e053. Strength in Community with Eric Conway & Nina Rodriguez

Including You Interview with Eric Conway & Nina Rodriguez

Full Interview Transcript

Voiceover Announcer:

This is Including You, the new series from Lead at Any Level. Including You feature stories from Chief Diversity Officers and other executives who are creating inclusive cultures in their organizations. Our goal is to show what’s working in companies just like yours. To give you the tools you need to keep pushing for progress in your own workplace. We want to create belonging and opportunity for everyone, including you. And now here’s your host, Amy C. Waninger.

Amy C. Waninger:

Welcome back to Including You. I’m your host, Amy C. Waninger, the Inclusion Catalyst. My guest today are Eric Conway and Nina Rodriguez. Eric is the Director of Talent Acquisition and Nina is a Talent Acquisition Recruiter at a company called [solidcore]. [solidcore] is a high intensity, low impact, full body workout on a Pilates inspired reformer. They will explain what that means in case you are not a Pilates inspired workouter yet. With the lights down and the music up, you’ll find a stronger version of yourself by the first song change. That’s the promise. [solidcore] employs a thousand people across a hundred studios in communities coast to coast. Eric and Nina, welcome to the show.

Eric Conway:

Thank you for having us. I’m so excited to be here.

Nina Rodriguez:

Thanks for having us, Amy.

Amy C. Waninger:

Eric, can you just real quick explain to everybody what [solidcore] is, what your business model looks like, and what the heck is a Pilates inspired reformer? For those of us who are athletically challenged.

Eric Conway:

Yes, great question. [solidcore] at is base, as you mentioned before, it’s a full body, 50 minute, high intensity, low impact type of workout. Our workout is geared on engaging the core, that’s what our machine does. We call it sweatlana, that’s our internal name for it. But the purpose of that machine is really just you really challenging yourself. And I think that’s the greatest part about our workout where you can never plateau on a machine because it is all about how hard you push yourself. And people love our workout because you can go to one class or 500 classes, and you can get the same type of workout every time. So it just brings people back more and more.

Amy C. Waninger:

That’s great. And you’ve been expanding rapidly, Nina, is that correct? And you have studios all over the country. Can you talk a little bit about your footprint?

Nina Rodriguez:

Yes, that is correct. Like Eric mentioned, we’re expanding very rapidly across all 50 states, that is definitely the goal. Or if there’s 53, correct me if my math is wrong. I can speak specifically to the northeast region. So I have one of the biggest regions at the moment, I man or I spearhead the recruitment process for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. And boy, I can tell you we have so many clients who are so excited about the brand. And even more candidates who are more excited to join the team as a coach, part-time or full-time. I can definitely say our footprint has expanded, especially over the last year. There are a number of different political folks, celebrities, and normal people like you and me, every day who enjoy [solidcore]. And really see the benefit of it physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Amy C. Waninger:

That’s fantastic. Now, with a brand like this, Eric, why is inclusion so important as an internal focus? Why does [solidcore] invest in inclusion initiatives?

Eric Conway:

I think it’s important that anytime that you are part of a space in the community, that you are really a part of that community. And I think we go out of our way to not just have a facility in the local community, we engage in local community activity, so that way we can represent what the community represents. So you see us spearheading a lot of historic monumental things throughout the year and also very localized things within that community. So we can let people know that this building for our [solidcore] studios, is not just a studio, is really part of your community. And we want it to be part of people’s homes so they can feel comfortable for that hour that they’re. Some people take multiple classes, so they’re like workout warriors. They might take two or three classes in a day, which is amazing. But they feel comfortable, like this is really part of their community and not just a building on the street.

Amy C. Waninger:

Yeah, that makes sense. Because if you’re in the community, you want to be of the community. And Nina, what do you think it is about [solidcore], about the internal workings of the company that make that community engagement happen?

Nina Rodriguez:

I think one thing that drew me not just as a client, but as an employee of [solidcore] is just the effort and the meaning behind diversity and inclusion for us. It’s not just another word or a buzzword, I guess, you can say to draw more people in. But it’s something that the company actually practices. Something that I really admire about … it starts at the top and it trickles downward.

So our CEO, Bryan Myers is such a great leader. He is openly a part of the LGBTQ community, which is something that’s very important to myself and others in the community. And we lead initiatives to do that. We have a queer ERG, not just for our clients to join in their local studios, but here internally at all of our full-time employees. We’re able to communicate and we’re able to do fun events inside the studios and outside the studios. And it’s a great way for us to just bond together and share in that community with each other. And not feel like we have to hide who we are internally in order to make things happen.

Amy C. Waninger:

That’s great. How many ERGs do you have, Eric?

Eric Conway:

We have so many different ones, I can’t say off the top of the head. We have … it’s just one whole community that manages the different ones and I think we are always conscious of what’s new or what we’ve taken advantage of. And maybe the feedback also from our clients because even from an employment standpoint. And we get those questions all the time about what type of things we represent, how inclusive we are in different areas. So we always taking the information back to Bryan and saying, “Hey, here’s an opportunity. We don’t have a group that might be underrepresented. Can we look into this?” And he’s, “Yeah, let’s spearhead it.” So I would say right now we have several ongoing ERGs that we communicate in and actually put out newsletters about things that were going on and how we could participate, and anybody that wants to volunteer. And I think it’s outstanding, they do little game nights and events and things of nature. It’s pretty cool.

Amy C. Waninger:

It sounds like you’re doing a really good job as a company of creating community inside the company as well as engaging in the community outside the company. What are some of the indicators to you that what you’re doing is working? And I’ll open this up for either of you that want to answer.

Eric Conway:

I think for me, just seeing on both sides of the fence where I can see where we are as far as employee base, inside of our homes and our studios. And also from the feedback from employers where they go through interview process and so forth. Most time people want to know what type of culture you have before they join. And I know I saw a survey that at least 75% of people who when they’re considering a job, the first thing they consider is culture. Minus the pay and everything else, they look at the culture of the company. So that really comes up about what will represent and I think as Nina alluded to it starts at the top from Bryan, he’s spearheading, he’s the face of our culture.

And anytime you have your CEO who is walking around the office, can meet all employees, he gets to every studio, takes every class, try to meet every … that’s amazing. That’s amazing story to know that he’s out there on the ground, not just sitting behind the desk being a part of it. He’s actually really a part of what’s going on in this company, and has a stronghold, and really engaging with the clients and our coaches, and our faculty and staff, as well.

Amy C. Waninger:

And Nina, when you’re recruiting, I’m sure you’re getting a lot of questions about culture. What do you think are the things that are resonating with your candidates?

Nina Rodriguez:

I think something, especially in our bigger city markets, something that really resonates, a lot of our candidates do start out as clients. And one of the biggest things that I hear across the board from all of our candidates that are interested is how included they felt. Not just that their coaches represented who they were ethnically, but like I mentioned before, the LGBTQ community is super welcome, we have so many coaches that are of ethnic diversity, of queer diversity, of body diversity. So our diversity spans across just what people first think about. But something that I can really vouch for and really say that I’ve seen also in my market visits is that we have such an influx of different folks from different walks of life. And everybody definitely has a seat on sweatlana. So it’s really nice to see it and it’s nice to hear it too when I interview folks virtually.

Amy C. Waninger:

That’s great. I love that you’ve named the machine sweatlana. That’s beautiful.

So talk to me a little bit more about this notion of body diversity and body type diversity. Because I think a lot of people, and especially people who come from communities that have been marginalized in the past, communities of color, queer communities, of course as women … sorry about my dog. As women, it’s almost if you don’t have body image problems, you’re not a real woman. It’s so ingrained in us, so early. And so I’m wondering, how do your studios ingrain body positivity and body diversity and make everyone feel welcome, even if maybe they’ve been excluded from fitness in the past because of who they are or how they present?

Eric Conway:

That’s a great question. We are very intentional about how we select our coaches, that’s from starting point because the coaches are the face of our brand, number one. And we’re very intentional about representing what that community looks like. I know previously one time we had a client apply and she made some comments about one of our coaches and she was a fitness professional for 15 years, and she said, “I look way better than all the coaches here.” And so I gladly sent her an email and I wanted to set up a conversation with her and she said, “Hey, I’ve been applying and applying, but I don’t know why I’m not getting accepted because I’m in better shape than your coaches.” So I took it as an educational opportunity to say that our coaches are great at what they do and we need people who represent what the community looks like. And those classes are filled in that particular studio where those clients like you mentioned, might feel underrepresented or they love that coach because it’s somebody that they can see their relation and looks like them. They don’t have to be in perfect shape.

And she was so embarrassed that she didn’t understand the magnitude of what she was saying. Most people have this figure of what a coach would look like and I told her that, “Hey, that’s not who we represent at [solidcore]. We represent all walks of life, all shapes. So I encourage you to go back and do some research in how could you make all those people your community inclusive?” And so she really learned hopefully a great lesson that day about what our brand stands for and it’s past what we look like. And it’s one of the things I talked about, what we promote our positions and our coaching. We don’t talk about losing weight, we talk about being a better version of yourself. Anybody can do that, it doesn’t have to be a certain body type or a fixture to be a part of that trend.

Amy C. Waninger:

Yeah. Nina, anything to add?

Nina Rodriguez:

Yeah, I think another thing that really stands out about our brand as well, is our verbiage and our language. As fitness professionals and as recruiters and all of the wonderful people that work for [solidcore], we always keep in mind that strength has nothing to do with the physical or the aesthetic. It all boils down to how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally. And we also recognize that whenever you do hop onto sweatlana, whenever you do take a class and set aside those 50 minutes for yourself, it’s more so how you can challenge how you’re feeling that day. It’s more so conquering your 50 minutes and using that same attitude and applying it to the rest of the 23 and a half hours of your day, or however the math is. So it really boils down to just finding coaches who represent and embody that strength aspect. And coaching others to not just exercise their bodies, but to exercise their minds and their souls, if you will.

Amy C. Waninger:

I think it’s really important, you’re talking about an employer brand that matches a consumer brand and is going to attract the kind of people that will perpetuate that brand. And I think a lot of companies miss that employer brand piece when they’re talking about who they are, who they want to attract in. Do you feel like that’s a competitive differentiator for [solidcore]? Do you feel like it’s something that a lot of fitness companies are doing right now? Or do you think it’s something that’s unique?

Eric Conway:

I think it’s unique and I think that’s really why we one of the leading spaces in the fitness brand, and we are in a rapid growth phase. A lot of investors will come to us and especially post COVID. And they’re asking, what are you doing? Where a lot of other fitness companies are going backwards and they’re closing down, they’re experiencing a lot of huge layoffs. We’re in the opposite stage, we’re in a rapid growth stage, where we can open up our hundredth studio and I think we have 19 more on a dock this year alone.

And I think that speaks volumes of the leadership from the top, about what our brand represents and how much we are ingrained in the community. People really resonate with that message. And they see [solidcore], like I said, it’s more as a fixture in the community and they get really excited about when a studio’s coming into the area, they’re like, oh my God, [solidcore] is coming. And so hopefully we can really just spread that message about, learn about who we are and take some insights into our clients. And they’ll go visit a class and see what our coaches are like and then they’ll fall in love with our brand.

Amy C. Waninger:

It’s interesting because right now almost every sector of the economy is experiencing a labor shortage. Almost every company outside of tech right now is saying, we can’t find enough people to work. And somehow tech is laying everybody off, which is nuts because what’s going to happen is, I think, all those tech people are going to go figure out that they’re needed in other industries. When tech decides to hire again, they’re going to be hurting. I think it’s fascinating that you’ve created this niche where not only are you able to retain your employees, but you’re able to grow and find talent when a lot of people are really struggling with recruiting.

Eric Conway:

Yes, and I want to say this year alone, we’re just going back to some of our metrics. Right after COVID, I think we had 250 people that we had hired just from a part-time coaching perspective. Last year that grew to about 485 people, and this year we are anticipating the higher, somewhere between 800 people alone. So we’ve doubled our growth every year and that’s just part-time, that’s not even talking about our full-time corporate positions, where we also rapidly growing here in all of our departments. So [solidcore] is a whole … we’re on a great growth path scale, so that really just speaks volumes about everything. We’re talking about being very diverse, we are very inclusive and just really setting the tone in this fitness space of what type of brand do we represent for the communities.

Amy C. Waninger:

I think that’s fantastic. So now with all of this growth and this base of employer brand plus commercial brand or go-to-market brand, what’s next for [solidcore]? What do you see as the next evolution in your inclusion journey, in diversifying your client base and diversifying your workforce?

Eric Conway:

I’ll speak for myself and I’ll Nina tag on any notes. For us, I think it’s the next phase I like to joke about pre-COVID we were like a tugboat, and then we grew into a ship. And I think the next phase is like a battleship. So I really want [solidcore] to be a household name. I think to be in a leading space where everybody knows about [solidcore]. And since we’ve opened up so many new studios, a lot of people have not heard about [solidcore]. So I think this is a great opportunity to just mirror what’s already going on, as far as people really loving our brand. And we have very high appraises about our workout and our coaches and our experience. Is really just making everybody aware about who we are and where we are, so if they get an opportunity to visit the studio, they can.

Amy C. Waninger:

Nina, anything to add to that?

Nina Rodriguez:

Yeah. I truly feel … and to Eric’s point, I really see us becoming a household name. I have no doubt about it in my mind. Just going back to the metrics of everything, especially just right now in quarter one, our goal is to hire at least 250 people. So they say with every person, at least two or three more people follow. Whether it’s from the employer standpoint of bringing them onto the team or bringing them into our studios to try a class. I really feel like for the year ahead and for the years to come, I really feel like [solidcore] is definitely going to make it smart in the fitness industry and definitely stand apart from the rest.

Amy C. Waninger:

Well, I think it’s wonderful what you all are doing. I love this message of all bodies welcome and making space for people starting from wherever they are and going wherever … just to be a little bit better after 50 minutes, than they were when they walked in the door. I think that’s so important and it’s something that’s so attainable for people, and relatable, and accessible. Thank you both so much for your time and for your insights, and I wish you all the best.

Eric Conway:

Thank you and we appreciate you.

Nina Rodriguez:

Thank you so much, Amy. Pleasure meeting you.

Voiceover Announcer:

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, follow Lead at Any Level on LinkedIn and YouTube. Then join us for Including You video Simulcast every Thursday at noon Eastern. Including You can also be enjoyed each week as part of the Living Corporate Audio podcast series, available on all major podcast platforms. Learn more at living-corporate.com.

Including You is brought to you in part by Lead at Any Level, a boutique training and consulting firm improving employee engagement and retention for companies that promote from within. Lead at Any Level, leaders can be anywhere and should be everywhere. Learn more at leadatanylevel.com.

Lead at Any Level and its logo are registered trademarks of Lead at Any Level, llc. The views and opinions of guests on our show do not necessarily reflect the positions of Lead at Any Level, Living Corporate or the sponsors of Including You.

Amy C. Waninger:

That’s it for this week’s episode of Including You. Be sure to join me next week when my guest will be Rachel Muredzwa from the Ohio State University College of Nursing.