How I was Able to Meet with a Big Time CEO

4 things I believe all Winners and Champions MUST possess- A no quit Mindset, a strong sense of Faith in what you are trying to accomplish, a willingness to ask for/find help, and the ability to take calculated risks. This story is a good depiction of all 4.

About a year ago, my brother and I were having a hard time developing a small group training model for our other business Z-Fanatical Fitness. At the time we were looking to bring our program into corporate/franchise gyms across the state and country. Our fitness program (the workout itself) was excellent, but we lacked a model to make this a success at different fitness clubs. We needed some help.

After tons of research, we found out that sure enough the CEO of a leading fitness corporation Town Sports International (New York Sports Clubs, BSC, PSC, WSC, etc.) lived in our hometown. Once we found out we immediately started the process of trying to get in touch with him. It was tougher than we anticipated. Still our faith prevailed.

I searched and bought a program that provided contact information of people in a given town. Several failed calls and emails later, I remember reading that a handwritten note is a much more effective way to get a response from executives. So I did just that, I wrote a handwritten note asking for an opportunity to meet with him for a few minutes.

Before mailing I was with my brother and a friend and we thought maybe it would be a good idea to bring it over. Just maybe he is outside raking leaves and we could meet him.  He was not outside and the mailbox was not on the street it was connected to the door. Rang the doorbell and no one answered. We dropped off the letter and walking back we saw a big tree across his driveway. This was a few days after Hurricane Sandy so it was pretty common in the area.

Very hesitantly yet desperate for advice, we decided we would remove the tree. (remember from previous blog- err on the side of gutsy). We went home to get saws and went back to take care of business. The 3 of us were scared no way around it. But I had just left my job in Finance to pursue our business full time so I knew I had to take a shot at this.

As we were finishing cutting the tree (going out on a limb we call it- sometimes that’s to be taken quite literally) the CEO walked out of his house towards us. Our fear peaked at this time; either he was going to be very happy or we were
going to be arrested.

He came towards us with a smile and said NOW you have my attention. He thanked us for a project he was soon going to have to complete and invited us to his office in New York City. We came well prepared with questions and he gave us invaluable advice and answers we had been seeking for a long time.

With this new knowledge and information we were able to create a working business model that landed us a contract with another major fitness franchise (to be named after its finalized).

The 4 takeaways are simple: Never Give Up, Have Faith in what you do,  Ask for Help when you need it, & don’t be afraid to take risks. Of course there was some luck involved and perhaps we could have spent a night in jail, but you increase your chances of getting lucky when you have a no quit attitude, a ton of faith, and ask experts for help. This is a LONG post but I wanted to share since I really believe it depicts the Wrestling Mindset that we are trying to create and develop.

Go after your dreams today and every day!