Andrew Sugerman - Centr & Accessible Holistic Wellness

Hey everyone, welcome to the Future of Fitness, a top-rated fitness industry podcast for over four years up and running. I'm your host, Eric Falzone, and I have the absolute pleasure of talking to entrepreneurs, executives, thought leaders, and cutting-edge technology experts within the extremely fast-paced industries of fitness, wellness, and health sciences. Please stop by futurefitness.co to subscribe and get our interviews with summaries delivered straight to your inbox. Thanks for listening and on to the show. Hey friends, I couldn't be more proud and excited to announce that today's episode is powered by Workout, the ultimate tool for modern fitness professionals just like you. There is one thing that fires me up: it's elevating the personal training and coaching industry. For that, the Workout app is an absolute game changer. No more promoting top brands without compensation or dealing with confusing social media links. In just a few clicks, Workout's user-friendly app lets top trainers and coaches curate and share the world's most sought-after fitness brands like Hyperite, Vega, and more. Product lines covering everything from fitness equipment to supplements and apparel. Save time and boost your earnings with generous commissions and bonuses every time your client purchases the product you've already endorsed. Do not wait. Maximize your income and streamline your business store by workout. Discover more at workout.com. That's w-r-k-o-ut.com. Just one-o. W-r-k-o-ut- go get it. All right, we are live. Andrew Sugerman, welcome to the future of fitness. Thank you. I'm super excited to be here. Yeah, this is gonna be fun. I've already enjoyed our conversation uh 10 minutes prior, uh, laughed a lot, and uh you can tell you stuff a great, great demeanor about you. So um always really enjoy a good vibe on a Friday morning. Uh Andrew, it's it there's a lot to talk about. I mean, um you have an extensive background, you know, from Hollywood and digital content, like, you know, very, very deep knowledge and and experience in that area and now, you know, leading the way for center, uh, which is, you know, most people know Chris Hemsworth as the kind of brand idol for that one. And I mean, obviously that guy knows how to get fit, right? Yeah. Um, but I really like the perspective that that you guys are are putting out there and with the product and the the messaging about no overall wellness. And a lot of that is focused on mental wellness, which uh, you know, is a huge component of what makes people happy, right? We can be, you know, have a great physical, you know, we can have a great physique, we can eat well, we can do all these things, but I know a lot of people who have all those boxes checked and they're actually quite miserable and depressed. Um and that's not a good thing. So anyway, um I think a great place to start with someone like you is maybe just give us your origin story, Andrew. I know there's a lot to unpack there. Um, but how'd you get to be the CEO of Center?

Sure. Um so I just you you threw you through in Hollywood. So um I I spent 12 years with the Walt Disney Company and while there oversaw uh all of the global publishing units as well as the digital media uh that spanned books, magazines, comics, you know, the world of Star Wars, the world of Marvel Comics, to um everything that was a mobile app, to an interactive experience, to web mobile social. Uh so I I had the opportunity to manage 1.2 billion Facebook followers uh for the Walt Disney Company. So um that was a pretty big audience uh that uh that we had to speak to every single day with content across about 300 different social handles. Uh so you know keeping the Toy Story audience uh engaged uh was not a small undertaking. Um and in that regard, I also managed the uh sort of new media side, so AR and VR as it was expanding and how a company could play and bring brands to life in those areas. And so I'd say through all that, it was really about building brands and brands that were some of the most recognized brands in the world. Um and I left Disney at at the end of 18. I worked with um Mav Carter and LeBron James's Spring Hill Entertainment um and worked with them in how they brought together Spring Hill and Uninterrupted and giving voice to athletes. Um and so I I've always had this element of athlete sports in my life, going all the way back to high school where I played soccer into college. Um I got into endurance competitions, like uh uh half marathons, marathons. I've run you know more than two dozen. Uh I then got into triathlons, then I got I did two half Ironmans. And um, you know, it's like it's like the the the 5k is the gateway drug to what ends up being all these other races and and things. And it was it was amazing. Um during the pandemic, I got hit by a car um and ended up in the uh in the ICU and you know, broken, shattered all the ribs on one side, and uh, you know, got as close to leaving the planet as uh as I would want to get to. Um and so I spent the last two years recovering from that and um getting back to some state of where I was prior to that. And it's sort of for me elevated the importance of wellness and both mental wellness, physical wellness, uh, nutrition, and in how to come back from something like that. Right. And um, it's one thing to be on the on, on on the I'm getting better and better and better. This is now, oh no, I'm rebuilding and starting from almost zero to rebuild back up. And so this opportunity with center presented itself. And it was like, it was almost like, I don't know, serendipitous, where I was like mentally and physically going down this road, and along comes this opportunity that captured so much of what it was I was looking for. It had nutrition, it had mental health and mental fitness and physical. And Chris, you know, encapsulates so much of that in who he is uh in in his approach to life. And it just felt like this perfect convergence of digital media, physical goods, global audience, um, and in success really makes such a profound impact on the lives of millions of people. So that that's sort of like the background.

Yeah, I love it. And uh I'm sorry to hear about the accident. Were you were you running, were you biking, were you just walking?

I was walking. I was walking. I got I got um hit by an SUV um and uh yeah, blacked out uh came to. You know, my my uh appreciation to first responders and EMTs, uh, they were there within, I don't even know, I think five minutes uh and had me in an ambulance and took me to the uh trauma, uh the was it USC, LAC USC hospital. So it was, you know, the the quality of first responders, at least in LA, was was unbelievable.

Yeah, yeah. Kudos, they are uh they don't get nearly enough credit. They deal with a lot of a lot of BS and uh yeah, and they're there when you need them. Um one of the questions I always like to ask people like you, because I feel like it's a uh a lot of people throw the term brand around, right? Like, you know, um it can be a lot of things. There's no real solid definition for it, and everybody, you know, there's a lot of quote unquote brand experts, right? They like tell you, well, I love your brand and you're so on brand and you know, all these things, right? So um it can be it can be used professionally in the right way. It can also be used as just kind of a catch-all term. Um when you think of brand, like what is that, what comes to mind for you? How do you put some guidelines around what a what a brand is?

Yeah, I so for me, a brand is something that an something that you have an emotional, a deep emotional connection with, and that the narrative of that that thing is very clear in your head. And and so you can relate to it, you understand it, you um, you have a feeling for it. And it's not and it and it can't just be created, right? You you have to like it's like a relationship. You have to build trust, you have to create that emotional feeling and that emotional connection. And if you um if you betray that trust, it it takes a lot to rebuild it. I and you know, I look at at things like if you look at a brand like Star Wars, uh Star Wars is so driven off of the fanboys of Star Wars, and they know everything. They know everything about the universe, they know everything about like how all the pieces fit together between the video games and the movies and the TV shows and the animated series. And if anything goes astray, they're like, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, that like you're you're violating the trust. And so it's it's really about staying true to what you're creating and honoring that relationship.

That's that's a really good answer. And I think you know, when I think of great brands, I think of Disney, I think of Star Wars, I think of Coca-Cola, right? Like when I think of Coca-Cola, I think of the polar bears, right? Like that's what I think of, just like a really happy family environment. Um just gonna enjoy Coca-Cola. Um, and then I think about people as brands too. And one of the strongest ones that uh I use and have heard is a great example is like Ryan Reynolds, right? He's created such an amazing brand around himself. So when you look at there's companies, but what about the individuals? How do you is it similar? Is it different?

I think it's really similar. Um, you know, I think Brian's a great example. I think Chris, Chris is a great example as well. Like Chris, Chris is um so much more than like a spokesperson for what we do and who we are. He is really truly a business partner and uh is in many ways emblematic of what we're bringing to this audience. So the the whole idea of center as a digital platform started with him, you know, and as he was going through life and training for all these different roles and and and things that he was doing in his career, he was connected with amazing experts across all these different facets of wellness that ranged from nutritionists and uh personal trainers and and coaches in mental health and mental fitness. And and he realized that it wasn't the silos of these pieces, but the combination of these things together that really made him perform at the levels that he performed at. And he was and he was asking himself, like, why is this restricted to like me in this situation? Like, why can't I bring this insight, these resources to everyone? And that's what led to center launching in 2019 was was really how to bring to democratize this to everyone. And and so Chris has put himself really in the middle of this. He's put himself in the middle of longevity uh research and insights, you know, for those people that have seen Limitless, that's a perfect example of that, where like that's not coincidental. Like these are things that are very, very much front burner for Chris. And we look at that as elements that we want to bring into to center. Like center should be as much about the content and the tools to motivate, as well as giving people insight on preventative, like fitness and wellness as preventative measures from a healthcare standpoint.

Yeah. Uh it's it's really interesting. I mean, the the term holistic has been thrown around for so for so long. And I think you and I have uh been on this planet long.

Except there with brand.

Yeah, yeah.

It's in one of those other words, it's thrown around a lot.

Yeah, totally. Yeah, exactly. And it's it's been thrown around for a lot. I mean, when I originally like when I first heard of holistic, I thought of like patchouli oil and you know, um, you know, that type of crowd, alternative um medicines and things like that. Woo-woo. Woo-woo. Yes, thank you. Uh what's the term I was searching for? The but now it's it's it's a little bit more um, I guess, defined, right? It's a little bit more modern, it's a little bit more scientific, right? So when you when you guys throw around the term holistic, um, and maybe you can just wrap it into like what the consumer experience is for center. Like, well, yeah, let's start with that. Like, what is the consumer experience for center? What are you guys shooting for? What is what is it? Uh what's the ride?

So so we're looking for um there's different on-ramps that'll be that bring people into center. It could be, you know, a lot of times it's fitness, but it could be nutrition or it could be uh uh mindfulness or or mental mental health. And what we're looking to do is provide a roadmap uh where people can curate their own wellness journey that combine these pieces together and bring them continually the resources to do it. And we're we're looking to not make it bolt-ons, right? Where it's like, here's this thing, oh, and there's this trend happening over here, let's bolt that onto the experience, but rather how do we make them integrated so that if you're gonna do a big workout tomorrow, what should you think about eating today? Or what should you think about eating post-workout? Uh, where does meditation fall into this? So, how can we really help you think about when you wake up in the morning, you go through your day, and then you go to sleep, what are the things that we can help you with on that on that journey? And we can either prescribe them or you can act, you know, curate or personalize them as it relates to what you're looking to do. And that will only grow in the product uh evolution to come as we continue to lean into elements of AI and elements of personalization. In some ways, I I I liken it to like, you know, if you've ever gone to like a retreat or a spa and you wake up in the morning and there's that like that little schedule on your on your table uh that's like, oh, activities like we have wake up in rise and shine yoga out on the on the on the platform overlooking the the mountains or whatever, and then you have this, and then you have this. Why is that restricted to when you're on a retreat at a spot? Like, how can we bring elements of that to you on helping you think about your journey throughout the day, every day?

Those are uh you just brought up two of my favorite words on this podcast. Anybody listens know is AI and personalization. Like those are you know two things I think are really critical right now uh for the industry. And a lot of people kind of understand them. A lot of people just throw them around. Um, but I think what you guys are doing, obviously you're well capitalized, you have the resources, you have the leadership to really produce something great. The uh personalization, right? I mean, you you touched on a little bit, but I understand like the personalized journey, like you mentioned, like you wake up in the morning, this is what you should be doing, right? This is what your week's gonna look like, and it can change, it can adjust, right? Um, over time, um, given whatever inputs or or shifts in your schedules, you name it. Uh, what do you what do you see personalization looking like like three years from now when it comes to the fitness and health wellness perspective? Three years.

I mean, that's like that's like dog years and like AI is like, you know, I know, I know, it's crazy. Yeah. Uh well, the computers will be working out for us and uh we'll watch them. Right. Uh no, I I would say um the sophistication on who you are and um you know potentially your your biomarkers of of you as an individual that are pulled off of like wearables coming from like you know Woop and Aura and all the others that are that are going down this road, pulling data insights and then creating really tailored um uh recommendations for you across the gamut of nutrition, fitness and movement, and um and uh mental health, meditation. And that mental health is a broad category, right? It can range from true mental health and meditation to mental fitness, and they're and those are different. Um and you know, I I have a very, well, I don't want to sidetrack, but I have a very strong view on that component of what we're doing, and that I think there's a mental health crisis that is in this country, and I think brought more broadly, and we should be offering tools that help people on this journey as a a component of what we're bringing to them. That if we make them stronger physically, but we don't help them be stronger mentally, it's it sort of doesn't really solve the problem. You know, it's it's it's a half solution that eventually will fade away in many ways. So um, but I think that that with with AI and with personalization, it'll be able to more easily identify what's the real problem we're helping you solve. And and I think that's really where we want to be um at the forefront that you come, you're like, I want a wellness solution. Why? Why do you want a wellness solution? I want to lose 10 pounds. Why? Why do you want to lose 10 pounds? Like, is it is it really a physical thing, or is there something that's more mentally here that you have, you know, you you there's a a trauma or a uh uh something that that hits on anxiety or PTSD or whatnot, that if we help you lose 10 pounds, but we don't help you identify this side, then we're gonna be seeing you again. And in a perfect world, that we won't be seeing you again for the same thing because we've helped solve the real problem.

Yeah. I I like that take a lot. And I think that's, you know, uh people who have especially worked in the trenches in the fitness industry know that like you never stop at um, you know, what's your goal? Oh, it's always it's always lose 10 pounds, right? It's always, you know, something like that. It's always lose, it's like that's like 80% of the time you're like, I just want to lose 10, 10, 20 pounds, right? Um and then you ask, ask those questions, well, why? And then it comes down to like I remember one uh sitting in my office doing an assessment and came down eventually. He's like, well, uh, my wife won't sleep with me anymore if I don't lose 30 pounds. You're like, okay, okay, all right, well, there's a lot to unpack there, right? Like wow specific. Yeah. And then like you get down to these really interesting things. And you know, people who've asked that question, you know, a couple thousand times will probably have really funny anecdotes for it. Um, one of the things I I appreciate too, and it's something that uh democratization, another word that uh I've heard you know thrown out there is accessibility is because you know a lot of these things start like you know, uh the Peter Atias out there, you know, or for people can spend $100,000 a year on their wellness and longevity, right? But that doesn't help the bigger problem, which is the mental health and obesity and you know, uh, you know, all these curable, preventable diseases that we have, um, metabolic diseases specifically. So like when you look at accessibility, democratization, whatever you want to call it, like um, how are you guys striving to do that?

Yeah, so it's a huge part of who we are and what we're looking to do. Um that touches on a few different things. So to your to your point about you know, somebody willing to pay $100,000, or I I view that connected fitness in many ways has fallen into that bucket where you've needed to buy an expensive piece of equipment. And then once you've bought that equipment, it's a paperweight unless you now spend ongoing monthly uh large amounts to actually enable that product to do what it's supposed to do. And during the pandemic, that was great because no one had any alternatives. The gyms were done, there were it was all of a sudden the disposable income for that went up momentarily, and now it's come back down to reality. And I would say that those products in reality were made in many cases for one percenters and not for the broader uh market. And so what we've really been looking at is how do we make sure that whatever we're creating is accessible, affordable, um, but also effective in what it's what its purpose is. And so I would say rather than connected fitness, we've created what we're sort of calling a connected wellness experience. And that means there's different on-ramps into this experience where you don't have to buy a singular uh product and then spend money on a subscription for that singular product. That we want to be the solution that works with the demands of people's lives. We know that they're on the go, we know that they're sometimes at home, they're sometimes at the gym, um, and that we don't want to be stationary in that way. So we want to have content, tools, products that match the lifestyles of our users. When we look at the digital side, you know, if somebody, if somebody subscribes with us, effectively it's about, I think, 30 cents a day. Uh, so that's pretty accessible to bring the the depth of experts and content and um uh tools to our users. And then on the on the physical goods side, we look to find all the ways to bring the highest quality experiences. And so we we haven't touched on but the Effectively, Inspire Fitness was integrated into Center as a part of my taking this role. With Inspire Fitness, we bring more than 20 years of quality craftsmanship in the strength training and fitness category to bear for the company. And so we're taking that to unlock a whole suite of products that we're launching. Uh by the time this podcast airs, we will have launched in multiple retail channels across the United States and around the world. Those products range from very accessible fitness accessories that will be available through Walmart across the United States in store and online. We're launching 27 unique products in that channel, all the way to functional trainers that are branded center one, center two, and center three that range from entry level that's below $1,000, all the way up to a machine that combines a functional trainer with what we call a selectorized Smith machine all in one, which is personally my favorite, because it's it's literally like two or three pieces of equipment put into one and it looks super cool. But it's all being done through the view of how do we engineer down the um the price without compromising quality to make it more accessible? How do we connect it with digital content that is also uh accessible and and and at a price point that any any American can afford and come in through?

That's a big vision. There's a lot of there's a lot of even parts in there, Andrew.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, a lot. So it's been a busy year. Uh also by the time this airs, I will have celebrated my one-year birthday uh in this role. So we've been we've been doing a lot in in the last 12 months.

Yeah, yeah, that's great. Congratulations. Um I'm we're gonna circle back on some of that stuff too, but I you mentioned something that that caught my ear, um, mental health versus mental fitness. It's not something I've actually discussed on the show. So yeah, unpack that a little bit if you don't mind. What what are what are the differences and why is that so?

Yeah, so the way I view it, and there's definitively scientific brains out there that are way more knowledgeable and developed on this than I am, but the way I liken it is mental health is more um is a broader, um, sort of a broader collective of all areas of how you are mentally approaching life, you know, elements of of of anxiety, depression, um, you know, how you unpack the different things that influence the decisions that you make, uh all of that falls into the mental health um category. Mental fitness for me is is how do you have tools and um exercises and content that help sharpen your mental acuity as you go off and do different things in your life. And and it I it's sort of a subset of broader mental health, um, but I don't think that one doesn't preclude the other, but one is much broader. Um and so you know, when I when I think about like mental health, and I talk about like what I view as the crisis in the US, I have two children that are in college. And the level of it, from what I can see through two data points at two different universities, the level of SSRIs that children are prescribed and on on college campuses is insane. That that like kids are medicated, and my understanding of SSRIs is they they sort of limit your emotional, um, like the lows are limited on how low things can go, but also the highs are limited, right? And so your your emotional experience of life is is has like sort of um uh bookends put on it. And it would be great if we can find other solutions and other alternatives and other ways to help this generation and all other generations to be able to experience life in its fullest versus having to go through medication to to really you know uh have a healthy mental outlook.

It's it's an interesting problem and hearing your perspective on it. I mean, it's such an odd thing. We're so connected, right? Like we're more connected than ever. Um but yet people are lonelier, people are more depressed.

Uh without a doubt. And and it feels generationally as if it's it's cascading down. It's not getting better with generations. The technology and technology's role, which is supposed to be like it's been all about productivity and efficiency, the flip side is it's just isolating humans in ways that I was reading a study, I forget, um a few months ago, that talked about the health impact of loneliness in the United States and how that not having friends, uh, its impact on you is the equivalent of smoking, like, you know, whatever it was, three or four packs of cigarettes in a day or something. So it's you know, it was it was connecting sort of this notion, the the epidemic of loneliness um from a health standpoint. And um and and it's sort of, you know, one of the amazing things about wellness and fitness is it creates community. Even if it's an isolate, like if you're running a marathon, you're running it by yourself. But if you're training for a marathon, oftentimes you get a train with a community that's supporting each other and lifting everyone up. And so that community aspect, I think, is such a key component of what we look to do in our in our experience. We have a Facebook community where they support each other and it's really almost a no-trolls policy. Like they it, you know, they almost like smoke, smoke out trolls where they want to be supportive of each other. And when people post images that are transformational images or whatnot, everyone's like, oh my God, that is so amazing. How great. And it's it's what community should be, right? And it could be people that live in Australia and somebody else in Germany. It doesn't matter. They're supporting each other and lifting each other up.

So I gosh, you know, community. Um, and I notice like, you know, anecdotally, like my wife um and I, I work from home. My wife goes to an office, right, every day. And she also goes to her CrossFit gym first thing in the morning. She goes to her office. She oftentimes plays volleyball, does activities, goes climbing. I'm the opposite. Like I wake up in the morning, I'll do my tonal workout, right? I'll walk my dog, I'll spend most of the day at home, and then uh, you know, I'll cook dinner at night. Like that. It's uh we have very we're we're hand in hand as a couple, but yet we're living very different lives. And I think it's kind of interesting to me as and I feel it. I'm like, oh my God, even though I talk to people all day on Zoom, like, you know, I gotta get out more and like do things, uh, you know, maybe join a basketball league or something, right? Um so it's like this admitting it is the first step.

So I think you're taking the first step right now.

Yeah.

This is after this, after this podcast, you know, find that volleyball league and yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You can send me a therapy, uh therapist invoice as well, Andrew. I've I'll I'll pay it right away. The um but I guess what I'm getting at is like some people could argue, like with apps and things like that, that you know, we're we're especially for fitness and wellness, where we need people to kind of get out into the community. And sometimes gyms are a great place for people to connect in person, right? Yeah. Um and you know, digital community is is valuable, no doubt, but it's also kind of challenging to do well. So when you look at like um that dichotomy of like, okay, we have technology and you have a great technical technological application here that can help people be better, feel better. But also it's linking them more to technology. So, how do you how do you work with that kind of dichotomy of of the consumer as well with us?

Yeah, so um it's a good point and totally fair that technology is a thing that's creating isolation, but then we're leaning on technology to create community. That's the exact thing that is creating the problem. Um so and to your point, I don't think a lot of companies have done it well. Um, although they all, I'm sure if you went to every single digital company in the fitness space and wellness space and even media space and said, hey, is there a community group? There's probably like 200 people working on community. But you know, in terms of is it really creating community, you know, I'd say in a lot of cases it's coming up short. I so for us, we want to, we want to fuel the community that exists, that's supporting each other and enable it and empower it. Um we're also, I'm gonna I'm again sort of skirt it a little. We are working on things that you and I can talk about at a future podcast that are um going after um sort of more IRL experiences that will give the people the chance to come together physically in different instances to support each other. And um, and that could be in the form of a of a competition, that could be in the form of you know uh training for something. Um, but it's it's that ability for people to locally truly physically connect. And um, and so I think that's a missing element that we're going to be looking to add in. Um and as I said, we'll be able to give more on that in the coming months.

I think that makes a lot of sense. I mean, and that that's kind of where I would see this stuff can be leveraged a lot, is like if you can somewhat kind of that's a bad word, but we'll just use that, organize people by interests and get them, you know, connected through those specific interests, you know, whether it be a book club, I mean, it's generic, or you know, a hiking club or whatever it may be, you know, fly fishing, uh, as you and I were talking about pre-recording, like gain these interests and then connect people to to push these in real life experiences. That that's pretty powerful to me.

Yeah, no, 100%. I mean, I'll tell you the thing that's been fascinating is the nonprofits that that train people for things like the New York Marathon or LA Marathon that you see if you're down at the boardwalk in Santa Monica and you see this group running along because they have a running coach and people that are, you know, whatever, just looking to finish the marathon, and they went and they raised $2,000 or $5,000. It's a collection of humans that don't know each other, that are that come together every week for one or two days to train with the goal of they're essentially running for a cause. That's great, that connects them. They're running, that connects them. And they're seeking honestly community. Because if they weren't, that's not what they would have been doing with their weekends for for three to six months leading up to it. And so if you look at that, it's it that works. Like that is real, that works. And so, how do we tap into that reality?

Yeah. I mean, even like uh, I don't want to get too much on this topic, but like meetup, right? Like that application. Um, you know, if we don't know if you ever used it, but you know, meetups are just it's it's an app or a website, and my wife uses it all the time to find like climbing partners or you know, hiking partners, where it's it would be a great way to just, you know, it's so basic, but people will use it because people are, you know, they're searching for something else to do. And I think that mental wellness component is is is really powerful. Um 100%. Yeah, totally agree. I'm I want to get your insights because I like to ask people who come from other industries into the fitness industry, right? It's like coming from Hollywood, digital content. Um, now you're in the fitness and wellness industry. I know there's a lot of overlap because it's digital content and you know, doing things that way and you're managing communities, like you said, like the Star Wars people are now, you know, more uh, I guess in the wellness perspective. But what's your take so far? I mean, it's been almost one year you've been in the fitness and wellness industry. Like, what do you think compared to some of the other ones you've been in?

Um, so to your point, yeah, there's a lot of similarities. Um it's the audience for this category is massive. Um and so uh audience is huge. That audience is constantly starved and looking for information. Uh like there's a lot of fads and trends that are ripe in this industry and they burn bright and then go away. And so for me, it's it's really, and that by the way, is not a brand, right? A brand is not a fad. A brand is something that's got staying power. And so it's really identifying what's the difference between a fad, a trend, and something that really is has longevity and is really um built for the long haul and can be there for customers and users for the long haul. Um, so that would be one sort of thing that I've been looking at closely as it relates to this space. Um, I think the second is on one side, there's there's a lot of digital innovation. And on the other side, I think there's a lot of status quo where it's like, well, this is how this is how we've always done it. This is how this is how the fitness industry works. Oh, yeah. And like that for me is always an interesting opportunity because it's like, well, is it is it really how it always is supposed to work, or is there an opportunity here to think about things a little bit differently? And that that I love being the outsider looking in because I haven't spent 20, I've been a participant, but I haven't been a 20-year health and wellness executive. Um, I I enjoy looking at it through a different lens, saying, okay, so we've got audience, they're looking for something, they need real solutions to real problems. Content can help them, community can help them, products can help them, they want to be connected. What are all the solutions that we can think about related to that? Oh, and Chris has this massive megaphone to you know 100 million people around the world. Um, how do we bring all that together in a unique combination? And so my first year has been looking at like that totality. Um, and so we've created a very ambitious goal and plan of what we want to be. Um, and now we're implementing it step by step, uh, beginning with the the relaunch of the brand, the launch of these new physical goods, we're launching new content in the coming months. All of that is what I would call center 2.0. And um, and that will carry into 24 with a whole set of additional announcements on things that we've been working on.

Yeah. Uh it's really exciting. And I I admire, I I respect the outside opinion coming in. I mean, the industry, the fitness industry has been, you know, um slow to adopt, I guess, uh historically. Uh yeah. I think it's a pretty good idea. Yeah, it's like it's like organ rejection. Totally. Uh, do you guys have any plans? Um I guess for the brick and mortar? I mean, I don't know if that's something you can talk about, but is that I mean, obviously you're gonna be in physical locations, you know, with the equipment, the Walmarts, and things like that. I think that's a great move. Um, but what about like, yeah, in real life experiences moving, you know, under the brand name? Uh so I can't yet.

Um, so that that won't be out by the time this podcast airs. Um, but I like I like being able to like leave a uh a breadcrumb so that you'll call me back up and we can do another one of these podcasts. Yeah, of course. Um but we we are definitely looking at it. Um and uh you know when when we announce it, I think you'll be like, oh, I get it. That was what it was. Um and uh but we're definitely looking at um how we can be uh how we can be in the middle of um experiences where groups come together to to train and um and work towards a goal together. Um so yeah, very cool.

Uh you made something you said something before we started recording that really made me laugh. Um you stated that uh AI is like the new NFT, right? Like of two years ago. And I touch on AI all the time in all of my podcasts. It's probably annoys uh my listeners, but I don't I find it super interesting. I think people should be educated about it. So um, you know, maybe give us a little background why you said that, why it's so funny. But then, you know, how you for how you're you're seeing AI now, you know, as of Q3 2023 being integrated into the industry, um, and then where you think it could go. And then maybe just life in general.

Yeah, and so the the reason I said that was, you know, I don't three years ago, everyone was doing everything NFT. It was like, you know, it was this you know, non-fungible token connected to everything, but nobody really knew what it meant, nor like how to make how it makes your life better. It was it was like, you know, oh my god, is there an NFT? It's like, wait. And then everyone going out for funding and fundraising in the venture community was like, you know, blockchain, NFT, you know, and and it was like, you know, all this, all these things. And and through it, there was some things that were genuinely value creating, and then there was a whole bunch of noise. And so AI has come in, and Chat GBT definitely was the was the the catalyst, um, which it's by the way an amazing tool. And so now I think every company going for investment is slapping AI into it. And I was talking to somebody yesterday who was like, yeah, you know, I was looking to sell a company and we weren't finding any buyers. And I asked the person that was selling it, you know, do you have you used any AI in this? And they're like, oh yeah, no, we definitely have used AI. They're like, oh, okay. They changed the the name to put AI in the name and they sold it within two weeks. Um, so it's like like that for me is like very telling of like the the environment, right? But once again, there's gonna be really legitimate and impactful and profoundly impactful AI executions. Um, but then there's gonna be a bunch of like noise. Um and so we want to be, we on our end wanna be mindful of there's sometimes value in being a first mover, and there's sometimes value in being a fast follower, and we want to walk that line very carefully to see where we should be leaning in um for really legitimate executions. And um, and so yeah, early days, early days.

Yeah, it it is, and and uh I mean I feel like the people who are doing the really important work are just heads down quiet right now. Yes, you know, like I've talked to some people I feel like are doing really, I'm like, oh you guys are on to something here, and they're like, Yeah, we don't want to talk about it. Like uh Exactly.

That's exactly when it's talking about it, you're kind of like, yeah, I'm not interested in what you're talking about. Who's not talking about this? That's what I'm interested in. Yeah, no, for sure. That's 100% right. Like people come out with stuff in six or 12 months, and you're like, oh, oh, that's that's amazing, right? Right, yeah.

Yeah. Um when you you say uh fast follower, that's a new term to me. What do you mean by that?

Fast follower would be um some like if somebody launches something and and they could fail, um, and by the way, this at Disney there there this was definitely um a view where does Disney need to be the company that goes out on the front edge and could fail publicly on something? Or do they let others go out there with venture capital funding or whatnot? And 90 out of the 100 will fail, and then the 10 that don't fail, you're like, oh, that that's the thing that worked. And then you immediately jump and fast follow onto that success and buy it or build it. And so um you you sort of avoid the first round where failure is honestly more likely than success, so that you then go to the second round where success is more likely than failure.

Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, I I guess when you put it that way, it makes a ton of sense. And I probably talked about it, but just in different terms. Um, but that's uh, and I imagine when working at a company like Disney, you probably did a lot of fast following, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Disney's not looking to be on the front edge where that 90% falls off, but they are definitely like, that worked. Yeah, let's let's do that.

Yoink. Yeah. Um where do I want to talk about the company as as, you know, and I know your private company, right? Um, what what can you share about where you guys are at? You know, any kind of numbers or statistics, whatever you feel comfortable sharing, but what's give us give us some insights at where you guys are.

Yeah, so so the company was um both two companies, Center and Inspire Fitness, were both um acquired by Hypost Capital in 2022. And um the intention at the onset was to create a wellness platform that combined the two together and was not um meant to be a collection of of brands, but rather with Chris, with that megaphone, how do we create one unified wellness platform under one brand? And uh each company came to the uh the table with its own strength. So Center had been installed more than five million times around the world. Um, our user base is very engaged. Um, you know, I would say that it it leaned towards what we call a holistic explorer, which is more of um a person that is um They are looking, they're busy, they are uh they're looking for new solutions, new information, new research that they can put to work and slot into their busy lives. They're learners, they're they're they're constantly looking. And um and so with Center, we've been satisfying that group with launching new programs and new content. Um and um and saw significant success there in a few like interesting stats. Like we um we launched uh in the last year, we've launched new programs that bring our average uh workout length down in certain programs to five to six minutes, and our engagement level for workouts has increased 90% at the same time. So it's not like nine, 90. And so we're seeing that that adapting our experiences to match the lifestyles of this demographic are extremely well received and interestingly equally between men and women. Like not it's not content that's catering towards a specific gender, but rather really it's almost 50-50. Um, and then on the audio side, we as we've we've talked about meditation, we've talked about things like sleep visualizations, how do we help people start their day and end their day? We added in soundscapes, like as an interesting audio um element. And the result of that was our audio content increased 43% uh in like before after with just adding in um elements of Soundscape. So if you want to listen to like the waves crashing in Byron Bay in Australia, where Chris where Chris lives, no problem. We can we can help you just chill with the sound of the ocean. On the Inspire Fitness side, we had a company that's been around for 20 years. It has um established itself as a leader in strength training um predominantly uh and initially through the specialty fitness channels across the United States and around the world. Um and uh those trainers, those those functional machines range all the way up to thousands of dollars. Um, and the engineering and um this sort of proprietary IP that goes into those pieces of equipment, we felt we could bring into the broader mass channels. And so in the last two or three years, uh those that equipment's increasingly been available through uh Costco. And we're now going to be bringing that equipment to pretty much every major retail channel in the United States over the next uh call it six to eight weeks. And um, and so for the first time, we'll have functional trainers that'll be sub-$1,000 that are built with the same engineering and capability that that someone might buy a three or four thousand dollar machine for um on the high end.

That's incredible. I I'm excited for you guys. I mean, that's uh I can get behind that, you know, the the accessibility and everything. I I've I've been caught um by other people and by myself when I'm like, oh, you know, like the tonals, uh I have one, I love it, right? Yeah, but it's not it's not for everybody. And I just got lucky because, you know, I knew somebody. Um, but you know, really making it accessible because, you know, like we stated earlier, that that's that's where the change needs to happen is not people who, you know, have you know an ocean view and they have their beautiful, you know, tonal or peloton sitting just like the commercials have, right? It's the people who are, you know, work in the normal eight to five and they need to square it in and they need to, you know, make some change in their lives. And um, so I I I I applaud for what you guys are doing. Um, Andrew, the the last question I always like to ask people, and this is always in the spirit of um collaboration, but you know, how can we help you? What do you need? What's important to you right now? Um, what would you like to hear people from here? What would you like to hear from people about?

Yeah, so um we're on this mission. We are we are looking to um empower, motivate our users to be able to create these amazing wellness journeys, bringing together the best of content, tools, products. And in a lot of cases, we're gonna do those on our own. And in other cases, we're gonna look to do it with partners that have something special that they can bring to that equation. And so I think you know, one one is a will be a call out to people that want to be a part of this, this solution, and you know, with with Chris, with what we're doing, and want to want to join in, we would love to have those conversations. Um, and we've we've already been speaking with a number of opportunities and partners. Um, but I think I think there's so much more that we can do. And um, and we really want to be that ecosystem that brings more to this broader demographic, right? And and I think the more success we have and the more connective tissue we have with that group, I think the more value it brings to other companies that are looking to hit that group as well. Awesome.

Awesome. Well, Andrea, I uh I appreciate you spending some time with me. This has been a lot of fun. You uh, you know, I was looking at your LinkedIn profile and you you say uh you're a storyteller, and you are, which makes for the best interviews. I always love great storytellers. You know, you can take a message and spin it up in a way where it's engaging, and that's uh, you know, very understated skill, um, but uh, you know, very, very powerful. So anyway, I really appreciate it. I love what you guys are doing. Uh, people want to get a hold of you. If you'd like them to go somewhere online, is there anywhere specifically that you'd like them to go?

Yeah, come on over to center.com, C E N T R dot com, and check us out and uh install our apps on Android or iOS and get started with your your wellness journey. And if you want to reach out, uh drop a note to Andrew at center.com. Awesome. Andrew, thanks again.

Really appreciate it. Appreciate it. Go enjoy your weekend.

Great work. Your your podcast is awesome.

I've enjoyed listening to it. So keep keep it up. I appreciate it. Ladies and gentlemen, Andrew Sugarman. Thanks a lot. Hey, wait, don't leave yet. This was your host, Eric Malzone, and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Future of Minutes. If you did, I'm gonna ask you to do three simple things. It takes under five minutes and it goes such a long way. We really appreciate it. Number one, please subscribe to our show wherever you listen to it, iTunes, Spotify, Castbox, whatever it may be. Number two, please leave us a favorable review. Number three, share. Put it on social media, talk about it to your friends, send it in a text message, whatever it may be. Please share this episode because we put a lot of work into it. We want to make sure that as many people are getting value out of it as possible. Lastly, if you'd like to learn more, get in touch with me, simply go to the feature of fitness.co. You can subscribe to our newsletter there, or you can simply get in touch with me as I love to hear from our listeners. So thank you so much. This is Eric Malzone, and this is the Future of Fitness. Have a great day.