nutrition practice. What is that?

[Brandon Booth]

So it kind of ties into the finances. So I had gotten that consulting gig with Alabama football and it was amazing. And I did a good enough job to where they were recommended me to other teams and universities in the state, across the state, Florida, wherever. And it was in that moment that I kind of realized that if I was going to work 70, 80 hours and miss holidays, because in, in collegiate athletics, if your team does well, you're not going to be around for Thanksgiving or Christmases and New Year's and stuff like that. So I was like, well, if I'm gonna have to do this. And knowing the struggles that I had, you know, when I first started at Northridge or after grad school, the second time around, I was like, I wanted to be in control of, you know, how much money I made or didn't make if I'm going to work 70, 80 hours a week. And so in doing that, and there wasn't a lot of opportunities for a sports dietitian because I was right. In this limbo era of collegiate sports, athletics was just starting to take up, take off. There really wasn't a whole lot of private practice sports dietitians. It goes back to what I told you. Coming out of high school into college, I knew I wanted to work with active individuals or athletes. And so I was like, you know what? And I knew that Alabama was bringing in a seasoned vet from Texas A and M to run their sports nutrition department. I'd already heard through the grapevine that I wasn't going to get the full time gig that was coming up after my consultant year. And so I was like, all right, cool. And so that's when I was like, okay, if I want to do this and I want to do it, I guess kind of my way, or because there were no opportunities, I was like, I'm going to create my own opportunity. And that all of this kind of led to the creation of Benchmark Nutrition. So, like, I want to work with this population. There really weren't other opportunities that I was aware of to do it. So I was like, I'll just create it myself, right? And so when I created Benchmark Nutrition, it was for working with athletes and active individuals. And so the concierge part came along because I didn't have any money to go into a Brick and mortar. So I was like, you know what, why don't I just go to people's houses or their, you know, collegiate programs, you know, athletic training room or something like that to get started so therefore I could get started without having any overhead. So that's how it started. I mean, I was meeting people at Jason's Deli, Starbucks, you know, coffee shops and, you know, sit down restaurant places and having nutrition consultations when I started off. I mean, I also went to people's works, you know, wherever they wanted to meet me. You know, that's. That was kind of the concept is, hey, I'll come to you.

[Dave]

How are they finding you?

[Brandon Booth]

The Internet? So I created a website.

[Dave]

You created a website. Okay, so how did you get that out there?

[Brandon Booth]

So that was a whole process. So what I did is again, went to the Internet research, found a dietitian, sports dietitian, that had a private practice in, I think Washington. And she had created basically a book, a small book that was like, hey, this is how you get started. And you know, if you want to open up your own practice. And so even on the website it was like, here's a list of website developers, here's what you want to look for when you're doing your website, your color palettes, all the fun stuff that everybody likes to do in business. That's the easy stuff. Yeah, everybody likes to create. But then when you implement and keep the thing going, that's the hard thing to do. Yeah, the websites and all that. So it basically helped me learn how to create the business of a private practice. And so that's what I just, just pieced it all together on my own as far as the website and the hosting and the email and you learn all that stuff as you go. Right, right. You know, and so I didn't really have her to call on, but I just used her book as my resource and just figured it out as I went. At the time, I didn't know anything about marketing or advertising. I didn't do. There was no social media marketing at the time. There was Google Ads or whatever, but I didn't do any of that. I made sure I had a business page, I made sure I had a Google, my business page and I had a Facebook page and that was it. A lot of mine was word to mouth.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Brandon Booth]

So again, after I left Alabama, they put me in contact with UAB athletics because they were looking for a dietitian as well to help with some of their athletes because they kept getting athletes that were getting injured and stress Fractures and things like that. And they're like, we know it's nutrition related. These guys don't know how to fuel their bodies for what we're asking them to do from a performance standpoint. You know, that led to me working with the football. Well, the other teams saw the results the football team was getting. So then softball and bowling and basketball, men's and women's, you know, they all kind of said, hey, yeah, no serious business. And so that's when they were like, we want to work with Yalls dietitian. And so then they started telling other people just around the Birmingham area about me. If someone asked them, hey, do you know someone? Like, if they were recruiting someone, a kid, and they were like, hey, you know, reach out to this guy if you want your son, your daughter or whatever to get to the next level to help their performance. So that way they're ready for when they come into this, you know, the college or university. And then the rest of it was just people googling and. And finding me on the Internet. I mean, I didn't do anything special. I just put it all out there. I did do other things that really didn't take off at the time. Like, I sent a letter to every sports medicine doctor group in this. In the state. Yeah. From. And then every high school coach. I went through every high school web page I could find, and I found the list of the coaches, any sport they were, and I mailed them all letters saying, here's. Here's my name, here's my services, here's how I can help you. Here's a few business cards. Reach out, let me know if I can, if I can help. And then. So it was that. And it also, at the time, did that.

[Dave]

Was that pretty good for you?

[Brandon Booth]

It was. It was good in getting my name out. So I remember long time Vestavia Hill's football coach, Buddy. And athletic director, Buddy Anderson reached out to me and was like, hey, you know, I got your letter. And he was old school, so he just did telephone. There was no emails, no nothing. Like, if you didn't get him by phone, you weren't getting him. So he was one that reached out to me and we had several conversations and he gave the parents to some of his athletes, you know, my information and stuff. But it didn't do what I was hoping it was going to do as far as drumming up the business. I was like, oh, yeah, everybody's going to. About me. Yeah, it didn't really happen. And the same thing, the sports medicine doctors, they got it, but they didn't really get it. Now the sports medicine doctors that worked in collegiate athletics, they got it. And so they were really quick to refer, you know, their, their athletes and clients and patients to me. Yeah. And so just little bit by little bit. And so like I wasn't doing this full time. I still had to have part time gigs to help offset my, my expenses. So whether I was working at the hospital or working at a gym, and that was the other thing, like being in a gym setting, I was able to put flyers and pamphlets and stuff like that out so people could get an understanding of, you know, what I did and how I could help them and stuff like that. So it just gradually just kept picking up steam. Picking up steam. I'd get a client that was maybe ran track and field at Montevallo or the golf team. The coach had heard about me from somebody in another athletic department. And so like Montevallo Golf, men's and women golf called me to do team talks and stuff like that. So those things just kept building on each other. Just grassroots boots on the ground. Marketing. It really wasn't anything that was like what we see nowadays, which is all social media type ads.

[Host]

Trying to figure out what works in marketing for small business is like trying.

[Dave]

To figure out what pass interference is in the NFL.

[Host]

Just because they call it one time.

[Dave]

Doesn'T mean they're going to call it again.

[Host]

Unless of course, you're the chiefs. But seriously, marketing is a science and it's constantly changing. The one thing that doesn't change is you cannot wait for customers to find you. You have to be proactive, resourceful and have a whole lot of hustle. And Brandon did just that. He met up with them at Starbucks, Jason's deli. He went to their homes, he built a website, he sent letters to sports physicians. And not every attempt was a home run. But trying different things led him to find what worked.

[Dave]

Yeah, this is still something that you do, right?

[Brandon Booth]

Benchmark nutrition 100%.

[Dave]

So.

[Brandon Booth]

So what was neat about Benchmark and the, and the health club is things were, were going really well for me from that 2010ish to 2005, 14ish as far as the nutrition practice and just growing and growing and growing. And at the time, one of my biggest clients was UAB athletics. Well, they decided, you know, to shut down the football program.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

Yes. So when they did that, I kind of lost that gig. Well, goes back to something that we had talked about earlier about me being broken at several different parts of my life. You Know, I had saved just about everything that I had made. And so that allowed me to have the funds to buy into, you know, putting up benchmark nutrition inside Helena Health Club, which really just in fact turned to me just kind of working there essentially full time.

[Dave]

Oh, right.

[Brandon Booth]

But I was still able to hold. So that was about the time where I was thinking, know what? Maybe instead I could actually probably help more people if I was in one singular place instead of driving two hours, one hour here, there, and only seeing two and three clients in a day. Well, maybe I can see seven or eight if I'm at one location. So that's kind of what helped me get into, you know, the, the fitness actual space officially.

[Dave]

Right, right, right. And so if I'm a client, why am I hiring you? Like what, what's going to happen that isn't happening in my life?

[Brandon Booth]

Oh, wow. So that. It just depends. So most of the time if you're hiring me, it's because you compete in a sport or you, whether it's, it's from a hobby standpoint, professionally or from high school to collegiate, collegiate to pro, you are hiring me to help you with your recovery, to make sure you can fuel for your workouts and, or games, competitions and stuff like that. To help with the recovery from all the 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 hour practices or the 2A days or whatever it may be. And then it's the, the hydration aspect, you know, looking at that. And then some people may come to me and it's just strictly a vanity weight loss or build muscle type thing. Cool. I mean, it doesn't matter, that's fine. So I'll, I'll work with those individuals. And then the other kind of piece of it is on the, the medical side is if someone has, you know, high blood pressure or cholesterol or something like that, then I can help them, you know, get that down without medication, just using food and fitness. And then there's others that there's other medical diseases that I don't really work with as much like, so type 1 diabetes or Crohn's disease or some of those other things or a clientele that I don't really work with. But so for the most part, if someone's coming to me, it's usually going to be for sports performance, weight management or cardiovascular health. Those are probably my three biggest niches that I work with as far as clienteles. And it, it'll range. My age range will range anywhere from 15 years old to 65 or so.

[Dave]

Now, do they have to have like a medical, like somebody that's got cardiovascular disease or something like that. Do they have to have some sort of medical exam before you'll take them on?

[Brandon Booth]

And so usually they come in. It could be a doctor related reason why they come in. For instance, just last week I had a gentleman in the military that he had to take an active leave because he kept getting injured and he had low bone density, so he kept having stress fractures. Well, his doctor gave him my website for him to reach out to me so I could help with the bone density issues that he's having. Um, whether it was from the fitness and, or the nutrition side, both can play a role in your bone densities. Because that's what he said in his email to me is he realized after further testing that he was diagnosed with low bone density. And he, you know, the doctor said, hey, reach out to this guy. So in those situations it will be like a doctor just says hey, reach out to him. Because I don't take insurance, I'm a fee for service in my nutrition practice. So that's how a lot of times it'll be that or people would just be like, hey, I've got cardiovascular disease. And my doctor might have mentioned, hey, you should go see a nutritionist. So they'll google me. And now I've gotten a lot more savvy business savvy on, on how to position myself to where I show up whenever they google a nutritionist or dietitian. And in Alabama plus I've been doing it for, since 2010, 2009 here in the state. So organically I'm gonna pop up when you search that. But so it's that. It's that or it's, you know, I've had, you know, a parent will just recently had a wrestler, local high school wrestler and that particular population of athletes can have some very extreme practices to help them get to the weight that they need to wrestle at. And so he was in his junior year. A lot of times if it's high school kids, they have potential for a collegiate scholarship and so they'll search, you know, for a dietitian. The dad reached out to him and was like, hey, here's kind of what we've been going through. This is what happened. He's got potential to get scholarships. Let's see if we can make his junior into senior year a lot better. Have him more healthy and stronger heading into his season and just depleted and tired and can't finish a match type situation.

[Dave]

If you can do that just through Nutrition, that's. I mean, I think a lot of people are looking for that, you know, believe it's possible, but, you know, you know, we're shooting from the hip, you know.

[Brandon Booth]

Well, it's a lot of misinformation. Yeah, yeah. You know, something that sells, you know, it might sound good to do this style of diet or this style of. Of whatever. Doesn't mean it's the right thing for that person in that situation. Just because it's the popular thing to do. Yeah. But yes, it. It's people. When it comes to nutrition, people are so confused because of the information and the mince information that's out there. It's like, well, I read this one thing and it said, you know, I can't drink coffee because I'll have. It'll give me cancer. And then I read another thing that said, hey, you need coffee because it actually helps prevent Alzheimer's and does this. And so now everybody's like, well, I don't know what to do. You know, like, they just freezes them up to where they're like, well, crap. You know, I'm danged if I do. I dang. I was like, no. And then. So I can help kind of shift through that misinformation and deliver the science in a palatable way to where it fits, whatever their. Whether it's a medical or vanity or sports performance issue.

[Dave]

So you know your stuff when it comes to that. Now, you mentioned that you got. You're pretty savvy now with making sure when people type something in, they find you. What does that mean?

[Brandon Booth]

Well, when you're forced to use or not forced to, but when you know the market is trending into advertising a certain way that you know nothing about, well, if you want to try to make sure you stay in business, then you need to learn. So it was me deep diving into, say, Facebook ads, you know, and how to run those and run those efficiently. Not just putting general information out or, you know, key tags or geotagging and stuff like that, or key phrases. When I write, you know, develop my website or if I put a post out on social media and stuff like that. So it's. It's knowing not just the places to market at, but how to structure, you know, your. Your message or your offer or whatever it may be to where you, you know, you pop up on someone searching.

[Dave]

Right.

[Brandon Booth]

Or it gets in front of those right people.

[Dave]

There's a lot to it. You know, even with YouTube, you know, I'm. When I'm creating a thumbnail, there's hours and hours and hours of TikTok teaching on how to create a thumbnail that will get people to click. I mean, it's just stuff that you don't think about, but it's. Yeah, you've got to learn that stuff because in the world of social media, you got three seconds, you know, if that before somebody's just.

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah. Your goal is just to get them to pause from that swipe.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

You know, it has to be something that grabs their attention, even like you said, if it's just for a couple seconds. Yeah. Otherwise they're just going to keep. Keep doing this. Yeah, just keep scrolling their finger. So, yeah, you want to have something that gets them to pause and then, then your, your messaging has to be relatable to that individual.

[Dave]

Right.

[Host]

Well.

[Dave]

And, you know, you've been doing this a while, so you probably know the pain points that people have that are looking. You've got the answers that they're looking for, so you kind of know what questions are on their mind when they're scrolling. You're going to make sure that that's the answer they see. You're involved in a business that you're obviously passionate about, but running a business is very different. You know, when you're paying bills and making your payroll and you're calling the electrician because this went out and you got to make sure that the parking lot is whatever. You know, there's so many other things. How do you make sure that you are still involved in helping people with their fitness and their nutrition?

[Brandon Booth]

So that's, I think that's just, it's, it's just, it's. That's the reason, like for me, that's the reason why I'm in the field that I'm in, I mean, is because of all, you know, all those things. It's, it's really about the, the people, the members, you know, your, your clients and, you know, wanting them to reach whatever it is their goal is. I mean, you know, someone may have a goal, especially in the gym setting where they just want to come in and work out just to de stress, you know, there's no super thing they're shooting for. There's no weight loss or weight gain goal or whatever. It's just. I just want to de stress from my day, you know, and. Yeah, and I just, it's, it's just, you know, like, to me, that's the main thing. And, and that's where the focus is. The business, to me is. And it took, you know, it's, it's shifted, you know, as you, you grow up in it, it. It has shifted to where, you know, like me, the business. Now I understand it needs to be more of a business business. It needs to have more structure, it needs to have more goals to it and, and, you know, processes and how we do what we do and those kind of things. But, you know, like, the first 10 years at the health club was essentially us just trying to do right by people, you know, and, and just have the members just be part of, you know, or part of the family, for a lack of a better word. Because, I mean, that's what we wanted the health club to be. Just. Yeah, someone's third space to go to have fun, to de. Stress to, you know, talk with. With folks and just have a good time as well as do fitness. Because some people absolutely hate being in the gym. They just know they got to be there, you know what I'm saying? For. For whatever, it could be a medical reason they have to be there or just so they can enjoy the things that they want to enjoy, you know, without it leading to other issues, you know, if we overindulge in things and stuff, you know, whatever it may be. But yeah, I, I don't. I guess I don't know if that answered your question, but to me, that stuff was the more natural part. It's just part of, you know, me growing up and my family dynamics and who I am doing that. It was the business stuff that I actually had to learn after the fact.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

You know, does that make sense?

[Dave]

Yeah, it does. And I feel that, you know, I mean, I'm there, you know, good bit. And, and I do feel. Feel like there's a sense of community and everybody that works there is pretty approachable and interested in, you know, if you got a question or anything that you want to ask. So, yeah, you've built a place that really is doing right by people.

[Brandon Booth]

That's just part of my core, my ethos, I guess. You know, I want people to get results because I knew how it made me feel growing up when I started getting results and seeing the changes and doing the things, you know, I mean, it's, that's, that's the beauty of kind of what we do. That's what makes you want to get up and go in every day.

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah, I know I suggested it before that possibly you incorporate a free beer Friday, you know, get people in the gym on Friday because there's not many people, but we. I'm still pushing for that, you know.

[Brandon Booth]

No, no, I'VE I've had some, some members, we've joked around that maybe on Friday nights is, you know, we, we dim the lights, we bring the disco ball down and we, we cut off the sign where it says health.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Brandon Booth]

And so it just says Helena Club. So I'll be honest, over the years, that has been thrown around a lot by many different people. To be honest, I think it might be onto something. Speaking of those kind of opportunities and things you were talking about earlier.

[Host]

One thing that great business leaders do is they hire people that share their passions for what they're trying to build. It's no wonder that his staff are also experts and great at what they do. He's so smart to realize that he can't build this great third space community for people if the people he hires don't, don't already share his passion for doing that.

[Dave]

So you mentioned the, you know, you've kind of taken notice and I love what you said about trends because, yeah, when it's what you do every day, you can see those trends a lot more than other people, you know, than people who aren't involved can see it, you know, and so, you know, getting involved and saying, okay, I think, you know, designing some things, you know, for women. I think you said pre menopause perimenopausal. Perimenopausal. That was it.

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah, pre menopausal, essentially.

[Dave]

But yeah, seeing that and designing something around that, you know, that's brilliant. Is there anything else that you feel like this is where Helena Health Club is going and that people should know about or.

[Brandon Booth]

So the, there's, yeah, there's a few things. I mean, there it, and it kind of goes back to, there's having the day to day conversations we have with the members. You know, like it's us doing those, the lifting classes we thought would be something that, that would definitely be a service or a help to the community and then doing it with the kids and then going with the adults. So another thing that we've seen is the, I don't want to say results, but the, the help of having a personal trainer seems to really get people to that whatever goal, they're faster. I guess, for lack of a better word, the thing that we have started to see is, is a lot of our clientele they used, a lot of folks used to be like, you know, hey, I'm, I'm not too good to use a trainer, but hey, I know what I'm doing. But if you have a conversation with them, you know, six months, eight months, 12 months later, whatever it may be, and they're still in their same, they still hadn't got the results they wanted. It's like, okay, well have you tried or considered using, you know, a trainer or anything like that? And so that's kind of where I think that for us I see growth because a lot more people nowadays are like, I need a trainer. And a lot of times it's, some folks have been working out their whole life, but it's the accountability, you know, like, they may know how to do the thing, but they know themselves well enough to know, hey, I'm not going to come in unless I know I've got this appointment, you know, or this, this schedule. And I don't want to let the other person down on the other side by me not showing up.

[Dave]

Right.

[Brandon Booth]

And then also for us, a real big thing that, that we have talked about as a group and just something I have seen personally is Free Beer Fridays. Yes, Free Beer Fridays with the disco ball is the, like the, the Ozempic, you know, the weight loss shots and all that stuff that's, that's very prominent right now. Well, what I'm seeing, and especially with my background in the nutrition piece is yes, a lot of people are losing weight, but they're losing a lot of muscle. And so I tell, that's what I tell a lot of the athletes I work with. I was like, look, we can have you drop weight, that's fine. But if you lose a bunch of muscle in the process, well, now you're a more inefficient athlete. So yes, the scale looks great. You met your number. But if we lose all this muscle mass and muscle tone, well, then you're not going to be able to perform it at your position. Right, right. So yeah, we accomplished this goal, but we actually made it worse for you in what you do. So it's the same thing as, as a, as recreational fitness enthusiast, weekend warriors, whatever is a lot of these folks are taking these, these medications, which is great, you know, if it's helping them, but they're doing it in a way where it's setting them up for more issues.

[Dave]

Yeah, there's, there's always a trade off with any kind of medication.

[Brandon Booth]

There is. And so that's something I see because I see it's not, it's more that I see the harm that they're kind of doing to themselves, you know, and so that's something, that's another group that I feel like that we can work with because it's not just the exercise piece that can go with it. But with these medications it drastically slows down their gastric emptying or you know, the food leaving their stomach to where they'll, they might get nauseated or they don't eat enough or they don't eat enough of the right things so that they can observe that. Because if you lose a lot of muscle mass, especially as we get older, then your ability to do just activities of daily living are going to suffer. And so that's another area where I see again, I think the youth strength training component is something that we're exploring and we want to keep building on what we did last year. But yeah, there are several things.

[Dave]

I know what you're saying, Ozempic, when you say that word. I mean it comes with some baggage. A lot of people have feelings about that. If I'm hearing you right, are you saying you can help people get the same results without having to take that just through nutrition and, and there would be no downside there wouldn't lose the muscle and essentially be a whole lot healthier that can be accomplished through Nutrition?

[Brandon Booth]

Yeah, no. 100% we could help someone get, if weight loss is. Their goal is to help them get there through nutrition and fitness. The problem is that's not as fast as people want it done. And in today's society it's, it's very, I mean we've all been saying this for like 10 years now, but it's very microwave type society. We do want it quick. So what I was saying is I think we can help those folks that are taking it because a lot of times when people first started taking it, they didn't want to tell anybody. Now it, nobody really cares. Like yeah, I'm taking the shots or you know, they'll say the name brand or whatever. But no, it's more me more. What I was saying is we could help the people that are taking that to where they lose the weight in a more healthy, sustainable way. Yes. With the combination of nutrition and fitness. Because like I said, there are just like when, when like lap band surgeries and, and this gastric sleeves and all that stuff was popular. If people didn't change their nutrition habits, then the, the thing that was supposed to help them ended up hurting them or not helping them at all. So that's what I was saying like with those, the weight loss shots and stuff is we want to be a resource for those people to help them do it and do it in a more healthy, sustainable way. Yeah. To where they're not losing all their Muscle mass, yes, their weight's dropping. But if you're, again, if, if you're lose your muscle mass or your bone density drops because of, you know, it's just, you're basically starving yourself.

[Dave]

Right.

[Brandon Booth]

With the help of the other shot, then we want to help you have better success with it. Right. But you could do it both ways. You can do it with it or you can do it without it.

[Host]

This is where Brandon's expertise really stood out to me. He's not just a gym owner. He is an invaluable resource with a medical degree in nutrition and can see at role in our fitness and overall health in much greater detail than what's easily available to us. As a true professional, he's not concerned with quick fixes. He offers healthy and sustainable solutions that prioritize long term well being. For anyone considering using Ozempic or some other type of weight loss medication, this is where it's crucial to consult with Brandon or someone with Brandon's unique education of fitness, fitness and nutrition to help you navigate the potential health risks and benefits of that option. And you know, I felt like this was such an important issue right now that I asked Brandon to come back into the studio and speak more about it. You can look for that as a bonus episode. If you're taking something like Ozempic or considering taking something like it, I urge you to listen to that short episode. So you guys are real resource.

[Dave]

I mean, you know, you've got, I mean, medical background in nutrition and dietitian and you know, fitness and you've worked with athletes. You know, it's Helena Health Club seems like just this health, you know, friendly neighborhood health club. But you've got a lot to offer.

[Brandon Booth]

We do. And I have done a terrible job of, of getting that message out.

[Dave]

We, I've been going there six, six or seven years and I had no idea that you knew this much about fishing.

[Brandon Booth]

Well, in fairness to that, when I started at the health club and my roles started to expand, I started taking on less. I didn't advertise in the gym because then that would have been another thing on my plate that I had to take on. And then when I opened another gym in 2018, I almost stopped taking clients because my roles and responsibilities changed so much that I didn't want to take on a client and not give them my best service. And so just managing and running the gyms kind of caused me to not put that out there. And then also with the staff that we have, especially our trainers and stuff, they're they're so well educated and diversified and good at what they do. That. Yeah, we definitely need to do a better job of getting that out there. And that's. It's kind of interesting with, with you doing the podcast, that was something I was. I was thinking about is we night might need to do like a monthly podcast of a nutrition and fitness tips or something like that, or a blog post or. Or whatever, just to be a more of a resource to the community.

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you've got a lot of knowledge in that brain of yours. It can really help people.

[Brandon Booth]

So thank you.

[Dave]

Well, this has been great, man. This has been fantastic. So I loved hearing your journey and hearing all about you and Helena Health Club and just, you know, man, and I'm glad to get this out there. People need to know, you know, everything that's there and at least this will do. We'll do that for you.

[Brandon Booth]

I appreciate it. I appreciate you having me.

[Dave]

Yeah. Yeah. All right. Take care.

[Brandon Booth]

Thank you, sir.

[Host]

You know, there's some real key takeaways from this episode. One is that career paths are never linear. It's okay to explore different options and change directions till you find your path. And building something from scratch takes grit, resilience, and a whole lot of hustle. And this comes from believing in yourself.

[Dave]

And what you're passionate about.

[Host]

Thirdly, just like fitness and nutrition go together for overall health, it's a lifestyle, not not an event. While skills and perseverance go together for the overall health and lifetime of any business. Fourth, finding your niche is essential to building a career that you're going to love. Number five, success rarely comes as a grand opportunity. It's the result of how we handle every opportunity. And lastly, how can you find success a way to offer your expertise as a concierge service? Is there a need or a desire for your expertise in that area? All right. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Locally Owned. Thanks for listening to another episode of Locally Owned. I hope you found this episode to be helpful and offer quick, actionable strategies. Please don't forget to hit the subscribe button and leave a review. You can find more episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or go to our website, streetsmartentrepreneurship Biz to find show notes and links and more.

[Brandon Booth]

Sa.