(Ep 50) SOLIDCORE -> Reinventing the meaning of solid core 💪

Anne Mahlum | Founder & CEO

May 18, 2021

Hey friends,

Back again with another edition of The Founder recap - this is Episode 50 (woo!). If you’re new here, my goal is to give you a quick synopsis of what got me thinking from this week’s episode of The Founder Podcast in 5 minutes or less.

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Mission control:

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And who am I?

I’m Kallaway - a future founder trying to get some answers before I jump in the ball pit myself.

Let’s get it.

This Week’s Episode (Ep 50) 💪

Guest -> Anne Mahlum, Founder & CEO of [solidcore]

Mission -> [solidcore] is on a mission to help people create the strongest versions of themselves through high intensity pilates

Episode available on -> Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Website

In this episode we talk with Anne about…

👶 The origin story of [solidcore]

⚙️ Designing the first [solidcore] studio concept and member experience

📈 The evolution of boutique fitness as a category

🚢 Navigating the post-pandemic outlook for the fitness industry

🚀 Launching a fitness concept from scratch in 2021…where to start

🔨 Brainstorm of the week -> Building products for the future of beauty & social justice reform

Summary 🔍

What is [solidcore] and how did Anne get started?

There’s nothing better than waking up at 6am with ab soreness from your workout the day before.

Okay, well maybe there are a couple things better…but that’s the sign of a great workout.

I’ve been working out consistently for 10 years and I’ve never felt an ab burn with subsequent soreness more intense than after a [solidcore] workout.

Today, we chat with Anne Mahlum, the genius behind [solidcore] and early pioneer of mainstream boutique fitness.

Before [solidcore], Anne launched and grew nonprofit Back on My Feet - an organization that combats homelessness through running and community support.

At the end of her run at BoMF (pun intended), she was looking to start her next chapter. During a trip to LA, she stumbled across a pilates studio and was amazed at how the workout impacted her muscles differently than more mainstream types of exercise.

Just like that, [solidcore] was born.

[solidcore] is an intense, full body workout that combines pilates and strength training.

They have over 70 corporate-owned studios nationwide and are growing aggressively as we come out of the pandemic.

Anne’s Quotables 📜

“Everybody’s actually looking for the same thing – we want to be appreciated, valued, loved, celebrated, recognized and seen. A lot times people forget that.”

“All I knew is that I loved to work out and I had discovered a way of working out that people didn’t know about. Once that happened and I started to see the results and how good I felt, I was all-in.”

What Got Me Thinking From the Episode 🤔

After reflecting on my conversation with Anne, here’s something that really got my wheels spinning:

Focusing on Member Experience 👍🏽

One of the things that struck me most about this conversation was how intentional Anne was when designing the initial [solidcore] in-studio experience.

Although she was one of the boutique fitness pioneers when she opened her first studio, there were other franchises, like SoulCycle and Orange Theory, that she could have modeled after.

She didn’t.

After 5 minutes of listening to her, you can tell that she does things her own way.

Here’s a few of the things that popped out to me about the [solidcore] experience:

[solidcore] studios are willing to invest in things that matter and will ignore things that don’t. They don’t have marble check-in desks or fancy showers/spas. What they do have is a banging sound system, aesthetic lighting and high-quality mirrors
Anne realized that the most important word is your own name…that’s why she trained her instructors to know the name of every member as soon as they walk in the door. Throughout the class, instructors call out member names over and over which creates a more personal experience
[solidcore] knew it was important to own their own machines, both from a customer experience and business model perspective. They found a contract manufacturer overseas and produce machines for all of their locations. That means they can customize them for the most effective workouts and update designs overtime
Anne thought that it was a waste to have a front desk person and an instructor. The front desk person had a transactional relationship with members. Instead, Anne had the instructors also check people in at the front. This way, members would hear their name and see a familiar face as soon as they walked in

Customer experience boils down to a lot of little things that add up to create cohesive vibe.

Anne knew how important it was to focus on the things that actually mattered from day 1 and ignore the things that didn’t.

7 years later, [solidcore] is a 9-figure brand.

Wrapping it Up 📕

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Till next time ✌️

Kallaway