Lou DeFrancisco - Lindora & Scaling GLP-1 Weight Loss Programs

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[00:02:21] Lou DeFrancisco, welcome back to the Future of Fitness, my friend.

[00:02:25] Thanks, Eric.

[00:02:26] Yeah, it's a lot to talk about here, right?

[00:02:30] You're now the president of Lindora.

[00:02:32] You and I have had a couple conversations over the past weeks about, I mean, you're right in there when it comes to GLP-1s and its application of fitness and weight loss.

[00:02:42] And you're right in the mix.

[00:02:44] And, you know, I'm excited to talk to you because there's so much going on.

[00:02:47] And I think when I set the table for a conversation like this is that, you know, I personally probably waver back and forth between being super optimistic about GLP-1s, but then being irked by it and a little bit scared by it.

[00:03:00] And I don't think I'm not, you know, abnormal in that way because fundamentally it's like, I hate the fact that like the food companies got us into a problem.

[00:03:10] And now the pharmaceutical companies are going to bail us out and they're both making a ton of money off of all of us. Right.

[00:03:16] And I think, you know, that's like when I kind of boil it down to that.

[00:03:19] But that's where we are. GLP-1 seems like a very good solution.

[00:03:23] And as you and I were just talking about, Lou, like for people who read The Morning Brew, I know it ran across your desk to a couple of days ago.

[00:03:30] This is we're in October right now.

[00:03:32] I said in a public health milestone, the U.S. adult obesity rate stopped its long climb and dropped by roughly two percentage points between 2020 and 2023.

[00:03:43] And they attribute a lot of that to likely weight loss drugs like Ozempic and things like that.

[00:03:48] So there's there's some definite proof in the pudding and room for optimism here.

[00:03:53] So we're going to talk about all this stuff, Lou, but maybe if we can, it's been since April of 2022 that I've had you on this podcast.

[00:03:59] So roughly two, two and a half years.

[00:04:01] Maybe get a little update on you personally.

[00:04:03] And then and then we'll get into all the other meaty stuff here.

[00:04:08] Sure. Yep.

[00:04:08] Great to be back.

[00:04:09] I'm still in the health fitness world, been in the franchising side of health and fitness and wellness for going on 16 years now.

[00:04:19] Been in the health and fitness space for 20 plus years.

[00:04:22] So, you know, like you, personal passion of mine.

[00:04:26] I try to walk the walk, you know, as I'm out there talking with franchise prospects and franchise owners on a daily basis.

[00:04:34] I still work for exponential fitness, which is the largest global boutique franchise or in in the world.

[00:04:43] We have over 3000 locations now just domestically in North Carolina, North Carolina.

[00:04:48] Sorry, it's on my mind.

[00:04:50] North America.

[00:04:51] And we have eight fantastic brands right now.

[00:04:54] I started out with exponential working on the stretch lab brands.

[00:04:59] That was our first wellness concept today.

[00:05:02] The worldwide leader in one on one assisted stretching with over 500 locations open in the U.S.

[00:05:08] expanding internationally.

[00:05:09] That was just a blast to work on when it was in his young stages.

[00:05:13] We bought that brand, acquired that brand with three locations in L.A.

[00:05:17] And like what exponential has done with that is fantastic.

[00:05:21] I was proud, still proud to be a part of that.

[00:05:24] I two and a half years ago, three years ago.

[00:05:27] Now I stepped into the role of being president of BFT.

[00:05:30] BFT is our group strength training modality.

[00:05:33] It was an international brand that started in Australia and has a really strong international presence and growth in Australia and New Zealand, Singapore and continuing to expand throughout Europe now.

[00:05:45] And we brought it to the United States and now has almost 50 locations open across the U.S.

[00:05:51] And then earlier this year, exponential acquired Lindor.

[00:05:54] And they asked me if I would take on this second wellness concept.

[00:06:00] And, you know, I similar to you, like when I first heard about it and I didn't know a lot about it, I just knew they were in this GLP one world.

[00:06:11] And that's initially all I knew.

[00:06:13] And I was like, oh, I don't know.

[00:06:15] Like I'm like traditional.

[00:06:17] Like you, you need to have the discipline of putting good food and supplements in your body.

[00:06:24] You need to have the discipline to move your body, workout, strength training, you know, whatever you like to do.

[00:06:29] And that's always been my own mindset.

[00:06:33] But as I dug into and learn more about Lindora, I'll just share the 30 second, 30,000 foot view.

[00:06:40] It is a weight loss and wellness company that's been around for over 50 years.

[00:06:44] Like when I heard that, I was like, well, you're kidding.

[00:06:46] Like I've never heard of it.

[00:06:47] Primarily in Southern California today, there's 30 locations in Southern California.

[00:06:51] Never a franchise concept owned by different, different owners.

[00:06:57] And they were always in this world.

[00:07:00] Their primary business is weight loss through behavior modification or behavior change.

[00:07:05] And for the most recent future past, they've been focused on preaching and teaching a ketogenic diet.

[00:07:13] Because that is the most efficient, effective way for people to not only lose weight, but what they didn't know was they were already dabbling in this world of metabolic health.

[00:07:23] And, you know, this world of metabolic health is this new terminology that has come out and become popular recently.

[00:07:32] And, you know, what, when you, when you look up, I had it here because I always like to give this definition for people.

[00:07:40] What, what is metabolic health?

[00:07:42] The, the clinical definition of metabolic health, it's defined by the optimal levels of five markers, blood sugar levels, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, your blood pressure, and then most important, your waist circumference.

[00:08:00] Which ultimately is the core of what Lindora focuses on is, is weight loss.

[00:08:06] And, and they have done for 50 years, weight loss through behavioral modification.

[00:08:11] They also have used every single weight loss medication that's ever been on the market in their past 35-ish year history.

[00:08:21] Because that's how long weight loss medications have been on the market.

[00:08:24] So they have this interesting meeting of these two, you know, traditional, how do we coach someone to learn how to put good stuff in their body and move their bodies?

[00:08:36] As well as utilizing some kind of weight loss medication, big pharma world of like, we, we need to combine the two because we know today.

[00:08:45] And this was my own, you know, and this was my own ignorance of, or refusing to just be open-minded that some people need additional help.

[00:08:55] Some people are not wired like you and I, and, or maybe they weren't brought up like you are, and maybe they didn't, they don't have the education and knowledge and access, but they, they, they, they are, you know, we, you mentioned food.

[00:09:09] Food and, and as, as food, uh, big food, big agriculture causing the problems with our obesity rates today, it's definitely part of the problem.

[00:09:19] So two years ago, two and a half years ago, Lindora started utilizing GLP ones, the compounded versions once Sema, uh, the will go V and Zetbound went on the shortage list.

[00:09:31] So they use, so they use, use compounded versions like a lot of these online platforms are today.

[00:09:37] And I think one of the major benefits and differentiators, uh, and I'm really happy today, standing here today that exponential did acquire this brand is because it can, it can be a leader quickly in this world of metabolic health.

[00:09:52] Because we marry these two of, you know, uh, behavior change through a weight loss program, as well as if you want to use medications, we don't require people to obviously, if you want to use a medication, because you feel you need that extra help and assistance.

[00:10:08] With what these drugs do, which is focus on the hunger hormone and increase satiety and reduce the cravings that that's what these drugs do.

[00:10:17] Yes. There's side effects. We can get into that more later, but these, you know, I said to you earlier, like fact, number one, GLP ones are going to be a part of the future of health, fitness, wellness.

[00:10:30] Like that is a fact they're not going anywhere. And so the leaders of exponential had this vision of seeing what was on the horizon and not just finding someone that offers this online,

[00:10:42] but offering a more comprehensive platform and program to help people that truly need help because 75% of our population are overweight, obese, or morbidly obese.

[00:10:54] And I hope those numbers are true that, that, that numbers are actually decreasing. That would be phenomenal, but we know that there's a lot of people out there that still need a lot of help.

[00:11:04] Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a really interesting thing because I think you and I have been around the industry for a little bit and I haven't seen something as polarizing

[00:11:12] as GLP ones within our industry since CrossFit. Like everyone has an opinion on CrossFit. Remember it was like, it's, it's the, you know,

[00:11:20] it's an abomination or it's the best thing that's ever happened.

[00:11:23] It turns out it was neither really kind of like GLP ones. Like it's, it's all about the application of it. You can't just isolate one thing and say it's good or bad.

[00:11:31] It's how it's used context and nuance around it and the construction. So there's, it's just a piece of technology. Right. And that's, that's why we have to look at it, but you're right.

[00:11:40] I mean, it seems like it's not going anywhere. And from what I've understand the people I've talked to,

[00:11:45] there's also way more applications that we're not even looking at yet from addiction to a lot of other,

[00:11:51] you know, potential benefits, which always come with side effects as well. And yeah, I was,

[00:11:56] I was really surprised to see it's been around for 50 years. You know, when you look at, well,

[00:11:59] let's start with this. So what is the Lindora experience? Like if someone walks in, like you guys have a lot

[00:12:04] of offerings. I mean, if you go to the website, there's, you know, meal plans, there's, you know,

[00:12:11] activity or movement plans, I guess you would call it. I'll let you explain the branding on that.

[00:12:16] Hormone health and optimization, GLP ones, IV hydration, like Zorona. I'm not even sure what that is.

[00:12:22] So there's a lot of stuff that's going on right within your clinic, much more than of course, you know,

[00:12:26] the stretch lab was probably fairly simple and straightforward. So it's BFT, right?

[00:12:30] It's like you put some weight and equipment into a gym and you run people through exercise programs.

[00:12:34] This is far different. This is a different animal. So what is the Lindora experience from

[00:12:39] a consumer standpoint? Maybe that'll open up some doors in the conversation here.

[00:12:43] Yeah. So Lindora's tagline weight loss and wellness, and we focus primarily on, you know,

[00:12:50] our goal is to be the leader in this world of metabolic health. And we know the number one

[00:12:55] indicator of good metabolic health is your waistline. And, and so that's where we

[00:13:00] have to start. And so the majority of people, when they come in, they are coming in because

[00:13:04] they want to need to lose weight. It could be five pounds. It could be 15, 30, 50, a hundred or more,

[00:13:12] but Lindora's expertise is weight loss. And we do it primarily through our behavior modification program.

[00:13:21] And we can use the additional benefit of GLP ones. If a customer member would like to use that.

[00:13:29] So we start with blood panel. You know, we, we, we draw blood and, and approve you clear you for a

[00:13:36] medically supervised weight loss program. That's important because that's a differentiator. We're

[00:13:41] not just giving you a sheet of paper and saying, Hey, here's some high level things you should do.

[00:13:46] Good luck. Our weight loss program is comprehensive. We look at your blood panel. We're approving you for

[00:13:52] a medically guided weight loss program. And the type of diet that we're prescribing is a ketogenic diet.

[00:13:57] So I'm sure most people listening to this podcast, understand what that is. Most people coming into a

[00:14:03] Lindora do not know what that is and do not understand the benefits of a high protein, low carb diet.

[00:14:08] So what we understand and what we know is that you can't just say, Hey, here's what you need to eat. You

[00:14:14] need to go high protein, low carb. And you and I could walk into a grocery store and meal plan ourselves

[00:14:20] for the week and go buy what we need to buy and stay ketosis for that first week. I, I, I would put

[00:14:29] money that you and I could do that. Yeah. The general population cannot, they, they don't understand that.

[00:14:34] So when I say comprehensive, it is, you know, our mission is to empower people to live longer,

[00:14:40] healthier lives. The empower that word empower means to educate. So the number one thing that we do at

[00:14:47] Lindora is educate our members that are coming in on, what does it mean to fuel your body properly?

[00:14:55] And what does it mean to have a good metabolic health numbers? Excuse me. And so we're, we're doing,

[00:15:01] we're drawing blood. We're, we're reading those blood panels. We're clearing them for,

[00:15:05] to follow a ketogenic diet. And then we're meal planning with them side by side. We have,

[00:15:11] we offer, you know, Lindora studio food, snacks, and supplements that they can buy that helps them

[00:15:17] stay in ketosis. We encourage our members to come in every single day. So unlike the traditional boutique

[00:15:25] fitness, I go online and I schedule a class, you know, yoga, Pilates, cycling, whatever BFT,

[00:15:32] and I'm going two, three, maybe four times a week. You know, most of our members, when they first join,

[00:15:38] they're coming in to a Lindora five, sometimes six days a week. And the reason is because one,

[00:15:46] they're, they're committed, they've paid. So they're committed to losing weight too. They know

[00:15:50] they need accountability. And that's one of the major benefits of, of Lindora. This is not

[00:15:56] a complete online program where we're just shipping stuff in the mail. We don't do any mail order

[00:16:02] shipments for injections. If you are using GLP ones, you're coming into a Lindora studio. So

[00:16:08] like a boutique fitness studio, we believe in community. We believe in building community.

[00:16:13] The community are people that are trying to change their lives, make a dramatic difference,

[00:16:18] dramatic change in their lives, primarily through weight loss. And that's the primary focus is,

[00:16:23] is teaching and coaching and holding accountable. Each time someone comes in, they see a Lindora nurse.

[00:16:28] They're getting weighed in and they may receive different types of shots, B6 shots, B12 shots.

[00:16:34] If they are using GLP ones, there's a scheduled shot on a weekly basis for GLP ones. We handle and we

[00:16:41] coach them through expected side effects. So nausea could be a side effect of GLP one, and we can

[00:16:47] prescribe medicine if it is real bad. So again, a benefit of coming into a Lindora instead of mail order

[00:16:53] is we have a nurse that you can speak to. We use an in-body body comp scanner. This is really

[00:17:01] important and really effective for our goal of what we're trying to accomplish, which is ultimately,

[00:17:06] you know, teaching someone to fuel their body as well as move their body properly and understand

[00:17:12] the good and the bad of GLP ones. One of the other side effects is muscle loss. And we talk about that

[00:17:19] constantly. One of the reasons why we preach a ketogenic diet, which is a high protein diet

[00:17:25] is because protein can help reduce the amount of muscle loss you experience on a GLP one.

[00:17:32] We use a body comp scanner in-body at Lindora because we can measure not just weight and body fat,

[00:17:40] but muscle mass. And we can track muscle mass. We have our members jump on an in-body

[00:17:44] once a month so that we can track muscle loss and try to minimize muscle loss. And the, we have

[00:17:51] supplements. We have supplements that include essential amino acids and creatine that are,

[00:17:57] that have a ton of research behind them that are proven to help you gain muscle or keep muscle.

[00:18:02] So, so we are doing everything that we can based on science and research that can help people retain

[00:18:09] as much muscle mass as possible. Why is that? As fitness professionals, we know muscle,

[00:18:14] burns calories. Fat does not. We want to lose fat. We won't, we don't want to lose muscle.

[00:18:19] You are going to lose some muscle. So what else do you have to do? You've got to move your body.

[00:18:24] You've got a strength train, not just walk. That's important moving your body, but you also have to

[00:18:29] engage in some kind of strength training. It could be classic strength training like BFT. It could be

[00:18:35] yoga has strength components to it. Pilates has strength components to it. Pure one,

[00:18:42] our brand pure bar that that's a, there there's strength components to a bar fitness workout.

[00:18:47] So when, when we acquired Lindora, we have a platform, a video on demand platform called

[00:18:53] exponential plus, and we include it now with every single Lindora membership. So, you know,

[00:18:59] maybe someone is not comfortable yet joining a pure bar or a club Pilates or a BFT or big box gym,

[00:19:08] you, you name it, like whatever, like go, go lift some heavy things. And that's going to help you

[00:19:13] build and retain muscle mass. We we've got it available on phones, iPads, computers,

[00:19:19] so that if you're in the comfort of your own home and you're not comfortable yet going out and being

[00:19:24] in a boutique fitness space, you can still do workouts. We've got workouts there that are

[00:19:29] body weight workouts. If you do have weights at home, great. You can use your weights at home,

[00:19:34] but they're guided by instructors from brands that are going to help you move your body properly and

[00:19:41] teach you. So I really think the acquisition of Lindora was a fantastic strategic acquisition

[00:19:48] by exponential because our expertise has always been boutique fitness and Lindora's expertise is

[00:19:54] this weight loss and utilizing medications to help assist with weight loss. So marrying those two

[00:19:59] are fantastic. And as we get ready to launch some, some new Lindora locations across the country,

[00:20:04] one of the first things we're doing is introducing these new Lindora owners with other exponential

[00:20:09] fitness owners in their communities, Club Pilates, Yoga, Yoga 6, Pure Bar, BFT, to do different

[00:20:16] grassroots events, to introduce people on both sides in both brands to each other. So excited about this

[00:20:23] brand, but, you know, broadly speaking, also excited for the industry because GLP ones, it's a,

[00:20:33] it's not going to take the place of anyone's job in the health and fitness space. And, and as a health

[00:20:38] and fitness professional, we need to learn how to utilize this tool effectively to continue to help

[00:20:44] our client base and whoever we work with on a regular basis. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Hey, it is. I mean,

[00:20:49] it's a really nice acquisition. So complimentary to everything else. And I think that's something

[00:20:53] that's, that's really interesting. What I, what I would imagine having worked with, you know, a lot of

[00:20:57] clients in a gym setting and bariatric patients I work with for a while, having a place to where it's,

[00:21:04] it's not intimidating, like you're going, you're talking to someone, you're doing some measurements,

[00:21:09] but sometimes asking people who need to lose a lot of weight to come into a gym, do a hard workout,

[00:21:14] especially it's like, maybe you and I have been fit most of our lives. We don't realize like how

[00:21:19] uncomfortable that is. Like from intimidation to like, after the first workout, how their body feels,

[00:21:25] they're not used to it. They don't know what's going on. Am I injured? Am I hurt? It seems it can

[00:21:29] be a bridge too far for a lot of people. And I think that's why we lose a lot of people, but

[00:21:33] something like this seems like a nice, easier step. It's a little bit more gentle, right? You're not

[00:21:37] asking from them a ton of them physically to come in and do, they're just getting coaching, learning,

[00:21:43] making small changes, taking some medications, doing the measurements, following the plan. Like

[00:21:48] that's still difficult as it is, but when you package it all up with fitness,

[00:21:52] man, that's, that's a tough, that's a tough order for a lot of people.

[00:21:55] It is. And I think it's, that's also the opportunity for fitness professionals out there

[00:22:01] is how, how do you package this together? Because, you know, in a, in a previous life,

[00:22:07] another fitness concept I worked at, you know, we would always say it's the sum of all parts,

[00:22:11] all four steps, it's weight training, cardio, nutrition, and accountability. That's how you

[00:22:16] transform your body. And, and that hasn't changed from 20 years ago to today. And there's just

[00:22:25] different tools available in our tool belt that we can use as fitness professionals. And

[00:22:30] it could be a GLP one that, that someone needs because they've been on the rollercoaster ride.

[00:22:37] And like, like it's like, I, I still am a strong believer that, you know, not now having worked in

[00:22:44] this brand almost, almost a year and having spent the last year really diving into this world of GLP

[00:22:49] ones, it's a tool. It's not a silver bullet. It's not going to take anyone's jobs more and more

[00:22:56] research. Peter Atiyah just did a great podcast. If anyone wants more relevant information and

[00:23:03] continue to dive into real research, his most recent podcast was fantastic. More research continues to

[00:23:11] come out as they test semaglutide and terzepatide. He talks about third generation GLP ones that are in

[00:23:18] clinical trials right now. We talked earlier about how much money these pharmaceutical companies are

[00:23:24] investing hundreds of millions of dollars. So it's not going anywhere. And the best thing we can do is

[00:23:30] just to learn to utilize this. And I still think the best news overall is that it's not the silver

[00:23:37] bullet. It's, it's not just take the magic pill and all of a sudden I'm fit and trim and I'm going

[00:23:42] to extend my life and live healthier longer. No, you still need to do the hard work. So there's still

[00:23:48] roles for us in this world of teaching and coaching people to how do I fuel my body properly? How do I,

[00:23:56] and at different ages, you know, we're, we're seeing really, you know, young ages starting to

[00:24:02] take GLP ones. We're, we're seeing, you know, obviously middle age and older starting to take GLP

[00:24:08] ones and different people need different things at different times in their lives. And there's just,

[00:24:13] I just see this as just a tremendous opportunity for the health and fitness world in, in general

[00:24:21] to utilize this fantastic technology of GLP ones. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, you know, some of the

[00:24:27] statistics that you and I were talking about before I was looking at yesterday is in 2023,

[00:24:32] Novo Nordisk reported 28.4 billion in sales with Ozembe contributing to 40% of that. And that's,

[00:24:39] yeah. 2023, it's a big number, dude. Big number. Yeah. And that's just one, that's just one company

[00:24:45] with one drug and you know, they're, they're continuing to invest and to try to come out with

[00:24:51] next generation medications. And, and, you know, they're, they're saying that these future generations

[00:24:56] could potentially have less side effects. That would be good. But, you know, I think it's also like

[00:25:02] Peter Atiyah talks about this too, like the long-term, you know, we still don't know the,

[00:25:07] the future long-term effects of it, but we're confident that the, you know, the, the four years

[00:25:13] that semi-glute, they've been doing testing on semi-glutide that this people that stay on it can,

[00:25:19] are not having any major negative side effects and, and they, uh, other than muscle loss, but that can be

[00:25:26] handled with strength training and high protein diets. And like, it's not just me or Lindora saying

[00:25:33] this. It's, it's many people saying this, there's a lot of people that are continuing to reinforce

[00:25:39] the benefits of strength training, moving your body, incorporating strength training,

[00:25:44] high protein diets, good quality, high protein. Like, you know, that's, that's, that's still the,

[00:25:51] the push for anyone on GLP one, but let, let me kind of side, not, not a sidetrack, but,

[00:25:58] but a side tangent here. Sure. We've talked a lot about weight loss and GLP ones at Lindora.

[00:26:04] You know, we also have services for people that want to optimize their health once they've focused

[00:26:10] on and accomplished in some capacity, the waistline, the weight loss, you know, cause there's other

[00:26:19] things that you can do. And our hope is that we turn people on to living a life of fullness through,

[00:26:26] um, lifetime movement activity, doing things that you love to do so that you can do them longer

[00:26:34] in your life so that you're not sedentary and you're not stuck at home and different ways to

[00:26:40] optimize that can be hormone health. So there's a lot of talk now with, uh, which I love female hormone

[00:26:49] health and more people are coming out and talking about that. We have to do something that we have to

[00:26:55] educate ourselves on female hormone health. I think it's a lot easier for men to talk about

[00:27:00] testosterone and we offer testosterone replacement therapy as well for men at Lindora. So, uh, you know,

[00:27:08] there, there's a lot of benefits to testosterone. There's also a lot of reasons why you should go,

[00:27:14] you know, get blood tested, have your hormone levels tested and be able to talk with a nurse

[00:27:19] through why I should do this, or maybe I shouldn't do this. Or, you know, some people still aren't

[00:27:24] comfortable of just, Hey, well, I'll just take a drug and that'll fix everything. Well, there's also

[00:27:29] ways to impact your testosterone levels through your diet and through how you move your body,

[00:27:35] which is also opportunities for us in this health fitness space, um, where it's not always drug

[00:27:41] interaction. And yeah, I listened to a recent podcast with, uh, Dr. Stacey Sims and she got into,

[00:27:48] um, a ton of, uh, great information, uh, on female hormones and, and, and women that are going through

[00:27:56] perimenopause. And it's fantastic that we're, we're getting into that time. And I think over the next two,

[00:28:02] three years in particular, we're going to see a big influx of, um, more and more women in the 40 to 60 age

[00:28:10] range that want to know more information that are open to doing different types of treatments and,

[00:28:16] or different ways to move their body and different ways to fuel their body to manage their hormones

[00:28:23] better, because it's been too long that that's been just swept under the rug. And, and women have

[00:28:28] been told, you just have to deal with it. You shouldn't take hormones because it's dangerous.

[00:28:32] And that's not the case. So I'm also excited about that part of Lindora because I see, you know,

[00:28:39] we know that they've been in this world of weight loss, behavior change, utilizing weight loss

[00:28:45] medications, whatever the future of GLP ones, Lindora will, will be on the forefront of that.

[00:28:51] But the other part of the business model that I think has tremendous upside. And I think same thing

[00:28:57] for just in general, the world of health, fitness, wellness is, um, optimizing hormones because these

[00:29:04] are age group that, that did grow up with CrossFit or, or were, you know, dabbled in different,

[00:29:12] you know, whether it's like spin concepts or CrossFit or different boutique fitness, like

[00:29:19] more and more people and people younger than us are growing up with boutique fitness.

[00:29:24] And they, they know that moving their body is important. There there's, I love the movement to

[00:29:30] get outside more, you know, Strava is, is fantastic because bringing more people together and all these

[00:29:36] different run clubs that are, you know, hiking clubs, like any way to move your body is a good thing.

[00:29:41] And, you know, this, this component of people wanting to move their bodies longer and later in their life

[00:29:48] is a, is a tenant to having a happy and healthy lifestyle and hormones and hormone health, I think

[00:29:55] is a, is, is going to be a big part of that. So Lindora has been working on, been in this HRT and TRT

[00:30:03] space for the last couple of years. And I know that there's, there's starting to be some other

[00:30:08] concepts popping up. I hope there's more and more because the more people that are out there talking

[00:30:14] about hormone health, the more people are going to do research on hormone health and that'll spur

[00:30:21] more spending on research so that there's, there's more hard data out there that gives people confidence

[00:30:27] in taking control of their overall health and wellness. Yeah.

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[00:31:51] I'm a big fan of it too, Lou. And I think as we get more and more in-person clinics,

[00:31:56] there's a lot of HRT, TRT now is done through some guy or person in Florida, right? And everyone

[00:32:03] gets their stuff shipped and maybe you get a blood work. It's not the best, right? It could be done

[00:32:08] better. I think having a place, a physical location, more physical locations where people can go to and

[00:32:13] talk to someone, get regular blood work done and make sure that everything's on schedule and it's

[00:32:18] working correctly. Cause it can be, you know, hormones can be a little tricky. There's a lot

[00:32:21] of cascades that can happen that you have to stay on top of and make sure you're monitoring. But I'm,

[00:32:25] I'm super bullish in all that because I mean, it's kind of at the base level of, of our, our

[00:32:31] metabolic health, right? Is, is a lot hormones is a lot of it. One of the big questions I had for you

[00:32:36] today, Lou, is like you've come from, you know, more of a traditional, you know, uh, fitness boutique

[00:32:40] background with BFT and stretch lab. We're talking about, but now what are the challenges

[00:32:44] of franchising medical, something that has a medical component to it like this? Like, how

[00:32:50] does that differ? What have you had to learn so far in your tenure at, at, at Lindora to be able to

[00:32:55] scale? Yeah. I mean, I, I think we're lucky in a sense that there were a few medical service

[00:33:01] concepts that had come out on the market over the past bunch of years. The, the biggest challenge is

[00:33:08] that every single state in our country has slightly different laws around medical services.

[00:33:15] And how can you provide medical services in the state of California versus New York versus Florida

[00:33:21] versus Texas. And the, you need to help a franchise owner navigate that. And, uh, there's, there's some

[00:33:29] companies, you know, obviously we, we have our own, there's just in general, more legal at more

[00:33:36] expense and, and primarily from a legal bucket that we're, we're spending a lot more money on.

[00:33:41] And, and we do that at the corporate level at the franchise or level, there's a lot more, you know,

[00:33:47] these, uh, medical attorneys, healthcare attorneys like that has become a specialty in our country.

[00:33:53] So you're, you're, you know, engaging in, in more legal costs and expenses to make sure our T's

[00:33:59] are crossed and I's are dotted that you can offer this service, um, in different States across our

[00:34:05] country. And then the franchise owner, as they get involved in their state, technically they are

[00:34:12] responsible for all local and state laws and they are the business owner. So they're running their

[00:34:18] business in that state. Um, but it would be, you know, we're, we're not, we don't just say,

[00:34:24] Oh, Hey, Eric, you're in the state of Montana. Hey, go do some research. Good luck.

[00:34:29] You know, that's that, that wouldn't be fair to you or, you know, we, we wouldn't be signing a

[00:34:36] bunch of franchise partners. So there's actual, there, there's a bunch of companies out there now

[00:34:41] that are starting to specialize in just this, which is, Hey, we have this medical background

[00:34:47] typically started by medical doctors. We have this medical background and understand the nuances

[00:34:53] of providing medical services in different States. There's these CPOM States and non-CPOM States. And

[00:35:01] that is a overly broad way to try to characterize this. I'm not trying to educate anyone on this

[00:35:08] by any means on, on this podcast, we could spend hours on this. CPOM is corporate practice of

[00:35:14] medicine and different States in general are classified as CPOM and non-CPOM. Meaning you need to have some

[00:35:21] medical doctor overseeing, or you can have an, a business entity that doesn't have a medical doctor

[00:35:28] on the ownership side that can oversee medical services business. But I'm not, you know, I don't

[00:35:34] stand here trying to state that I'm an expert in this because I'm not, but we have experts that we work

[00:35:41] with to help us and to help our franchise owners understand the differences in different States

[00:35:48] that we're in. So they can make sure they're operating and abiding by any, any state laws

[00:35:53] around any medical services. And a lot of the health and wellness concepts that, that you may know

[00:36:01] of, they all, anytime you're, you're doing or med spa world, you know, any, any kind of medical

[00:36:08] injections, anytime you're getting into the world of injections and anything medical related dispensing of

[00:36:15] any kind of medications, things like that, you have to follow the state laws. So most of these that are

[00:36:21] franchise concepts, or even if they're not, they're multi-unit concepts across multiple States.

[00:36:25] They're working with some of these companies out there that are starting to specialize in

[00:36:29] understanding this. So we're, we get the benefit of, of utilizing some of these companies that are

[00:36:35] experts. And just like in the world of franchising, I'm not an expert in commercial real estate,

[00:36:41] but I partner with local commercial real estate brokers all across the country that are experts

[00:36:46] in their market. I'm not an expert in negotiating a commercial lease. Um, but we have a panel of

[00:36:53] attorneys, real estate attorneys that are experts in negotiating leases. And, um, so we do the same

[00:37:00] thing with our franchise partners in terms of, Hey, you and I are not experts in the state of New York,

[00:37:07] understanding the state law of New York for medical services, but we have these, these couple of

[00:37:12] vendors that we work with and you get to choose, you get to interview and choose which ones are,

[00:37:18] you feel comfortable working with as you launch this business. So, you know, one of the things

[00:37:23] from a, you know, stepping up to like a, just a higher, like a 10,000 foot view, one of the things

[00:37:28] I love about franchising. And I think one of the reasons why I've been in this industry for so long

[00:37:32] is that I'm a fan of like, I'm an entrepreneur at heart. I, I like helping people start businesses

[00:37:40] and go into business for themselves. And I think most of us are not that classic entrepreneur

[00:37:48] who wants to build and create on the road. Most people have like, they like that idea,

[00:37:56] but then when push comes to shove, it's like, Oh, wait a second. I need to,

[00:38:01] I'm not experts in all this stuff. How do I, how do I, you know, you know, find a location? How do I

[00:38:07] know what to look for? Well, one way is to, you go do it and you make mistakes and you learn from

[00:38:12] those mistakes. Another way to do it is to, you partner with someone that has that expertise.

[00:38:17] And I think that's the beauty of franchising is when franchisors do it the right way.

[00:38:24] And, you know, especially a franchisors that have been around for a long time. Traditionally,

[00:38:30] that's a good thing. If, if they've been in business for a long time and they have the

[00:38:33] expertise of helping a, someone that has those entrepreneurial feelings in their heart, head and

[00:38:41] gut, like, I want to go into business for myself. I want to be, I want to have some side,

[00:38:45] a side hustle. I want to have an investment that has some kind of cashflow.

[00:38:50] So, um, franchising could be a good fit for those types of people. And the best franchisors are ones

[00:38:57] that truly help people understand like, Hey, what is, what do you love to do, Eric? And, and in this

[00:39:03] world of, you know, franchising in the boutique fitness and wellness space, you may love sales.

[00:39:09] You may love marketing. You may love working with the actual member, but most people don't love

[00:39:18] searching for real estate. Most people don't love going through a major commercial construction

[00:39:22] project. Most people don't love, you know, recruiting or coming up with, you know, some

[00:39:29] kind of marketing plan may not be their specialty. You partner with a franchisor because we've got

[00:39:36] experts in every single one of those aspects of the business. And if you're not experts in every

[00:39:41] single one of those aspects of the business, it's really risky to launch a business of your own.

[00:39:48] Not that it's impossible, but that's why people starting a business of their own, there's high

[00:39:54] failure rates in the first three to five years, because you can easily make a mistake in any one

[00:39:58] of those areas that can sink your business. And a good franchisor is not going to let you make those

[00:40:03] mistakes or help you recover. If there was some kind of slight mistake, we're going to be there to help

[00:40:10] you coach you through, help you manage through a process of whatever to recover and turn around.

[00:40:18] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's a miracle that I made it through my first four years of independent

[00:40:24] gym ownership. It's a miracle. It really is like, I was just luck, uh, at certain points.

[00:40:29] And so I very much, and you see a lot of people who have built their own gym and you see Mark Fisher,

[00:40:34] right? He's a really good example of the recent podcast when got to alloy personal train,

[00:40:38] because he likes the simplicity and how it's built out and it's like refined. Right. And I think that's

[00:40:42] a definite tremendous value of, of looking at franchises. Uh, you know, a question that

[00:40:48] seems to come up a lot, maybe you can dispel or provide proof of, but I think a lot of people think

[00:40:53] about GOP one specifically about like, it's just that people are looking to lose 15 or 20 pounds.

[00:40:58] It's not the people who are really metabolically unhealthy and sick and need to lose a hundred

[00:41:03] plus pounds. So my question is just out of curiosity is like, who's walking through your

[00:41:07] doors at Lindora? Like who, who, who are these patients? What do they look like? What's some

[00:41:11] general characteristics that you've, you've seen between them? Yeah. I mean, it, it runs the

[00:41:16] spectrum on average though. Uh, a member walking into a Lindora has 30 to 40 pounds of weight to lose.

[00:41:22] So it, it's a, a significant amount, not just a, Hey, quick fix. I've got five, 10 pounds.

[00:41:29] I'm going to take GLP one for four, six, eight weeks. And just bag on where I need to be. Now,

[00:41:36] are there some people out there doing that? Yes, there are. That's not who Lindora is trying to

[00:41:43] attract. That's not a part of our program. We actually, you'll, you'll love this component of it.

[00:41:50] When, when people sign up for at least our weight loss program, it's a 12 month commitment.

[00:41:55] Yeah. So we're, we're not selling the quick fix. Now we can't require, if someone wants to utilize

[00:42:03] a GLP one, we can't force them to use a medication for 12 months, you know, so they, they have,

[00:42:11] you know, a opportunity to, to, to stop using GLP ones, obviously, but on average 30 to 40 pounds of

[00:42:19] weight to lose. So these, these are people that, that have significant amount of weight to lose.

[00:42:23] They are metabolically unhealthy. They are obese. They are morbidly obese. Um, Lindora in their

[00:42:29] history have helped people lose a hundred plus pounds in, in, in some cases. So it is a proven

[00:42:38] methodology to help people lose a significant amount of weight, but ultimately like, again,

[00:42:45] back to our mission statement to empower people to live a longer, healthier life. We're looking to make

[00:42:50] a lifestyle change. We're not the quick fix. If someone has five to 10 pounds of weight to lose,

[00:42:56] can they come into a Lindora? Of course. And you know, we're going to help them through that process

[00:43:01] is a, is GLP one, the best option for someone that has five to 10 pounds of weight to lose?

[00:43:08] No, most likely not because you know, you, you can, someone that's five to 10 pounds overweight that

[00:43:15] wants to tone and tighten and, and lose, drop a couple of pounds. Our weight loss program,

[00:43:22] which is based on a keto diet can, has a longer term, better benefits. And you're going to suffer

[00:43:32] through side effects of GLP ones that you don't have to, by engaging in moving your body properly and,

[00:43:38] and fueling your body properly. So that that's in general, our strategy as, as we bring prospects

[00:43:45] into a Lindora, we're asking a lot of questions. There's, there's an intake process. We're asking a

[00:43:50] lot of questions. This isn't just a, Oh, you want GLP one? Let's take some orders. And here you go,

[00:43:55] here you go, here you go. Absolutely not that way. And I, and I, and that's what I love about

[00:44:00] exponential in general. We're a boutique fitness, wellness studio company, all of our concepts

[00:44:08] have a retail location that you can go into and talk to someone. And I think with this brand in

[00:44:15] particular, incredibly important, you know, can you lose weight by going online, ordering GLP ones and

[00:44:24] taking them yourself and managing side effects yourself? You can't, you know, I, and we know

[00:44:30] people are doing that. I think for a lot of people, they are not comfortable doing that. That's why

[00:44:36] they are trying to talk with their doctors. Lindora is solving that problem of a lot of people just have

[00:44:43] questions and who do I talk to? And, and what if I do have side effects, then what do I do? And what

[00:44:50] are long-term effects? And as we open up Lindora locations around the country, our hope is that as

[00:44:56] we educate people, that's, that's going to move the needle even further. The number you gave earlier of

[00:45:03] obesity rates declining 2% from 21 to 23. GLP one can be a tool that can help move that needle. We've had a

[00:45:13] lot of early adopters, you know, the classic marketing, we've had a lot of early adopters. We, we are slowly

[00:45:20] entering that next stage and collectively as a, as a group health wellness professionals, we need to

[00:45:27] educate as many people as possible. We need more people like Peter Atiyah and Stacey Sims and Andrew

[00:45:33] Huberman and you talking about GLP ones and, and not just, Hey, it's the miracle drug. No, it's a tool

[00:45:41] to be using conjunction with a proper weight loss program, teaching people how to fuel their body properly

[00:45:47] and a proper strength training program. So they can add lean muscle, not lose muscle. And that's,

[00:45:54] you know, the United States in general is going in the wrong direction. We can compare ourselves to

[00:45:59] other countries in Europe and the UK, and we're, we're not doing good as a country. Now this,

[00:46:05] this news is like the best news we've heard in a long time, but it is, it's not because our food

[00:46:11] quality is getting better. I'm not sure if it's because we're moving our bodies more. I'm not sure.

[00:46:17] We don't know yet exactly what is, what is the cause of this, but you know, we still have a lot

[00:46:23] of work to do and, and GLP ones can be a really good tool in our tool belt as health or fitness

[00:46:30] professionals, as we look to turn the tide in our country of obesity rates increasing. And, and

[00:46:39] especially at younger ages, that's, it's awful. What's happening at our teenage ages.

[00:46:44] I agree. And Lou, when you look at, I know you have some big plans for expansion. It looks like

[00:46:48] you guys are selling some franchises moving forward. So when you were in Q4 and now 2024,

[00:46:53] when you look at 2025, what do you think it's going to look like at the end of the year? I mean,

[00:46:57] you guys are primarily in Southern California overwhelmingly. So with your percentage of

[00:47:01] locations, like a little bit in Washington, right? So yeah. What's it going to look like a year from

[00:47:06] now? Yeah, who knows? I don't have a crystal ball, but I know we're going to be around the country.

[00:47:11] So we've today, we've awarded over 80 licenses across the country. You know, there's just traditionally

[00:47:18] for one, some reason or another, there's certain States in the country that are more progressive

[00:47:24] than others in terms of boutique fitness and wellness concepts. So as you look at any franchise

[00:47:30] concept in boutique fitness and wellness, there's certain States that they expand to first. So we

[00:47:34] know, you know, we we've sold territories in Florida and Texas and Georgia and North Carolina.

[00:47:41] Our Boise, Idaho is going to be one of our first locations that we open. Colorado Springs is going

[00:47:47] to be one of our first locations. Dallas is going to be one of our first locations, Atlanta,

[00:47:52] Fort Lauderdale. So those are our first couple that are opening in the, in the next couple months,

[00:47:58] but it's, it's really, we're looking for great franchise partners that have a passion

[00:48:03] for health, fitness, wellness, that have a passion for making a difference in people's lives.

[00:48:09] And, and we know this brand is going to grow across the country because, you know, I think one of the

[00:48:14] most common questions I get is, well, you know, is this going to work in my little community,

[00:48:22] in my part of the country is Lindor Lindor has only been in Southern California. Is it going to be

[00:48:28] successful in, you know, the Northeast, in New England, in the Southeast, every single corner of

[00:48:34] our country has people that are overweight, obese, and morbidly obese. That's 75% of the country.

[00:48:39] Of course, it's going to work. We're, we're getting, we have a solution that is not just a,

[00:48:46] Hey, let me order something online and inject myself and see if it works. That scares me. I know

[00:48:52] it scares a lot of people out there. We are a location that someone can come into and talk to a

[00:48:59] nurse and get blood drawn and look at their blood panel and actually talk through with a nurse

[00:49:06] practitioner. What is the best plan of action for me? And so we customize plans for individuals

[00:49:12] that may not utilize drugs and medications, but if you want to use that, we also have that as a tool.

[00:49:20] And then we have ways to optimize your health for the long term as well. Hormone replacement,

[00:49:26] therapy, IV, et cetera. So this, this is like, you know, this isn't going anywhere. Like I said,

[00:49:33] in the beginning, GLP ones are not going anywhere, helping people get control of their weight through

[00:49:40] teaching them how to eat properly, teach them how to fuel their body properly, teaching them how to

[00:49:44] move their body properly. Exponential, not going anywhere. We're publicly traded company with over

[00:49:51] 3000 locations are with a lot of really strong, successful brands that are, that, that Lindora

[00:49:58] members can now, you know, go check out and partner with to, to, to move their body effectively. So

[00:50:05] it 2025 is going to be an exciting year. I think for all of us, it's definitely going to be an exciting

[00:50:10] year for Lindora and exponential because this is, we know this is going to be a big brand that's,

[00:50:15] that's going to grow for us. Awesome, man. Uh, Lou, last question for you is, you know,

[00:50:20] uh, people are industry industry are listening to this and may they want to reach out to you.

[00:50:24] Well, what would you like to hear from people about, uh, I presume franchise opportunities,

[00:50:29] right? But what else? And then how would you like them to, to get ahold of you?

[00:50:33] Yeah. LinkedIn is the best. I try to stay off social media. LinkedIn. I'm, uh, is probably the

[00:50:38] one that I'm on occasionally and I would love to hear from anyone that, that is interested in

[00:50:44] franchising. I love franchising in general. I've franchised a bunch of different boutique

[00:50:49] fitness wellness concepts. My expertise is trying to talk you out of franchising your business because

[00:50:55] honestly, it's not, it's not the right fit for everyone. Just like you said, like that, you know,

[00:51:00] not, not everyone should be franchising their business, but no, definitely interest in Lindora

[00:51:05] or any of our other concepts at exponential love to talk to you about it. It is a fantastic way to,

[00:51:12] to grow a brand and to be a part of something that's bigger than yourself. And that's what a lot of

[00:51:17] people, a lot of us want. Some people want to go the, the, the solopreneur route. Great. You know,

[00:51:24] I, I, I hope to, and wish the best for you. Some people want to go the route where there's more

[00:51:30] guardrails, there's more guidelines, there's more systems like, Hey, give me the systems. I'm going

[00:51:34] to go execute. Those are the people we're looking for. But yeah, LinkedIn, I think is, you'll find me

[00:51:39] on there and reach out. That's the best way to reach me. Yeah. Right on. And I think with something

[00:51:44] like this franchising just makes a lot more sense than maybe if you're going to do like a, you know,

[00:51:49] a standardized spin site, you know, something like that, where it's like, okay, it's, it's not

[00:51:53] as medically complicated as this. Like I would want a strong partner. If I'm going to do something

[00:51:58] like this, I wouldn't want to build it all from the ground up. So it makes a lot of sense.

[00:52:02] Lou found yourself in a very dynamic spot. So I'm excited for you. And you're obviously very

[00:52:07] excited for yourself and the opportunities at Lindor. So really cool to catch up and really appreciate it.

[00:52:13] Ladies and gentlemen, Lou DeFrancisco. Thanks, Eric.

[00:52:17] Hey, wait, don't leave yet. This is your host, Eric Malzone. And I hope you enjoyed this episode

[00:52:23] of Future of Fitness. If you did, I'm going to ask you to do three simple things. It takes

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[00:52:59] simply go to the futureoffitness.co. You can subscribe to our newsletter there,

[00:53:04] or you can simply get in touch with me as I love to hear from our listeners. So thank you so much.

[00:53:10] This is Eric Malzone and this is the Future of Fitness. Have a great day.