Nicholas Berglund (Life Time) | Reimagining Fitness as a Luxury Wellness Experience

26:00And what we realize is people don't need to be sold. They need help. And so instead of having a massive sales team. Headline, by the way, producer. Sure. Instead of having a massive sales team, why don't we have a massive concierge team there to help you in every aspect, not in just membership, but in life, right? Like literally you're a health coach at every step. And so that was really the core. And then when also being closed gives you a chance to really dissect each part of the experience. Like what could we do better? What do people want? What would make their lives better? How would it be easier to interact with us?

26:46So we got the opportunity to actually, I don't want to call it, dissect is maybe a bad word, but I don't have a better one right now. But I think really dissect every single one of those experiences and figure out how we could make it better, how we could make it more desirable, more useful. And so as we're able to do that, we're like, well, the way the brand is communicating about this isn't in line with the way that we're thinking here and the way that we want to move forward. And so that's really where I got to step in and hone this new path forward, not just position us to this like sort of aesthetic premium look, right?

27:26But it's about truly communicating the brand. And the other thing that I really love about the decisions we made during that time was to no longer advertise. So it's not about performance marketing. It's not about pushing the sale every single week. It's about stepping back, communicating your product, doing right by the consumer and letting them come to us. How quickly did you see that it was working? How long did it take before you said, yeah, This is, it's being validated. This is the right direction. Pretty quickly. I mean, I don't always quote numbers, but if I think about the three-year stint from our full year 21 to full year 24, we doubled revenue.

28:14So I think that kind of speaks for itself. That's amazing. What was your learning? I mean, for our listeners who would love to do that with their brand, their business, step back, reflect, set a strategy, and it's really clicking, focus on the customer. Or what's your major learning going through that process? Self-reflect every day. Actually making the time to step back. You still do that? Yes. Quiet the noise. There's a million things happening every day. A million numbers, a million requests, a million whatever you might be dealing with. But if you can just carve out even 15 minutes to really think about what's an ideal state, what have I learned from this last day or week or month or whatever, quarter, whatever it might be.

28:58And what's one thing I could do that would make it better. And I think if you break it down into those steps, just like with any healthy habit, if you break it down in those very simple steps, doable steps, you'll get there. This must have changed how you spend your time massively going from a sort of a push sales culture to one of experience. Yeah. So talk about that. How's your role different from when it was before the pivot? Yeah. And how did you build your team differently? Yeah. So I actually love it because I get to go to the club. I get to do the DPT sessions. I get to do the massages.

29:35I get to audit the experience and be a part of it. And it's more about deeply understanding that than it is coming up with a flashy ad campaign. Well, sometimes if you do both, it works really, really well. But I personally love it. And I think we have what it's allowed us to do is to have a really small core team as well. I think when you don't have to do weekly promotions and sort of the full media spec list there, the team size changes. And so you, it starts to feel a little bit more like a startup mentality, but also what I've found is people are more aligned. Everyone knows what's happening and they know where the puck is going.

30:14They understand why we're doing it. And I think that's the core reason why there is more job satisfaction because people are enjoying the experience more. How do you get awareness when you're not advertising? Is it word of mouth? Is it, do you count on that? So we have devotees, people that have loved and loved our brand for forever. And that truly is, there's no amount of media budget that can, that can charge for that. Right. And they truly do spread the word. They evangelize every single thing we do. And I think it also speaks to the level of community that we've been able to build. And I think people, whether they hear it only through word of mouth, I think you feel it and you see it and you want to be a part of it.

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32:24you're in a very busy dynamic some would say cluttered category there's lots this obviously has differentiated you more so could you talk a bit more about that how the company and the brand is seen post versus pre the pivot yeah i mean i think before the pivot we were seen as a gym that purely that that's the only thing that we offered weights and cardio machines, right? Even though that wasn't the case, but that's really was the perception. And I think even though maybe I wouldn't say that perception is a hundred percent shifted, but we sure have made great strides. And I think people see us as a healthy lifestyle or your true, like athletic country club, the place that you go in your community, your third home is the goal.

33:13You've worked on other lifestyle brands. How is this one different? This one's way more comprehensive. If I think about it, there's something at Lifetime that could touch almost every single part of your life. From health is number one, right? But how you eat, how you think about your finances, how you live, how you work, how you spend your time, how far you drive and travel. All of those things can be experienced within this one company. And I have never worked for another brand in the world that has that level of connectedness to someone's life. Wow. I mean, with that scope and that mission, this brand could go to a lot of different places.

33:55How do you see it 10 years from now? What's your hope? I mean, who knows? My hope is we're not only affecting the just under 1 million people that we affect today that are walking into the physical locations, but 20 million, 200 million people with what we're building with Lacey, our lifetime AI companion. We have an opportunity to bring the ecosystem, the whole life ecosystem, every single touchpoint of it for free to the world. And I don't see, I know that we'll be able to do that in the next 10 years. So how will you do that? It will be outside your club, of course. Yes. Right? Yeah. What are you learning about that as you develop it?

34:43You know, it's like you said, AI is like an interesting hot button right now. But I think what differentiates us is you can go to ChatGPT today and ask pretty much anything you want, right? About health. You don't know if you can trust that source, even if you follow it through, which I can guarantee you less than 0.2 % of people actually do that. Our information comes directly from our 30 plus years of knowledge and experience, our trusted trainers, nutritionists, dietitians, coaches. So when you ask Lacey a question about your health, you know it's accurate. You can trust it. Because it's your day to your people.

35:22Yeah. Now let's talk a little bit more about your role. Your scope is really big. I mean, it's everything from digital campaigns, club design, in-club experiences you just talked about. So it's big. So how do you manage it all? I have the most amazing colleagues and team. I think that is the core. Again, it feels like a family. We all trust each other. We know we have the best intentions at heart. And we're all very, very aligned to what needs to be done and when. And I think from a like structural perspective, we've really figured out and nailed the right touch points every week. I think that's so key in any organization when you have those right touch points, those right review points, the right, those ritual meetings, I'd like to call them.

36:14We don't actually call them that, but I call them that. It's key to be able to drive, continue to drive everything forward and to stay on top of everything. You just rattled that off. We're like family. We're totally aligned. We trust each other. You sound like you're clear in your priorities. How did you build that? Reps. Okay. Say more. You know, what's really interesting is there's, I think it's also a set of shared values and there's like something about working out with people and sweating together. I know it maybe sounds silly, but it works. Like it works. It really does. And I think we, every one of us loves it.

36:49Like we, that's what we do. We'll do classes together. We'll do training sessions together. We'll do group workouts together. We spend the time together. In this digital world where so many people are still working fully remote, I think it's invaluable to still be able to have those times where you can come together because it's really the only way that you can build true trust with someone. I love that thought. Your career, I mean, you're a creative, you're a designer, you like doing work, right? And a lot of your career has been doing the work. Well, now you're leading the work. So how did you make that adjustment?

37:26You now have a lot of people in your organization who work with you. So how did you go from creator, designer to kind of leader? So I think it maybe happens slowly. I still like to do some of the work. Maybe they all don't love that. But I love - What work do you love doing most? I love getting in and designing brands, like designing the core of it, right? So pulling scrap and rolling around in the insights and working with our strategy team and working directly with Brahm on whether it's a design of a new logo for a new program or offering we're having or the app experience itself. Like I will roll up my sleeves and sort of get in there and do a conceptual take on something.

38:09And I still love doing it. Like I feel like if I didn't do that, I'd be really missing a huge part of me. And so I actually think it's such a gift that even though I have this large team, we have agency partners, we have multiple different teams within our organization that are all working on this stuff. But the fact that I can sort of lead by example, I think is really important. And I don't know, honestly, that I would trust any creative leader that doesn't do that. Even, you know, my time working with pretty much every creative I've ever worked with, right? No matter how high up you are, you're still getting in there and working on it and rolling around and getting your hands dirty.

38:52You brought up your CEO a couple of times already. Yeah. And he's your founder. He's been with the brand for what, 35 years or something like that. From the very beginning. From the very beginning. Yeah. He conceived it. Yeah. So talk about that. Talk about what he's like, what kind of leader is he, what you have learned from him. What kinds of things do you two work on the most together? Yeah. He is a brilliant guy. I think he is, maybe you could call him a jack of all trades, right? But he really is a visionary. Not only did he have a vision for this way back, you know, 30 plus years ago when no one else was doing it to really create this amazing ecosystem.

39:32So that alone is really inspiring. But I probably talk to him almost daily. We can work on anything from the minutia of a label design to new innovation lab in New York to a video we're working on for an investor presentation. It really runs the game. What makes him so special? His thrust. And I think his ability to connect the dots from a, again, from a consumer and member perspective to what we should deliver. I've never seen somebody do it faster. And I hope to be like that. Your roots are in Minnesota. Talk about how that's affected the company and its culture and how you work. I think we're a humbler group.

40:18I don't think any single one of us is out there for only for self-promotion, right? It's about the values of the company. It's about doing right by people. And there's something to be said and true about, like everyone says, the Midwest values. But I think it shows through in the day to day and how people interact with each other. There's there's care there, right? There's not always shortness and business only, and it's people care about what you did for the weekend. And I think that's beautiful. Which club do you hang out in most? Our Southdale Club in Edina. Yeah. It's one of the newest ones here in the Twin Cities.

41:02It's where my trainer is, my massage therapist, where I get my hair cut, all of it. I love your life. Yeah. So let's talk about, we have a lot of CMOs who listen to the show and CEOs. Yeah. You're the top creative person in the company. Talk about in a bit more details, what others can learn and how you work with your CEO and your other cross-functional colleagues. What's a culture like? How often do you meet? Is it structured or unstructured? You work out together, you said. But what can others learn by this great relationship that you've built with your CEO? Yeah. I think you got to have the ritual meetings.

41:41You got to have an open line of communication. And I think if anything is on your mind, even if it's a small thing, if you're like, it's just you can't get it off your mind, you pick up the phone. It doesn't matter who they are. It doesn't matter if they're the CEO or the CFO or what they do for the company. If it's on your mind, you need to talk about it and come to a solution. Yeah. Don't let it bubble up there, right? Yeah, because I think what I've seen working for a lot of CMOs and for a lot of leaders in the past is, which is really detrimental actually to the brand, is when the CMO and the CEO do not speak or are not aligned with where they want to take the brand.

42:24And I think that's maybe why CMOs have low tenure. Yeah, yeah. In this area, you talked about the possibility of affecting tens of millions of people with their health and their fitness. This has been an age-old issue in this country and many other countries as well. What have you learned about changing that dynamic, changing that arc? Because I enjoy fitness. I do it because I enjoy it. And it's good for me. And I don't think everyone sees it that way. So what have you learned that you think will help us change that arc? You got to start really small. You got to make it fun and make it easy. You know, I've talked to a lot of our members and, and one of the really interesting thing, one of the quotes that sticks with me is it was one of our members who was like a two year journey, but lost almost a hundred pounds.

43:24And when he talked to me, he said, he's like, I didn't know that I was designed to feel good. And all he did was start by going on the treadmill for 10 minutes a day. But what he realized is after only 10 minutes, you get a little bounce in yourself. You feel a little better. And guess what? Maybe even slept a little bit better the next night. So then the next day, you can come and do 50. As you build the habit, you're almost, it's like building an addiction to something good. instead of something bad.

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45:00Okay, Nick, this is so good. I want to flip into the creative brief. Okay. And the first question I have for you is what's the first brand as a young boy you remember making an impact on you? I would have to say Reebok. And I think it was the first time that I ever realized the power of a brand because I was about seven years old. I used to spend a lot of my summers with my grandmother and my cousins I did. In Minnesota? Yeah. And what she did was right before school was going to start. And she was like, each of you have to clean out a closet. And the one of you that does it the best is going to get a pair of Reeboks.

45:36And I would tell you, I was going to get those Reeboks. And the fact that like a kid who's seven years old wants a Reebok that bad, I'm like, they were doing something to get into our psyche, right? And so I think from that day forward, I was like, huh, that's really interesting. And I always remember that. Remember the pump? Yeah. Good for grandma. Yeah, exactly. You would have been a good executive. I know I'm going to do that. Now this love of the outdoors you have, you like to be outdoors working out and doing things. Where does that come from? What's the root of that? You know, I think it started as a kid.

46:09I'm actually part Native American. So I don't know, maybe it's somewhere in there, but I am also an only child. And so I kind of like to spend a lot of time alone. And I think in order to like recharge, having that like moment in nature, I think the Japanese call it like shiranyoku when you do a forest walk, but it's like core of who I am. And I've always just really enjoyed it. And it's like kind of how I decompress even every day. What's your favorite day in the outdoors? Hiking, running 30 miles. So that's the outdoors. What sparked your passion for design and creativity? So I don't know who put the magazines in our house, but...

46:44Grandmother. I would look at Arc Digest. And I thought, I actually sidetracked, I thought I was going to be an architect. I really wanted to do that when I was a little kid. But I got obsessed with house designs and plans and sort of what they look like. And I would draw out little plans. And like I said, I used to decorate my room myself and do all these things and sort of do little odd jobs for people around the neighborhood so I could buy decorations. It's like, what kind of kid is doing that? But it really stuck with me, and it's still something I love to do today. Who has influenced your creative outlook, kind of your point of view on design and creativity?

47:23A teacher, a professor, a friend, work colleague? I think so many people for all different reasons. One of the Australians that I work with that was really my core mentor, Christy Peacock, he taught me the value of good design, of really good design. Jeff Kling taught me when he was the ECD of Phelan, really taught me the importance of understanding people and being an anthropologist. You're not just a creative. You need to really get in there and to deeply understand what motivates them, right? The core. And the kind of third one that really sticks out, honestly, is my partner, Jill. I think her curiosity and brain is just beautiful and it inspires me every day to say yes and to keep digging.

48:12It's amazing the impact Fallon had on you. Yeah. You know, it's, I talked to a lot of people on the show who started in the agency business and kind of had the point of view that it's the best place to start because of the variety of leaders, mentors, projects. Yeah. Your view, top, down, across. Yeah. So you obviously feel the same way. I definitely do. I would tell anyone coming out of college, do at least two years and find the biggest, best one that's moving as fast, that has the most amount of clients and get in there and try to work on every single one of them. Because you're going to learn so much about yourself, about the industry, about multiple industries.

48:52So what's inspiring you outside of work today, you know, in terms of whatever fitness, movies, books, podcasts, what kinds of things do you take in to fuel your creative spirit? So I'm actually obsessed with home renovations. That's sort of my other second thing. I'm smiling over here. We've done like 14 of them. Yes. Aren't they fun? Yeah, they are fun. They are fun. Last year we found this amazing little William Cody cottage in Palm Springs and we've spent the last year, stripping it all the way back to its core and bringing it back to the way that he would have like originally intended it. And I think I've been able to do like actual library research on some of his early work and going back into materiality and like really digging in on it has been such an amazing additional creative outlet.

49:43Is that the coolest renovation you worked on? It's one of the coolest ones in the last couple of years. How many have you done? We've I've done two major ones. All right. And like I said, every single place I've lived, I've also done a little bit of one, but I wouldn't call that a full one. But yeah, two full top to bottom, take it all apart, put it all back together. Yeah. We've done it too. We'll talk about this after we've done the recording. Yeah. So we had Dave Schneider on the show yesterday. I recorded him. He's the CMO of Red Wing, which is an incredible brand. And he has a favorite question.

50:12So I'm going to kind of borrow from him. And it's a big one and kind of a tough one. The question is, what's the greatest risk you'd take if you knew you couldn't fail? I think I would bring health and wellness, true health and wellness, to every third world country as a way to help shift and better the societies. If I knew it would work, if there was no risks, no money involved, that's what I would do. Very on brand for your company and for you, right? Because your values are similar or the same. Who's been the most inspiring person in your life? Oh, man. Like I said, I don't think I have just one.

50:51But from a career perspective, I would have to say Chrissy Peacock. The fact that he took me under his wing taught me so much that completely changed my life and the trajectory that I've gone. And if I wouldn't have had that experience, I definitely wouldn't be here today. Did he do that with other people? Or do you think you had a special relationship with him? Was that kind of how he operated? I think in general he did, but at least at the time when I was with him at Fallon, I was the closest to him. Yeah. Yeah. What makes him so special? Is it how he communicates, his view of the world, his creative process?

51:29I think it's a combination of having somebody trust you, give you a shot on projects he knew you never worked on before, right? and to actually teach you a process, to teach you the creative. Like I said, I never went to school for that. I never, I was a self-taught designer. And to have somebody kind of give you a bit of a schooling on how to approach it and how to think about it was invaluable. Nick, this has been wonderful. Last, last question. What's your next workout? What's my next workout? I am going to be doing 10 circuit workout with my trainer I'm actually training for not high rocks but our version of it called LT Games more endurance and strength focused but that's my next workout later today?

52:23tomorrow already didn't mind today damn it I haven't and something's missing when I don't yeah right you know I'm not roughing myself I was going to say don't beat yourself up I don't I don't I just come back and enjoy it even more so thank you well thank you thank you for this this is an honor I appreciate it That was my conversation with Nick. Three takeaways from this one for your business brand and life. First one, design a well-lived life. Nick believes that a well-lived life doesn't happen by accident. It's designed. As he told me, when people understand that you can truly design the life you want through health first, that's really powerful.

52:55It's a philosophy that shapes both his personal outlook and his creative work at lifetime. Second takeaway, starting small can create change. Meaningful change begins with the smallest steps. Nick told the amazing story of a member who lost nearly 100 pounds, starting with just 10 minutes on a treadmill. As that member said, I didn't know that I was designed to feel good. A small action sparked a powerful transformation. And third takeaway, say yes to new opportunities. Nick believes one of the most important things a leader can do is to stay open and say yes to new things, new opportunities. He shared how stepping into unexpected roles, even something as simple as covering a shift early in his career, led to pivotal connections and growth.

53:38As Nick put it, I think constantly saying yes and being open to trying new things has been the red thread through my career. It's a mindset leaders can model to open doors for themselves and their teams. That's it for this week's episode of the CMO Podcast. As always, I would be grateful if you shared our show with your friends. along with subscribing and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. The CMO Podcast is a Vive original production. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of our sponsors or its personnel, nor do our sponsors advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.