I am gonna use the most productive hour of my day to help you grow your business. This simple concept comes from Chris Cooper's new book, the Golden Hour Every Day . Do one thing to Grow your Business before you do anything else. I know, I know it sounds way too easy. So I ask Dana Foche of Reach Athletics to come here and back me up. This is Run a Profitable Gym .
I'm your host Mike working , and the clock is tick on our golden hour. So let's get started. Now, Dana, I'm pretty sure that you did your golden hour already today, so we're gonna call this Golden After Hours . How do you feel about that? I
Like it. I like it .
Okay. You did all , you did your work already. I did. Okay, well let's get right into it. So I wanna know, first of all, I'm just gonna ask you a blunt question because listeners are skeptical here. Can you measurably improve a fitness business in 60 minutes a day? Is it possible?
A hundred percent.
Okay. And you know, because you're doing it.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you, there's lots of evidence that 60 Minutes can do a lot of things. Chris talks about in his book, the Golden Hour, the thing that really engaged me was when he was talking about how we always make room for our workouts and those things get done and then we have clients who come in who struggle with that. And so we try to help them with that.
And it's the same thing with the 60 Minutes. Just put the 60 minutes. It's kind of like Jason Khalifa says, you know, amra it . Mm-Hmm , sit down, get the stuff done. And then what'll likely happen is after that you'll be so focused, you'll get all sorts of other stuff done, but 60 minutes is plenty.
Okay. So I gotta ask you, what's your proof that this can be done? Because listeners will say, I can't do this. I'm wasting eight hours a day and I'm not getting ahead. How can I possibly move my business in 60 minutes? So what's your proof, help listeners understand how you're moving your business forward in just one hour?
Well, on top of owning Reach Athletics, which is a gym with about 151 members as of right now , um, 10 employees , um, we offer 44 classes a week. We also have a farm , um, that has three horses. Currently we're working on making a therapeutic barn. We have six , um, head of cattle, 42 chickens, two children, two dogs, , and really high standards for food. So , I've
Lost track, I've lost track of the numbers, but that's a lot .
It is . And so it can be overwhelming to try to get all the things done. And so I have to be efficient to be able to get those things done. And the fact that I'm able to do all of those things brings back a resounding idea that if we're efficient with our time, that we can, we can get a lot of things done. We don't need to spend four hours if we're really focused.
And Chris talks a lot about flexing focus as a habit and that we can't just blame a DD. And that was super convicting. And so just realizing that the same way that people will say they can't work out or they don't have time, it's the same thing with our business.
If we can really sit down and be focused for that 60 minutes, that's far better than four hours of bouncing back and forth with the context switching and Facebook and, and being distracted, which I was incredibly guilty of. So if, if anything, it gave me the tools to be able to, to sit down and get things done, but also the freedom to know that I didn't have to be working hard for three to four hours a day.
That if I worked hard for an hour a day, same way with my workout, that that's enough. And then I can move on to other things. Spending time with my, my kids or working with my horses or just actually, you know, relaxing, which is a novel concept.
So can your day, I'm gonna guess I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway. Does your day sometimes just go to hell and explode and all of a sudden there's just so many things that you have to do that like you can't get anything done.
I can't tell you the amount of times that cows have gotten out while other things needed to happen where Yeah, yeah. It , it happens a lot. Cows get out, you know, kids do stuff. It happens a lot. Yep .
So your golden hour becomes an accountability thing then where it reminds you that if you can just spend these 60 minutes, no matter what else explodes for the rest of the day, you me , you measurably move your business forward.
Yeah, and it's, I found the same thing with my workouts. In fact, I mean, I knew, and we all know this, like now we know like the minute you get into like minute five or 10 of your workout, you're like, I'm so glad I did this. Everything else is gonna be okay and the fog lifts and then everything else works better. The same thing with the golden hour.
And I was guilty of, you know, I mentioned before, just kind of moving all over and doing lots of different things. But the framework makes it so that you're focusing on the important things. You're doing the first things first.
And by doing that, then it takes your focus, you get the big rocks out of the way, and then from there you're able to kind of see clearer what actually needs to be done and what can be delegated and what you're just doing because it gives you a dopamine boost.
Perfect. So we're gonna get into your golden hour, but before we do that, you told us a little bit about your gym. We've got 151 members and so forth. Tell me a little bit more about it . Give us a 62nd summary. So like you said, you have staff, what kinda space do you have? Who's your ideal client? Who are you serving?
Just give us a little bit more detail there and then we'll get into how you use, how you grow that gym.
Absolutely. So we have 10,000 square feet. We're a gym that caters to families. Um, we like to make , uh, the right thing to do, the easy thing to do. Um , we recognize and want to do tough things. It's kind of like Brene Brown talks about vulnerability and being in the arena. And that's what we really set forth at our gym. Um , people who come in who they, they wanna live longer.
They wanna be around for their kids. They wanna feel good and they recognize that movement and quality , uh, relationships can be one of the best ways for that to happen. So they get in, they do the uncomfortable things, and then after that hour is done, then they can go on with the rest of their day and get everything else done.
We also like to let our members know that they can pretty much just trust us to take care of it. So the same way you would hire an accountant or a lawyer to take care of the big things, we do the same thing.
So they can come in, they know that they have highly qualified coaches , uh, level three CrossFit coaches, masters in Strength and Conditioning, CSCS, people who really are at the top of their game to be able to help them solve the problems that may have been around for, you know, 10 plus years. And so that they can focus on all the other things. They have a professional solving those problems for them.
It sounds a lot like you're, like, you're serving a golden hour to your clients, essentially. You get them to come in, you put it on autopilot, do what we say, eat what we tell you to do when you go home and away you go and you've got a very concise avatar. I love it. So that's listeners. That is the summary of this business. So it may sound like yours or may not, but that's what's going on here.
And we're gonna talk about a framework that you can apply at your business no matter what it is . So I'm gonna just read it off here and then we're gonna add Dina to tell us how she implements this. So Chris has the golden framework. It has the golden framework. G is go to a place where you can focus is open your mind, l lead with marketing reps, d do your big projects, E end after one hour, n next steps.
So Dana, talk to me about like your golden hour. Walk me through it. What do you do? How do you do it? When do you do it? What's your plan? I
Have to tell you one quick thing before this. So I was listening to the golden hour on the audio book , which I was really glad that that Chris read, but it was, it reminded me of the repetition that our athletes need because as he is going through it, like this stuff is, I have it memorized because he just kept saying it.
And it got to me to a point where I was like, it was super redundant, but at the same time, now I have no question what the next step is like. And so it's , it's a reminder, you know, that the same way that we coach our athletes, we need to coach ourselves and have coaches who provide just a way for you just not to mess it up. So ,
And that's so important because that's the point of the book, which , uh, right here behind me, the golden hour, the point of the book is really to build entrepreneurial habits, right? So you are build , you are doing something not once you're doing it like 15 times and then you're building a habit that becomes a skill.
And these entrepreneurial skills can help you with any business for the rest of your life because you have this skill, like the skill of marketing can be applied literally anywhere. So everything you just said is gonna bring a smile to Chris's face. And listeners, it is the proof that this book is effective. It'll help you build habits that become skills that will support any business ever. So let's roll .
What do you got?
Absolutely. Yeah, I'm putting in those reps, right? Yep . Same thing. You can't get better to clean if you're not doing a clean, same thing on my horses. I can't get better riding my horses if I don't spend time riding my horses. So the
Same thing . Oh , if you've trained an animal that is exactly right. You gotta do it a thousand times. And if you screw up once, you gotta start over .
Yep . And you can't stop until it's
Complete. That's right.
Yeah. So my, my gym , I go to a quiet space most of the time. I come up to my office upstairs. I love being at the gym, but this is a space where I know that I can focus and this is a space that my body almost knows. Like the minute that I stand here, it's time to get, get things done. The brain dump has been really helpful. 'cause my poor husband was always on the receiving end of my brain dumps.
And he is a mechanical engineer who doesn't use a lot of words and he doesn't use a lot of promotions .
You draw me a diagram and leaf .
Yeah , exactly. He's like, what do you want me to solve? Oh wait, you want me to solve it?
I can build that .
So the brain dump has been helpful because I'm a verbal processor. It makes me think of the summit. Somebody was talking about the colors. I'm a yellow, a verbal processor. And so that's really helpful to to, to clar clarify things, get that 750 words and then leading with the marketing reps.
And this is one, again, I always think back to like how we work with our members and how, like I'm coaching myself, you know, Chris , Chris is coaching me, the tinkers are coaching me. Um, but making sure that I, I don't get make things any more difficult than they have to be these marketing reps.
I know Chris has a certain framework for how he wants to do it, but at the same time, I know what works for me initially. So, you know, in terms of it being, you know, a blog or getting really in depth , even just getting in and getting things on my social media was like the first step. And then once I do that, then my brain starts working and I'm like, oh , maybe a blog doesn't sound quite so intimidating.
So it's kind of like just convincing yourself to get into the gym and then all of a sudden you're like, yeah, let's go and ready, ready to do more. So I get
Some easy wins to start, right?
A hundred percent. And you know , being able to check boxes and just have that, that streak or that that continuity just allows, allows so much more momentum to be able to build. Um, then from there, that's why like doing the projects. So then being able to again, get in and be like, okay, well that handbook that needs to be revised, I'm on fire. Let's do this.
Like my brain is working or , you know, building out a new program, but you've put on kind of that thinking cap or that CEO hat , um, and now you're pumped and ready and you feel empowered to be able to do that. One thing that two brains really helped me with is I came in, I coached for 16 years , I've coached for 16 years. I've ran a gym for six years. I've been an owner for almost four years.
So I tend to go back to the lens, the coach lens, and I tend to , um, and that's the biggest reason I I hired Two Brain is 'cause I needed help with the business side. I knew how to support people, but I can only go so far.
So being able to, to really recognize that I am the CEO and sitting down and doing the CEO work, not getting in and you know, playing mayor at the gym or , um, coaching this or doing these things, which are awesome, but they're not going to paddle the ship. They're not gonna steer the ship ending at the hour is super empowering.
It can be like, okay, you , and , and it makes it so that sometimes if I'm not efficient with my time, I get to the end of it and I'm like, oh , well I wanna keep going, but I can't, so I've gotta move on to the next thing. Or even depending on the situation of the day, but then being able to build into those next steps.
And I think Chris said something about, I can't remember who he was citing to somebody who wrote and they would finish in the middle of his sentence,
Hemingway, was that I believe? Yeah. Who was it? I believe it was Ernest Hemingway. Oh
Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, it's cool just to hear about other people's processes and know that it's okay to struggle and that not everybody sits down and just writes masterpieces that you sit down and the same thing in the gym, right? You struggle, you get vulnerable, you do, you do the tough things. And if you keep putting those reps in, then you know, you, you come out the other side a
Different person . Okay, so that is G to n the golden framework. We walked right through it. I'm gonna ask you a couple of quick questions about two of the things in there. L leading with the marketing reps for you. You said that is social media? That's, is that what I got?
Well, that's where I started. I really wanna get, so in terms of the funnels and the , the types of media , um, I'm trying to elevate from there, but the social media stuff is something that I can consistently get done. And so there's a low barrier to entry there.
Then from there, what that does is I get the, it's kind of like a rough draft and then from there I can take that same idea and then turn that into a blog, a blog post. And then from there, you know, working into, but I've been overwhelmed by trying to have the A roll , the B roll , the C and moving up from that.
And thankfully we just, we just hired a , a new coach who we're , I mean, get ready, watch us in the next, you know, month to two months between the golden hour and just quality employees being able to level up. But it's been, it's intimidating, right?
It's, and it's a lot, I get distracted and as Chris says, I just have to keep putting in the reps and by doing this, but allowing myself some grace to not be like, it has, it's like saying you have to go to a gym, you have to go to the gym, and if you don't do rx, what's the pro ? What's, what's the, the point?
And so with this being able to say, okay, well I'm gonna make this a little bit my own and I'm gonna do, I'm gonna set out expectations based on exactly what he's saying, but, but making it my own to make it doable has really helped me. Yeah.
And that's why it's a framework and listeners, it's very special for you guys. If you go to gym owners united.com and join that group right now, you will see that Chris is leading the golden hour challenge and he's posting daily exactly what you can do to build these habits. So he is got day one all the way through and you, if you haven't started yet, you can certainly take a peek at this and you can jump in.
You may have to backfill a few things here and there, but you can 100% jump into this challenge. And I would encourage you to go to jim owners united.com and check it out. If you don't wanna do that and wanna see the book that is available on Amazon, you can absolutely get that . It's a quick read. It's designed to be a book you do not that you read.
You are going to do some activities and you're gonna work on stuff. And so l leading with marketing reps. So one of the things Dana's doing social media stuff, that is the content or the social media funnel, pardon me , uh, with a bit of an overlap probably to the , uh, content funnel if you're doing blogging and so forth. Another gym owner that I talked to, Eric Connor , he's down in San Diego.
What he does, he right now will call departed members who aren't around or absent members and things like that. He used the golden hour in four weeks, he built his gym up, his client get up by 5% in four weeks, one hour a day. And he was just contacting departed members. That is also a marketing rep. So Chris has this framework in here, but you're not tied to exactly every single thing.
You can definitely start to use as an experienced entrepreneur and especially in conjunction with a mentor. If you're working with a mentor, this goal now framework is definitely gonna sync up there . Your marketing might be, or marketing reps might be paid ads or outreaching, reaching out to someone through dms on Instagram, through a sell by chat strategy or something like that.
There's all sorts of different things that you could do. Dana is using social media and content and there's lots of stuff. And again, Chris will lead you through that. So check out jims united.com. Now I wanna ask you on D, so this is the one that's interesting. In the beginning stages of the golden hour, you might not get to D right?
So as you're building up these habits, you might find, okay, I , my social media took me the entire hour. That's okay. But when you get to the end and you start building up your habits and you're skilled, I can do my social media or my marketing reps 15 minutes. Now I'm gonna get into my big project. What was the one, what was the big project that you said you worked on most recently?
My handbook. It's been something that's been not like gnawing at me for probably the last year. Uh , and it's, it's there and it's almost done, but it's just not fun to work on. And yeah , and so it's, that's it's been huge because again, it's the same thing. Like whenever people come in and they're like, I can't do pull-ups, and you're like, oh, but you can do, we , we can do this, this, and this.
And then they start doing those things and then they start being like, oh, I can do those. I I mean I , I am strong, I can. And then from there, building up, same thing here. Just, yeah, and not avoiding the tough things.
So you get some momentum, you start, you know, you sit down, you go to your place, you clear your head, you do some reps, get those done, then you hit a big project and maybe it's a big project that you're passionate about and you can really rip into it. Or maybe it's one of those grinders that you just have to do the work. Like you're talking about your playbook. Either way you get progress and you do it.
What's another big project for you that might fall in there maybe when the playbook's done?
Uh, well I'm making sure that we have our annual plan ready to go before it is
Annual plan is a huge one. Yeah , yeah,
We're just ahead because we're being responsive, not reactive. So just working through, I just had a , a team meeting and talking through, okay, well what are we looking to do next year? The career roadmaps that come up so that I make sure that I'm keeping the coaches where they wanna be. I'm able to provide, you know, framework for that.
So just those things that, you know, Chris talks a lot about the, the golden goose and making sure that you're taking care of it. I'm building out the farm stuff out here, but making sure that I'm thinking about what the next step is.
Peter wrote always Peter, my mentor would , was always about the annual plan because it gave us the ability to, to revise each year, but to know what was coming up and, and recognize the ebbs and the flows and what things are successful and what are not. And um, so just getting ready for that, that next quarter essentially .
Okay. And guess what listeners, as the golden hour challenges ending in early December, the , uh, we will have an annual plan guide for you in there. So if you go join jimon united.com , we'll have a sample annual plan that you can literally take this thing and it's got 12 months with a bunch of activities that you can use and just do this stuff and it will help you grow your business.
So this is a perfect compliment to the gold . Now if you've built those habits, what do I do in the , in the d section of like my big projects use the annual plan that's coming out. I believe it's December 10th is the date, and that will be in jim owners united.com to bring clients.
You have access to a monster annual planning exercise with all kinds of spreadsheets and Chris has activities in there with a RM boosting things and client count, all sorts of stuff. So ask your mentor about that if you haven't already spoken about that. So as we wrap this up, Dana, I wanna send you on your way with time to do more stuff at your farm.
If a gym owner is struggling to move the needle, what are your tips for the golden hour ? How does this person find some success if they're struggling?
Just start. I mean, it's the same thing as our workouts. We know, we know this, that , and, and actually really read, listen to Chris do read his book. I found it really helpful just to, he is gonna take all the excuses that you , you might have and, and knock 'em out.
And he talked about the different types of people in Two Brain , and I'm not, he has like, you know, there's people who don't do well and they, they struggle.
And then there's the people who are like really, you know, high achievers and I , I wasn't there, I obviously wasn't here, but I was kind of here and understanding it was kinda like somebody who's been CrossFitting for two years and they want to get stronger, but they don't know what it is that they need to do.
And the golden hour is that it can kind of just, it, it's a tool that can be a super effective and efficient tool that can get you to the other side.
So like instead of being this people who are just kind of cruising along, having the tools and feeling empowered enough to be in that upper, upper level and getting the things done that are gonna really move the needle rather than kind of just dancing in a circle doing things that I think might be helpful. This, this forces me to really, really hone in on what will be the most effective and
Like, what could you get done in one hour if you did the right stuff and worked hard at it and focused instead of back and forth doing the wrong stuff and answering the phone and selling a T-shirt and processing a membership and then, whoa , something else happened and there's a plugged toilet and I didn't do anything. Right. So that's the whole principle there and you're having obvious success with it.
I think it's really cool that you've kind of tailored that to the way that you want and you're at the tinker level to , that's something I'll mention to listeners.
Tinkers are upper level gym owners, so , uh, we have a whole bunch of programs and once you get to a certain level, like your gym is running really well, like Dana's not at her gym right now, she's at home , uh, the gym is running well, you have other projects going on, you're making a good income, everything is stable and solid and you're thinking, what else can I do? That's the Tinker program.
And once you get in there, you're looking at big entrepreneurial ideas, maybe opening a second gym, maybe buying your business , uh, sorry , your building that your gym is in, maybe starting a farm and raising horses, whatever it is, you can do these things.
And so that's the program that Dana's in where she's got support from tinker level mentors and other tinkerers, other top level gym owners , uh, that she works with. Uh, before we close this out, how does that group, how does that affect your goal hour ? Do you have a lot of in , you know, adjustments that are made because you are at this advanced level in that group?
Oh man, I'll tell you Tinker, it's, it's like the difference whenever you go in and like, say you've been going to a global gym and then you go to CrossFit and you're just like, holy heck, I didn't know what I didnt . And I , I liken it back to kind of those , uh, pictures from the eighties where you looked at them and there was nothing and then all of a sudden the picture would jump out at you.
Mm yeah, kind of that same idea of just the things that you didn't know that you didn't know.
But on top of that, having people who really authentically support you, I just recently had a real big trauma , um, with a friend getting very severely hurt, mountain biking, and it was tough to, to be a gym owner and a mom and all these things, but these aren't just people who are like, oh, let's do good at business and, and, and those things. But it's like, how can we help you as a person?
And that part is huge, just having other people who are, are similar in mindset. Um, to be able to kind of just say, Hey, I , you're not alone and I've been there before. It's, it's huge . It's, it's like nothing I've ever experienced
That is so great. And listeners, if you wanna experience the beginning part of that community, head to gym owners united.com. You will find other gym owners just like you. We punt the jerks and we have great people who are supporting each other and helping people build better businesses. The Golden Hour Challenge is going on right now, and you can start it late, that's just fine.
This guy, the Golden Hour , Chris Cooper's ninth book is available on Amazon. Get that. You can get it audio and you can read it while you ride horses with Dana. Or you can read it, you know, do whatever you like. Do it either way. Do that stuff. Dana, thank you so much for being here today and sharing your story. We're gonna let you run your horses and run your farm now. Sounds good.
Thanks Mike. Alright , that was Dana Uchay , this is Run of Profitable. Jim, thanks for listening. You can pick up Chris Cooper's book, the Golden Hour through the link in the show notes. Please do that. And now here's Chris Cooper himself with a final message.
Hey, it's two Brain founder Chris Cooper. With a quick note , we created the Gym Owners United Facebook group to help you run a profitable gym. Thousands of gym owners, just like you have already joined in the group. We share sound advice about the business of fitness every day I answer questions, I run free webinars and I give away all kinds of great resources to help you grow your gym.
I'd love to have you in that group. It's Gym Owners United on Facebook, or go to gym owners united.com to join. Do it today.