← Unemployable with Jeff Dudan
Unemployable with Jeff Dudan
This Simple Exercise Exposes What You Truly Value with Scott Capelin
00:57:34
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- [00:00]
A
You've got two years to live. Okay? Two years to live. You're going to die two years from today. Between now and then, you are in perfect health. How are you going to spend your time? Who are you going to spend it with? What are you going to do? One of my other favorite sayings is that business is a vehicle to have the life you want. So business is not the goal in itself, it's what can that business do for you?
- [00:23]
B
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Unemployable podcast. I. I'm Jeff Dutton. If you leveraged a business degree with a passion for personal health into a 25 year fitness career and now are franchising successfully in the United States with the Pilates like concept in Life wellness, your name can only be Scott Kaplan. Did I get that right? Scott Kaplan.
- [00:45]
A
Sure did, Jeff. Well done. Thank you.
- [00:52]
B
Nailed it. Welcome, welcome. It's good to have you on today.
- [00:55]
A
Thanks Diff. Good to be here.
- [00:57]
B
Opening question. What has been your greatest learning in franchising in the United States in just the last two years?
- [01:08]
A
That's a really good question because I started franchising in Australia and it's a lot different in the US Some things are very similar and some things are a lot different. I guess my greatest learning I want to share with you a a learning lesson as in a, you know, a failure. But I gotta say the biggest thing I've noticed in the US is that people don't want to open up just one franchise location. They want to do three to five. So I guess my biggest learning is that if there's going to be a hundred franchise locations, it would be. It's a lot easier doing that with 20 owners who all own 5H.
- [01:47]
B
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And it's in Life Wellness is the name of the franchise, correct?
- [01:54]
A
Yes.
- [01:55]
B
And what is the modality? I know Pilates are involved, but just give us an overview on the concept.
- [02:00]
A
So Reforma Pilates is a really great place to be in the fitness industry right now. It's a very popular form of exercise. Funny thing is it's been around for over 100 years, but just these last five to seven years, it's really grown. Reformer Pilates is the foundation of what we do. We know that people love Reformer Pilates. It's why they come to in Life wellness, it's why they stay. But Pilates is one exercise modality. We've got a whole other range of classes that we run in the studio. We call them Fusion Pilates where like the name suggests, we fuse Pilates with other types of exercise like strength training, cardio circuit training, you know, barre, if you're familiar with B A R R E barre. So I, I guess one of the big things in fitness is people want to get results, but they want variety with what they do so they don't get bored. One of the biggest things in fitness studios and gyms is member retention. It's not really even about sales, it's just about keeping people rather than constantly selling to them. So one of the big things that retains members is variety with within the studio as well as, you know, good value membership rates and a positive internal culture.
- [03:17]
B
Yeah. So, you know, I'm fascinated. I just had the Pilates addiction people on the podcast not too long ago and I'm familiar with Club Pilates and it just seems like of all the fitness modalities that the Pilates is the stickiest. I have several friends that do it and they love it and they'll pay for it and they stay. Why is that?
- [03:46]
A
Well, my wife says that it's a sort of exercise you can do until the day you die. There's probably a lot of other types of exercise that cannot say that.
- [03:56]
B
True.
- [03:57]
A
It's really interesting to me too, because adding life, Wellness, you know, 70% of our new studio members have never done Reformer Pilates before, so. And 50% of our members have never been to a gym or studio before. So we really try and get, what I'm trying to say is we get this blue ocean of new customers. So in the fitness industry, whether It's Australia, America, UK, around about 30% of the population has a gym or studio membership. So we do a pretty good job of attracting this other type of people, the people that might have gone through their whole life thinking, I'm not a gym person, but people do tend to fall in love with Pilates. And the thing is that on that Reformer Pilates machine there is a never ending amount of exercises you can come up with. So I guess it's one of those things where it's a skill that you never stop getting better at. And I'd like to think your friends who have been doing Pilates go to a studio that has a really positive culture. Maybe the studio owner or the instructors know their names and they know each other's names and it's just a place where they feel comfortable attending.
- [05:06]
B
Yeah, you had a previous business and I listened to you talk about it and it was a bigger footprint studio and I think it was, it was, it was high end and it kind of touched all the Senses. And what I was impressed with was your understanding of customer experience. And so what did you, what did you learn from having that? I think the company name was called Embody that you developed and it was a, you know, very high end that it just, it just looked great and, and all of the things. What did you learn about customer experience? And then what things from customer experience did you bring forward to the in life concept?
- [05:49]
A
You're right. We did create this concept and it was high end and it was. There's so many elements and layers to it. One of the layers was environmentally friendly. So the whole, the whole studio spit it out with bamboo and marble and sandstone and all these eco friendly products.
- [06:04]
B
I guess even the uniforms, right? Even the uniforms of the people were made of bamboo, correct?
- [06:10]
A
Yep, yep. So yeah, yeah, I could probably go on there, but I don't want to bore you with it. There's a whole podcast on that. But I guess a few things that taught me is that people would walk into the studio and there'd be this living green plant wall and marble bathrooms and sandstone walls and they would say wow when they walked in the first time, but they never said wow on the second time. So I guess my point is I learned from that experience like what matters and what doesn't matter. What will bring you more members and more re and what won't. I learned a lot about over capitalization there. But in terms of the customer experience, what I really wanted, I mean, I don't really want to say this, but what I found was that the more you give people, the more they want. So funnily enough, I moved on from that and went the other way and developed these really low cost model. And again, at the heart of it all was member retention. But preceding that is culture. So just treating every studio member like they're the most most important person in the world is what will build a business. Not all the flashy bells and whistles.
- [07:24]
B
So what kind of a leader are you to attract these people to your team, to coach your franchise owners? What are some of the things that you believe in when it comes to leadership and building just a great team?
- [07:37]
A
I've always been fascinated with culture, whether it be in businesses or workplaces or even sporting teams. So we've probably all been part of a, a positive workplace culture. Maybe we've all been part of a toxic or not so good workplace culture. When I watch sport, you know, the team that's coming last, like the athletes on that team, they know how to play the sport. You know, it's not always because they're bad players and the team that's coming first or the teams that win consistently, you know, year after year, decade after decade, what is that? What's happening culturally in that organization? I also have a big policy of build from within. So if you look at the 70 franchise locations, we have over 90% of the owners, they started off as studio members, and then we have a Pilates instructor certification program. And our studio members end up becoming instructors, and those instructors end up becoming managers or owners or multiple owners or working in the HQ team. So I really believe in that concept. Again, whether it's sport. I went to university. If I had my time again, I probably wouldn't do that. I would just get a mentor, actually start making some money and get into the real world. So just to answer your question and maybe finalize my response in terms of leadership, I'm a big delegator, a big trusting person, as in, you know, Jeff, treat it like it's yours. Make a decision. I'm here to help, but I believe in you.
- [09:19]
B
Do you play some rugby?
- [09:21]
A
Yeah, a lot of rugby. A lot of rugby, yeah. The body's paying for it now.
- [09:25]
B
Yeah. Tell. Tell me you play at university or as a young man or how long did that go on?
- [09:30]
A
So that was. Yeah, it's all in Australia. And my brother, who's a little younger than me, he played very top level in Australia, but I played, you know, rugby among other sports from the age of 5 through to 35. Now, 35 is way too old to be playing rugby. And my. My final game finished with, you know, basically a knee reconstruction. But I was never a superstar. And I think that has put me in really good stead because, you know, I always had a good attitude. I always had to try really hard just to barely keep up. So I think I developed qualities, you know, like persistence and consistency, which have been really helpful in business.
- [10:11]
B
All right, now talk me through the substitution policy of rugby. We're sitting here, we're this week, we're In July of 26, the World cup is going on in the United States. We've got a game Tuesday, we've got a game Wednesday. And I think the whole world is watching. But in particular, we've really taken to this in the United States. It's a big deal over here. And what's fascinating to me is the substitution policy. And I've heard that it's similar in rugby. Like you, you don't get to sub in and out in rugby. Is that fair?
- [10:46]
A
It's called Beer. The interchange. So, okay, you've got the players on the field who play both the defense and attack. And, and there's 13 of those guys. And on the, the reserves bench or the bench, there's. You've got six substitutes and you're allowed to use four of them.
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B
Okay.
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A
And only once.
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B
Only once.
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A
Only once. Yeah. It's called limited interchange. So in the whole 80 minute game you get 10 interchanges. So it's, it's a bit of a skill and an art. You know, the big guys get tired quicker than the smaller guys, but then you never know there could be an injury. So all of a sudden the plan goes out the window. But yeah, you get a lot of these guys playing, you know, no, no helmets for 80 minutes non stop. So it can be a little bit brutal.
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B
Yeah. There's no bathroom break. Right.
- [11:37]
A
It's 40 minutes on. Then there's a 15 minute half time.
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B
Oh, okay.
- [11:41]
A
And then another 40 minutes on. But yeah, there's no breaks during that 40 minutes, which is, it's interesting for us watching the NFL, you know, where they. There's one play and then there's a break and then there's another play and then there's a break. So it's, you know, it's where the 60 minute game takes three or four hours.
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B
Yeah, we play eight seconds every 45 seconds.
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A
Yeah. Okay, that makes sense.
- [12:08]
B
With many commercial breaks we've woven in there.
- [12:12]
A
Yeah, commercial breaks, exactly. But it's funny, every four years people become a soccer expert too with the World cup, you know, bit like, hey, it's been great.
- [12:21]
B
You know us, we took a bad beating. The US Took a bad beating to what, Belgium and. But I don't know, Argentina looks pretty good. France looks pretty good. You got a pick?
- [12:34]
A
I don't have, I don't have a pick, but I know it's not going to be Australia or the. Or usa. Yeah, Australia, we always try. But yeah, those, they're amazing. Those guys in South America and Europe, they grew up with them with a, with a soccer ball on their foot, you know, they're freaks. It's a, it's amazing to watch.
- [12:52]
B
Pretty amazing. Yeah. So where did you grow up in Australia?
- [12:56]
A
In Sydney. Sydney. I think Australia has eight states. Sydney is the biggest city in Australia. It's a good place to grow up. Yeah. That's good.
- [13:05]
B
Yeah. And when was your first business experience?
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A
So, you know, I'm a franchisor now, but I started my career back in the late 90s as a personal trainer and I was with an emerging franchise company. So as they built what we called the franchise model, I ended up opening a franchise and then that was 2005. In 2008, I opened up a second franchise location and I ended up owning five franchise locations as a franchisee. So again, that was a great experience because it allowed me to, well, basically learned a lot about business, everything from marketing, recruitment, sales, accounting, bookkeeping, leadership, customer service, admin. And it also enabled me to see what makes a good franchisor and understand what franchisees need. So I actually never set out to become a franchisor. But in 2019, I started this current brand in life wellness one single studio again in Sydney. Funny time to open, actually late 2019, just before two years of COVID So we managed to work our way through that and then I had some interest from our team members wanting to open up one of these studio locations. So we opened another one and another one. And then I went down this franchising route with such a funny pathway because you, it takes a lot of time and effort and money to actually set a business up to franchise. And you don't know if anyone's ever going to open one of these things. You know, less than 6% of franchise brands get to a hundred locations. So, you know, I'd like to be one of those brands.
- [14:49]
B
Well, look, franchising is a bit of a proving ground because it has to be efficient for somebody who doesn't come from the industry. Maybe they're not an incredible entrepreneur at least yet because they're coming right out of corporate America. This might be their first business. So, you know, when we think in franchising, like you said, it's nice to have the big footprint and all the fancy stuff and, you know, luxury feel and all of that. But if you look at what franchisees are successful, they have some hallmarks to them. Number one, they're businesses that are good for people, meaning they're. Somebody can operate these. They don't have to be a rocket scientist or they don't have to be, you know, an incredible business athlete to operate it because there's good systems, there's processes to follow, there's good support. Uh, it's also there's, there's a mindfulness to the return on investment, meaning within some number of months, if the business, if, if the operator operates and the business performs as expected, they will pay back their initial investment and they will go forward building equity and earning profits and revenues and profits. And, you know, and if you're going to do that, then it, it can't be every dollar that you spend on the front end that just pushes that return out farther. So you've gotta get something that has a perception of a quality product. It's gotta look good, it's gotta smell good, it's gotta taste good. If it's food, it's gotta feel good. It has to. It has to work. And then I think, you know, most importantly, and this is particularly interested in the. In the restaurant industry, right. When you're in the restaurant industry, it's not hard to get people to try it. So the first year. The first year in the retin. The restaurant industry is not the litmus test. It's the second year that people come back because you can get people, oh, I want to try that new place, and everybody wants to come in and try it. Or you can do coupons, or you can do specials, or you can do all of these things. But if it's not good and the service isn't good, the food isn't good, they don't perceive it's a value sometimes, honestly, too. Site selection. If it's hard to get in somewhere, it's amazing. The restaurants that I drive by, because I don't want to go through the hassle of finding a place to park or, you know, or trying to take that left turn across four lanes of traffic to get in there. I mean, I. I've. There's one place in particular that's in a tough spot right off the interstate, and you have to go all the way down the block to get back to it. And there's been four restaurants in there probably in the last 10 years because people just won't. It's not. It's not convenient, it's not easy. So. So franchising has a way of really forcing you to think about, very responsibly, about all of the elements of the program, from cost to execution and location and all of those things. And it sounds like with your model, you had enough experience to make just the right choices on those things.
- [17:53]
A
Yeah, I agree with everything you said there. There's a lot to unpack. Not sure where to start. But when people are coming into a franchise network, I always say they're purchasing two things. They're buying a proven business model and they're getting ongoing support. So I think it's a really safe and clever way to start a business journey. Also, the amount of time, effort and money that goes into developing the IP and the branding over a period of years and, you know, when I was a franchisee, I think not A day went by where I wasn't grateful. Something was already done for me because then I could focus on what I loved about the business, which was health, fitness and helping people and developing team members rather than have to develop systems, processes and procedures from scratch. But yeah, in those comments you made earlier, we have a, you know, a studio location, a site selection model, and that encompasses all those things you mentioned. Because the funny thing about fitness is people come for a workout, but they don't want to walk a hundred yards from, you know, they want to get a park right nearby. But, you know, all those things go into the franchise model and that's what people are coming on board for. And there's so many amazing success stories of franchisees. We get a lot of people coming from the corporate world. You know, you get a lot of couples coming in this together, sisters, friends, Pilates instructors who want to have their own business. So our opening costs are around 200 grand, which is super low. And you touched on return on investment, which is something I'm really passionate about. So if you're going to put $200,000 into opening a business, the return on investment means how quickly can I get that 200 grand back in profits? And, you know, we're looking at 18 months or less.
- [19:43]
B
Yeah. So that is a very attractive and low startup cost, especially with having the reformers to buy for, to pay for. Do you. What, what is it? What's the footprint size? How do you, how do you accomplish that? And how disciplined are you about saying no? When a franchisee brings you a site that you think might be. Might drive the cost up or be out of compliance.
- [20:11]
A
Yeah, really great question. We look for 1500-2000 square feet for a studio space. We gotta find a space that doesn't require a lot of work. You know, ideally, the restrooms are already in. We do a cosmetic rejuvenation inside. We do a carpet, tile, paint, mirrors, lighting, exterior signage. But it's nothing structural, just like I say, cosmetic. Make the place feel really warm. Our color schemes are very cream and sandy. It feels like a big living room. And one of the whole philosophies behind the studio is that it's like the old TV show Cheers, where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came. So the one place where the opening investment is gonna blow out is the build out, you know, the fit out. So, you know, and again, I've made all these mistakes so that other people don't have to. When you start playing around with plumbing and relocating the restrooms or, you know, there's a. If there's no air conditioning, you know, these are all reasons that we would say no. Depending on the lease terms, you know, the landlord.
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B
Right.
- [21:19]
A
Be willing to throw in quite a strong financial contribution so that you can install the air conditioning and. And things like that. You know, there's so many little. What's the word? Minefields or. Yeah, you know, you know that saying, you don't know what you don't know. So.
- [21:34]
B
Yeah. What about music? Do you have music going on during the class?
- [21:38]
A
It's just background music, you know, middle of the road. It's not the sort of music that the class does not rely on it, but, you know, just a bit of. A bit of vibe, bit of ambience. Yeah,
- [21:49]
B
yeah. And so if you're. If your music's not that loud, then you're not going to have the sound attenuation issues that say. I was involved with a company called Rockbox and it was, you know, rock music and it was boxing and kickboxing and, man, it was turned all the way up. And so when we, when we would go into a space, I mean, we would have to go inside the walls and there was all kinds of sound attenuation that we had to do to keep the noise from just vibrating the stuff off the shelves next door.
- [22:20]
A
Yep. Yeah. With our studio location criteria, one of the criteria is choosing a location where you're not going to upset the neighbors. And that could be the residential neighbors or the commercial neighbors. Sometimes the other. Other businesses get upset if our customers take up all the parking spots. But, yeah, noise is a big one of. You know, again, I've been down that road where you have to, you know, insulate the studio with acoustic paneling and you've got to put rubber under the floor so that you absorb all the noise. It's probably. Well, we don't have that issue because the music's not so loud, but music can be a great vibe. I used to be an indoor cycling instructor. You need the music. But yeah, gosh, it's a good way to upset people.
- [23:04]
B
Yeah. As you've grown your franchise, have you found any challenge in keeping the culture, you know, consistent with the franchisees? And what is it? I mean, sometimes, like, I know the Anytime Fitness founders, great culture guys. I think three thousands of studios under that brand. I think there's the more tattoos of the logo than in any other brand that's ever been. I mean, it's just, you know, really people that really love the brand, people that bought into the culture, people that uphold, held the values of it. What types of things do you see doing? What's unique about going into business with you when it comes to culture and how do you lead that and how are you going to try to, as much as possible, keep it consistent as the network grows?
- [23:57]
A
Yeah, I mentioned earlier that I'm really fascinated with culture, especially as things grow. You know, like I read Richard Branson's books and I think, oh, you know, gosh, how do you get culture across in multiple countries, in a business, in so many locations and getting everyone on board and maybe everyone's not on board. Earlier I mentioned that most of our studio instructors and studio owners, they started off as studio members. So from that, in that sense, it's been pretty easy because you come into a studio as a member and you end up really enjoying the culture. And then these people become instructors and owners and it's their responsibility to uphold the culture that they fell in love with. And, you know, they want to. And also with any business, you know, I really believe that saying that your, your staff or your team are your greatest asset. So, you know, with, with that in mind, if we can just look after these people, everything else is going to fall into place. Leadership starts at the top. It filters through the team and the members or the customers, they feel it. Our member, sorry, our instructor retention, our staff member retention is excellent. Pilates instructors, they are there because they want to be there and no one makes them be. For most people, it's their second job or, you know, instructors come in all shapes and sizes and ages and backgrounds and some people work two hours a week and some people work 30 hours a week. But if they need time off, you know, they can take time off. They're all contractors, but we work as a team. So yeah, I think I've got a belief that people want to be part of something and they want to feel like they're going somewhere. So if you can immerse people in the culture and provide them with a career path, it's a pretty appealing prospect.
- [25:47]
B
I'm interested about class size. You said you have Fusion classes where you people. I assume each attendee has their own Reformer in a class.
- [26:00]
A
Correct.
- [26:01]
B
And then is there ever a time. So what's an Average class size?
- [26:07]
A
14 people in a Fusion class, somebody could be on their Reformer Pilates machine for six minutes and then they're either behind their machine or off to the side of the machine doing other types of exercise, which is very systemized and structured. It's pre choreographed. These exercise Videos or on TV screens. And the instructor's job is to coach people through it. But yeah, it could be anything from a barbell squat to a bicep curl to high intensity interval training to instructors facilitating a pretty cool circuit. Yeah, it's all good fun. And I think instructors also have a desire to be constantly learning and developing, so we encourage that or sometimes we just force them to.
- [26:50]
B
Yeah, I'm interested. Especially with the time that you spent as a personal trainer. Obviously you've made a career out of fitness. You're very fit yourself. I'd love to talk a little bit about some of your views on health, maybe men's health, women's health, whatever. But, you know, there's so much going on right now with peptides and with sleep and with, you know, caffeine or not caffeine. And you know, what, what are some of the fundamentals that you believe in for personal health and then as it relates to being a, you know, an energetic executive?
- [27:32]
A
Yeah, I used to think it was all about time management and now I think it's about energy management. You know, I know how to manage my energy and I think it's. I think energy management is different for everyone. But yeah, again, you ask good questions. I think your questions are too good because there's a lot of points I want to address in each question. You know, even physically, I used to always have a debate with myself, is it about how I look or about how I feel? I mentioned to you prior to the call, you know, just turning 50. It's interesting because, you know, in your mind you're still 25. I saw a meme yesterday. It said, in my mind, I'm still 25 until I stand up too quickly. But, you know, I was thinking about this the other day, as you know, in personal. I was a personal trainer for 17 years. And this is just one on one personal training where you develop some really great client relationships and you develop this really deep understanding of, you know, what's driving people or what's not driving them, where they're struggling, why they're struggling. Is it exercise, nutrition? Is it time, pressure, work stress, financial stress? A lot of my work was in weight loss. And after 20 years of being exposed to every nutrition strategy on earth, I came to the conclusion it's about eating a bit less and moving a bit more. So really simple stuff. But I believe you got to do exercise you enjoy. I don't think you need to kill yourself with exercise. I think you need to have a pretty powerful why or reason for Exercise when I was a 23 year old personal trainer and I would sit down with someone who wanted to lose £20 and they wanted to keep up with their kids. And I was thinking, you're, you know, that's not very, you know, keeping up with the kids. How hard can it be? Now I've got four kids and they want me to jump on the trampoline and, and you know, they want to climb on my back all the time. It's like, okay, I'm trying to keep up with the kids myself now. Yeah, you know, yeah, you're right. Like the wellness industry has exploded. But the, the problem is not a lack of information. The problem is too much information.
- [29:38]
B
Right. Yeah. So anyway, do you, do you subscribe to, I mean I, I had Anthony Geisler on the podcast and he said, you know, he's, he's partnered with Gary Brca and Gary Breca I think says, and I, I'm not, I don't want to misquote anybody, but he quote came from, quote came from somewhere that said if you're, if you, if you're going to live another five years, then with AI and science you can, you'll be able to choose if you want to live to be 120. And you know, you see it, I mean, look at you at 50. I'm 58. You see people that are getting healthy, they're taking peptides, they're taking supplements, they're understanding water, they're using ice baths, all, all of these things. I mean, how much, you know, how much is there to get? You know, how much, how much of fitness, health and wellness can play a role in us extending our quality of our life? And do you, like, what's your personal view and what are some of the things that you do to stay in such great shape?
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A
Yeah, I believe everyone should come up with their own wellness regime which includes exercise and nutrition. You know, it's got to be, you've got to firstly take ownership of it. You can only follow something for so long. We say diets die. So diets are not long term or sustainable. When I say come up with your own routine, I'm talking about trying things. You know, do you feel they are working for you? Like if sauna and cold plunge? Yeah, the cold plunge. I mean, I think it's good for your health. I gotta say, I don't enjoy it. It's so cold.
- [31:25]
B
Do you do it?
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A
Yeah, I do do it, but you know, and it really is a trained thing, like if you do it regularly, you can Build up to three to five minutes. But as soon as I miss it for a week or two or a month, then I get back in. I'm starting from the beginning. So I enjoy the sauna in the steam room, have a infrared sauna in my home. But, you know, there is a point where you can. Even this year I started this really comprehensive supplement regime and I just didn't stick to it. And the funny thing was when I was on the supplements and when I was off the supplements, I didn't feel any different. So it makes me question the effectiveness. I think you got to question everything. Do we really need 3 liters water a day? Do we really need 200 grams of protein a day? Try it, then try not doing it and find out for yourself. Educate yourself because you can waste a lot of time and money on things that may be ineffective or they may be 1 percenters. And there is benefit in 1 percenters. But yeah, I mean, you know, in the US it's a lot different to Australia actually, with, you know, men's hormone clinics on basically every corner. It's so accessible in Australia. There's a real stigma, a negative stigma around that stuff when you have to
- [32:33]
B
really around like HRT hormone replacement.
- [32:37]
A
Yeah, I mean, it's fine for women, but men get nothing, you know. So, yeah, I'm talking about Australia, but you know, Game Day Men's Health is a franchise over there. And you know, it's just interesting that, you know, I've always felt like Americans have very broad minds, you've got such a big population and. But, you know, back to wellness though, again, like, probably not going to give any huge revelations here, but I think, you know, when I was a personal trainer working with weight loss, we used to say that nutrition is 70% of weight loss. It's more like 95% of weight loss. And, and nutrition is such a huge part of health as well. So, you know, unfortunately we're set up to fail at the moment. With you walk around any commercial supermarket, it's a lot of processed food, a lot of food that doesn't have a lot of nutrients. So if you can stick with, you know, basically whole foods, foods that contain a lot of vitamins and minerals, you know, just simple stuff, drink water, eat well, I think it's going to take care of most of it. I'm really interested in the blue zones. You know, the funny thing about the five blue zones is they're all doing different things.
- [33:42]
B
Yeah, it's, it's incredible. I mean, the, the one is like 69% root vegetables, purple, purple yams, you know, and, and then, and then, but then everything else in that diet is like just 1% of everything. It's like 1% of this. So then the, it just incredible variety. So they're getting all of these nutrients but everything's natural. So they're getting, they're eating a tree nut, then they're eating an olive, then they're eating a fish, then they're eating an octopus, then they're eating a lamb and then they're eating, you know, they have all the vegetables, then they're drinking a lot of coffee or a lot of tea and they're also getting nutrients and antioxidants from that. But like I, the, the whole thing is. Well the biggest part about the blue zones generally is stress and walking.
- [34:28]
A
Stress as in, as in lack of it.
- [34:31]
B
Yeah, they low stress, high, high propensity for, for family units that spend a lot of time together. A lot of walking and then a diverse diet of whole foods and you know,
- [34:49]
A
all that.
- [34:50]
B
It's, it's not that, that's not rocket science.
- [34:54]
A
It does not sound like rocket science but you know, in this connected world we live in, we've never been so disconnected and you know. Well, so, but yeah, these people, you see the blue zones in Italy and Greece and you know, Japan and they've got these amazing social networks and the Europeans are drinking the red wine and a lot of it's depending on what's around in the local environment. But yeah, I think that's really interesting as well. They don't kill themselves with exercise, these people but they move a lot, gardening, walking. So yeah, really interesting. But it's a funny modern day society with the things that we breathe and what we're eating. But yeah, it's funny that an organic apple, my grandmother would have called that an apple. You know, this will be cutting out of the ground. But now, you know, when you go to the supermarket, you know like bananas are not supposed to be that big, you know, so some funny, funny stuff going on.
- [35:53]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bananas are typically very small.
- [35:57]
A
Yep. It's supposed to be something a bird can pick up, but. That's right, I think. Yeah, but interesting. But you know I work with like a 92 year old life coach and he says that you know, when people talk about politics and religion and the economy, but he says, you know, it's, society's not in a great place but we can still live our dream life. And I really believe that. So you know, whatever that means to you. Do people have goals and dreams and, you know, just eating really healthy food. In recent times, I've moved to a more rural area and I really enjoy the slower lifestyle pace and the healthier food and the more wholesome people.
- [36:37]
B
So you're on vacation right now. You're at the Great Barrier Reef. Most Americans know that mainly through the television show Shark Week. So that's what we know. That's what we know about the Great Barrier Reef. But so tell us what you're doing out there. Are you comfortable talking about your family? A little bit?
- [36:56]
A
Yeah, very comfortable, you know, so, I mean, I split my time between us and Australia. A big responsibility in Australia is looking after my aging father. But like I said to you before the show, I just had my fourth daughter, so she's six months old now. And my wife wanted to have the baby here. But yeah, we're back and forth, US and Australia. So I'm here on a family vacation. Most of our family vacations, my wife's parents come, which is actually a really good thing. They're great people. I've hit the in laws jackpot there and, you know, they help with the kids. So, you know, I really believe in family. I think at the end of the day, that's all that's really gonna. Despite all these things we try and do in business. But I think the Barrier Reef, I should know this, but I think it's one of the seven wonders of the world. It's a great place to do snorkeling and scuba diving and, you know, go out on a boat for two nights and then come back. A lot of the coastal towns, you know, that take you into the reef, they're really cute and pretty seaside tourist towns. So. And that's in North Queensland, which is a, it's a part of Australia that's renowned for just fantastic weather, you know, really friendly people. So it's a nice lifestyle. And some of the stuff you see underwater there is gorgeous.
- [38:09]
B
Yeah. Cold water. Is it comfortable to get in?
- [38:13]
A
Beautiful. Yeah, it's really nice to get in. Yeah. Don't ask me the temperature because I still talk in degrees Celsius, but it's really nice. And you know what, in Australia now, it's the middle of winter and the water is still beautiful. Yeah. We've got some of our American friends over here. So yesterday we did a, a crocodile and koala breakfast. One of our other friends, American friends, yesterday got bit by a spider. So now they've had the full Australian experience.
- [38:39]
B
Yeah, A hundred ways to die over there.
- [38:44]
A
It's really not that bad.
- [38:45]
B
No, no. I, I, I have a quite a few Australian friends and they all seem fine.
- [38:52]
A
They're all fine. Yeah, we're all fine. Yeah. That's funny.
- [38:56]
B
Yeah.
- [38:56]
A
What part of the U.S. are you in?
- [38:58]
B
North Carolina.
- [38:59]
A
Yeah. Right. Nice. Yeah. Yeah.
- [39:01]
B
Cool. Yeah, we can get to the ocean and we can have little mountains here and it's nice. Yeah. I'm from the Midwest. I grew up in Chicago and really came out here in 1989. Spent a little time in Florida, but yeah, I've been on the east coast most of my adult life.
- [39:17]
A
Yeah. Living in Dallas. There's no ocean breeze, that's for sure. That's one, one thing I miss from Australia is just living near the ocean.
- [39:25]
B
No, but Dallas is great. I spent a few days there last month and man, it is just. It is, it is, people, It's a great place. There's, it has so much to offer. It's growing. A lot of fine everything there.
- [39:41]
A
Yeah, I love it. There's always something to do. People are super friendly. You know, I like the weather, love the food, love the sport.
- [39:48]
B
Yeah. And if you're in business, you want to be in a growing market.
- [39:52]
A
Yeah, it's a really cool market, you know, and as you keep heading north out of Dallas, you know, on the way to Oklahoma, there's so much opportunity out there, but, you know, we're looking to expand all through the U.S. so, yeah, it's a really is, I mean, probably sounds a bit silly from an Australian, but it really does feel like the land of opportunity.
- [40:11]
B
Yeah. Yeah. You're, you know, is it, is it Alex Baldwin that's having the kids? I mean, you're not in Alex Baldwin land yet of having a kid at 50, but I think it's him, Alec. But still, I think having children like you are a little later in life, you probably have an appreciation for what you're looking for in terms of work life balance, family work balance. How do you approach that? And especially now because you're traveling internationally, you've got family back in Australia, so you have that obligation and then you've got the obligations of the business and then the obligations of your growing family. How do you and your wife think about that?
- [40:57]
A
Well, we think it's very important for a start. I mean, some people think work life balance is a myth, but I think that the balance has got to be in touch with your personal core values. I'm really, really big on people understanding their own personal core values, or at least I'm big on understanding mine. Because it helps me make decisions in terms of running a business in a few countries. That really comes down to people empowering people. You know, it's. If you tell people that you believe in them or they've got to have the tools and the knowledge, but, you know, businesses. Businesses are resilient. They don't really break. You know, you can make a couple of mistakes. It's going to be okay. And that's how people learn. Like, you know, one of the best things I can do to empower people or at least help them develop is just leave the country for a couple of months, because then they've got to figure things out for themselves, and that's how they grow. And then I'm really patient when it comes to development. Like, I know it's going to take somebody six months to figure out what they're doing and 12 months to be any good at it, so. But the beautiful thing is, what happens beyond that, 12 months. So, you know, back to values like my values of family, freedom, fun, travel, business, adventure, and financial security. So as long as I'm meeting all those needs or fulfilling those values in myself, I know that I'm going to be pretty happy. You know, that your body, the universe, has ways of letting you know when you're out of balance. As a matter of fact, I think most anxiety and depression comes from living out of alignment with your core values. So. Yeah, funny too, as a parent. You know, I've got a daughter in grade nine. She doesn't love school. I feel uncomfortable sending her there because I just know that it's, you know, it's not in line with her values, which is a bit of a broad statement. But, you know, they say that inside everybody is a genius. You just got to figure out, you know, what it is.
- [42:40]
B
Right.
- [42:41]
A
And many people never get that opportunity, which is unfortunate. You know, a lot of people, you know, don't like their work, which is sad because we spend so much time doing it. Can we find something we enjoy that's in line with our values that we can make money from and help people? It's pretty cool.
- [42:56]
B
Yeah. I want any franchisees or young entrepreneurs. I want to go back to the values that you ripped off there. And I believe that it's really important for you to establish the ground rules for your life and for your business and to manifest that into a set of values that, you know, off the top of your head, you. You named yours off. I think there was seven or there was maybe eight. There was it family, fun, travel.
- [43:29]
A
Yeah. Freedom.
- [43:30]
B
Freedom.
- [43:32]
A
Yeah, Financial security. So, you know, money's important to me.
- [43:36]
B
Yeah.
- [43:36]
A
Because it really supports the freedom, value.
- [43:39]
B
Okay.
- [43:40]
A
Business, you know, like business, you know, there's a few keys to identifying your value. Use are not keys, but questions, tricks, hacks. One of the questions is what do you never have to be reminded to do? So I'll wake up at 5:30 and jump on the laptop. That tells me that business is really important to me. I've got to wrestle myself away from my computer and home office to go to the gym, even though the gym is a big value of mine as well. So values can conflict. I want to watch my daughter play basketball, but I also want to go to the gym, but I also want to work. How do I fit all that in? Well, there are ways. It's about how you manage your day, but yeah, so I mean, asking somebody, I mean I'm passionate about goal setting or at least having some direction and you know, if you, if you, if you ask somebody or if I'm hosting a seminar and let's do some goal setting or let's identify our values, you, you'll get a lot of blank stares. It's not a fair question on the spot. Hey, Jeff, what are your values? You know, but put most people put more thought into buying a, buying a car than their own personal values. Like another question to identify your values. This is my favorite one. You've got two years to live. Okay? Two years to live. You're going to die two years from today. Between now and then, you are in perfect health. How are you going to spend your time? Who are you going to spend it with? What are you going to do? And if you can write that out, that's going to be a huge clue to your values. So I did this seminar, must have been 10 years ago now. And at the time I was doing a lot of work and I was actually in training for a bodybuilding competition. And funnily enough, at the time I was having a bit of a rough patch in my marriage. But I picked up the pen and the inspirational music came on and I said, I'm going to travel the world with my wife and kids and we're going to take our parents, we're going to see all the beauty and abundance and joy life has to offer. And the guy hosting the seminar, he came around and grabbed my pen and he circled three words, family, freedom, travel. And he said, they're your values. And I said, they're not my values. You don't know me. I said, my values are work and Health and fitness. And he said to me, well, if you've got two years to live, are you going to go to work every day? And I said, well, no. He said, are you going to go to the gym every day? I said, no. And he said, they're not your values then. And I went, oh, gosh, I've been such an idiot. And he said, no, you haven't been an idiot. You just haven't understood. And sometimes, like, an activity is a means to fulfill your values. Say, for example, my father worked in an office of 45 years. I don't think he enjoyed one day of it, but that supported his number one value of family because he basically had to bring the money in. And probably from that generation where you don't just go and change jobs every two years. So, yeah, now I'm really. I get a bit excited about the values conversation, but I just think it can put you on the right track in life. You know, I've achieved goals before and I achieved the goal and I'm like, oh, is that. Is that it? I thought that would feel different. I mean, as it turns out, it wasn't really in line with my values. That goal, it might have been a. A vanity goal or it could have been a, you know, who knows, you know, some sort of a money goal. But one of my other favorite sayings is that business is a vehicle to have the life you want. So business is not the goal in itself. It's, it's, what can that business do for you? When I was a business coach and mentor, you would help people reduce their work hours and increase their income. And when I was a personal trainer, you could help people with their health and fitness. But it was more about, what does this improve health and fitness and improve confidence? What's it going to allow you to do in the rest of your life? Funnily enough, when I was setting up my current business in Life Wellness, you start off, you've got an idea, you know, with the business model, but you need a name and a logo and you got to build a brand. And I was in this branding meeting and the guy said, what are we going to call this studio? And I said, I don't know. They said, what do you want it to be about? And I said, well, you know, I've spent my career so far helping people with their health and fitness. And I've also spent 12 years as a business coach and mentor helping people with their business. And I made a comment in this branding meeting that if you're helping someone with their fitness or if you're helping them with their business. I just like helping people in life. And they said, let's call it in life. And I said, sounds good. Let's do it.
- [48:03]
B
Yeah, that's brilliant. Look. And again, goals. Goals are a means to the end. They're just the little posts along the way that you pull yourself along with. But it's never the destination. The destination is infinite. And if you get to one goal, then there's got to be another one. I mean, Dan Sullivan shared something with our group that said it's our job to be more abundant every year and the next year after that. And it's not because you need more money or you need more anything. It's just you've got to have a destination that you're striving for that's going to force you to really explore the capabilities. And it could be more ambitious in travel, or it could be more ambitious in getting more freedom, or it could be more ambitious in having a fourth child at 50. That's ambitious, by the way.
- [48:56]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, after three girls, you got to try for the boy, but didn't work so good. But another thing that's really important to me is growth, personal growth, professional growth, and that's what you're talking about too there. You know, it's never really all done. And how can you keep growing and learning and just staying mentally stimulated as a person? So I think that's pretty cool.
- [49:18]
B
Well, I just want to point that out to anybody if, if, if people are listening and you're a franchisee or you're a young entrepreneur and you should understand what you stand for and you should understand what you work for, you should understand what you live for and what's the most important to you. What matters the most to you when your feet hit the floor in the morning. Because that should really guide what's on your calendar, it should guide who's in your life, it should guide everything and every decision that you make because you know, you only have so much time and energy to give in the pursuit of something. So the something has to be meaningful to you. And at the end of the day, you're never going to reach perfection in any of it. But it's the progress against the purpose that makes the difference.
- [50:14]
A
Well said.
- [50:15]
B
Yeah, we'll tweet it. Jen, set us up an X account. Well, we're heading, we're heading up to the top of the hour. Scott, I've really enjoyed learning from you and speaking with you today. I got a Couple of more things to do. You know, as you get, you make some realizations. When you get up to our age, is there anything that you think differently, drastically differently about now than you did five years ago?
- [50:53]
A
Five years ago. That wasn't so long ago. I do like to look at my life into sort of these five year blocks and now I'm into this 50 to 55 block where things change with, you know, values and I mean in particular my exercise changes every sort of five years just to keep it suitable for my body. You know, you mentioned earlier that I've having kids later in life, like my first kid, I feel like I was a bit of a late starter, but I feel like I've got become a better father with each, each new kid probably, you know, actually knowing how to do it, but just being a better person myself, being a bit more mature. You know, some people don't like getting older. I do like it. I worry about small things less and I feel like I get a little bit wiser. So I guess probably the big thing that's changed even in the last five years really just the importance of family.
- [51:49]
B
Yeah. What do the girls like to do?
- [51:53]
A
Well, they're all a little different. We horse ride, bike ride, they play basketball, some are into dancing. The six month old is, she's into sleeping and breastfeeding.
- [52:06]
B
Sleeping and breastfeeding?
- [52:07]
A
Yeah. The oldest one, she's 14, she just got her first job, so that's pretty cool. She's, she's enjoying that. I think she's going to be better suited to the real world than the school world.
- [52:19]
B
She's the horseback rider. She needs a job. You gotta watch us, you gotta watch those horses, Scott.
- [52:27]
A
Well, it's a cool thing that we do as a family and you're living in Texas, where better else to learn to horse ride.
- [52:34]
B
Yeah.
- [52:34]
A
So it's pretty cool. But now that's the funny thing. I watched a, I forget that comedian, the actor, he was in that movie Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell. He's got the curly brown hair, but he was talking about parenting and saying how he used to think it was 50% nature and 50% nurture. But there's a lot of schools of thought where it's not about nurture at all. The kids are who they are. And he made a good point about, he thought it was about shaping the kids. And sure we want to help them through life, but he just mentioned meeting them as they are, accepting them for who they are and just helping them on their life's journey. I think that's pretty cool, you know,
- [53:17]
B
reflecting on it. I mean, I have a little, I have a little thing about parenting and. But if I was going to sum it up, it's about, it's really about exposure and, you know, experience and engagement. I mean, the end of the day, you're, you're generally, your kids are going to make choices, but they're going to be in a subset of the choices of the things that you expose them to. So you actually, you actually can be very suggestive in just exposing them to the things that you, that you, you know, both of my boys played football. They didn't, you know, they didn't have a choice, really. I mean, that was just what we talked about. It's what we watched. It's, it was, we went to the games and, you know, when it came time, they, they wanted to strap it on, you know, and, you know, and do it. So, you know, you, you do have some latitude, but at the end of the day, your kids don't want to live your life. They need to live their life. They need to make their own choices. I'm, I'm really not somebody that's going to rescue my kid from their consequences. You know, they have the freedom to choose what they want to do, but they don't have the freedom of the consequences. I mean, the consequences, you know, that, you know, that's, that's. The consequences are the greatest teacher. Yeah.
- [54:43]
A
Yes. Well, that's probably why I've learned so much.
- [54:47]
B
Yeah, exactly. Well, look, we're heading to the top of the hour. I've just got, I've got a, an American curveball. And then I've got a fastball for you if you want to play. Two last questions, but before we do that, tell people where to get in touch with you.
- [55:05]
A
Yeah, probably the best way is LinkedIn. Just look for Scott Kaplan. I'm also on Instagram. Yeah. And I have a website as well, but if you Google my name, something will come up. Otherwise, email scottlifewellness.com Feel free to reach out. No question is too small or too silly.
- [55:26]
B
That's Kaplan. Key C, A, P, E, L, I, N. Kaplan. And if they want information on in life.
- [55:35]
A
Yep. Probably go to the website inlifewellness.com and there's a franchise page there. If you reach out through that page, I'll send you all the relevant information.
- [55:46]
B
Check it out. Check it out. Of course, you can go directly there. After visiting homefrontbrands.com and checking out all of the service offerings that we have there as well. Or you can go to in life first and then then head on over to Homefront Brands. But yeah, it's great.
- [56:00]
A
We all.
- [56:01]
B
We got all we got to get our websites out there. But anyway, Scott, this has been great. Thanks for being on. Here's the curveball. Gun to your head. You have to start a business in the next 30 days. It can't be something that you're currently doing. Where do you see the opportunity in the market? What business are you starting?
- [56:20]
A
Well, there's opportunities in the market, then there's a business that I want to start, but I want to start a wellness retreat. I think there's a huge opportunity there. If you look at all the statistics, it's growing year on year. I think people want an experience. They want a trip away. They want to improve their health. So that's my short answer. Wellness retreat internationally. I'm actually building a wellness retreat in Bali now.
- [56:44]
B
Wow, that's awesome. Yeah. Well, congratulations on that.
- [56:49]
A
Awesomely expensive, so hopefully it's awesome.
- [56:51]
B
Well, I'm sure it will be. Sign me up. We'll come to a live. We'll do a live podcast.
- [56:57]
A
You cut the ribbon on day one.
- [56:59]
B
I'd love it. I'd love it. All right, here we go. Fastball straight down the middle. If you had one sentence to make an impact in somebody's life, what would that be?
- [57:11]
A
Follow your heart, but take your brains with you.
- [57:16]
B
Love it. Perfectly said. Perfectly said. Scott, thank you so much. This has been great. I appreciate you being on.
- [57:23]
A
That was great fun. Okay, thank you. All the best.
- [57:26]
B
All right, hang on just a second. This has been Scott Kaplan here with Jeff Duden on the unemployable podcast. Thanks for listening.