Jim Huether: Hyperice & The Hyper-Connected Recovery Ecosystem

Hey everybody, welcome to the Future of Fitness, a top-rated fitness industry podcast for over two years and running. It is 2021, and I am your host, Eric Malzone. I have the absolute pleasure of talking to entrepreneurs, innovators, and cutting-edge technology experts within the fast-paced industries of fitness, wellness, and health sciences. Stop by futurefitness.co to subscribe and learn more. When you do what you love, running, racing, or simply enjoying the great outdoors, you want to do it for life. InsightTracker can help. InsightTracker was founded in 2009 by leading scientists in aging, genetics, and biometrics. Using their patented algorithm, Insight Tracker analyzes your body's data to provide you with a clear picture of what's going on inside you while offering highly personalized, science-backed recommendations for positive diet and lifestyle changes. Okay, time for straight talk. It's time that each single one of us takes responsibility for our own health. 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Awesome. Appreciate it, Eric. Really pumped to be here today.

Yeah, I'm excited to have you. Uh you know, as we were discussing pre-recording, recovery is favorite topics for both you and me. Uh, I think there is so much to talk about, especially in the connected environment. And, you know, this topic of recovery is now becoming mainstream, right? People are starting to pay attention. I just wrote a post today, uh, did an interview with Joel Jameson, Natalia Karpassova, and we were talking about how really recovery is starting to enter into this golden age where people start to think about it all the time, right? So there's, you know, the hardware and the software and the tracking and all of this. It's it's this beautiful age of recovery. So um, before we dive into all that good, good stuff, why don't um do me a favor, just give our audience a little bit of your background? How'd you get to be the CEO of Hyperize and in that journey along the way?

Yeah, so I actually started out wanting to be a sports agent. So I grew up in Silicon Valley. Uh my father actually worked for Atari in the really early days. So he was in kind of the tech community. And uh so I grew up around sports, I grew up around kind of the entertainment space a little bit as well, and uh played baseball my whole life. So I played, I played sports and and in an early age started to look at like performance technology and like just kind of imagine what that could be someday as you started to see tools and devices come into the training room and baseball. Um went to school, uh, did an MBA, actually wanted to be a sports agent, kind of like Gary McGuire. Um so and when I did, I did a joint program originally, which is an NBA and JD program, and just fell in love with business and case studies and looking at different companies and what made them tick, what made them special, what made them great, um, how could you turn them around, how could you separate yourself and differentiate yourself, and how could you be disruptive? And so that was kind of a path I always knew I would take. Like I wanted to drive a company and to lead a company. And so I took a lot of steps in between. I was in the health tech space for about 12 years prior to um coming to HyperIce, and I was the C named the CEO in 2014. So I've been at Hyperice for about seven and a half years now. And we started out doing you know under a million in revenue and have grown into uh, you know, a relatively large company throughout the world. It's been a really fun ride.

Yeah, man. It has, I mean, just watching you guys grow and and hearing, I remember hearing the brand, you know, five years ago, I think. Uh maybe when I still did own you know, I was in gym ownership time, and now it's just it's everywhere, just apparently everywhere. Um for those who are are uninitiated, give give us an insight. What does Hyperice actually do? What is what is the company all about?

Yeah, so we're we're generally defined as uh this proactive recovery space. So a lot of people define us as a recovery or wellness tech company. Um our our mission as a company has transformed over the years. So we started out in sports performance, working with elite teams, pro athletes, trainers. And the reason we went there first is we knew that uh teams were going to spend the most resources on the best physicians, the best physical therapists, and of course engage in the best technology to keep their multimillion dollar assets on the field. Right. So we said if we can be if we can use this as a proving ground and deliver technology that these athletes will use day to day to increase longevity, we can then democratize recovery and bring those learnings to the masses in a very accessible way. So now we've kind of evolved into this company that really is about helping everybody on earth move better and live better. Um, and professional athletes are a big part of our brand and a big part of the way that we market and engage and learn about products, but they're relatively a small part of our overall revenue and reach in totality. So it's been an interesting transformation and we have a very big mission as a company.

Yeah, interesting. So when you guys started to evolve outside of professional sports, what were some of the communities that that grabbed on first? Or who did you target first?

Yeah, CrossFit was really early. Okay, they were early on. Um, obviously outside of sports performance, the medical community. So Cairo, PT markets were really strong for us. Um, but the biggest was fitness. Like the fitness space really, really engaged with us. Um, and and what started to happen in some of our early partnerships with Equinox and Orange Theory and Lifetime Fitness is they realized that our technology could actually elevate the experience that people were having in their gyms or in their fitness studios because people had more circulation, they would recover faster from the workouts, and as a result, they would engage more in the platforms, right? If you're on a SoulCycle bike or a Peloton bike and you feel good, you're gonna take more classes, engage in the platform more, and they get more overall buy-in from their consumer base. So it really was a win-win. And uh it also was a great device for personal trainers and therapists to use with their clientele and provide something differentiated, right? So I think that's some of the reasons that some of the early adopters, like Orange Theory and Equinox and Lifetime, um, really, really were kind of some of the first movers to work with hyper ice in a meaningful way.

Yeah, interesting. So how how do those how do those relationships look? Like when you're working with an Orange Theory, is it are they um you know, kind of selling it through their their locations? Are they teaching their clients how to use it? Or what what is that how does that really ship work?

Yeah, it's a it's a con it's kind of different for everyone. They all have their own ecosystem, so to speak, and how they want the devices to fit in with their with their curriculums and methodologies. Um Orange Theory, we're at locations. We have charging stations and a variety of facilities where people can use while they're there, and they also activate a retail, and we've done some collaboration around content and programming. So we have specific recovery regimens together uh for specific um events or tailored programming that they'll engage in. Um, Equinox, we're on the floor with the personal trainers, the products are used in the spa, and then you can purchase the products at retail as well. So you're kind of engaging them in multiple areas. The spa has a few different treatments with percussion sod using the vault that they'll offer to their clientele. Um, so all of them are really great ways to just connect with consumers and have them experience the products. And because they're changing the physiology of the human body, in most cases, when people are trying them, they're buying them because they feel good.

They do. I used mine 20 minutes before uh this interview, and my legs feel way better. Uh it really it really works. It feels amazing. Um, one of the things I want to ask you, I'm I'm curious about this because now that we have so much data flowing in um for clients and coaches and gyms, and you know, everybody in the fitness industry is just bombarded with data, right? Um, and recovery is a very hot topic. How do you see those like how do you see those two things intertwining? Like, how how can we quantify recovery so that devices like hyper ice um and the suite of you know um you know offerings that you guys have, um, we can show, you know, from the looking at from the fitness industry perspective, like how can we show people this is worthwhile, it's worth investing in, other than just the way they feel, which is extremely powerful. But as a fitness industry, we've always kind of gone by how people feel. And now we're starting to see, well, how can we back it up? How how are you starting to see the that quantified piece of recovery coming in?

Yeah, great, great question. And I think that the more data, the more science, and the more ability to be precise through wearable trackers or whatever it may be, the more curated and precise we could be with recommendations around recovery. So, like the the evolution of Whoop and Aura and what they're doing around sleep and heart rate and respiratory patterns, this is all great because we have a component in our app um called Hypersmart, which connects with those wearable devices. So if you have Apple Health or Strawberry Garmin and you go on a three-mile run and your heart rate is X and you slept four hours and your calorie count is Y, we're curating that through a proprietary algorithm with our scientific advisors and then basically giving you a personalized routine based on your activity. Right. So to your point, the more quantified data that we can get from our consumers, the more accurate we can be in providing them recommendations around recovery that elevates their health. So it really is a win-win for the consumer. The more we know about you, the better we can be in prescribing, so to speak, ways to use the product at specific times with the right device, with the right routine, um, coming in the right language from a trainer that you might communicate well with, right? If you're a CrossFitter, you might want a piece of content from a performance coach in CrossFit so that we can we can be more effective in our communication and teaching people how to use the devices to elevate the way they feel.

Yeah, awesome. Awesome. I love that. So give us uh you mentioned it, but maybe we can dive into a little bit for our audience to learn a little bit more the the hyper smite hyper hyper smart technology and the application for what is what does that do for consumers?

Yeah, definitely. So it's it's there's a few ways to use it, and it is our hyper ice app. So just at a basic level, if you go on the app, you can search through all sorts of routines from pro athletes, scientific advisors, experts, talking about recovery, talking about mindset, showing you how to use the products on which body part. There's a body map feature where you can select different body parts and rate your soreness levels, and we'll help provide personalized routines. But the really interesting part is this integration into wearables. So currently we're connecting into Apple Health, Strava, and Garmin. And then in the coming months, we're connecting into Whoop and other wearables. And we're getting really, really precise around how we take all your activity. It goes into a machine learning algorithm that is set by our scientific advisors, where we'll say, okay, this particular person is age 36, they ran four miles today, which is high intensity for them. They only slept seven hours, they normally sleep eight. We're gonna compare and they're a CrossFitter, we're gonna take that analytic data and compare it to a variety of others, and based on our algorithms, then prescribe you something with a product we know you own because you have a Bluetooth connectivity into the product, right? So now you're getting a routine from your favorite CrossFit performance coach. We know you have a Bluetooth Hypervolt Plus. You turn on watch the routine through video, and as you're doing the routine with the device, the product will change speeds in connection to where you are on the body. So it's almost like a autopilot customized recovery experience. And we're still in the early phases, which is why I'm so excited. We launched HyperSmart 1.0 uh last summer, and um we're working on Hyper S Hyper Smart 2.0, which is going to be even more elevated and more advanced. And again, the more data and the more analytics and the better the wearable devices can be at monitoring all these different elements, the more precise we can be to help people, you know, uh maximize the value of the products.

Yeah.

Oh, that's cool, man. I love it. And I think it's a nice dovetail into one of the things I especially want to talk to you about because uh I joked about these are four of my favorite words that you combine into one term. Uh hyper-connected recovery ecosystem. Like, dude, tell me everything. Like, what does that mean? What does that mean to you? What does that look like? Like, yeah, give us the goods on that.

I love it. So, our goal is to make these recommendations that I've mentioned become habitual so that people rely on them because they actually have meaning. So when you wake up in the morning, we know that yesterday you went on a Peloton ride for 30 minutes with an instructor and your intensity level was X, right? When you wake up, we can say, Hey, yesterday was a tough day for you. Here's something you should do to warm up the body and increase circulation. Then you're at work and you're podcasting and for three hours straight, it'll ping you and say, Hey, Eric, you've been sitting around too long. I get up and use your mini hypersphere on your feet to create some circulation, walk around before you go to bed. Today was a high-intensity day for you. Here are some routines with your Normotech device that'll help you sleep tonight, right? So, ways that we can uh engage people to help teach them about the value of what we're doing as a company to elevate your health, that's the connected ecosystem, right? When we can then learn enough about you where we can feel confident and comfortable providing you a recommendation that you're going to love and that will actually change the way that you feel and live, that's the home run for us. Um, and that's what we're working on pretty relentlessly.

Yeah, so uh it's beautiful. I love it. When you look at that vision, what what needs to happen between what you guys have now and where you want to be?

Yeah, good question. So we have a good amount of devices and we have a lot more technology coming. And you know, we we're really well known for hardware, to your point. Normally, hyperbole. Um, we want to be really well known for software, uh, developing something that people really love that that again elevates their position. So I think for us right now, we're building a global infrastructure. You know, you've seen all these great marketing partnerships throughout the world. Um, we're focusing on getting a lot of these consumers into our ecosystem, understanding more about our customers, right? Getting people in and learning, hey, they like this product at this time, or this is a great device if you're a CrossFitter because of XYZ, or this person's looking at it more from an active aging perspective. So we're aggregating all this data. Um and then I think once we have a big enough data set, we feel like we can launch something that is so curated and precise that you know everybody will find value. And it's not just the person who's into connected recovery. Like we think that we can help anybody that moves. Like the addressable market as we define it is any human that moves, and the channels are just a way to market. Um so it it's it's been really fun. And I think for us, the biggest challenge, and it's more of an opportunity, is just we've done a lot in the US, but think of how much opportunity there is in China, Germany, Korea, Japan, Nordics, Australia, Canada. And those cultures are different. So you communicate with people differently there. Uh their trends are differently there. You know, CrossFit may be big in Australia, it's not big in Korea, right? Or, you know, esports is huge in China, it's not very big in the Nordics. So, you know, you have these different cultural elements that we're learning about. So we figure out how do we communicate people at the right time with the right message so that we connect with them in a meaningful way and they get they get um into the ecosystem and the high-priced brand and trust us for years to come.

Yeah, I love it, man. You know, I I look at uh, you know, we don't have to talk about COVID. It's been a topic on this podcast for so long, but you know, it's it's where we are. Um it was a tough year for this fitness industry. We don't have to go over that, you know, and things are starting to opening. It's it's it's actually quite exciting. I mean, today's date is uh May 18th, 2021. So things are reopening. I Talked to multiple gym owners in the last week who, you know, they're like, dude, things are we've doubled in the last month since opening, right? And it's it's great to hear this stuff. And it's it's really um it's really encouraging. But also I look at like the year that we had in 2020 in the beginning of 2021, and you know, you all these the the rise of connected fitness and all these and major investments coming into the fitness tech industry. Um, partnerships seem to be firing up. It's like every time I open up LinkedIn, there's like a new a partnership announcement of some, you know, too huge, but I'm like, no way, how did that happen? Uh so there's been a lot of that, and you guys obviously have the Norma Tech uh partnership acquisition, whatever it may be. I'm actually not sure. But you know, what what have you how encouraging from you know, the downside put aside, but from the upside of what's happened in the pandemic on the the fitness and and home um technology boom, what what's got you most excited moving forward now? Like where do you think this is all going?

Yeah, I I think that a lot of the great companies in the fitness space use the opportunity to kind of reset their sat strategy and plan, knowing that they were gonna go after it in May or June of this year. And so I'm seeing, you know, it's not like everybody sat around and said, hey, we're just gonna turn it off for 12 months and we'll pick it back up when we open up. I mean, these there were strategy sessions from a lot of these companies. I know because I've talked to a lot of the CEOs and leadership, on how do we get smarter in connecting to our customers? How do we get really good at content? How do we elevate our experience? I think it was an opportunity for fitness owners and some of the strong companies to really step back and take a look at how they wanted their environment to play out for future years. Um, a lot of them invested into connected tech. I think you're gonna see more integrated approaches where uh some of the big players will have a connected experience at home and a connected experience in the facility so that they can get you into your full ecosystem as well and communicate with you while you're at home or when you're in the gym. Um, I think that there's a uh a consolidation of expertise a little bit too on the science. Like more people now are looking at how do we bring in leaders in the space to differentiate our service offering? And I think COVID was an opportunity for people again to step back there and just look at their mix. What are we offering that's value added to our customer? How do we elevate the science? How do we give you more curriculum and things to engage so that you can elevate your experience here? Um, but personally, out of everything to answer your question, I love the whole connected environment, the data, the wearable component, the um, you know, the tracking and the algorithms. And it's it's really exciting to me. Like I love what Whoop and Aura have done too. Both companies, I think, have done a tremendous job building their brands through COVID and and giving people a lot of value.

Yeah. What do you think made them successful? Do you think it was the um the marketing efforts? Do you think it was the straight up investment dollars that came in and gave them a war chest to move forward with? What do you think? Like Woop, for example. I mean, they're they're everywhere, man, right? They're in pro golf, um, they're in CrossFit, they're, you know, they're seemingly all over the place. How what do you think? Um, what do you think is making them successful? What do you think the driver is?

I think their technology at the core is really good. Um, I really do, but I also think that they've done a good job with consumer insights and understanding what their consumers really want. There's a lot of wearable devices out there that offer you, can offer you a ton of different elements. But what is it that the consumer really wants and what's really valuable to the consumer? I think they've done a good job really grasping that and delivering on it and constantly having updates. You know, during COVID, they pivoted and were giving you respiratory patterns that could potentially detect if you were more susceptible to COVID. That was a really smart adaptation, right? Um, giving you information on sleep, but in digestible format that's not too complex. So I think it's been, I think they've done a good job. They have a ability to provide you a deep level of data, but they've done it in a way smartly where the consumer understands it easily and effectively. Um, and that's why I think that they're so sticky and consumers really love the brand. I don't think it's just the work chest, I think that obviously helped. I mean, they've been able to do some some great marketing, but I do think it's the actual the product and the insights that they're delivering to the customers that are very valuable.

Yeah, yeah, interesting. So, I mean, you look at like uh, you know, Aura and and Whoop, right? Yeah. Same can kind of competing in that space. I mean, now you're you're up against Theragun, right? Uh how without giving up too much, how are you guys looking at them as far as competition? And what are what are the ways you're looking to differentiate or take footholds moving forward?

Yeah, and and we honestly we focus a lot more on us. Like we're really focused, like we we know the DNA of the company. This this company, HyperIce, was built on innovation, right? Like our first technology devices, we always say internally, like we had we had engineers that worked on SpaceX rocket components uh before they worked on hyper ice. So we've always been kind of a first mover. We've thought outside the box, we've taken a really deep dive of just making sure our technology was the best and we were constantly advancing it. We kind of aspire to be a combination of a Nike, Apple, Tesla, and Dyson. Cool. Put those companies together. So that innovative spirit has stayed with us. We have you know innovations lined up all the way through 2024 right now that we have mapped out and planned. So we we kind of we stick to our own blueprint. Um, we're very confident in our position and our team. And uh I think the international expansion has been really exciting for us because we've gone after it aggressively and opened up some amazing new channels of distribution and and new spaces and markets all throughout the world. Um I'm learning Mandarin so I can communicate more when I go to China. Um, and you know, our team is just really operating with a global mindset now. And it's really been great to see. I mean, we're learning every day. I'm learning every day about different cultures and markets, and the entire organization has embraced it. Um, so I think I think we have just just speaking about us, we got a great team, a lot of former athletes, a lot of really creative people, um, people that are really passionate and motivated all throughout the world. And the energy here is very contagious. Um so we're anyway, we we love what we do here. Um, I certainly do. And um I think that that passion and and uh innovate innovative spirit is gonna drive us forward for years to come.

Awesome. Let's let's dive into that international expansion, man. I mean, you mentioned a bunch of different areas that you're looking to um expand into. What what's what market has you most excited right now?

Asia. Yeah. Asia, yeah, we're we're we're growing at a at a rapid rate there. And I think that the health and wellness space, specifically in China and Japan, is growing at a very rapid pace. And uh we have the opportunity there to be a first mover. So we're doing some really creative things with some of the top gyms and facilities and and health tech companies in Asia. So that's been an exciting market. Um, Germany is an exciting market for us too, and the greater European market. We just brought on Erling Holland, who's one of the, you know, a lot of people say he'll be the best footballer in the world within the next two years. Right now, he's probably top three. Um, so he invested in the company, and we just did an announcement three or four weeks ago, and it just took the European market by storm. Everybody was so excited. Um, so yeah, I think I think we're we're trying to trendset there and trying to think outside the box and create strategic partnerships with organizations that that think like-minded, and uh it's been a blast, really has.

Uh so when you when it comes to strategic partnerships, like what do you guys look for? I mean, for people listening here who are like, man, I would love to be involved, you know, or or have a conversation with hyper ice and gym. What what are you guys looking for right now? What would be really valuable? What kind of conversations would be solid?

It's usually uh based on authenticity. Like we usually the partnerships kind of form. I always use the story about the NFL partnership for us. Like we partnered with the NFL last year, official recovery technology partner, and the NFL invested in Hyprose. So they actually invested in our last growth round. Uh, but the most interesting thing is what really helped create that partnership was our relationship with the PFATS, which is a professional football trainers uh association. We had a relationship with all those trainers and human performance experts for years and years, and they actually helped us with some of our product development. So when it was time to do a big deal with the NFL, it was just natural and authentic because we had already worked with all of the teams and organizations and thought leaders within the NFL. Um, and our first order as a company was from the New York Jets, uh, $700 back in 2012. First ever order. So that's great. So most of the partnerships you see, they're not just us going and saying, hey, we're gonna go like buy a relationship. Actually, none of those are that way. They're all, hey, we've been working with you for a really long time, let's do more, or let's find ways to tell the story. Um, the NBA, another great example. We had worked with them for years and years. And when COVID environment hit and they were thinking really outside the box on health and wellness, we came up with a collaborative idea to integrate the hypervolt court side onto every seat in the bubble. Oh, that's great. And and that got that went totally viral. And like Shaq and Kenny on TNT like talked about it. It was um, you know, it was again a creative idea that was kind of spurred during COVID. So yeah, I would say a lot of our partnerships have they come from our team's hard work and relationships that they've had a long for a long time. It's just another way to elevate those and get people to learn on how the companies are working together.

Yeah. So when you look at like Asia, what what are some of those, like what's the what's the your NFL in Asia? Like what do you what are the most valuable partnerships over there?

Well, actually, it's NBA. Okay is is huge there. So we partnered when we did the NBA deal, we also partnered with NBA China, and uh we have a partnership with the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James is an investor in Hyperice, so we're using that trio of Lakers, LeBron, NBA to drive awareness in Asia, and it's been tremendous. So that's been that's been really fun. And the Lakers are actually the like one of the most prominent brands in all of Asia. Um, so the NBA has been a big resource from us for us in China specifically, and then we have some other cool partnerships at the UFC with Wei Li. Wei Lee Zhang is a UFC fighter. I don't know if you're a UFC fan or not, but she was champion and then just recently lost. But uh she's really well known. Uh soccer, European soccer is is gaining traction in China. So we have a partnership with Tottenham Hotspur, they're a really um powerful brand in China as well. And a couple more exciting things to come in the next couple months.

Man, I want to hang out with one of your investor parties. Like you get that sounds like a lot of people. You're welcome. Yeah, you're gonna be done for sure. Uh that sounds great. So, you know, kind of swinging it back to the um to the fitness industry. If I'm, you know, if I'm a gym owner, uh a fitness professional or you know, someone who's maybe doing you know their remote coaching now or whatever it may be, I'm a fitness professional. How can I leverage hyper ice for my personal practice? Like how can I start to really work it in and offer more value to my clients and um maybe retain better, get better results, just have overall better relationships.

Yeah, I I think it goes back to the comments I made earlier about um the gyms and kind of elevating the experience. Same with the personal trainer. I think if you can make your your goal is to elevate your client's, you know, fitness activity, his health, his wellness, whatever it may be, to make him feel better, to optimize his performance, right? To allow him to do things he couldn't do before, to make sure he's he's feeling like he's healthy. Um so if you can utilize technology to advance that position and teach people about things they can do, either for warm-up, for recovery, for body maintenance that are going to make people perform at a higher level, whatever that may be, whether it's a weekend warrior activation or just in the workplace, you're providing value and you're providing benefit. And these are things that you can teach people uh about doing, not only when you're with them one-on-one as a trainer, but at home so that they can do the things that they love. So I think it actually is a supreme competitive advantage for trainers. Um, because again, if somebody feels good, they're coming in more to visit you, right? If somebody's sore and stiff and has no energy and no circulation, they're less likely to engage thoroughly in your services. So I think it's kind of mutually beneficial. One, your clientele is going to benefit, and two, they're gonna be more engaged, have a little bit better circulation, feel a little better, and engage with you more thoroughly.

Yeah, that's a great answer, man. I I think a lot of it too comes down to um it's just being more experiential, right? Like the uh when I the first time I so I remember seeing my athletes at my CrossFit gym years ago bringing in this this big massage device, right? Um, it's much more, it's condensed now. Um, and I was like, what are you guys doing? Like that looks that does that looks painful, right? And it took me years to kind of use it. And now when I use it, I'm like, ah, it just it just feels good. I feel better after it was like a tingle among about everything, right? And I just feel like everything's moving better. And it's just a different layer of experience. And I think it's something that people remember and talk about and generally desire. I mean, you don't have to come in and get your butt kicked every day, right? And you're gym. I think that's a common misconception, especially in the CrossFit world. So I think adding that layer of experience is really valuable for them as well.

I totally agree with you, totally, and to your point about experience, sometimes too, this is like it's something to talk about, right? Something new. If you can teach people, and Steve Jobs said this a lot, if you can teach, if you can teach people about something new, they're gonna be connected to you for a while, right? They're learning, they want to come back to you for greater learning. So if you're a trainer or a physical therapist or a massage therapist or um anybody in that type of business, if you can deliver knowledge to people and have them learn from you, it's a value add. And I think people will trust you and you'll gain that personal relationship. And um, it's cool that this is something that actually affects the physiology of the body too. So it's not like you're just giving them an iPhone case, right? You're actually giving them something that that does benefit the way they feel. Um, so it's a win-win.

Yeah, I love it. So uh kind of final question because it is, you know, this is the future fitness podcast, but let's give it a timeline. Uh, five years, right? Things are changing so fast. If you're gonna look ahead five years, what what do you think? What is your vision for what the fitness industry will look like? How will it be different? How will it be better overall?

I think it's gonna be first off fully connected. I think that you're going to walk in, they're gonna know about you, they're gonna know what you did, they're gonna be able to provide recommendations for you based on your own analytics and your own habits and your own demographics and your own likes. So it'll be much more personalized and customized so it can be more precise and accurate, whole experience. I think there also is gonna be, and you're already starting to see this, kind of a combination of services that generally were fragmented in the past now coming together: physical therapy, uh, massage therapy, personal training, right? Some healthcare elements, they're kind of all coming together now, right? Because if you know what somebody's doing for massage therapy and you know what they're doing for physical therapy, you know what they're doing for fitness, if you know all those three data points, you can be more precise in whatever you're recommending or you're analyzing. Um, so as those become more connected, I think that fitness professionals and experienced delivery companies can be more accurate in knowing about the user and what's going to benefit them and what they've done and why we can provide XYZ. Um, so I think it's gonna be more per personalized, more data driven, and more comprehensive from a service offering perspective. Um, so I'm pretty excited for it. I think that I think that COVID accelerated the space and is getting everybody to think in a variety of ways. How do I connect with you in my facility? How do I connect with you at home? Um, and how can I differentiate? I think it's making everybody sharper and uh a little bit more on their toes.

Yeah, well, I totally agree, man. It's it's really exciting. And you know, maybe it was it was uncomfortable, right, for a year and a half, uh, but I think the industry is going to come out at you with just so much more value to offer um, you know, to the consumers and their local communities. It's it's it's it's a good time. Right now is a very exciting time. May 2021 is a very exciting time to be in the finish industry. I'm pretty fired up about it. Um Jim, these are great answers, man. Um wonderful insights. I really like what you guys are doing. I love your vision on all of it. Uh, it's really exciting and it sounds like a really fun place to work, to be quite honest with you. Um so thank you for coming on. Where uh give us a good man. Where do people, if people want to get a hold of you or your team, where do you send them online?

Yeah, so so hyperice.com is the company's website. Um I'm on LinkedIn, just Jim Heather. I respond and direct message people all the time. If people have, you know, questions, business questions, whatever it may be, um, definitely interact there. And uh yeah, really fun. This has been awesome. I appreciate it. Let's chat anytime and would love to meet in person at some point. And you can come to the investor party if you'd like to. Should be pretty close.

Well, thanks again, ladies and gentlemen, Jim Heather.

Appreciate it. Thank you.

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, Catbox, 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 and 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 featuroffitness.co. You can subscribe to our newsletter there, or you can simply get in touch with me as I'd 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.