BUILDING AN ADVISORY BOARD DREAM TEAM

Exactly six months ago, we decided to create our Advisory Board and make it a priority in my agenda. At that time, I made a list of a dozen of top professionals to whom I'd like to present myself, our team, and INFINITY, beyond fitness unique business value proposition.

The idea was to identify people in decision making roles and with solid expertise in franchising, fitness, and wellness. But they should bring complementary skills and abilities to make it a diverse group. In addition to that, the inclusion of a new advisor should always be discussed with existing members, to create a healthy environment. Finally, they must resonate with our concept, brand, and understand our moment in time to help us build a bright future.

The first one to believe was Kay Oswald . He had just left his role as TechnoGym’s CEO in the US, where we met one year before. Our relationship grew as we both lived in Miami, and he started attending INFINITY regularly as a guest member. I shared the franchising expansion plan and the search for Advisors and Investors with him. Kay clearly understood how different from other concepts we were. A couple of weeks later - the necessary time to make his due diligence - he became our first Investor and Advisor.

Right after that, I went to the 2023 International Franchise Association (IFA) Emerging Franchisor Conference in New Orleans with a list of people I'd like to meet. With good planning and some luck, I spoke with 14 top executives in the franchising industry. With no exception, all of them gave excellent feedback and instigated me to go beyond. A few of them appeared to resonate with INFINITY and joined our curated short-list of candidates.

After some Zoom calls between November and January, I needed to convince Dan Monaghan - CFE to join our family. His history in the industry and approach to franchising focused on innovation, technology, and AI captivated me. He also connected with the health and wellness approach we present at INFINITY. We finally shook hands last February during the 2024 IFA Annual Convention in Phoenix after he finished his due diligence. We were proud to announce Dan as our second Advisor but also as an Investor too.

One week before that, I flew to LA to attend the Connected: Health & Fitness Summit. Once again, I had a list of a dozen top professionals I wanted to meet, but this time in the fitness and wellness arena. With a packed agenda full of pre-organized meetings, I met 16 of them, exceeding the number I have listed, as so many exciting people attended the event. It was when I met Debra Strougo and Peter Barbaresi in person for the first time. They were included on our curated list of candidates.

I knew Debra from her exceptional work with Row House and her efforts advocating for the fitness industry. She seemed the perfect person to be our Advisor as she brings a ton of experience in hospitality, wellness, and fitness franchising. I believe she loved the concept from the first time we exchanged messages. However, she questioned the brand positioning and value proposition during her due diligence, which was very insightful. After several Zoom calls and a final meeting during the 2024 Health & Fitness Association (formerly IHRSA) Convention in LA last month, she accepted to become our third Advisor. Debra also became an Investor in the business.

But let me get back to Peter, which I knew from his fantastic job as CEO of YogaSix. We met during an informal lunch break in LA where I shared our belief in a holistic approach to health and wellness, combining training, nutrition, recovery, and community support — and how it differed from a boutique fitness studio, which I understand is a crowded space. He seemed interested, and we exchanged business cards. During the next two months, Peter was very strategic and detail-oriented, asking profound questions about the business model during his due diligence. We spoke several times, and I was sure he would be a fantastic addition to our advisory team. We finally met for breakfast in LA, where he agreed to join us as an Advisor and Investor too.

Finally, following advice from people with great knowledge about forming Advisory Boards, I was convinced I needed someone out of the fitness, wellness, and franchising arena. From the beginning, I knew we would need someone from my close circle of trust also to be part of our Advisory Board. It took me a few months, but I get Cristiana Guimar?es to agree she should be a perfect fit. Her innovation, marketing, and strategic skills in consumer goods could greatly help us at INFINITY - an outsider's look at the business. As my wife for the past 22 years, she checked the second bucket, so we could have one Advisor covering both roles: non-industry expert and close circle of trust.

It took us the mindset, planning, effort, and discipline to put this Advisory Board Dream Team together!

When I checked my handwritten notes from the planning for this as of September 30th last year, I was amazed to see how many more people I had met during this journey. Some became our advisors and investors. Some are people I learned to know, and I'm eager to keep the relationship with them. Some were great professionals in their areas but did not resonate with our mission.

?A few looked at me and said we were an emerging franchisor with just one location, and we would not be able to attract people of this caliber to join us at this stage.?

By having a vision and sharing it with love and enthusiasm (two of our core values at INFINITY) but also having a strategy, a business plan, a good value proposition, a seasoned team in both wellness and franchising, a clear execution route, and having skin in the game (investing close to $ 2 million of mine and my partner's money) bootstrapping the concept and creating the brand, you can put together a team like this together.

While I write this article, I'm humbly excited to say - we did it!

WE ARE NOW FRANCHISING HEALTH AND WELLNESS CENTERS WITH THE SUPPORT OF THIS DREAM TEAM: https://www.ownaninfinity.com/?

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