863 Lauren Kleban: Founder & CEO of LEKFIT

0:00I am unwilling to give up, but I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be.

0:09Kara Goldin:You just want to make sure you will get knocked down, but just make sure you don't get knocked out. So your only choice should be, go focus on what you can control. Hi everyone and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world's greatest leaders. We'll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can't wait to get started. Let's go. This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Hi, Kara here. For small businesses, every hire matters, but so does your time.

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2:19Kara Goldin:Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash Kara Golden. Terms and conditions apply. This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business. Hey everyone, Kara here. Let's get real about those early days of building a business. Not the highlight reel, the actual day-to-day, the friction, trying to manage everything across time zones, across teams, across locations, and realizing how much depends on staying connected. I remember those days at Hint, a retailer call, an order, a decision, all of it. And you realize quickly, connection isn't a nice to have. It's the lifeblood of your business.

3:03Kara Goldin:As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity. You just need it to work every time. That's why AT &T Business matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business, built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to The Kara Golden Show. In a world full of wellness trends and viral workouts and influencer-led studios, what makes a fitness method actually last? Well, our next guest, Lauren Klebon, who is the founder and CEO of L.E.K.

3:56Kara Goldin:Fit. All one word. She has built something different, a method people return to because it actually works. So I've been a fan of hers for a while. She's a former dancer, fitness expert, and celebrity trainer. Started L.E.K. Fit in her garage in 2014. Love that. So, so fun. And L.E.K. Fit is a global luxury fitness brand with a devoted community, digital platform, signature rebounder, and a flagship L.A. studio. So I'm so excited to have her here with us today to talk more about what it takes to build a brand as she has and have a global platform that people cannot wait to come to, sign into. So, so great.

4:48Kara Goldin:So Lauren, welcome to the Kara Golden Show. So nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Thank you for having me. This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Grooms. This time of year, I want more energy, not more steps. The days are longer, the calendar is filling up, and I want to feel as good as the weather. But summer routines only work if they're easy. That's why I've been loving Grooms. Gruen's is one delicious daily pack of gummy bears that cover your greens, vitamins, minerals, and prebiotics all in one. It's not just a multivitamin, not just a greens gummy, and not just a prebiotic.

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7:51Kara Goldin:That's 25 % savings on your first order at Zazzle.com. Go make something Z-amazing. Zazzle.com. Absolutely. So for listeners who are just discovering L-E-K Fit, how do you describe the brand and what makes the method so different? We pride ourselves on being your complete fitness method. And we came to that because when we started, we noticed a trend of clients going from like a yoga class to a spin class to a boot camp, like they weren't able to get everything they needed in one place. and we wanted to be that one place so that you weren't going from the gym to your private trainer to your Pilates class, that you could really get your cardio, your strength training, your sculpting, your stretching, and your community all in one place.

8:49So that's first and foremost. And then the second part of L.E.K. Fit is that our cardio is done on a rebounder. And that's a small trampoline designed specifically for fitness. And all of our concepts, our cardio concepts also include strength and sculpt as to our mat classes. So nothing is just straight out cardio and nothing is just flat out strength training. We combine all of it so that you can get it done and then you can come back to it daily. We truly believe in moving your body seven days a week.

9:28Kara Goldin:Take us back to the beginning. You started teaching LEK Fit in your garage in 2014. I love that story so much. And what was happening in your life that led you to decide, I'm going to do this? I was a new mom with my first of now three children. And prior to having my first, I was a professional dancer and already in the fitness space. I knew that's where I was headed post-dance life. And at the time, when I'm pre-mom life, I too was going from teaching a dance class, taking a dance class, working as a dancer, rehearsal plus running Runyon Canyon, taking a ballet class, teaching a ballet class.

10:13And I wanted, once I became a new mom, I no longer had a full day to work on my body. I wanted to maintain my body and I wanted to maintain it daily in an hour or less. So it was really the birth of my son, Miles, who's now 13, that got me to now what is L.E.K. Fit, our hero concept, L.E.K. Fit Boost, which is our rebounder cardio strength sculpt and tone concept. And you're in and out in 50 minutes, full body, complete strength and cardio.

10:46Kara Goldin:That's amazing. So did you have an audience of people who maybe you're friends or how did you get going? Yeah, I started teaching dance-based fitness for dancers and non-dancers alike. And I started that way back when I was even before college and that I just kind of knew that was going to be my journey. And when I was graduating from high school, moving to LA, like dance fitness was very much coming back. Like it was the MTV Grind era, Carmen Electra Striptease era, Sheila Kelly S-Factor, like all of that was coming back into play. It was like post my mom's like Jane Fonda world and kind of like the MTV vibe of cardio dance-based fitness.

11:34And so I really gravitated towards that and I had already been dabbling in it, playing with it. Yes, my friends were so many of my private clients, teaching small group classes throughout LA and Las Vegas. And it was just a ton of trial and error working one-on-one. I wanted to make sure that I came to the fitness space well-rounded. So I made sure that I worked with yoga instructors and Pilates instructors, also dance-based instructors, and really true like old school bodybuilder type fitness guys because I wanted to know everything and anything and how I could combine bits and pieces into the LEK fit method.

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15:01Kara Goldin:I ordered from Wayfair and honestly you should too. Ready to upgrade your home for way less? Head to wayfair.com right now to shop all things home and get your space ready for less. That's w-a-y-f-a-i-r.com. Wayfair, every style, every home. How did you know how to like charge for this and and all like what was the business model that that you like went out with and maybe how has that developed over the years? I think that when I, at the time that I officially started L.E.K. Fit was also the time of the influencer and so, and also the time of social media. Like, of course, we had Facebook and Friendster and MySpace and all those things, but none of them were like driving brands.

15:56At least that was not my understanding of it. When I was on Facebook, we were in college and you had to me in college to be on Facebook. And there was really, Instagram was really the very beginning of all that. And we got on at that time. And it was also, like I said, the beginning of the influencer. And so we use that to kind of catapult us as a catalyst to become a brand that really relied solely on word of mouth.

16:24Kara Goldin:Within a year, I read your classes were selling out and celebrities were showing up and getting their friends to show up. So the word of mouth was definitely working. When did you realize that this could actually scale? That it wasn't just something in your mind that you like to do, but that it could actually be much bigger? I think I always knew that. I think who I am and my personality, I wouldn't have done it if I didn't know that it was going to be a success. So I think that, and whether that's just a mindset manifestation, whatever it is, I knew that it would be in that. I think that's what drives me to continue on.

17:12So that I was confident in and thankfully I was correct. But I think, I think when you're starting something, especially if you're going to be a CEO and entrepreneur and create your own business, you really have no choice but to believe that it's going to be successful. And then you have to agree, you have to accept that you're going to do whatever it takes to maintain that success, to build that success. Because of course, there's ebbs and flows, there's good times, there's bad times. And you have to believe in it and you have to hold on to that belief. And I think if you were ever to let go of it, then everything would just crumble, right?

17:51Because that's what drives you. That's what gets you through all of the difficult times in business.

17:57Kara Goldin:Yeah, definitely. I always share with other founders, usually newer founders, that if you don't believe, no one else will either, right? So you have to be the one who is spearheading that belief for sure. So fitness is such a crowded space. You obviously built credibility early in this crazy market. When did the signature rebounder that you have kind of come along? Was that always there or when did that kind of become a core part? The rebounder became a core part probably in about 2015. So a year after kind of making our classes, we weren't online yet, but making the group classes public, the rebounder came in.

18:43I knew that we needed to have cardio and I knew that I wanted something that anyone could do despite any injury, age, whatever. I wanted something that was fairly inexpensive, easy to store, easy to have in your home or anywhere. And I overall, I wanted something that works. So the cardio options are like, right, a treadmill, a bike, an elliptical, jumping on the floor, running. And I knew that an elliptical isn't it unless God forbid you're injured or rehabbing. That's probably the only time you need it. Same with a bike, sitting down to work out, laying down to work out. Those are not workouts.

19:31Running on a treadmill, running on the floor, jumping on the ground, all of that is very short-lived. It's very damaging to your body. And ultimately, it produces the opposite effect in your body than what you're wanting when you're doing cardio. And that led me to the rebounder. And I love that we're the pioneer of using the rebounder for fitness. I love that we're still one of the only ones. I know there's so many that have brought it in, but I'm also consistently, constantly baffled that people are still on a bike and still running on a treadmill. Like the rebounder is the most brilliant piece of equipment that exists.

20:10It activates your lymphatic system and drains it. Plus simultaneously strengthens your pelvic floor and your force. There's no way around it. You must engage every muscle in your body. Also, it makes you the happiest you could possibly be doing any form of exercise. So I'm like, love that it's us and really we're synonymous with LEK Fit, but it's also like, oh my God, why is everyone not only doing the rebounder for cardio? So that's how I got there. And I was a little, it was not a hard sell for me because of the benefits, but for us, like LEK Fit, just the vibe that we are is very, very sensual and very aesthetically pleasing.

20:53And so the rebounder wasn't, which then led us to creating and designing our own rebounder because I didn't all of a sudden want this like bulky, weird thing in a very aesthetically pleasing space. So that's how we ended up creating our own. And we started to design our own probably 2017. And then finally, obviously there were delays, But finally, by 2021, it was there. It existed.

21:24Kara Goldin:Bitcoin can feel complicated at first. People talk about it in a way that makes it sound intimidating when really the most interesting part is how practical it can be. Bitcoin is often talked about as an investment, but it was built to be used. With Cash App, you can actually do that. Send Bitcoin instantly, pay at local Square businesses that accept it, or move it to your own wallet whenever you want. It works more like real money and less like something locked in an account. And that's what I like about Cash App. It makes getting started feel simple. You don't have to know everything on day one.

22:01Kara Goldin:You can learn as you go, take it at your own pace, and use it in a way that feels right for you. For a limited time, new customers can get$10 added to their balance. Just use code Bitcoin10 when you sign up. And don't forget this part. Send at least$5 to a friend in the first two weeks. Terms apply. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partners. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc. brand. For additional information, see the Bitcoin disclosures at cash.app slash legal slash podcast. That's amazing. And I read that you sold out of the product a couple of times.

22:47Kara Goldin:Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. That's a good problem to have for sure. Yes, for sure. So you have a physical location that you also teach at. So where is that location? We're in Los Angeles, mid-city on La Brea. Amazing. Amazing. So have you thought about, you know, building more of these physical locations is a big decision, right? It's a big one. And that's not my journey. No. And you've built one and done. Yeah. You've built such an amazing digital platform. You were early. Yeah. Yes, we were. In building that. 2016. Which is great because at a time when COVID was hitting for so many fitness brands, it was paralyzing, right?

23:40Kara Goldin:But you were already ready to do this. So what do you think being kind of ready allowed you to do? And how did it help you during that period of time? First and foremost, it allowed me to keep all of my team members employed, which was really amazing. And we had a substantial team at that time. So when that time hit, we were actually only producing two workouts a week. And we quickly moved to producing five. Now we produce 11. but that helps me, you know, maintain my staff and allow them to have, allow them to continue working and earning an income. And for us, it of course allowed us to grow our subscriber community.

24:29And yeah, I mean, it was not, I don't even want to call it, I don't even know what it was, but it worked for us because we had been online. Of course, It's never anything I want to live through again. But it did allow us to maintain our staff. And we were able to raise everyone and really help everyone continue to live in LA during that time. And that's something I'm really proud of that we were able to do. And we just kept creating content. And it just kept, for me personally, it helped me maintain my creativity. And still to this day, like I said, we went from two to now 11 brand new workouts that get released online.

25:08Plus, we now have our sister app. But yeah, it helped us continue to grow, whatever dreadful that time period was.

25:17Kara Goldin:That's amazing. So the boutique fitness has gone through some major saturation points. What do you think the category got right? And where do you think it's gone wrong now that you've been able to spend so much time with consumers that you've gotten to know over the years? Yeah, I mean, I think I'll go back to the beginning. When I started L.E.K. Fit, it was at the time of fitness where everything was really about, there wasn't any talk about longevity. It was really about we need to get ready for spring break. We need to get our bodies ready for summer, for Memorial Day, for the 4th, like for a wedding, for being a bridesmaid.

26:05Like there wasn't any talk of being healthy and fit all the time for life, like not to fit into a dress or to wear a bikini on the beach. Like all those things are amazing and everyone should be able to feel happy and excited to do those things. But why not feel out this Saturday and be totally ready to put on a dress versus like, oh my God, getting ready for three months from now. And I think, I still think that really wreaks havoc on especially women today. Like it's just such a messed up mindset. And I always compare it to what I saw my mom doing, which was like a ton of yo-yo fad dieting. Like it just, it constantly, and as I've gotten older and been in business and in the space for so long, I feel like women are just constantly being bombarded and targeted with all kinds of propaganda.

27:00Right now at my age in life, 46 years old, a mom of three, like I'm constantly being targeted with like menopause and perimenopause. And like, it's just, it all feels like it's so, just a constant way to get us to be duped and spend more money and all those things. And I think that it's always been that way. So like I said, when I got started in my late teens, 20s, it was all about bikini body ready. And then it became like a really exclusive space. And that may have only been in New York and LA, but it was so exclusive and felt so intimidating. And so when I created LAK Fit, I wanted to be the opposite.