Jul '21
- This OnDeck podcast, Creator Tools with Joe Albanese (Co-founder and CEO of Stir), really inspired me and gave me great optimism about Maverick Community’s business model. Here are a couple of key take-a-ways and thoughts:
- New business applications are at a 20-year high, and individual people are becoming businesses by doing what they love (creators).
- The barriers to entry for becoming an entrepreneur have never been lower with all the affordable resources and tools on the internet (Sutra, Stir, Shopify, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc.). Everyone and anyone can become an entrepreneur overnight.
- The biggest challenge for creators is on the distribution side of things - aka “I’m doing great work, but nobody sees it/nobody is paying for it.” This is why fitness and wellness entrepreneurs used to teach at Equinox, Barry’s, Soul Cycle, or BeachBody - institutions that bring clients to them.
- The solution for the distribution challenge is for creator entrepreneurs to work together and switch from single-player mode to multi-player mode. This means fitness professionals collaborating via co-hosting classes, events, pop-ups, and retreats. Fitness and wellness professionals across all disciplines (fitness via personal trainers, mental health via meditation coaches, nutrition via nutritionists, etc.) must work together to find ways to bring unique value to their clients. Additionally, creators must work with brands (ex: Alo, Adidas, Carbon38, Lululemon, Celsius) to expand their networks. Even before the creator economy boom, we saw brands have a preference to work with individuals (ex: fitness instructors) over other brands (ex: Equinox) as individuals are more relatable.
- As Maverick Community expands to multiple locations, there will be a real network effect as wellness professionals will collaborate with wellness professionals in more areas and enjoy additional potential clients.
- My favorite part of the podcast is Joe saying: “Optimism is my superpower” – this is the type of person I want to be around!