Welcome to Fix Your Gym, a podcast dedicated to bringing you expert knowledge from fitness industry leaders, salespeople, gym owners, tech experts, and other fitness enthusiasts, where you'll learn about the latest industry trends, innovative technologies, new and current products on the market, and health and fitness news from experts across the nation. And now, here's your host, Adam Kniffin.

All right, welcome to another episode of the Fix Your Gym podcast. Um, I appreciate you guys tuning in. Uh, we got a really cool episode coming up on this one. We have our first woman guest, uh, super excited about that. I've tried to, uh, I've reached out to a few. There's not a, not a ton in the service service side of the industry. Um, so it's going to be really cool. Um, real quick, I want to give a shout out though, to, um, our new sponsor, which is the field tech fitness solutions, field tech fitness solutions and the field tech app. So if your business installs or services fitness equipment, you definitely need the FieldTech app. It's the only complete software application built specifically for the fitness equipment industry. Ruben Hand is the founder of that company and a really great guy and genuinely is, you know, creating products and services to help us out as small business owners and even professionals, technicians, whatever the case is. Really, really great, great products and services. So if you're still using a paperwork order system, call Ruben. I was not up until not too long ago. So I get it but but so we'll get we'll get right into it though. We have Juliana Juliana. I'm sorry. I don't want to I don't want to butcher your last name. Will you pronounce it for me? I'm so sorry.

Adam Niffen

Oh, yeah, you're good. It's my last name is Shrek Howard. Juliana Shrek Howard.

Julianna Scheidhauer with Reimagine Resources, which is a super cool name, by the way. I really like it. You're out of St. Louis. You have quite the accolades in education. You seem like a very intelligent, motivated person, you have a really cool business. I've been seeing you a little bit on social media and what you have going on. I really like what you have been doing on on social media and the brand that you're building, I think is really, really cool and interesting. But um, thank you for coming on the show. And if you want to just kind of give us a little intro on where you come from and what you got going on. So

Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Adam. I really appreciate you asking me here. I think it's really neat that you're bringing the industry together and sharing information. I do have a love for learning and academics, and I just love that you're bringing that knowledge to this group to better educate everybody and to build up the industry. So that's really great, especially in a very competitive environments historically, and I love that you're bringing collaboration to it. I think that's definitely the way forward with this industry and I guess the fitness industry as a whole. Of course, healthy competition, but also very much a collaborative thing as well.

Absolutely.

So my background is, you know, I guess more in the educational side of things and professional business side. So I grew up in St. Louis, lived here most of my life. I have a background in finance with a bachelor's in finance from Thomas Edison State University. I got my master's in international business actually while I was starting this company during the COVID. And yeah, I guess how I got into it was essentially during COVID, I was selling pre-owned fitness equipment and kind of grew from there based on customer demand and went into the commercial side.

Very cool. So I saw that you you started out. I think a lot of people can relate with this started out in your house in your garage. And during COVID very, very cool. Will you explain a little bit more about how that process went down?

Yeah, I think it's very natural progression. And I think it's really neat. I think a lot of entrepreneurs have this, found this very much in the fitness industry, but you just are interested in fitness yourself, you want to get healthy, and then you find an issue or a problem. And you're then you want to solve it, right. And so that was kind of my story of, you know, I wanted fitness equipments. And I saw a need for other people wanting fitness equipment as well. And it kind of grew from there. So yeah, and then people just started asking for service. Hey, can you fix this? And I'm like, I don't know, I'll figure it out. And so, you know, that's where it's like, okay, so then can I get training, you know, and then it kind of snowballed from there. During COVID, I know it was very difficult. We couldn't really actually find any training. uh, during that time, because everything was shut down. But, um, yeah, so I think it's really great that you have this, because when I started, I knew nothing about the industry at all. Um, and I didn't know how to do this, like, but I've learned how to do it and it would have been really helpful to have, um, a little bit more guidance and direction about industry, uh, and do's and don'ts, because I've learned a lot of those along the way, and I'm still learning those.

Yeah, for sure. And in full transparency, one of the reasons why I started this show, because even as I grow and I learn and I've been in the industry 15 years, but I still feel new all the time, that, you know, it's like, OK, there's not a ton of information out there. So maybe I can start this show and network people and even find solutions to the problems I'm still struggling with as a business owner by just talking with people and coming up with solutions. And it's You know, I think a lot of people feel isolated, feel kind of alone. And part of being an entrepreneur is that process. So if you're an entrepreneur, you need to get used to that, because that's how it is. A lot of times you're kind of by yourself and you're figuring stuff out on your own. And that's that's what builds you up and makes you able to to, you know, sustain, be a sustainable business and stuff. But at the same time, you know, we can definitely collaborate and help, help each other and help, help the new guys coming in and find information. There's, there's, that's only going to help propel us as a, as an industry. Anyways. So, but, but yeah, very, very cool stuff. So, so you have a background in, in finance. And speaking of, you know, what entrepreneurs, especially, you know, people just getting into business or thinking about going into business, one of the you know, best skills to learn is finance. So you kind of have an advantage there because a lot of people don't for me, I know, like, took a long time, like I had to have I had no idea what I mean, I got it, I started my first business at 21. And I, you barely knew how to like pay bills and stuff, you know what I mean? You know, let alone, you know, anything about finance or accounting or anything like that. But I had a good mentor that started kind of showing me, you know, how to do QuickBooks, how to make spreadsheets and things like that. But how does that background in finance, will you kind of maybe go into detail a little bit more about how that helps you or how that's helped you?

Yeah, so having a background in finance, I think, as an entrepreneur, that's really good to have, because it's one of those hard skills that it's, it's harder to just kind of learn on your own. And definitely you can, but it's a little bit more difficult than like softer skills, like marketing that's changing all the time that you kind of just learn on your own. Although I know marketing is also, you know, very complicated as well. But, you know, some of the softer skills are easier to learn outside of the educational field. As far as the finance side, it's understanding and learning how to like problem solve or how things work together. I would say like, you know, I do have that finance background, I would say that it's also, you know, I'm not Like I know that background, but I also have advisors like yourself that helped me with our finances and kind of look at what we need to do. So yeah, I think it's really been helpful in understanding, you know, the growth of the company or kind of what we want to do. And, you know, with assets or different things and how we work it and you know, all the all the the business analytics side of things with finance and accounting, and then going into taxes as well. But really just gives me a good overview to ask the right questions to smarter people about how to do business better. So I would say for me, it's not so much of I know how to do everything, it's more of like I know what questions to ask now of smarter people and how to get there.

That is very key. I love that. A lot of people, a lot of people First of all, if you're an entrepreneur, you have to learn how to gain access to capital and you have to start learning things like what is a profit and loss statement? What is a balance sheet? And how do these types of things work? But a lot of people don't really know how important those things are when they're getting into this and they don't have anybody there. And so I noticed like you're very connected in your community. It seems like, and we're not far away. I'm in Springfield, Missouri, by the way, I'm in St. Louis all the time. so we definitely need to connect more but. For sure. How do people how do people find and and this is kind of one of the goals of this show and and some things that we're doing, but how do people find good teachers good mentors? You know what I mean? I imagine being connected in the community really helps you know, but yeah, what do you what do you think about that?

Yeah, I love this question. So actually, I was at Goldman Sachs a couple about a week ago, talking about the same thing advisors and having mentors. I think it's very key for me and our company. We've I've had mentors personally, you know, since I was like a teenager, right? Because I want to know how to do things better. And I want to learn from people who've had more experience than me. You know, I think it's just a wealth of knowledge when you can get somebody who's seasoned who really cares about what you do and really has the best in mind for you. I think sometimes that can be difficult to figure out who that person is maybe because sometimes you'll have other people come to you and say like hey I want to advise you these other things and it may not be actually what you want to take or maybe you can take some things from them but you don't agree on everything and so I know for me for having similar values is very important to me as, you know, as I pick my mentors and advisors. And we have a different approach where we have like an executive board where it's like, you know, the mission of the company or kind of like the bigger overall strategic things, you know, then we have technical advisors and mentors for technical things. And then just other people who will give us feedback about different things. We've had some people in the industry as well, which has been really helpful.

um you know kind of what is this what is this that you're talking about is it a like a group that you're in you said it was goldman sachs or will you explain exactly what that is

Yeah, so I am in the Goldman Sachs, 10k can 10ks be alumni. So it's basically a program for small businesses to go through and they learn how to do business better. And so I've been through a number of programs. And I think if you don't have a business background, that may be helpful for entrepreneurs for business owners to go through. I'll say it's also good to you know, not get too sidelined with those things and kind of, you know, kind of balance those things. But for us, it's also like having that that background or that connectiveness in the community is important to me and what we're doing, because we're also driven by the community or by our customers, right? And so we want to be there with the customers, see what's happening in the community and, you know, in the fitness realm, but also just like in the community at large, because that's our customer base, right? And then for me, it's like, we want to have this business, we want to, you know, do really well at our job to produce, like, excellent work. But also, you know, it oftentimes for entrepreneurs, it's bigger than just the job itself, I think. And for that, it's the same for me and wanting to be able to, you know, really make an impact in our community and what we're doing and the people that we interact with.

Yeah, I love that. I think a lot of people, it's not that they don't have access to that, it's just that they had, I think it's difficult sometimes for people to, um, you know, take that path or whatever, as an entrepreneur, we're so busy and we're so sidetracked. And maybe we, a lot of times we have a lot of doubt and things like that. I'm like, Oh, maybe I'm not capable of that. Or even, you know, something like that. Right. But like, so anyways, I'm thinking about. and we should talk more about this, but, you know, some sort of mastermind or group as an industry where we can start meeting together and like bringing on, you know, Juliana as a speaker to talk to us about finance and, you know, how to get plugged in in the community and stuff like that. And we meet, you know, quarterly or whatever the case is and kind of combine our resources to help each other with these things. So.

Absolutely. I think that's a great idea. I'd be definitely open to that. There's a lot of things I think for the industry that that I want to do as well, like just for the whole industry. You know, in some of the advocacy and working maybe with policymakers and changing some things for industry, hopefully for the better and also being able to to talk about benefits and compensation and you know how to make it a more professional and also like rewarding kind of work and getting paid the way you should I think.

Yeah. Interesting. Do you want to elaborate a little bit more on that? What was the first thing you were saying about the things that you want to see, where you want to see our industry go? Will you elaborate on that a little bit?

Yeah, so, so like our industry as a whole, just maybe like you're talking more education for industry, a little bit more collaborative, collaborative work with our industry, and then being able to provide basically better benefits. I know oftentimes in our industry, you know, some people do have benefits, but a lot of people I think don't have benefits. And it's not just our industry, because I know a lot of small businesses can't afford that, but finding a way to be to maybe our prices, and maybe some of the warranty work needs to be a little bit higher so that we can provide better jobs with better compensation so that we can retain our people and retain the talent. Because, you know, there's complaints about maybe the work isn't done the best job or, you know, things aren't done the way that they wanted. But when we're getting in and out people, that's difficult. And the way to stop that is to be able to compensate, you know, better and also provide benefits to keep it more sticky.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, not not to get in any sort of complaining too much about the manufacturers and stuff like this, because I think really the responsibility lies on us as entrepreneurs is that we gotta step up and really provide the value and kind of take control of the situation where we're like, hey, we're actually, there's some real entrepreneurs here who are really trying to, who provide really quality services for you guys and help you guys, you know, in a lot of different ways. And we can't be getting paid $65 for a service call, which is what we got paid in 2010. You know what I mean? Like, things have changed a lot. And you guys have to keep up with that. You know what I mean? Because surely they don't want to continue to build their service departments, they want to focus on what they're good at, which is manufacturing the equipment. And they've never notoriously they've, you know, the manufacturers have never been really that great at running service departments. We as entrepreneurs can focus on that because that's what we're good at. You know what I mean? You know, since the old guns and butter story of economics, you know, I don't know if you've heard that before. But anyways, so yeah, no, I love it. Very good stuff. So Where do you see, well, can you tell me a little bit about like the team that you're developing and, you know, how, so you started just a few years ago by yourself, where are you at now, you know, after COVID?

Yeah, so post COVID went into the commercial space. So now we do, you know, we, we do the whole pipeline, full service fitness equipment company. You know, so we have the new equipment for people. And then we also do the service as well. And so, you know, now we have a team that we're growing. I would say most people they'll have some kind of, you know, technical background, but they don't have it within this industry. And so just basically going through some of the, you know, some of the, the training, uh, with them, um, I kind of like growing that skill. Um, we're looking at some technical colleges that kind of groom people out of, and to make it more clear and, you know, something that they're, they can get excited about, or, you know, it's very different. It's very niched. And so when I go to. fields. They're like, I didn't know this existed.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's like what the fitness equipment service industry. Yeah.

I do get that question a lot. Like, what do they do? And like, yeah, it's fitness. I don't know. Like, for me, it's like, well, it's fitness equipment. They fix the fitness equipment. But I it's very new to some people. Yeah, that means

Really difficult. It's a really difficult part of our business. You know, there's not a lot of, it's not like plumbers or electricians where there's a lot of people out there who, you know, know or understand slightly the industry. So a lot of times we're training people from, you know, nothing, you know, knowing nothing. You know, a lot of times, you know, people coming from other trades like that, are a little bit easier to work with. I have some construction guys that come from construction and stuff like that. But a lot of guys are coming from, you know, you almost have to get them, you know, out of college or something like that where they. and kind of help them and shape them to be, you know, a service technician for the fitness service industry. But, you know, I was of the mindset for a long time that like scaling my business means like increasing sales and expanding. But what I've learned after increasing sales and expanding is that scaling is not about that. It's about hiring and training. And that is a very difficult process, you know. and so for me I've kind of had to like take a step back like whoa if I make another sale like I don't know that I'm gonna be able to do the work. I don't have the people you know so and I'm out here working 60, 70, 80 hour weeks sometimes and I'm sure you you understand the struggle as well as a lot of other people um so what do you What's your approach there to that other than I think the technical colleges and stuff like I've been thinking about doing that as well. Um, but so do you have like a training program for your tax or do you send them out to other manufacturers or how do you do that.

Yes, so some of both. So we're developing our own in-house training. I'd love to see the industry to kind of come together and build a certification so that it's also easy to identify, like, they have the skills and training, the technical expertise, and then you can, you know, train them in your company. But, you know, standard industry certification, you know, where they maybe go to a tech school and they learn the basics of low voltage electrical knowledge and just basic mechanical skills. And then, you know, get some kind of certification there. And then you you have an industry standard that they can get. And so I think it would be nice to have that it also increases the quality of the industry increases the ability to decipher between companies of, are they a good company? Are they just somebody who's just wanting to pick up a job and go for the cheapest thing, right. So I think it's, it's, it would be good for industry to have that also for liability for the companies. You know, I think that would be a good thing when you don't have somebody trained, I think liability goes up for what happens.

Yeah. Real quick, I want to do a shout out to our sponsor, FieldTech Fitness Solutions and the FieldTech app. To expand a little bit on what they do, the FieldTech app eliminates the need for multiple software platforms. No more struggling with software designed for HVAC or plumbing companies. The app is engineered specifically for fitness equipment sales and service companies. So if you're ready to streamline your operations, check out the field tech fitness app and get a hold of Ruben hand and he will get you set up. Oh, and if you use the coupon code podcast 24, you get you get a discount on the on the services. So but yeah, so. Juliana, it's really, really great stuff. Um, that's really cool that we're, we're so close to, I think we'll start, I'm going to start this, this networking group for us. And I think we're either going to meet in St. Louis or Kansas city, since they're both kind of center of the country, you can get flights, you know, pretty easily there. Um, so but I think you would be like a great speaker to come on and speak at one of these events. And so I'll keep you posted on that. It's definitely coming soon. Sounds good. What has been your experience the last, we'll go into this last topic here. I think it's really interesting. As know what is your thoughts and your experience been being a woman in the fitness equipment services industry? I mean that hasn't you don't see it a lot, but definitely interesting.

Yeah, I would say it's similar to maybe other industries that are more male dominant. It's just it's not you know I would I would like to see more women in the industry. I think it would be a good thing. I think it's just normal though and natural. That's where it historically came from. And so, you know, there's just more work to do and explaining, I think, both male and females perspective of the fitness industry and what kind of jobs you can have within the tech side of things and install. And so, yeah, for my, I've had a lot of crazy stories. some of them not so great. Within this industry, there's definitely some more bias towards guy technicians, and we have mostly guy technicians. However, sometimes, when especially if you're in a home, it's people generally like to have, they're more comfortable with me sometimes. And so it just really depends on the person. But yeah, I think it's I've had a lot of interesting stories where it's maybe been a little bit um maybe they're not doing it intentionally, but it's it's uncomfortable like you show up in a service call and they're like.

Oh, you're a woman. You can't fix my treadmill. I've been waiting now. I'm never going to get my I can only imagine.

It's not it's not that once, but sometimes it's sometimes it's close to it. I've seen the videos you post and you definitely know what you're doing.

Very interesting stuff. We've had women come on that will take care of our PM contracts and stuff like that. And be honest with you that every time I've done that, it's been nothing but good experiences. And to be honest, you know, usually harder workers than a lot of the guys I've hired. So I think, yeah.

there's a level of expectation like that we have to exceed as females in the industry, because it's not like a blanket. Oh, well, you know what you're doing? Like if a guy showed up, oh, they trust them as a technician. Now for me, they sometimes they'll watch me or they're like, you know, ask me more questions or different things, which, you know, it's fine. I'm happy to answer those. And to show them that, you know, they have quality work, whether it's me or a different person on the job. So yeah, it's just a little bit of a difference. You know, I also worked in construction a little bit before and strapping parking lots. And so, you know, I get get that industry as well. And just, it is what it is. And you know, you got to do the best you can.

Yeah, for sure. So one thing that just stuck out to me on your in your background says, making a healthier and happier world. And I think that that is really You know, it might sound kind of cliche, but it really is so important. Like, as entrepreneurs, we see a lot of problems, you know what I mean? And we see that the world really isn't a very healthy place. And a lot of times it's not the happiest place in the world. And we really have to start working as entrepreneurs, as innovators, as people who are able to make a change, whether it's just in our communities, our families, whatever the case is, to start moving in a better direction here. Because it does seem like you know, uh, well, you got other companies out there like McDonald's and Coca-Cola and all these hands that are moving in the opposite direction. And you have companies like, like us who are trying to move in, in a better direction. And I think that's, that's great. Um, we need more people doing that for sure. So, um, but I really appreciate your time. I know you're, you're busy, so I'm not going to take up a whole lot more of your time. Um, But I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story and what you have going on. So where can people connect with you at? I know I connected with you on LinkedIn. Anywhere else?

Yeah, absolutely. So you can connect with me on any of the major platforms. I would say LinkedIn is probably our strongest. You can go to our website at reimaginedresources.com or .co.com. It was already taken. Or any of the other social media platforms.

Very cool. Well, I, uh, really appreciate it, Juliana. I love what you have going on. And, um, uh, yeah, I, I, I know we'll, we'll talk some more soon and collaborate on some more stuff, but thanks. Thanks again for your time.

So, yeah. Thanks so much, Adam. Appreciate it.

Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Until next time, friends.