#122: Retention, Great Coaches & Doing Hard Things - NCFIT Founder Jason Khalipa & Wodify CEO Brendan Rice (CrossFit Games 2023)

Joining a gym is often the most important decision and commitment we make on our fitness journey. Which gym we choose can make or break our attitude and our results. But what makes a great gym? What keeps us there and brings us back day after day? What are the keys to retention for both the gym goer and the gym owner? 

Wodify is the leading customer retention platform in the fitness industry. NCFIT was an early adopter and continues to put technology at the forefront of the gym experience. 

For this episode, Fran Racioppi and Jessie Graff invited Wodify’s newly promoted CEO Brendan Rice and NCFIT’s Founder & the 2008 CrossFit Games Champion Jason Khalipa for an early morning coffee on the back of the US Army Fitness Truck at 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games.

Transforming the gym business has been at the center of the Wodify and NCFIT missions. Brendan and Jason share their keys to creating a customer experience and generating results through training the best coaches, never shying from doing hard things and focusing on the athlete over everything else. 

Brendan also shares his vision for Wodify as he takes the helm leading with curiosity, investing in the team and maintaining Wodify’s position at the leading edge of innovation and fitness technology; a set of values that has allowed the company to expand into the Jiu-jit-su community. 

Jason is one of the best coaches in fitness and explains his keys to becoming a great coach; plus he got the call to announce the games on ESPN! 

Learn more and read the transcript on The Jedburgh Podcast Website. Subscribe to us and follow @jedburghpodcast on all social media. Watch the full video version on YouTube. Then hop into the cold plunge and do hard things!

Transform your gym experience today at www.wodify.com.

Highlights:

• 0:00 Welcome to the CrossFit Games and ESPN
• 7:30 Transitioning from athlete to gym owner
• 10:50 Brendan starts his career selling mattresses
• 12:28 Aiming to solve the retention problem in gyms with Wodify
• 15:23 Why coaches are keys to retention
• 30:00 Brendan’s vision as the Wodify CEO
• 36:05 The real value of the cold plunge and doing hard things

Quotes: 

• “Anybody who’s an expert in their craft who doesn’t go out and try to learn new skills  I think is missing out.” (10:44) 
• “The problem we were actually solving was retention.” (13:17) 
• “If gyms provide a better product on the floor by having better coaches their business is going to be healthier.” (20:31) 
• “No one cares what you have to say until they see how much you actually care about them as a human.” (22:35) 
• “One of the biggest statistics of lifespan is the ability to get on and off the floor.” (29:06) 
• “Intentionally choosing to do hard things makes real life things less hard.” (35:53)

This episode is brought to you by US Army, Wodify, Hero Coffee, GORUCK &  Compass Workforce Solutions.