Why Now?
Today marks the launch of a business that has been in existence for 5 years. If you're confused, then reading on will be worth your time.
When I entered into fitness nearly 15 years ago, I wasn’t really sure where my interest in becoming better would take me, but certainly running my own business was never a thought.
Then when I became fitness editor for Men’s Health and later Editorial Director for LIVESTRONG.COM, the thought was always that I would lead some of the largest media brands in the world.
Now? It’s clear that those were only steps on the path to where I’ve been spending the last 5 years.
The culmination is the launch of bornfitnessconsulting.com.
In many ways, this really isn’t a launch. As you’ll find on the site, I’ve been running this business for years now, and have worked with some amazing partners.
But during all that time, I’ve never had a website. All of my work was done through referral. The mindset was simple:
Have so much success that your client can’t help but share with others in the business.
In many ways, it’s the reason why I ran a successful business without anyone really knowing about it.
Go Slow to Go Fast
Some say, “Fake it till you make it.”
I have a different take and instead try to, “Make it before I take it.”
What’s the take?
It’s taking a share of the marketplace, scaling, and expanding the business in a way that allows the core values to remain intact, and still offer value at the highest level.
In my editorial career, I always put excellence before ego.
I’ve created content and written books for some of the biggest names in Hollywood, but you’d never know I was behind it.
I’ve consulted with and been hired for projects by a billion dollar company, multiple 8-figure companies, and been offered full time gigs by some of the most established brands in the world; but I’ve never shared any of it on social.
I turned a website with a questionable reputation into the largest in the health field and earned a Webby award doing it, built apps, spearheaded multiple 6- and 7-figure launches, and even had Arnold Schwarzenegger write the foreword of one of my books. (Ok, so most people knew about that one.)
But all along my consulting business—what I do for editorial, marketing, PR, publishing, product creation, analytics, conversion optimization, and brand building—has lived as a behind-the-scenes, referral only establishment.
But today it all changes. And it brings me as much excitement as anything I’ve done.
So why now?
Part of my decision to make this public is one of practicality.
Quite simply, we’ve grown to the point where we can help more people. We have systems built to offer more consulting capabilities. We have relationships established that allow us to measure and sustain progress for a variety of different businesses.
Most importantly, we have a track record where we can prove and deliver on long-returning ROI.
Nothing is more frustrating than people who talk a big game and can’t back it up.
“Cause some fools just love to perform. You know the type, loud as a motorbike. But wouldn’t bust a grape in a fruit fight.”
In the world of coaching, it’s saying you can help without being able to offer testimonials or referrals. Anyone in Born Coaching can always ask to speak with a current or former client.
My approach to consulting was the same. I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder.
We had massive success with Beach Body. So what? Do it again.
Replicate with Precision Nutrition? Great. Now prove it again. And again. And again.
Helping people in the business sector isn’t about knowing what to do. Good ideas and smart people are a dime a dozen.
This is a game of execution. Getting work done. And proving that good ideas on paper translate to incredible success in real life.
Now, after testing our business model on every type of business—from startup to well-greased machine—I know we can help more.
And that’s what we’re here to do.
Born Fitness Consulting: The Family Approach
Truth be told, our expansion wouldn’t have been possible until big changes occurred one year ago. I’ve always viewed my business like a family, and I took that to a new level when I made a significant hire by adding Jordan Bornstein to the Born Fitness team.
Yes, Jordan is my brother. He is the youngest of the four Bornstein boys.
But at the sake or worrying about nepotism, Jordan was a rising star at Deloitte, where he was already paving the way for a successful career.
To put it in perspective, when Jordan received his job at the prestigious firm, more than 500,000 people applied for positions.
Only 3.5% were offered jobs. Jordan was part of that elite crew.
What he has added to Born Fitness is what Catapult has brought to the sporting world: An analytical background to leads, conversions, and business models that allows us to test everything and significantly increase, enhance, and predict the likelihood of success.
His addition has added the missing piece to my plans.
At Born Fitness Consulting, we take great pride in knowing what to look for, where to look for it, and how to translate the data to turn trends into dollars. Leads into conversions. Customers into brand advocates.
Part of this is expansion is also a matter of timing.
For the past four years I wrote 2 books per year, written for more than 40 different publications, served as an advisor for 4 media companies, managed my blog, coached a small group of one-on-one coaching clients, added the occasional group coaching experience, and ran our consulting company for enterprise clients and a few individuals who smaller businesses.
In other words, there just wasn’t time to create free content to help more people, as well as offer our services to more.
The core of our business is your success.
So rather than worry about increasing revenue, we instead focused on building the right capabilities to solve your needs.
And now that I’ve scaled back on my other responsibilities, there’s more time to invest in helping others build their businesses, remove the roadblocks, and make more money.
Progress Is About Progress
Some might wonder, “Is this the end of Born Fitness?”
Hardly. My desire to help the fitness community directly has never been stronger.
All that’s changed is that my goal and purpose in the fitness industry has become clear:
Becoming the biggest name in fitness is not the way that I can help the most people.
Instead, I’ve realized the best way to help people live fitter, healthier, and happier lives is to have an army of professionals that get it.
They get that the fitness, nutrition, and health industry doesn’t have to be about “who’s right.” It can just be a matter of “who helps.”
This can be anyone from trainers and nutritionists, to media brands, online sites, supplement companies, and wearable tech and apparel companies.
I want to enable those who want to help to reach their audience, make an impact, increase revenue, and change lives.
The same principles that I used to grow my brand in the first place—attention to detail, authority, and expertise—will be employed as the foundation of our consulting expansion.
We can’t work with everyone and we wont. But just like when I launched Born Fitness, I will do all I can to provide as much free content as possible through blog posts, free guides, webinars, and much more action on YouTube.
This is Born Fitness Consulting. This is how I plan to help more people. And now is the time to take it to the next level.