CHAPTER FOUR

Imagine you're sitting on your couch, working toward the bottom of a bag of potato chips when a fitness center ad comes on the TV. Quick edits and high-contrast photography show beautiful twenty-somethings with single-digit body-fat percentages pumping, pressing, pulling, and preening. Their abs and pecs and delts are glistening with sweat and their gorgeous faces are rapt with motivation and energy. The ad undoubtedly finishes with a web address and phone number and some sort of call-to-action discount. Maybe you call, maybe you visit the URL, or maybe you just close the bag of chips (or finish it, out of spite).

But now imagine watching this ad while weighing nearly 500 pounds. It would be like witnessing the moon landing or seeing a Hubble telescope image—a beautiful sight, indeed, but something from another world. It's something that seems disconnected, far away, almost alien to you.

You'll never see Marcus Miller in a traditional gym advertisement. Even though he no longer weighs 500 pounds and has lost over 150 pounds in the last year, he still tips the scale at 350. The thought of six-pack abs and shredded biceps aren't what motivates Marcus; they're not even on his radar. “When you're almost 500 pounds, you have to celebrate the fact that you just made it inside a gym,” says Marcus. “It's not even what you do when you're there; you have to break it down to smaller and smaller steps.”

Marcus had no interest in joining a gym or even talking about fitness when he was putting on weight.

“I didn't want to talk about weight at all. To even have a conversation about it with my mom brought me to tears. When you're big—and I have been big all my life—you don't want to talk about weight. You want to hide it, so you downplay it. It's a pretty crappy place to be.”

But even though he didn't talk about it, Marcus desperately wanted to lose weight. And while he knew exercise was a crucial part of the equation, the gym ads he saw on TV—of sculpted bodies happily working out with ease—were not relevant to him or his situation. As far as Marcus was concerned, gyms were just for “fit people who want to get fitter.” And he knew his own goal was much more daunting: “I can't think about needing to lose 250 pounds. I have to get that huge number out of my head. Trying to conquer that number is like trying to jump a huge mountain. I just have to start walking and do this one little thing today and one more little thing tomorrow. Even if I can only do five minutes on a treadmill, those five minutes are as big to me as winning a marathon. I have to celebrate the little wins.”

Marcus is not alone. Only 15 percent of Americans belong to a gym. And of the remaining 85 percent, only 60 percent are even willing to consider going to one. While they're open to the idea, no one is speaking their language. It seems most gym and fitness centers are only talking to the people who are already in shape.

To say the fitness industry conversation is broken is a bit of an understatement.

Chuck Runyon and Dave Mortensen speak Marcus's language. As founders of Anytime Fitness, one of the largest co-ed fitness franchises on the planet, they've seen firsthand that being overweight and out of shape is a “pretty crappy place to be.”

We were a little bit skeptical when Anytime Fitness first reached out to Brains on Fire. After all, aren't most gyms like airlines, looking to sign up more people than they could accommodate in hopes some just won't show up?

Despite our unwarranted misgivings, a small group from Brains on Fire visited the Anytime Fitness headquarters in Hastings, Minnesota, to meet the team and take a tour of the building. It was a sunny Midwestern day and the place was teeming with happy smiling employees of all shapes and sizes. There was an air of aliveness and energy around every corner. It was a company of wonderfully real people.

And we immediately abandoned any skepticism we still carried upon reaching the second floor and spotting a simple unassuming sign declaring the company's vision statement.

So what is our vision? To improve the self-esteem of the world.

Sometimes a company's vision is so long-winded and vague it's hard for even the statement's author to recite it. But it had taken just a few well-chosen words for Anytime Fitness to elegantly define the company's values, beliefs, and goals. They don't have a vision statement; they have a passion statement.

Working with companies that have a strong sense of higher purpose is important to all of us at Brains on Fire. We're big fans of passion statements like these, because passion statements get stuck in your heart, and that's where magic happens. Passion statements take a stand and trigger emotions. We're like most people; we long to be a part of something bigger than our own lives, and we take this into account when determining a good business fit. In fact, one of the first questions we ask companies who inquire about our services is “Why do you get up every morning?” We want to know what drives the leadership, how they got there, why they do what they do. We want to know their story and if they passionately lead with their values. We believe, as authors Rajendra Sisodia, David Wolfe, and Jagdish Sheth proved true in a long-term study that was published in their book Firms of Endearment, that companies that lead with their values outperform the market 10 to 1. And those companies are the places where we should all want to do business.

There's no doubt in our minds that Chuck and Dave lead with their values. They felt so strongly about their mission to raise the world's self-esteem that they wrote a book titled Working Out Sucks! It's pretty impressive that the owners of a company that makes a living off people working out are still willing to say out loud what everyone thinks: that working out does suck. But there are a lot of things that suck more. Like being short of breath after walking up one flight of stairs, or not living long enough to meet your grandkids.

So we were in 100 percent.

We learned pretty quickly after talking to the Anytime Fitness team, the gym owners, their customers, and doing some industry research and listening to conversations online that the fitness conversation is fairly limited. Sure, there's a big loud party going on; but the conversation is emotionally charged and contextually shallow. And it had hit a wall. It had limited appeal, but was failing to reach beyond the population whose passion is fitness and exercise. Anytime Fitness was sitting on a big opportunity, and, armed with passion and purpose, it had a genuine chance to open the door to something much bigger.

We were completely on board with Anytime's goals. We, too, wanted to wake up every day and help raise the world's self esteem, so we immersed ourselves in crafting a word of mouth marketing strategy and laying out a plan forward. It was during this phase that the amazing email below hit the inboxes of Brains on Fire. It was from Amy Taylor, our storyteller and community shepherd. She wrote:

We were humbled and stunned by Amy's wise words. As she so eloquently put it, Anytime Fitness has an opportunity to shift from an exclusive focus on physical fitness to a more holistic focus on life fitness. We could give people a voice as part of a new conversation that they could own. A conversation that would not be limited to reps, muscles, and treadmills, but a deeper conversation about the things fitness enables us to experience in our lives. By becoming an advocate for total life fitness, Anytime could get credit for equipping people with the tools, resources, and support that enable them to share their thoughts and do the things they want to do. Most of all, they could help give a voice to the masses of anti-gym rats to redefine fitness on their own terms.

And so the Fitness Rebellion was born.

A big part of building a community begins with declaring your manifesto. It's an important way to verbally take a stand.

THE FITNESS REBELLION MANIFESTO

A manifesto written from the heart hits on an emotional level that's hard to explain. Chuck and Dave tell stories of the Fitness Rebellion manifesto bringing people to tears. It speaks to an audience that has felt ignored, by giving them a voice and the permission to take control of their lives. A manifesto makes the conversation personal.

IT WAS TIME TO CHANGE THE FITNESS CONVERSATION

In order to give the Fitness Rebellion momentum, we had to start by finding the right people to lead the conversation. We began by searching internally for Anytime Fitness owners and trainers who were excited for the opportunity to inspire others. We knew they were people who realize that raising the world's self-esteem begins in their club and their community, and that it happens one person (and one little win) at a time. We were looking for people who were ready to start a conversation that no one else was having in the fitness world.

Considering that we were looking amongst people who were passionate about fitness, we thought it would be pretty easy. It turns out that it was tough work.

We set up an online recruitment site and posted out the call for “Kickstarters” on the Anytime Fitness internal message board. The announcement came in the form of a personal video from Chuck and Dave. Most people who applied admitted to being a little unsure of what they were getting into.

We made the application process pretty detailed so that it would also function as a weeding-out process. Only 100 people or so took the time to go through the application and submit their story. Chuck and Dave were a little bummed that so few from their organization applied, but we weren't surprised. We could have made the application process quick and simple; but we weren't looking for people interested in quick and simple. We wanted 25 people who were willing to put some real skin in the game.

IT'S ABOUT PEOPLE, STUPID

That line is from our first book and we live it every day. And nowhere is it more important than during the interview process for community leaders. Having the right people leading the community is critical to its success, and we don't take the process lightly.

During one rainy afternoon while interviewing the culled down list of potential leads via Skype, we found ourselves waiting yet again for Josh Cox. Josh worked at an Anytime Fitness gym in Santa Rosa, California, and despite completing the online application he'd already missed two scheduled interviews. Cathy Harrison and Geno Church from Brains on Fire had all but written Josh off as a possible leader for the Fitness Rebellion. (Side note: Igniting community is not like a campaign. Things can change along the way. We changed the name of the leaders at some point from Kickstarters to Fitness Rebels. The key is to trust the journey and the things you learn every step of the way. Igniting community is an evolving process; there are no mistakes.)

When Josh finally did appear on the screen it didn't take us long before we knew he was exactly what we were hoping to discover.

Josh told us why he believed in the Fitness Rebellion, and that he was actually doing something similar already at the club he worked at in Santa Rosa. We knew we had magic in a bottle and magic in Josh. You see, you know you have struck gold when you find what you're trying to do is already bubbling up organically in your own organization.

TOGETHERNESS IS THE KEY

Josh's passion to be a part of the Fitness Rebellion came from a place of empathy. Before Josh was a fitness instructor, he was an overweight kid—a 5′3″ high school freshman who weighed 265 pounds. He remembers being teased, bullied, and constantly in fear.

“Two weeks into my freshman year, I was walking home from school and a group of kids were hanging out near some bleachers at a park on my route. They grabbed me by my arms and threw me against the back of a set of bleachers. They duct taped my arms and legs together. Unable to defend myself, the boys proceeded to tear off my shirt and slap my belly back and forth saying things like, ‘I've never seen a belly so big move so much!’ and ‘I bet you won't ignore us now, fat boy!’ After they had tortured me about my ‘man boobs,’ the group lost interest in the crying kid they had taped to the bleachers and left. As soon as I got home, I was able to sneak to my room without seeing anyone. I pulled on a new shirt, throwing the tattered shirt in the trash. The next thing I did was head to the kitchen to ask my mom to sign me up for a gym membership.

“I live with that memory every single day. Sometimes it makes me feel weak and pitiful, while other times it makes me feel like the strongest man alive. If I can make something of myself after that experience, I know there isn't a thing on earth that I can't do.

“The hardest day of my life is also the fuel for my fire. I'm thankful for everything I have ever been through, because in the long run it was training for my role as a leader. I know rock bottom in every way. I also know what sunlight at the top of a mountain feels like.

“It feels amazing.”

It's got to be on their own terms.

Josh was definitely the perfect person to lead a community. Now he and the other 24 Fitness Rebels are leading the charge to change the fitness conversation. In his role as a Fitness Rebel, Josh wears crazy colored shorts and carries a shovel around the gym urging people to “dig in as a group,” and make a difference in their lives. He spends every single day building camaraderie and forming a tribe along the way. Josh's passion for the Fitness Rebellion comes from his heart and his memories of being a bullied, overweight kid—and his appreciation for what it took for him to come so far.

Like Josh, each Fitness Rebel has found a way to internalize and individualize the Rebellion in their clubs and communities. From boot camps to Rebel “No-Fun-Runs,” each community has its own unique Fitness Rebellion Flavor.

There's power in noticing the little things.

During their training, the Fitness Rebel Community Leaders were asked to find and share tales of little victories in an effort to help them notice and celebrate their club members' personal milestones. By noticing the little wins, they were creating a new functional conversation. They would submit these accounts to the Fitness Rebellion community manager. We would give the stories a little love (by smoothing out grammar) and then post them on the Fitness Rebellion site along with a photo. Other times we would just listen and help bring them to life. We also made sure that we shared the stories across all social media channels.

To help celebrate these little victories, we armed the Rebels with something we called Kicking But cards. Kicking But cards are about kicking your excuses to the curb. We can all find excuses not to go to the gym. “I would go to the gym, but no time, no shoes, no _____.” Their purpose was not to commemorate marathons completed or huge numbers of pounds lost, but to acknowledge the little wins, like the purchase of a first pair of running shoes or showing up to the gym early on a rainy Monday morning.

Noticing the little things is just what Brian Kleinschmidt, another Fitness Rebel, did when he smiled at a woman on the treadmill.

It was the first time he'd seen the woman working out with her hair pulled back, so he gave her a compliment about how nice she looked. “Thanks,” she said smiling proudly. “It's the first time in 15 years I have felt good enough about myself to pull my hair back in a ponytail. I'm no longer trying to hide.” This victory deserved some celebration, so Brian gave her a “Kicking But” card when she'd finished her workout and wrote a personal note about her ponytail milestone on the back.

That same woman has earned six Kicking But cards that she keeps in her car. Whenever she feels like skipping her workout, she flips down her visor where she keeps the cards in case of a motivational emergency. The Kicking But cards help her find the willpower to make it to the gym. And the cards don't lie; she's definitely kicking butt, losing ten dress sizes in the process.

MEET ANYA'S LITTLE WHITEBOARD

Fitness Rebel Anya Edgley-Turpin's gym right outside of Seattle in Gig Harbor could not be more different from Josh's club in Santa Rosa. Anya has struggled with how to bring a Fitness Rebellion to her quiet, slightly older community. One day she noticed a lady on a treadmill in work clothes, rather than workout clothes. Anya asked what was going on and the woman replied: “I totally forgot my gym clothes and I was heading this way when I realized it. I said to myself, you know what? I'm not going to let that be an excuse today. I am going to go work out in my clothes. I'm going to get on the treadmill.” Anya gave the woman a Kicking But card and handed her a whiteboard where she had written, “I am a Fitness Rebel because I worked out even though I forgot my gym clothes.” Anya had gotten the idea from another rebel named Tanya who was posting whiteboard “I'm a Fitness Rebel because …” photos from her club. So she took a quick photo and posted it on the Fitness Rebellion Facebook Page. Anya had found her club's Rebellious voice in that little whiteboard moment. To this day her club continues to share their little wins and whiteboard photos online. They've found other ways for club members to dodge these excuses. For instance, women who forget hair bands have no reason not to give it all they've got. The club has a little bowl of hair bands sitting in the women's changing room next to a sign that simply reads: “Please Take One.” The tiniest bits of encouragement can go a long way.

There is tremendous power in noticing the little things.

You see, if you are ever going to have a passion conversation and build purposeful touch points in messaging, you've got to have empathy. And noticing the little things creates empathy.

WORKING WITH PEOPLE IS MESSY

It's hard work. And emotional conversations are especially messy. The Fitness Rebellion is currently in only 25 clubs and it needs a wider net to make a bigger impact on Anytime Fitness's entire franchise business, not to mention the world. Chuck Runyon is known for being direct (something we love about him), and he takes a long sigh as we reflect with him on the Fitness Rebellion's early months of existence. “You know,” says Chuck, “the Fitness Rebellion is absolutely infused with compassion. This is not for every Anytime Fitness owner. It's about passion. You can't fake passion. If an owner or a trainer within each club doesn't identify with The Rebellion, it just won't happen in that club. The Fitness Rebellion is not just a sign you stick on the wall.”

As marketers, we want to make things easy. It would be nice if igniting conversation and creating community and culture were as simple as putting a few signs on a wall. But humans are getting smarter every day in this connected world where there are more cell phones than people.

And so, businesses have to be brave to lead with their values, and they have to do it with honesty and integrity. People can smell a fake a mile away. And while the payoff is not always instant, it is real. We humans always to want to make things simpler and automatic. We yearn for programs and campaigns and systems and processes—and in many areas of life, step-by-step plans work well, but there's no single recipe for igniting a community and developing a culture. The Fitness Rebellion is not about traditional marketing with a roll-out plan and media schedule for each club to duplicate. It's personal, it's real, and it's evolving.

As we're writing these words, the Fitness Rebellion is slow going. There are signs of encouragement, but it's simply too soon to tell how it will play out. The website views are growing exponentially and engagement is incredibly high on social media sights like Facebook where the Fitness Rebellion often has a weekly 64 percent PTAT (that is, People Talking About This and not just “Liking” it) score or higher. But a more important question might be: How do you measure the number of people talking about the Rebellion face-to-face, which is where most conversations—especially emotionally charged ones—take place?

What is the ROI of changing one person's life? Is there a metric for empowering someone like Marcus Miller to take that first uncomfortable step inside a gym? And how do we measure the return on creating close engagement between your employees and customers?

“No one ever regrets feeling healthier,” says Chuck. “If we can make people feel better about themselves, we can help ensure that they make better decisions. If the world were a healthier place, I just think it would be a happier place.”

How do you even begin to measure that?

We are truth tellers at Brains on Fire. Like Chuck and Dave, we don't sugarcoat things. Obesity and low self-esteem are big problems with no simple solution. But can changing the conversation at a well-run gym franchise really begin to change the world? Time will tell if we are winning. What we know for sure is this: They have a heck of a better chance than many others out there because they are fueled with passion and empathy for their members. People like Marcus Miller, who found community at Anytime Fitness, are proud to finally have a voice in the fitness conversation.

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL

Most of the time, our tendency is to jump right in and try to answer this hard question before any others: What does our brand stand for?

It's time to reverse this way of thinking—and one way to do that is by digging into other brands' and organizations' minds. Make 30 cards (using 8.5″ × 11″ paper is just fine) with printed logos of various brands—15 for-profit and 15 not-for-profits. Mix the cards up. Get 5–10 people together (bonus points for including your customers!). Reveal the cards to your group one logo at a time and begin a conversation.

ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TO HELP SPARK A MEANINGFUL DISCUSSION

Why do you think the organization chose this logo?

What do you think it means?

What do they stand for?

What are the three most interesting brand identities?

What are the commonalities between them?

NOW, SHOW YOUR ORGANIZATION'S LOGO AND HAVE THE SAME DISCUSSION

Listen for the language and sentiment that people use when discussing your brand's identity.

Does our organization compare favorably with the three most interesting ones chosen?

Does our identity clearly amplify what we stand for?

If it doesn't, what needs to change?

WINSDAY CELEBRATION

The way many organizations are structured can make it difficult to know when we've won or succeeded. Winning celebrations are frequently limited to the really big wins, which often makes them few and far between. An important indicator of strengthening culture and passionate bonds between people in an organization is what and how we celebrate. Think about it: Do you know a single parent who ignores their child's learning to roll over, sit up, crawl, stand up, and even walk—and only celebrates when they learn to run and jump? Celebrating little wins can make a big difference in creating momentum for sustainable success.

ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TO HELP SPARK A MEANINGFUL DISCUSSION

When was the last time you celebrated a little win—or a big win, for that matter?

How do you define a win for your team?

How do we celebrate what makes our customers wildly happy?

Do we celebrate anything that demonstrates what we stand for?

What can we celebrate with our customers?

NOW CREATE YOUR OWN WINSDAY

Go ahead and rename every Wednesday Winsday, a day where you gather your team and share your little wins. Buy a bell or a megaphone or get some ribbons. Make it loud and unexpected. Never miss a chance to celebrate a win, big or little.

FUNCTION JUNCTION

Define one or two or three functional things your organization does. Do you build big buildings? Make scissors? Provide clean 24-hour gyms? Write these functional activities on a card.

Next, divide yourselves into groups of five or fewer. Then give each team permission to play. Find a park. Take a walk. Sit in the sunshine. Jump rope. The idea is to get everyone away from their day-to-day for at least 30 minutes.

WHILE THEY ARE OUT PLAYING

Have each group take the core function of your organization (for example, we build buildings or we make scissors) and flip it. Instead of saying “We build buildings” start with “Our buildings ________.” Then fill in the blanks with a benefit that means something to your customers and employees. For example: “Our buildings build confidence.” “Our scissors make memories.”

WHEN YOU RETURN AND GATHER

Have each team present their findings. And ask, “What have we learned about why we are doing what we do?”