Julia Klim - Equinox: Cutting Edge Innovation For An Iconic Brand

Hey everybody, welcome to the Future of Fitness, a top-rated fitness industry podcast for over three years and running. I am your host, Eric Malzone, and I have the absolute pleasure of talking to entrepreneurs, innovators, 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 learn more. If you are a consumer-focused health and wellness company, you know that acquiring and making use of that health data is traditionally expensive, complicated, and full of friction for the consumer, but not anymore. Thanks to the good people at Sprint, a camera-enabled digital biomarker platform that connects any app to the human body. Formerly known as Elite HRV, the patented technology behind the Sprint platform leverages a decade of research into physiology, behavior, and health insights, including collaboration with 117 universities, analysis of more than 4 billion biomarkers across 20 million user sessions. Using the smartphone as the sensor, Sprend's evidence-based machine learning algorithms deliver actionable biomarker insights such as body composition, HRV, stress, recovery, progress tracking, and more, all through an easy-to-integrate STK and API. Health and wellness companies are integrating Sprint to better understand their users' holistic health, make their apps more personalized and adaptive, demonstrate measurable progress, and empower their members to understand their bodies and make well-informed decisions for their well-being. Go to Spren.com and learn more. That is Spren.com. Hey friends, if you follow the show, you may have picked up on my passion for heart rate variability when it comes to recovery, performance, and longevity. I track it religiously and I'm always looking for ways to improve. Over the past few months, I've been taking this new supplement called HRV Plus by mode and method. Over that time, I've experienced significant improvement in sleep quality, faster recovery, and an objective uptick in my average HRV. About two to three points on average. That's a big deal. HRV Plus is the world's first expert-curated, carefully sourced blend of all natural micronutrients to optimize recovery, increase performance, and boost heart rate variability. Formulated by some of the world's leading experts, HRV Plus combines their proprietary hemp extract with omega-3 oil, magnesium, and curcumin extract to target inflammation, improve sleep, and supercharge our endocannabinoid systems. I encourage you to give it a shot. Go to modemethod.com and enter discount code Eric15. That's modemodemethod.com and enter code Eric15 for 15% off. Go get it. All right, we are live. Julia Klim, welcome to the future of fitness.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Thank you for coming. This is going to be a lot of fun. I enjoy our conversation so far, and you have a definitely unique perspective on the industry. And I haven't had anyone from Equinox uh come on this show yet. So uh, you know, the topics that we'll get into today, of course, could be wide-ranging, but we don't really know until we record it uh what's gonna come about. But you know, Web3, uh luxury loyalty program, uh longevity as a whole, as an industry, those are always really fascinating topics. But first things first, uh, want to put a shout out to the Connected Health and Fitness Summit who is uh you know put us together and uh sponsoring this episode. So uh you are gonna be speaking there uh in just uh a few weeks' time. Um I think you're you're gonna be on a panel. Tell tell me a little bit about it. Uh what generally, what are you gonna be speaking on and and who are you gonna be talking with and uh what gets you excited about that event?

Um of course. Um so the event is in LA, um, February 8 and 9, I believe. Um I'm on a panel on February 9th. So if anyone's in LA, uh come see, come see me as. The panel I'm speaking on is on creating and monetizing a fitness community, which I think is a topic that repeats itself every year, um, um and always a good one to talk about. And I'm will be joined on the panel by uh, I believe the founder of Helen Um of Wild AI, and then the founder of Paceline, uh Joel, Joel. So uh should be should be an exciting one. Um that's that.

Yeah. Yeah, that that that's a great topic. And those are really cool companies that you're gonna be sharing the stage with too. And the uh, you know, some and everything I've heard about it, gonna miss it again this year, super disappointed due to travel, but um definitely will be there next year uh in 2024. And it just seems like such a unique blend of kind of an intimate networking community and and just really great relevant topics and insights that you know, not just it's not just any kind of networking event where people have you know a couple journeys to meet up, but it's like actual business gets done. And I think that's exciting thing.

So yeah, I think what's great also that um at least you know uh we Equinox don't always show up at these things. And in fact, I think we have it in many, many years. Um, but this time we we are because the the people who are joining are from a variety of health and wellness, it's not just fitness. I think the word fitness itself means so much more today and um and and it grows. And so it's exciting to see new tech like Wild AI, new loyalty platforms like Paceline. I mean, there's a lot of different companies coming from different industries at our industry, uh, which is obviously always exciting.

Yeah, yeah, very good. So uh if people want to check it out at the connected health and fitness.com, and I do have a discount code for people if you want to get 10% off your ticket. It is FOF10, Frank, O F 10. So um, you know, I have to ask you, uh, January 1st, Equinox had an interesting um marketing, if you can call it that, or announcement or positioning on New Year's resolutions. I think it uh it certainly floated by my desk a few times. People are like, Did you see this? Check this out. And uh I laughed. Uh I was confused for a minute, and then I saw kind of the brilliance behind it. Um, you know, just standing alone as a brand for what you guys have been known for for a while. So tell us about that. That was kind of funny.

Where do I start? Yeah, I mean, um the um for lack of better word, you know, every year um as a brand, luxury brand that we are, like any luxury brand in any industry, um, we launch a new campaign positioning that obviously always speaks to who we are, you know, as a heritage brand of 30 years. And so um this time around, we spoke to not really our brand, but more around our community and who they are, which is that we attract a certain type of person, a person who is committed to healthy, healthy lifestyle every single day, right? Um, and um um and so our campaign, um, for lack of a better word, there's more to come. So, you know, I'm trying not to say too much, but uh in January 1, we stopped. Actually, if you were not an Equinox member, you couldn't join Equinox. And the concept behind this is that we don't speak January. Uh and what it means is, you know, you ever we all wake up in January 1 thinking we're going to change our lives and commit to all these new habits. And the reality is, but January 19th, um uh I think the status is like majority of people is actually quitting any new year resolution they've done. And we're not for quitters, right? Um, we we are for people to show up every day, and so it was a little bit of a play, but it was also to say, look, we we respect those of you that you know decide to wake up every day and and kind of work out, and so we want to celebrate you, and that was January 1. And now we hope to attract uh people who are inspired by this or who want to be part of it, right? It always comes down to motivation, it's not easy, um, but you know, having finding the right community of people that think the same um is I think inspiring in itself and motivating, and so they can we kind of embrace that. Um, and so I'm not sure about you guys, but we plan to celebrate the Quitters Day. So as well. Um what is what is formally quitter?

What is Quitter's Day?

I don't know who came up with this concept. You actually can Google it, but uh January 19 is officially where I the status like majority, majority of people by January 19th quit any single New Year resolution they've made. And so it's a tipping point of like, can you go past? And I think in the in our in the fitness industry, by February 1, 80% of people who showed up to the gym in January are gone in February 1. For us, in February, 95%, 95% of people are still there. In fact, they're there for much more longer than February. So it's a little bit of a we're a little different, different, uh different business model where we actually want you to show up. We don't want to show you your membership and say, don't come. We encourage you to show up because that's what our demo is and that's what our brand sent for.

Yeah, that's outstanding. Yeah, I'm you know, personally, I guess I look back like last night I was at the gym and uh I'm conflicted because I I love seeing more people in the gym doing healthier things. I think it's great. You know, um 16-year fitness industry veteran, I get the cycles. Uh but then again, I was like, I couldn't find parking. I had to drive around a couple times in the parking lot. There's way too many people in my sauna, and I was like, I can't wait for Quitter's Day, I guess, now that there's an actual name for it, so I can get more room in my sauna.

I'm not sure when I'm not sure when you win Equinox last, but you know, there's a way to manage capacity um if you have that problem, and it's a good problem to have, or or we think so. Um, you know, it's obviously not a luxury experience either when it's too packed, but um but it's also not a luxury experience to come into it to an empty gym and actually have no reason to, you know, I think hotels are a perfect example where you walk in and you're by yourself, you know, in the in a hotel room that could turn into a gym. Not Equinox Hotel, but other hotels.

Got it, got it. Well, you know, I I should back up uh a little bit here, Julia. So you are the um uh vice president of strategic partnerships and ventures at Equinox Group. Maybe can you give us a little bit of background? Like how did you get there? Uh which you know, what what's a little bit of your career history, and then we can dive into some topics.

I have a a little bit of a nonlinear career path. Um I um I have a computer science degree. I went into finance straight out straight after undergrad, uh, did a variety of role investing, investment banking, asset management. Um, did an MBA uh at Harvard and went back to finance and absolutely hated my life. And um had the pleasure to meet the founder of Equinox, uh, I call him the founder, the chairman of Equinox, Harvey Spivak, who um convinced me to join um to join Equinox and become his chief of staff and help him launch all these new business lines that he had dreamed of, such as Equinox at hotels. Um when he asked me what I thought of Equinox four years ago, I said I've never been in inside one. He said, great. We love people who actually don't know our product because they will think differently. And so that's actually how we hire. It's an important story because a lot of people actually at Equinox don't come from other fitness places, um, because you know we try to be different essentially, and that's part of the reason how we do it. Um, and so I done a variety of roles. I helped launch our venture fund, our um Equinox Hotel, um Equinox Media, which is our digital platform uh pre-COVID. Um and then um from then on I took over leading our digital and physical uh experience for a member called Omni. And so as head of Omni, I look a lot at connected fitness actually, and at home, etc. Um, and that law, that role then leads to me essentially looking at honestly, my my title is not very reflective of what I do, but anything that's net new and innovation. And so whether it's a partnership, business development, venture deal, uh it's more about the structure. I think I'm looking at the market and seeing what's next for the industry and for Equinox as a whole, and how can we continue to innovate and push the industry forward like we've always done.

That's uh it sounds like a really interesting and exciting and uh definitely not boring job.

I love my job. Truly I love my job.

So part of your job is what is next uh for the industry. So what is next, Julia? What's uh what's coming down the pipe in 2023? Give us your insights, dust off that crystal ball.

So the crystal ball is I will see what I can say. Uh, but I can tell you look, um I I kind of followed too at the beginning, but the entire word wellness is becoming like a catch-all for everything. Uh, if you actually look at the definition, there's like financial wellness in it now, and this wellness and that wellness, and essentially it's like everything is wellness these days. And so I think I'm saying this because I think there's a lot of lanes that fitness companies can go into the space, and I think but I think you can't do them all, right? I don't think you can do everything if you do it well. Um, and so that's just general things. So I with that said, I work on a variety of things that will launch this year, a variety of things that are five years out, and a little bit of a moonshot ideas, right? Like our Econox Hotel is an example. Um, we actually came up with the idea in 2009. We thought, hey, what if we build this thing that will be the first ever wellness hotel, and actually people thought we're crazy? Uh, why would you stay in a hotel that belongs to a gym? Uh, you know, fast forward today, we've opened uh in 2019, it's the number one luxury, luxury-ranked hotel in New York for the last three straight three years straight. And we literally cannot keep up with the month. So, you know, uh creating that new experience is kind of what we look at. Um so I'm looking at things like that, completely new business lines, which I don't want to give too much about uh too too much um details, but I'll give you some. Um but most immediate look, I am looking at uh something that we mentioned before, it's motivation. How do I find different ways to motivate the consumer to essentially work out more, right? And I don't really call the word loyalty because a lot of loyalty programs out there are really meant to make you spend more, right? Um you you know, buy coffee, you get more coffee, you you know, earn miles, etc. At the end of the day, there's a natural cap on how much coffee you can drink, how much flights you can take. There's literally just there's that much minutes, you know, time that you can do that. Wellness is one of those things that you actually can do it all the time. I mean, you really can choose to meditate 24 hours a day if you if you choose to, right? And so it excites me because there's a good in it, meaning if I if I can convince you to do, to put more self-care, and it's a word I don't really love, but more at you, and I can create tools that will actually encourage you to do it, then I think we all want. We as a humanity want, we Equinox is happy, and everyone else is happy. And so I'm looking at at that motivation part of it of to drive engagement. And so we are going to launch our a loyalty platform. Um, you know, it's nothing in some ways not revolutionary because loyalty platforms have been there for a very long time. But loyalty platforms for luxury brands are actually very hard to find. And so we've been very careful in selecting the right number of partners and the right mechanism of redemption for loyalty. And so there will be some uniqueness around this, and we're um announcing um, you know, soon uh it will launch this year. So we're very excited to dimensionalize the Econox membership. Um that's one. I think second, a little bit of a tie to it and a little longer, and and you mentioned before is Web3, right? Uh this this fancy, cool new tech um that's coming that we're all trying to, you know, uh after the NFT craze, now we're everyone's actually trying to look at a real utility of what does Web3 provide. I think for a brand like Econox, where it's a community-based brand, it's the brand that's built from bottoms up essentially. Um Web3 decentralization and tools it provides actually provides a lot of interesting tools to add additional things for people to engage them to work out more, right? So we've seen quite a bit of things that launch recently. Uh, most of them actually didn't do well, but um essentially engage to earn models where you know you block, you get rewarded. What is the next phase of it, right? Can we monetize or or add the monetary value for someone's motivation to, you know, don't speak January and show up every day? So looking at that. And then lastly, you know, I think generally speaking, personalization in any industry is hyper important. Um, and personalization comes with from more data collection, right? So um, yes, it all comes down to one concept, just how you feel, but how much more can we as a wellness industry get into that space is always interesting. And I think there's especially in the US, with how healthcare is healthcare is structured and what what is left to be fixed by the wellness industry uh our tech industry is interesting, right? The race of health tracker. I mean, I have all the health tracker on me testing all of them. Um, or it's actually my favorite, which is we can see it on the screen right now. But um how much more data can we add and how we can make sure that you, the consumer, don't just get more data, but actually get data that you can do actionable things with. I think we went for a stage of a lot of data, you consumer, go figure it out. Now it's time to figure out okay, which data are actually relevant for me, why are they relevant for me, and how does it change or should change my lifestyle uh choices, right? And so we want to play in this role of taking this for you and translating into making sure that you, you know, you're on a journey that's consistently growing uh on a consistent basis.

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Uh it's a million million dollar question.

Um look, I think actually.

Yeah, billion. Even more probably. Look, I think um I'm I'm trying to I can talk about this for like two hours straight, so I'm trying to figure out what's how to say it. But look, I think at the end of the day, um progress in anything in life motivates you to do more of it, right? Seeing that you are changing. Changing and change can be anything. And so I think how you track that progress, either help people track this progress, show them that they're progressing, or make sure that they are progressing, are some of the like key lengths that we're that we're looking into. So I think that's one. Actually, there's three things. They're actually pretty, pretty, pretty huge. Additional one, which is not mutually exclusive and it falls somewhere in those three ranges, is um it's a little bit shift. I think that the industry had a whole many, many years ago where you know fitness became also entertainment, very much so, right? It isn't that you work out to sweat and then you know, like people go and do workouts together. It's a social entertainment type thing. And so I think community actually, um, whether it's based on your your microinterest, local interest, you know, and by micro interest I mean you're a surfer and you happen to live in New York. And how do you make sure you stay fit to be a surfer in the summer if you only surf two months a year, right? Ski year, et cetera. So there is this concept of micro-macro communities, I think that's also interesting, which uh you might not see progress per se to the thing that I described, but it keeps you um interested and engaged in things that that are your hobbies, right? That are their movement-based hobbies. Um, and so I think that's another way, and bitches, and and and there's a lot of these, uh, because we we as humans, A, have a lot of different hobbies, but two, um, you know, we're all different. But there's quite a bit of them, and there's obviously, you know, some bigger, bigger communities than not within those, right? Running, obviously, is one of those sports that it's pretty big, skiing, outdoor sports. So that's so you can you can actually divide the community into those micro interests uh as well as as a motivator.

I like that. Yeah, that is interesting. I mean, I I see it even happening in my local gym, and I always love to shout out to the to the whitefish wave. They do a great job um as a community-based gym. Uh, you know, they go so seasonally and it it really works. Like they'll get all the skiers together come you know, October and start training them for the season. And then you build a community, and then you're more motivated to be with these people, and then you're gonna do it again next year, right? It's it because it's a common interest. I I get that. That's actually a pretty cool approach.

I think the other one is um, and you kind of just said it, it it's um look, I think digital communities are great and they've actually proven to work, especially in COVID. But you know, gyms at the end of the day, in many cases, are your third place and are your local place. It is your coffee shop. And so if you walk in and you see the same person you talk to, or you're the same person you run a treadmill to, this avi, you might have not you might have walked in there for some other reason. You want to feel good, you want to feel accomplished that day, but you actually also walk there because you know your familiarity and your context in which you're in. It's a very local, local physical business. Um, and I think you know, I might choose this coffee over that coffee because I know my barista, it's a little bit like this with a fitness. And I think what's just hard, it's just not many players that are actually global for that reason. Uh because it's at the end of it, it's a very local business.

Yeah.

Um the locality drives quite a lot, quite quite a big chunk of motivation, in in my view. And that's for me personally, on a personal level. Uh, you know, I have my routine, I woke up in the morning, I get the same coffee, I get, you know, the same dry cleaners, and I go to my you know, Bond Street Equinox. I mean, we're all creature of habits, right?

Yeah, very much so. Yeah. That's interesting perspectives too. So uh kind of getting into the next macro typic, the macro topic that you're and I are gonna cover was Web3. And there's um, you know, it's it's a big, it's a buzzword now. You know, last year uh there's a lot of different buzzwords, omni channel, hybrid, uh, all of those, right? And web three has certainly come to the forefront. You know, I think there's a lot of uh how do I say this? I'll just say it. Like a lot of people pretend to know what they're talking about when it comes to web three, right? Um, just to sound smart in the room. But I I think it's it's a very complicated thing. So let me start with this. How how do you define web three? Because I think a definition is a good place to start a conversation. So how would you personally define it?

Before I do it, can I ask you a question?

Sure. Are you interviewing me?

Uh yes, we just switch outs. Um do you remember um or tell me about the moment when you switched from web one to web two? Or do you remember this moment?

Um I don't actually remember.

It's a great answer. No one does. And you know why? Because no one talked about web two. What I mean by this is um this is the first time they were talking about the tech before we're talking about usage. Um you you were able to go on Wikipedia and search things, and you were happy that you don't have to go to books, and then suddenly you're able to order that book to come to your doorway and then talk about those with people on social, right? That's web 2. Um remembers this, it was just another tool that was given to you. It's the same way I go on a website, I'm not asking whether it was with pipe, you know, coded with Python or Java. Like I actually just don't care. I want to have a one-click, seamless exit. That's why, right? Tech is supposed to ease our life and add complexity to it. We're on exactly opposite spectrum of this with Web3, meaning we're talking about the tech, and and it's a phenomenal tech with a lot of, I think, interesting concepts that can be used. Some, quite frankly, utopian, meaning I don't, it's possible that they will take over, but you know, it's just owning your own data, the whole decentralization. But I think no one really knows um which use case will stick for the consumer. I mean, we we can make predictions, right? And we know what's we were trying to fix with what happened with web 2. So I'm saying this is that for me, Web3, I don't define it as a this concept of like NFTs, metaverse, et cetera. I'm looking at Web3 as well if I can think of Web3, I think of blockchain, and then what can you build using the tech of decentralization? And that can manifest itself in the variety of ways. Long term, do I think that Econox will have a metaverse? I think probably. I mean, we're not looking at it actively. Um, but yes, I think in the same way, you know, digital fitness hadn't fully bypassed physical fitness, despite everyone saying gyms are dead. Gyms are very much not dead. And in fact, there's a lot of Pelotons out for sale right now on Facebook Marketplace if anyone's buying one. Um but I mean you can use any digital usages down, right? It's uh it's like it's not the perfect example, but when you go to a restaurant, it's really nice to do a takeout sometimes, but it's really going to a restaurant and being really served is the real experience you're going for. It's a little bit of this like fitness. One's an experience, one's a utility. And so um I probably view the metaverse in a similar way. Like I think there'll be concerts in the metaverse, I think there will be uh workplaces in the metaverse, but I don't think they'll ever replace the human connection. We are human creatures. But they will add utility, they will add access to people who are not living next to each other. So they add, they have inherent utility where making digital spaces much more immersive, right? So I think that's one where yes, I think every single company will have some version of metaverse if they do experiences. Um I think more immediate, I mean, there's a data play around, especially healthcare data. You know, a bunch of companies are trying to make sure that you own your data, right? Like, why should I pay the same premium on my insurance if I work out every single day? I actually don't, but just giving you this example. Um than someone who doesn't, right? And actually chooses not to wake up every day and you know, eat unhealthy, et cetera, right? You have we have a very different risk profile. I should be able to monetize my motivation, right? I mean, that that it to me is very logical. Now, a very utopian concept right now, but you know, California just announced that every single person being born right now will essentially have their birth certificate uh minted, right? So you suddenly will actually, for the first time, don't have to go to a government to prove that you have a birth certificate from an institution. You will have it on blockchain. So I think it's very early stages, but I think thinking about how data application and the fact that you can actually verify certificates of any sorts, I think will open a lot of doors on more um people owning more of kind of their choices and monetizing their own choices, whether healthy or not unhealthy, quite frankly. Um so that to me is a very fascinating, big, big, big topic. Um, but again, long term, we're all we're I'm observing the industry, I'm talking to everyone. I think the loyalty one is the one that is being mostly used right now. You know, Starbucks is the massive announcement, etc. Um, and I think fitness, finding a way to tie loyalty to engage to earn kind of gaming practices is interesting. Um and so that's that's the extent that I'll tell you what we're looking at. Um I transparently uh I look at this as an incubation and playing with it, something I'm personally interested in. I'm I'm a little bit nerd geek, so uh I'm I have a coming to test it on. But I transparently don't know whether in 2023 or even 2024, our consumer, the consumer that wakes up to get their physical coffee and their physical workout will actually care to be digital. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. On the flip side of it, there's an entire new consumer that came to wealth, that made money, you know, on Discords, it uh sitting on Discord and figuring out to trade, who no brands is talking to. And I think figuring out how to reach those consumers obviously something that we all should think about. And that's why you see all the luxury brand, Gucci's, et cetera, going after the newly found wealth and a different consumer. That doesn't mean that they're actually go, they're actually using the tech, which I think was the fascinating part. They're just going after the consumer that was firstly to adopt the tech, which is a very it which is uh, I think an important differentiation.

How is uh, you know, I probably should address this earlier on in the interview, but who is Equinox's client? Like who are you guys going after? Like who who goes to the gyms there? I've never, I don't think I've ever actually stepped foot in one, unfortunately.

I would love to.

Uh just due to the locations that I lived. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Uh, but yeah, tell me, tell me about it for maybe people who you know aren't super familiar with like myself. I mean, I know the brand, I know the quality and the you know the luxury level service that's provided there. It's it's it's been well known for a long time. But who's going nowadays?

Um how do I say it? You know, we're a private company, so we don't give too much information, but um but uh there are some averages and medias which I can throw. But look, our our community is 50-50 male female, which is pretty amazing. Um it's actually not that many brands, generally speaking, that actually speak to both consumers in an equal, equal way. And we've been like this literally forever. So that's that. Um in all the other numbers are actually all over the place. And I actually think it's what we attract, who we attract, obviously varies by urban, suburban, city, you know, it's really just driven by, again, as I mentioned, it's a local business with very different suburbs and urban cities and demos in each of them, uh, sociographic and demographic. But they're all, you know, um they're all very similar in the sort of what motivates them, right? They're a little more serious, they're a little bit more committed, um, they want to be with like-minded individuals. Uh, you know, the I think that the best way I'll describe it is that is that actually our hotel tagline uh is we are for those who want it all. For those who want to have fun, go have a flight, and then go work out, right? We're you know, obviously there are people who are you choose you choose what all is for you, but those are usually professionals or success people who you know are serious about their careers in whatever way, uh, and they're just committed to to living what we call living in the extremes, right? To changing, evolving, and and kind of uh being part of the same like-minded community. So um, so that's more of a unifying factor. Um, when we say we're not for everyone, we're for everyone that that is that is that, right? We are for we're literally for everyone. I I mean our age range is while it's truly on both ends of the spectrum, um, and and and and it's not that one group is more motivated than the other. It's just more of a mentality that we are than than we are in terms of you know age demographic, et cetera.

Got it, got it. Um I want to move on to that that third point that you made as well, is about personalization and utility of data. And it's something that uh, you know, like you, I I've uh I think I'm testing like three different wearables right now, uh, the eight sleep mattress, and I totally like I I see all the data flowing in, and and I've yet to see someone doing what you're talking about well, which is taking all the data and making it uh useful to the consumer, right? So when you look at all these data inputs and the strategy behind personalization, how how do you see the industry and maybe Equinox uh specifically um evolving to meet that need on personalization?

Our offering is we have quite quite a wide range of offerings in our portfolio. And what I mean by this is yes, you can just buy the membership and work, you know, kind of walk in and do your own workout that you know, or use our app to use one of our workouts, right? And that's outside your the personalization, the extent of the personalization in this context on on the one spectrum is your ability to choose the workout that you're doing. You're personalizing to yourself, right? On the complete outer side spectrum of it, we have our highest tier of training, core tier X, where we do your quarterly tests, uh, where we measure your goal, where we look at all this, all that, all the data that you choose to share with us, whether it's wearable, et cetera. And we program you precisely to, you know, to hit your goals, right? Whether it's sleeping better, whether it's you know, uh being able to run the marathon or being able to lift a kid because you're 70 years old and and you, you know, you're a grandparent. So we we do it on a human level. And then there's the anything in between. And I think the anything in everyone in between is the interesting one with what tech solves for, where you know, how do we arm a consumer with some data so they can take the data from whatever uh wherever and able to guide themselves a little bit better versus paying someone to read the data for them, which is essentially what you do with having an Equinox higher end highest end coach. And so that's kind of what we're doing. Um we, you know, I would say the layer one of this education, right? Uh at the end of the day, I think especially today, with how the algorithms are working, with how TikTok is putting information, the amount of misinformation of what to do to be healthy is truly wild. Um, and so I think that the minimum that we're trying to do is, you know, put what we always done. We're a 30 years old brand. We have a health advisory board, scientific board. We've always had it that advises on everything we do and put out there in terms of programming to our members. How do we make it more outwardly so that we actually play a role of an educator to the consumer who now takes an Aura app or takes whatever and actually knows what this data means and actually knows what to do with it, or at the minimum knows what recommendations that he's reading online on TikTok are wrong or right. So I think we we view ourselves as a little bit of this like trusted voice in this space. And so we put a lot of content, editorial, and and there's some additional projects that are around this, but that's kind of that's I think it's the first step we all should do in this industry is to make sure that the misinformation is not mispread because it's actually gonna get very dangerous. It's a little bit like early days of COVID, you know, when uh someone told us that we should drink bleach or whatever that was, um, not naming people here, but you know, it's I mean, it's it you I mean, I sometimes it's wild what people are recommending, you know, a lot of fitness inspiring influencers who are not really influencers who you know do things that doesn't, you know, they're not actually good for you. So um it's it actually scares me every time I'm I'm even going this path as you can hear me just rumbling about it right now.

Yeah.

Figuring out what's right. Uh and I think so, the beauty of data is that although we are, I think there's too much of it probably right now, and not all it's actually actionable, it actually does add some accuracy to speculations of what works. And so I'm hoping that all of us will figure out a way to translate it for people so that we help the mispread of information because it's it's one thing it's a mispread around concepts, the other thing is if it actually really has physical implication on a human, right? It's it's really it's stakes are high.

Yeah, yeah. And I I want to lean into that a little bit too because I agree with you. I was uh on someone else's podcast this morning, actually, and we're talking about the role of the coach and the trainer in the future. And you know, there's always you hear it all the time, like, uh, you know, the this so-and-so service industry is gonna be gone due to AI, right? Like that that industry is dead, right? And you can name, you know, financial advisors, you can name, you know, coaches, you can name anything. And I I just don't I don't see it. I think uh, if anything, that the ability for the the value of experience and knowledge in a practical setting is the antidote to misinformation. And that's why coaches and trainers I think are so valuable now, because if we need trusted sources that can take all of the the the noise, right? The between our wearable data that's pumping through us with no real suggestions on what to do with it, to the liver king and assholes like that on the internet, and you know, all the influencers, everything, you know. I always use an example of eggs. Like yesterday eggs were bad for me, today eggs are good for me. Like, what do we do with all that, right? Um, you know, some like I was probably had a post on Instagram that showed like it was the uh um diabetic association was put up a recipe that had like a quarter cup of sugar in it, right? Like what like you can't trust the information coming from, there's too much of it. And I think that's something that, you know, uh these in-person experiences and the relationships and the communities are so valuable more now than ever, even though technology has taken such a firm grasp in our life.

Yeah, I but I I I agree with you. But at the end of the day, we're also in the early stages. We're not in the early stages, but um pretty early stages for AI. And, you know, at the pace of innovations going with, like it is our collective responsibility to make sure we feed the right information to that system to train itself to then spit out good results. And that is actually the scary part. And I think that's a collective responsibility for everyone in anything health and wellness or healthcare for that matter. Um, because if we get trained trains badly, then yes, you'll be going to be diabetes and your AI will recommend to you eating a pound of sugar, right? If that's the information is getting fit to the machine, to the you know, to the neural neural processing language. So um yeah, it's uh it's scary to think about, but hopefully we as a society will uh um will not miss the boat on that one.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, uh I I like asking people like you this question on the show, but when you look at technology on the fitness, health, and wellness landscape overall, and we've touched on a few of them. What gets you really excited? Maybe stuff that's not you know specifically in the line of what your job entitles entails, but what what what gets you excited? What are you looking at? Be like, oh, that's pretty cool. I'm gonna keep an eye on that. What's uh what's on your radar?

Oh, let me think. Look, I think this is more of a I don't think I'll give you specific, but I think the general um diffusion or osmosis between healthcare, what's historically being strictly primary care healthcare, and what's fitness is to me fascinating. And the reason behind this is you know, genet uh we've we all understand genetics is like 20% of um your future health and lifestyle is 80%. And so I think, but in order to affect your end outcome, you have to start being more preventive than reactive. And we as a society are probably reactive, our healthcare is set up in a reactive way, you know, have a pain I go to a doctor. I think think I and I think fitness in it is a little you know is one of those things that actually is a lifestyle that's actually good for you, right? Diet and sleep and all of this stuff. And so I think how we find a way to bridge those gaps, I I think that there's a lot in there that is interesting. And I think to be a little bit more specific, I think, you know, obviously we all do your annual blood tests, or I hope we all do, but what else can we do on a more recruiting basis that doesn't require a full-blown needle and you're going to, you know, a doctor? Like, you know, glucose monitors obviously have kind of exploded, uh, you know, levels and the and such. But I think glucose is only one of many thousands of things you can measure in your body. What are the other things that we can learn how to measure, you know, on a recurring basis or more frequent basis than annually that will help you make informed choices or spot irregularities much earlier so you don't have to actually then go fix you know uh something, but you actually can kind of live with the fact that you have this certain trend, right? So I think, and there's variety of tech coming that that way, uh, you know, uh trackers of measuring this stuff. I think I've lost I heard even Apple Watch was working on glucose monitoring, and there's more and more things we'll be adding to things that you work you going to wear on a daily basis. I think that that space to me is very interesting and exciting.

Yeah, I mean, and we're we're just on the right after the consumer electronic show in in Vegas. So I keep hearing all these reports out of some of the stuff that's coming out of there, and you get like uh you know toilets that monitor uh you know human excrement to see if there's any kind of diseases going on. I'm like, this is this is the Jetsons uh playing out in real life right now, and it's it's it's pretty incredible.

Uh I mean, look, your home smart home, like how you open a fridge and the fridge knowing what you should be needing eating at this point. I mean, like, I think nutrition, generally speaking, is so misunderstood, which is why we have different diet pop up every year and it's good for everyone, but and then it's good for no one. Um, so so I think there's a lot in there, and I think again, this is why wellness is just becoming to be the new way of living, and it will be in your toilet, literally, and it would be in your fridge, and it would be anywhere else, right? Um, but uh but at the end of the day, it goes down to hyper personalization. What my fridge will show or my toilet, use an example, will be very different than you know, someone else. And I think that personalization, continuous personalization, is what's very exciting and it's more, you know, it's it's what the future holds, I think. Um for you know, every single year. I mean, we're getting better and better at it.

Yeah, yeah. And uh, you know, talk about the future in these these things as well. I mean, longevity, that that's uh I always say longevity is the new block, right? Everyone finished is kind of you know morphing into health and longevity as an industry, which I think is great. Uh but when you look at uh when you look at longevity, what is Equinox doing um to kind of capture that trend or or ride that wave?

Um don't want to say too much, um, other than say what I said um a couple minutes ago, which is, and you kind of called this like education. What is longevity? It is like quite frankly becoming like the word detox right now, where it means everything and nothing. And so um in fact, I'll go as far as saying longevity is a PR problem today. Someone needs to rebrand it and say, What is it? You know, uh there's no, you know, biohacking, another word I don't love. Like there's no way to hack yourself out of anything. It's all about consistent commitment to habits, the daily habits that then have outsized impact for your husband lifespan. And so again, we view ourselves as a trusted voice, um, leaning on the science and keeping up of the science, uh, while only putting in front of our members and the world what is safe first and hopefully, you know, um have efficacy. So that's I think that's that's and then there's more to it, but I I think that's at the at the minimum, I think that's a responsibility that we all should take. But I think Equinox especially has the brand authority to do that uh and to be that trusted voice.

Yeah, I like it. I like it. So uh one of the last questions I always ask during these interviews, Julia is you know, uh and out of the spirit of collaboration is what do you need right now? Um, what if people are listening and uh you know perhaps there's some opportunity to work with you, who would you like to hear from and and what's important to you?

On your podcast, you mean? Or sorry.

Well, just uh in general, like if if people uh like what do you need out there from the industry, right? From people listening? Like what's what's important to you in your role right now? What could you use help with?

Um if you are working on building any new tech um that either fix uh or helps solve personalization and or helps fix this motivation, please reach out. Um my email is julia.klim at econox.com. Um if you come up, you have new experiences that uh you know there's a lot of interesting new new places coming out where they create new entertainment type fitness. I'm always, you know, at the minimum, love to try and see what's out there. Um and then an ask, which I said is if you're in this industry, play it, take it seriously and play an important role of being informing people of what's actually real and science-based. Um, because that's your responsibility by taking on uh uh you know, uh coaching essentially of another human. Um and so I I think that's that's one responsibility we all uh held. Um but it only works if we all you know try to do the right thing and not try to pocket money because you know here's a new supplement that no one would save and you should take it. So um just do good. I know uh it's it sounds silly, but I I think in this industry, I mean it's you know it's so basic, but um sometimes have to be said.

So yeah, I mean sometimes it has to be repeated over and over again. Just do good. Well, Julie, I I really appreciate it. And uh I think people should look forward definitely to to your panel conversation, the Connected Health and Fitness Summit. It looks like uh, you know, you share the stage with some really um uh intelligent people as well, and I'm sure it'll be a great conversation coming out of it. So uh I really appreciate your time and uh it's been interesting talking to you. Keep up the great work.

Thank you, Eric. Good to see you again and um enjoy your the rest of your Wednesday.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, Julia Clint. 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 futureoffitness.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.