In a recent interview, serial entrepreneur and fitness enthusiast Bo DePaoli from D3 Capital shared his incredible journey from his roots in his father’s $100 million construction company to building a fitness empire with Grit Fitness. Bo took a risk by purchasing a struggling gym chain, transforming it into a thriving brand, and skyrocketing memberships!
But Bo’s path wasn’t without its challenges—like the impacts of COVID-19, which led to a 30% membership dip. However, he seized the moment to pivot into real estate, founding D3 Capital and expanding his portfolio even further. Alongside John LaRoy, CEO of Apparel Redefined, Bo emphasized the importance of hands-on learning over formal education, sharing that true leadership evolves through experience, mentorship, and adaptability.
Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a fitness buff, or someone looking for motivation to adapt in tough times, Bo’s story of resilience and transformation offers valuable insights for anyone striving to make their mark.
Key Highlights
• Bo DePaoli’s Entrepreneurial Journey and Family Influence 0:03
• Transition from CMS Group to Grit Fitness 6:05
• Impact of COVID-19 on Grit Fitness 16:21
• Leadership and Mentorship in Business 33:43
• Bo DePaoli’s Current Ventures and Future Plans 40:55
• Leadership in Action and Personal Reflections 44:23
• Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks 46:46
Presentation Transcription
Curt Anderson 00:03
Hey guys, hello. How are you and John LeRoy, how are you, dude? What’s going on? Man, doing
John LaRoy 00:08
good. Curt, how about you?
Curt Anderson 00:09
I’m like, I got a good night’s sleep for this one, because you gave me a little heads up last week about this conversation. So I’m like, you know, I went to bed extra early. You know, I’m an older guy, so I used to go bed early anyway, but I went to bed extra early just for this conversation I’m ready to roll. So let’s Hey. No further ado. Let’s introduce our dear friend Bo DePaoli . Bo, how are you man?
Bo DePaoli 00:32
Good? How you guys doing?
Curt Anderson 00:33
Oh, my goodness, we are doing phenomenal. So we’ve got a lot to unpack. We’ve got lots to uncover here. Serial entrepreneur, you have just really a great background love for folks that connect with you on LinkedIn. You’ve got D3 enterprises. You have a bunch of other things under your umbrella. Let’s, let’s go here first, let’s dive in. Like, entrepreneurship is in your DNA. Just share a little bit like, what led you you know you’re a Purdue grad when you’re coming out of college. What like, what led you into this entrepreneurial journey?
Bo DePaoli 01:06
You know, I so I never actually really wanted to go to college. My parents forced me. It was back in the day when, you know, people thought you had to get that pig skin. What I really wanted to do when I graduated high school is I wanted to get into the trades, earn some money so they could start buying real estate. That was my goal. I wanted to start buying apartment buildings. My uncle owned apartment buildings. I saw the benefit in real estate. You know, it’s like something like six out of 10 millionaires are made their wealth through real estate. So that’s what I really wanted to do. Plus, I barely made it out of high school, so there was no reason for me to go into college at all, but I had to go. But even when I was in college, I was always trying to, like, you know, do stuff, make deals happen, and all that stuff, but just, you know, trial and error and keep going, right? Well, I kudos to you, man. You
Curt Anderson 02:02
went to one of the top engineering schools, so you made it through Purdue. And just, you know, talk a little bit, I know your dad is a fierce entrepreneur, just share a little bit of, like, what was his influence like, you know, you know, as a kid, watching him build his business, what did that look like for your perspective? Yeah,
Bo DePaoli 02:17
so I’m actually a third generation entrepreneur, if you will call it. My grandfather started a the largest mechanical construction company in our area, back in the 50s and 60s and 70s. Basically built every school, you know, government office in this area. And then my dad was actually he’s a plumber by trade, and then once he graduated the apprenticeship, they brought him into the office to start helping with estimates and learning operations and stuff like that. So he helped with the company through that. And then when they closed shop, they my dad actually went to work for Raytheon for several years. And so he was doing workout at at the time, it was inland steel that was before all of the the steel changes. And so he was working for Raytheon, doing project and construction management. And then he was like, you know, I could do this, you know, why do i Why can’t I do this on my own? So he actually had a good friend in purchasing that was able to give him his first Po, and that’s how we started a CMS group. And then from there, he just, you know, I mean, my dad is, like, the hardest worker. I know it’s all he does is work, which he’s kind of bred that into me. I like working though, you know, and I think he’s the same way he likes to work. And, yeah, he grew, he grew a CMS into what is today as over $100 million a year company. And he just did it through just keep just pushing and grinding and doing what he could to grow the business. So I actually went to work for him in the early 2000s at the time I was working for it was 18. We went through the mergers, right? So it was Ameritech, and then we got bought out by AT&T, remember, they broke up Ma Bell, and then Ma Bell came back together, basically. And so I was with at&t. And then during that mergers, you know, they started shedding some weight, if you will, and I got laid off, so they gave me a severance. And then my dad’s like, well, I need a scheduler for this project. And I really didn’t want to go do it. But while I was in college, I was working for this company that does. They were a surveying company, but they also did all of the surveying out at the steel mill, and they would like line rolls up so that they were square to the to the steel line and stuff like that. And I really, really enjoyed that work, but it was exhausting, because I was working 70 hours a week. Us going to college full time out in the steel mill, working shift work, and it was just it took a toll on me. So I actually, when I when I did that, I’m sitting there thinking, because at the time, my major was construction management, and I’m like, There’s no way I want to do this for the rest of my life. And so I actually changed my major to international business. And then I left that, that surveying company, and that’s when I went to work for, you know, Ameritech at the time. So Ameritech became Verizon, and then at&t, and then when I got laid off, I was there for seven years at 18 T and when I got let go there, that’s when my old man was like, you know, hey, I need a surveyor for this project. And I was like, man, really don’t want to do it, because that’s what I decided not to do in college. And I ended up going to work for him because, you know, I had, I needed a paycheck. And I ended up working there for 10 years, became VP of ops, and, you know, I helped them grow the brand. You know, at the time, we only had about 30 employees when I came on board, and by the time I left, we were, we were averaging like 500 at the time. Wow,
John LaRoy 06:16
incredible.
Bo DePaoli 06:1
So, yeah, and so when I left, when I worked there for 10 years, I learned everything when it honestly, I tell this to everybody, because I think, I think college is the biggest scam in the world, unless you’re going to be like in a doctor or an attorney or, you know, an accountant, any kind of actual professional career, but If you’re going to school for business or marketing or any of that other BS like you can learn that. You can learn more of that on the job than you can in a classroom. You won’t be able to change my mind, because I am first hand experience, right? My degree is international business, but I learned more in the first four to five years working for my dad in the office, doing all the operations, doing all of the admin stuff, managing people, managing work, all of that stuff. I learned more doing that than I ever did in my in college, right? And I tell, I even tell my staff that now that worked for me. You know, I have a lot of at the gym. You know, my front desk staff are younger, right? They’re either high school, coming out of high school, and they’re like, I’m going to college. I’m like, Well, what are you going to go to college for? They’re like, marketing. I’m like, you’re wasting your money. You’re going to spend six figures on a degree that you could go, go to work and intern at a marketing company, and you’ll learn everything you need to know, right? So and and
Curt Anderson 07:44
get paid in the process. John, what are you I couldn’t love this conversation more. What are your thoughts?
John LaRoy 07:49
Couldn’t agree more. It’s a freaking scam, I mean. And like, even, even more, like the med schools and the accounting schools and all this other stuff, most of the time you don’t really learn until you get out, like you learn the theory and the practice, which, right now, all of that shit is available online, right? And, like, the mystique and the networking that I feel that was part of most of the college like, hey, my dad went to Saint Xavier. My dad did this. Or, you know what, I mean, like, that’s all gone. And, like, really, there’s probably 10 schools left in the country that still have that, like, brotherhood, where it is kind of worth it to still go, like, talking about Notre Dame, Harvard, Princeton, yeah, like that. And if you go there, just going there opens up doors. And that was kind of like, back, you know, 20 years ago. Hey, you gotta go to college and open up doors, and you’re part of this fraternity and all those other bullshit. And, yeah, I mean, like, college didn’t prepare me for what I do today at all. And even if there was an entrepreneur track, like, it still wouldn’t, because you don’t know how to do it. And most of the time, like, at these not, you know, the school I went to was great, whatever. I had fun, but all the shit I learned was being able to balance baseball, hockey, class, social life, all that stuff like time management. So there’s still that part of it, but I don’t think it should cost 120 grand for time management, right? You know, that’s stuff that I’ve already known in high school, and, you know, just being competitive throughout life, but, and I hate to say this, but a lot of the stuff that you learn in college is from losers, and I challenged a lot of them. I’m like, What did you actually sell? What did you actually do? What what financial position did you hold? I would honestly get into it and get kicked out of class because I’m like, You’re a failed vacuum salesman. You’re telling me about corporate finance right now. And, yeah, it was contentious. And I like, for me too, it’s like, I’m not going to JB Pritzker for fitness advice. You know what I mean? Like, I need to learn from people that actually have done it. And you know the eye test right there is pretty simple, the JB Pritzker thing. But I. I respect people that have been the war, going through the trenches and that type of stuff, and I didn’t see any of that in college, probably my first year seminar teacher, this guy, Mark Lynn, probably the most impactful teacher I had because he worked in marketing for 30 years, and he had all this back experience, and he retired, and he’s like, hey, I’ll go teach. I got nothing else to do. And it was like, That guy actually knew what the hell he was talking about, and everyone else was, you know, work three days a week, six months a year, and I’m going to tell you what’s already in this book. So yeah, that kind of gets me fired up, if you couldn’t tell Curt, because,
Curt Anderson 10:36
well, that was a good analogy. Now John, just, I’ve noticed now you typically don’t come to me for her advice. Is that kind of the analogy?
John LaRoy 10:42
Not going to do it. Curt, right, right?
Curt Anderson 10:45
I always say, like, if I was a barber and you came walking in the room, what would you do? So, Bo, let’s go back. I’m coming back to my friend. So I’m showing my age here. John, you’re probably too young to remember this, but there was a little athlete back in the 80s. He was like, Bo knows Bo nos baseball, Bo knows football. I like to say Bo knows entrepreneurship. So Bo, you work for your dad for number of years. I mean, what a great story. Your dad built a nine figure company from scratch, and on the website, he talks about how he bootstrapped, and he did this, and then it grew, and then he did that, and then it grew just I want to, I want to piggyback, take that experience working with dad, and now you’re a fitness guru, fitness junkie. You’ve got a wonderful shirt on today. Grip fitness just share like, I’m gonna dive deeper into your entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial journey, going from dad’s business, what the impact that you had going from 30 employees to 500 and then let’s dive into your fitness journey.
Bo DePaoli 11:38
Yeah. Um, so, yeah, we, what we did is we when we were scaling ACMs. So let me actually, let me backtrack. So ACMs originally started as project in construction management, and then we started to diversify and doing self performing services. So we were, since we were so heavy in the steel mills, power plants and refineries. A lot of times, when these facilities go have their downturns, they bring in outside contractors to do the work because they don’t have enough inside manpower, and so we were already managing the work. So then we started bidding on actually doing the work as well, right? And so that’s how we kind of started growing a CMS outside of just project and construction management. We started bidding the actual work as well. So I remember I went from scheduling jobs for my dad, running, helping run the inside Office, and we wrapped up a big project in South Chicago for Detroit Toledo Edison, it was a coal handling facility. And, like, literally, we, we wrapped up the project, and the next day, he’s like, you’re going out to the mill. So we, we bid this job, and he wanted me to go out there and run it. It was 100 labors and, like, 10 brick layers. And, like, I don’t know, like, three or four carpenters doing a bunch of work across the steel mill. And i That day, I worked 36 hours straight that day, because when you’re in there and the mill is down, they’re down for a set amount of time, and you’ve gotta get the job done regardless. Like you, you cannot mess around. And so I had to stay out there and make sure that the guys were doing what they’re supposed to be. Supposed to be doing and getting all the work. And with this being our our first job that we were self performing ourselves, I wanted to make sure that we, you know, we really shined, you know? And so, yeah, so that we did really well. And then we started getting more and more opportunities, and that just helped us keep growing the business right? So it got to the point, you know, I worked for my old man for 10 years. And, you know, like I said in the beginning of this podcast, it wasn’t something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I had always been a gym rat. You know, I worked out all the time. I had a crew of buddies that we worked out. We actually competed back in the day power lifting. And so an opportunity came up to buy a failing gym chain. And, you know, I took the cash that I had in the bank and and bought the business and took a chance on myself. You know, I figured, if I could run, help run ACMs with, you know, several 100 employees I’m I could run a gym, but little did I know it’s a completely different operation. It’s night and day. So it was a big learning curve. So yeah, so I’ve been running. I’ve owned the gyms for last 10 years. I turned the gyms around in the first year from making no money, and actually told I actually talked about this on my first podcast that I did, I bought the gyms. Because I tell people, anytime you’re buying a business, make sure you do your due diligence and make sure you have a due diligence clause in the purchase agreement. I didn’t have a due diligence clause, right? I just I ran the numbers, I took the reports that they sent me, and I figured, we’re good, right? Yeah, came up with an agreed upon purchase price, closed on a deal, got a loan, and first weekend, none of the numbers match the reports, so I ended up having to cash in my IRA within the first month to keep the business open and just keep pushing forward to, you know, make sure this investment I made worked out. And I learned a big lesson with that. Make sure you have a due diligence clause in your purchase agreement. And I talked about that on my first podcast. And yeah, so from there, turned it around. In the first year, I actually rebranded the gyms. And, you know, just kept slowly reinvesting in the gyms. And, yeah, that’s, that’s pretty much it. What?
Curt Anderson 15:46
I don’t know if there’s not put you on the spot. I don’t know if there was, like, one particular thing or a couple things. What would you credit the success to the turnaround? Again, if you’re talking to a younger entrepreneur, or maybe a gym entrepreneur, what was that advice? What do you feel? Any silver bullets that you felt really was the turnaround.
Bo DePaoli 16:04
I think it was, it was a two fold thing. I think it was one reinvesting back into the club. There was a lot of equipment that was broken down, not working. So I came in, I bought all new cardio equipment, I bought a bunch of new equipment, I brought it in, and then I readjusted the pricing to make it more competitive at the time when I bought it, that’s when Planet Fitness was really hot and heavy, right? 10 bucks a month, 10 bucks a month, 10 bucks a month. And so when I rebranded the gym, I rebranded it, and I bought into the world gym franchise because I wanted to completely get rid of the prior brand, because the prior brand had been dragged through the mud in in the community, in the press, and so I didn’t want to, I wanted to have it like a fresh start, right? So I rebranded it as world gym. And I had a lot of good mentors in that franchise network, and they’re the ones that told me you gotta go to 10 bucks a month. So we did the 10 bucks a month. And, well, actually, let me rewind. What happened was, is we actually, we started at $20 a month, and so it really, we weren’t really getting any traction, right? We started at 20, and then I think our next membership tier was 30, and we weren’t really getting any traction there. I wasn’t hitting the sales that I needed to get to be able to cover overhead, and that was why, that was the biggest reason why I had a cash in my IRA and so I met with I actually, I took a chance. I flew to Canada, who, at the time, he they, he was their largest Canadian franchisee. He had several locations. He was killing it, like he was printing money out of these gyms. And so I went, I toured his gyms, toured his operations, asked him Bucha bunch of questions, and he asked me, he’s like, what’s your pricing at right now? And I said, I start at 20. He’s like, you gotta go to 10. You gotta go to 10 bucks a month. And that that shift in pricing, because at the time, again, we were competing against planet. I came back. I changed our marketing, changed our pricing and and went to 10 bucks a month, and we sold 1200 memberships in the first month after that pricing change. So that was like, God saved me, that actually put me in the black and allowed me to keep, you know, keep going forward.
Curt Anderson 18:25
Dude, that’s a powerful story. What I love is the humility that you that you had to, you know, instead of, like, you know, a lot of times entrepreneurs, you know, we kind of bang our head against the wall, or stubborn, you know, you go out to find the best and, you know, pick his brain. You come in with, you know, a humility and a curiosity of, like, what do I need to do? Let’s John, let’s just, let’s talk about mentors, and just, let’s sit on that for a second. Like, what’s share a little bit like, from your story, what you’re hearing from Bo, like, what’s been so important for you? Like, maybe a pivot point. I mean, that takes a lot of guts to, like, cut my price 50% right? And that saved the company. That’s a powerful story right there. What are your thoughts?
John LaRoy 19:03
Yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s self awareness to realize, like, hey, whatever I did to get to this point, to get to the next point, Something’s gotta change, right? You’re not, you know whether you’re talking about a business life, like going through that right now in our iteration of business, like developing my current leaders to get to that next level, like, hey, whatever we did to get here is not what it’s going to take to get to that next level. Whether it’s your personal skills, whatever you’re doing on on the floor, it’s leveling up and taking that lid, whether it’s self imposed, or someone else, put it on top of you, or the organization being able to take that lid off and climb to that next level, or allow yourself to get to that next level. A lot of this stuff is self imposed, you know. And I would say for me too, growing up in the industry and being like competitive, it was like, I want to take everyone down and like, tomorrow. I mean, we’re like, we, we. I didn’t like giving tours. I didn’t like doing that stuff, because I’m like, I got the secret sauce, and I don’t want anyone to see it or know it. And then I started realizing, like some other I would call them healthy competitors located across the country, like welcoming me, me and my team, in with open arms. Like, hey, yeah, you want to see this, show me, this, show this. And I’m like, Why? Why? Why would you trust me to do this? And it’s like, it’s just a different mindset, right? Like they they look at it like, Hey, I might have something to offer them, but they want to offer me give to get type mentality, and that’s something I did not really operate very well with for the first probably 15 years of 18 years of doing this was more of like me, me, me Central. And how can I benefit myself without realizing, like I can still do that, but also benefit others. But I also felt like I didn’t have a lot to share when I looked at the people that were ahead of me. You know, it’s like, especially in this, this marketing game that we’re in right now, Curt, that you’ve helped me explore like I always felt like, if it doesn’t look like Joe Rogan, I can’t start it right. And it’s like, I gotta get outside of my own head where it’s like, it’s never going to be perfect. You just got to start and I looked at like, everything we’ve done in the company, like it was never perfect, but we just had to get it going and get it get moving. But one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten from Dan Walsh and another guy that I played hockey with, and his dad owned a construction company down in South Florida. Was actually my first job out of college, was that the water’s a lot deeper when you get in, especially if you’re not going to be a solo entrepreneur, right? If you are now responsible for five employees, 10 employees, we’re up to, you know, close to 60. Now it’s not just them, it’s their families. And the responsibility is great, and every decision you make, every action you take, can either positively or negatively affect that family and their future. So, you know, at 22 years old, I was like, yeah, what the hell? I don’t care, like, you know, it’s just and now, like, at 40 with kids and how your mindset changes in the way you think, you know, it’s I attribute a lot of like, the being completely risk tolerant when I was, you know, 22 to 35 or whatever, to our growth. But now is like, you get a little older, you got kids, you know, those comments hit a lot more than when you’re 22 but you know, there’s that healthy balance you can’t just be so risk averse, especially in in the world we’re in today, because if you’re not growing, you’re dying and but having, like, a healthy balance of Risk tolerance, but also risk preservation for the future. Because, again, not a sole entrepreneur, and every decision I make affects not just me, but you know, a lot of a lot of people in the company. And you know, Dan Walsh probably has 100,000 employees compared to my 50. So he’s got, he’s got a lot more people to worry about.
Curt Anderson 22:59
Yeah, that dude. Brilliant advice. Absolutely love it. Bo, let’s, let’s go here. So it looks, you know, check out your LinkedIn profile. Looks like you transition from World gym. And then I want you on your shirt. You’ve got grit fitness. Let’s, let’s speed up to the few, I guess more the present. Tell us a little bit about grit fitness. What’s going on there, how you guys make the world a better place. And then I want to hear what’s going on in your world. When, before we went live, you’re talking about, you have some new, exciting things going on. Let’s go there.
Bo DePaoli 23:27
Yeah. So we, we were a grid fit. So I had a signed a five year franchise agreement with World gym. And at the time, the franchise agreement was not your traditional franchise agreement. Most franchise agreements takes a percentage of revenue, they treated it more like a licensing agreement, in a way, where it was a flat fee every month. And so they got into some new ownership and their goal was to grow the brand, and in order for them to grow the band, they had to go to a more traditional franchise model, where they were taking a percentage of revenue completely understand. My franchise agreement was up December 31 2019 I had to make a decision that year if I wanted to continue with World gym under the new agreement, they were not going to grandfather any of the legacy franchises into the old model. They wanted everyone to go to this new model. So business, 101, don’t piss off your customers. So what happened was they forced everybody’s hand to either sign or D brand because of this new franchise model they had, at the time, worldwide, they had 60 650 locations. They had 95 domestic US locations, right? So they were only rolling this franchise agreement out to just the domestic locations, the domestic franchisees they now have. Three,
Curt Anderson 25:01
right? They have three, three now, all right, before you continue the story, I just want to get the timeline down. Now, I’m not a math major, but December of 19, for those of us that were around, remember something happened in March of 20. Was this a massive blessing, one of the best things that ever happened to you, or what? Take us from December of 19 to March when the world shut down. Bo, what was your life like?
Bo DePaoli 25:26
So actually, we had found out about it in early 19. I would say second quarter of 19 is when they rolled this franchise agreement out, and I was already, I knew that my agreement was coming to an end, and I was already in the process of probably going to rebrand anyways. The reason why is World gym has a very meathead stigma, and that was not our gym. I mean, we had look. We offer childcare, tanning, group classes, personal training. You know, we are a we are a full fitness center. And at the time pre COVID, we had a very diverse demographic, right? We were literally 5050, men women. We had members as young as 16 years old, as old as 85 year olds, right? So it was very diverse, and I really wanted to lean in harder on Gen pop people, because I want to be able to help more of the Gen general population, right, because more of the Gen pop needs awareness of fitness and health and getting healthier through fitness with weight loss and better eating and all of that stuff. So I was already planning on rebranding, but I was going to go to a different franchise at the time, and I was going to go with the crunch brand. And I had actually looked at buying some crunches in the Chicagoland area that were for sale, and I had been talking to the corporate office about getting in. Well, while this whole transition was going on, they were bought out by private equity. And so what I wanted, what I asked for, basically at the 11th hour, was, look, in order for me to go to crunch, I’ve got to rebrand my entire facility. I’ve got to repaint it. I got to buy new signs. I got to get new equipment, because crunch has their own equipment. I said, Give me some time on the royalties. Paying the royalties, I think I asked for 18 months, no royalties for 18 months so that I can recoup my cost for having to convert. And since they went to private equity, they were about, you know, cashing that check, right? And they’re like, Nope, can’t do it. I’m like, Well, shit. So off the fly, I had to develop my own brand. So I literally, in November of 2019, I started developing my own brand. So I sat down, I started coming up with a bunch of names. You know, this was before chat GPT, where chat GPT would just roll off a bunch of names for you, right? So I sat down. I basically I wrote down like important values that I appreciate in my life, and grit was one of them, right? And so I just December 31 2019. Was our last day as world gym. Jan, January, January 1 2020. We reopened as grit fitness. I had worked with the local marketing agency to help come up with the new website, come up with the branding all of this stuff. And so 2020 20, January, 2020 we reopened his grit fitness. Was super excited, right? We were going to do renovations. We were doing all of this stuff. And in fact, my smaller location at the time, I had completely renovated it, right? I mean, took it down, knocked walls down, all new flooring, all new equipment, new lighting, new everything, right. Rebranded it as grit. I was going to start with the small one and then move to the larger one. And we opened January. Sales were great, especially in the renovated location, and then COVID hit, and so by March, we were shut down. And honestly, we were fortunate in Indiana. I mean, we were still shut down for almost three months. But, I mean, I’ve got friends across the US that have gyms all over and even in Canada, right? I mean, I’ve got friend. I have my one buddy. He’s got seven gyms in Oregon and was shut down for a year. I have a friend that owns gold’s gyms in Montreal. He was shut down for 18 months. So really, I can’t complain that I was only shut down for 10 or 11 weeks, but I remember it was kind of like it was kind of a blessing, in a way, because we shut down. And I was like, okay, you know, what are we going to do? Let’s focus on keeping the staff employed. So I got the PPP money. I kept the staff employed, but we scrubbed the gym from top to bottom right. We. Relayed out equipment. We did some minor repairs around the facilities, just all those little things while we were down. We worked on trying to improve marketing while while we were shut down, we we kept trying to keep busy on social media, you know, just trying to keep people happy. We even were live streaming Group X classes, so our group X instructors would come in and do either group x from their home, or we would live stream it from our group, group X classroom out on Facebook for free, just to get people moving right, because everyone was locked up. And so we reopened June one, and I remember June was like a new January, we people were so like they were claustrophobic from being locked up for those few months. That June, we had banger sales, right? And by that time is when the cases started to spike again, and that’s when they put out the mask mandate. And once they put out the mask mandate, sales plummeted. Cancel is cancels went right through the, I mean, just went right through the ceiling. Man, we just, we cancel everybody that we had sold in June canceled, right? I mean, and it stayed that way for several months. So I ended up losing after we reopen, I end up losing 30% of my members in total. And that was brutal, man, because I had done that renovation, I had done the rebranding, and we, we, you know, we weren’t hitting any sales like we were not selling any gym memberships, because the media was just blasting, I don’t know if I can cuss on here, but blasting the crap out of COVID. And you know how bad COVID is, and all of this, don’t even get me started on COVID, because I will go off on a tangent, right? Cuz it ended up being a complete lie. The whole thing was a lie. Let’s just face facts, a lie. And so we again. I mean, we just had to keep persevering, you know, thank God I had the PPP money. It kept my staff employed. I think the staff at the time was really thankful for that, because, you know, they had their own bills to pay, right? I mean, they had mortgages, they had car payments, you know. And that was my biggest thing. I wanted to make sure that they were still getting a paycheck. Because paycheck, because nobody else was helping them. You know, yeah, they were getting the checks from the government. But, you know, if you get, I think, what was it like, 700 bucks a month or something like that. Like,
32:39
yeah,
Curt Anderson 32:41
thank you for Bo. Man, you took us right back. Man, I mean, you brought me right back to March of 2020, and I get, you know, I don’t know if there was an industry that was hit harder than you know, I had a local gym right around the corner for me that I absolutely loved. And you know, he was, he was unable. He fought as long as he could, and unable to. He’s now closed, unable to survive so totally. You know, feel for you. Super inspiring, very admirable. Your dedication to your customers. Was there? Quick side note, was there any? Was there any positive to leaving world gym, through that transition, going through COVID, like on your own, under your own brand, or not so much. Yeah.
Bo DePaoli 33:21
I mean, I hate to say it, because I really like the people at World gym. I mean, on the corporate side, they’re great people, but I think had I stayed with that brand and and their through their decline, I think that would have further hurt my business.
33:36
Yeah, okay, all right. Love
Curt Anderson 33:38
the name grit fitness. John, your thoughts, on you going back to COVID, like what? You know, if you can go back to March 20, your your takeaway on Bo’s story here, you know, maybe what you went through, what are your thoughts?
John LaRoy 33:50
Probably get flagged by Cook County here, but
Curt Anderson 33:55
keep it. Yeah, keep it. Keep it. For reminding your sake, let’s keep that
John LaRoy 33:59
just anger and nonsensicalness. I mean, again, being like in business for as long as we were and long as we are, you know, it takes time. Like this is a low margin, high volume industry, and it is not a get rich quick scheme by any means. And like, Finally, from 2006 when I got involved, until 2018 when we moved into this location, like 19, things started making sense. Like, it took, you know, 13 years for us to, like, really start figuring out. You got the people in place, you got the client. You’re not just regional or national or this or that, and then we’re in the niche of school in sport, and like, 2008 two years after I got involved, we had, obviously, the housing crisis, right? And I remember feeling like 2008 and nine, like we were very small the time, but like, we actually went up, you know, because there’s still school and sports. And maybe they weren’t getting under armor or Nike, but they were getting mid level type stuff. And you. School and sports were still going on. So I’m like, Man, I’m in a recession proof business is pretty good, because everyone else around me was, you know, sky’s falling, and it was bad. And then, you know, if you would have told me, then there’s going to be a period of 24 to 36 months, or there’s no school or sports. I’m like, hey, what end of the world? You’re high it’s never going to happen. And then it did, you know? And it didn’t matter how good our relationships were with under armor and Nike, Adidas and everybody if, if we were selling stuff into school and sports, and in the Midwest and the Northeast and civic Northwest, there is no school or sports. There wasn’t much they could do for us now. Thank God. You know the south southeast, we’re kind of like, Fu, we’re still playing our football, and we didn’t shut down. I mean, we could have shut down. You know, every I remember writing letters to every one of my employees, like, if the cops pull you over, you’re essential. Your ass is like, we have work. And honestly, it was actually the least stressful in terms of deadline, because we had so much work built up, because people were like, We got to get this in before the all this potential closing. And then it did close, and then there was no school or sport, so all the stuff that was in house by March 1, we didn’t have a deadline. So it was like, we didn’t have to work overtime to get stuff done. It was just kind of like, hey, let’s spread it out. But then after that work dried up, it’s like, okay, what do we do? And we pivot to make these fake masks and do all this crap, which we did for a little while. But then it’s like, hey, the South needs us, and it was a great opportunity to expand our reach even more, because some of the people in the south to shut down. And you know, we didn’t make anyone come to work. We didn’t make anyone get a vaccine. We didn’t make anybody wear a mask. It’s like, hey, if that’s what you want to do, you know, I’m not Jesus Christ, my or judge you. I’m just doing what I need to do to keep the doors open. So if we got work, we’re working, and as far as I know, we’re not in a nudist County, yet, everyone’s still got to wear clothes. So we are essential. That’s the way I freaking branded it, you know. And a lot of lot arguments with my legal guys, but Mike, listen, we’re staying open. But, yeah, you know? And then it was just the uncertainty, you know, it’s three weeks, it’s one month. It’s masks don’t work. Masks work is 12 months, you know, it’s 18 months. It’s like that the goal post kept moving, and no one knew what the hell was going on. And then, like, Yeah, I mean, thank God too. The PPP was absolutely essential. Got both rounds of that maxed out every type of grant and offering program that was out there. But that was a job in itself, to go find all these things, do the paperwork, and then you find out that, like everyone in the world, frauding the government for years, and you had all these towns around us where there was more business applications than our residents, and like, just the massive fraud, and like knowing before the pandemic, like to go get an SBA loan, which would take, like, six months, and then, you know, like, they had to comb through your underwear and everything to find out who you are. And then, like, the PPP comes out. And granted, like, it needed to happen fast, but it was like, hey, submit this. Do that. You’re funded in a couple days. It’s like, man, that pendulum, you know, when it swings too far off, too far right? Like, it’s just, it’s just crazy what happens, and they’re never going to recoup that money. I mean, it was billions, possibly trillions, stole. And, yeah, it’s just it was all avoidable. It was all avoidable. And it’s really upsetting because business owners, gym owners, restaurant owners, you don’t get a second shot. Your legs are destroyed, and you destroyed other people’s lives, and it’s really disheartening, and I’m just a nonsensical bullshit too, where it’s like you couldn’t go into a bar to drink or eat, but if they had gaming, you could go sit in a gaming stall and waste your money, whatever you had left away. It was anything to entice, like, vices, and it’s like, Man, this is just so wrong. So, yeah, I mean, I was really, I was really proud of my team. I think, you know, there was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fake news, a lot of whatever. And people had the choice. And, you know, we, I mean, in terms of a virus, it was real. People got sick, you know, I still don’t have a sense of smell. It’s been, you know, three and a half, four years, which, you know, having two toddlers, and now you can’t smell a diaper. I’m like, this is kind of cool.
Curt Anderson 39:33
Who knew the benefit of COVID? Was that smell diaper there? Right? Yeah,
John LaRoy 39:38
if I can’t smell, I don’t have to change it. So, yeah, it’s, it was, it was wild, you know, and it was just, and then it didn’t end right, you know, you got the COVID, and then you roll into supply chain, then you roll down to the to the labor strike, you know. So, it’s just been a wild five to six years, man, and it’s just like, just trying to get your footing back. And you. These big businesses and major corporations that benefited all through that, really, when Amazon’s and the Walmarts and everyone was allowed to stay open and the smaller guys were forced to shut Yeah, it’s going to take, it’s going to take some time. It’s still, I mean, here we’re, what, two years removed, and we’re still not back to where we need to be. Yeah,
Bo DePaoli 40:21
we have. Our industry had 12,000 gyms permanently closed from 12,000 1000 just in the US alone.
Curt Anderson 40:31
Isn’t that crazy? Just it’s Yeah, so
John LaRoy 40:34
when people needed to focus more, yeah, yeah, health and fitness, you know what? I
Curt Anderson 40:39
mean? Right, right. Yeah, that’s a great point. So Bo, I know, man, we can talk to you all day. I know I’m John. I’m horrible at keeping time, keeping our our time of it. Bo, on your LinkedIn, you have a quote that I just I wanted to share. Absolutely love this. You said you cannot get what you want unless you’re willing to do what you’ve never done. And again, Bo knows entrepreneurship. Just share as we start winding down, I’d love for you to share so you are chief vision Officer of d3 capital. You have grit, fitness and again, sounds like you are coming back into a wonderful company, family business that we open the conversation with. Just share a little bit what’s going on. What are you super excited about as we come in, where we are time of year. Just share a little bit of what’s going on in your life right now and what you’re looking forward to coming in the the new year.
Bo DePaoli 41:28
Yeah. So basically, when, when we were still going through COVID, through with the gyms, let me kind of rewind a little bit. If you guys remember, at the beginning of the session, I told you how my goal was always to get into real estate. So I, you know, I had a passion for gyms, for fitness, so I bought the gyms, and my plan was I was going to take the profits from the gym to start buying real estate. Little did I know what it takes to run a gym, right? And so when COVID happened, I was like, I need to pivot now, and I need to, I need to look at diversifying my revenue streams outside of just the gym. So I started d3 capital, which is a real estate syndication company. So we go out and we raise capital to go out and buy commercial properties, specifically multi family properties, for the most part. I mean, we’ll look at other asset types, but mostly multi family. So started d3 capital. Been trying to grow that since COVID. I started that. And I think 2122 somewhere in there. And then as a as time has progressed, you know, my dad is getting older. You know, he’s going to be 74 here, and he doesn’t have a real exit strategy. So he came to me, and he was like, hey, you know, what’s it going to take for you to come back as CEO of ACMs? And I was like, No. I was like, I want to focus on the gyms in d3 capital. And then about six months later, he came back, and he’s like, Hey, will you at least help me find a new bank? The bank that we’re working with is not playing nice. I’m like, yeah, absolutely, because that’s kind of my forte, right? I deal with a lot of banks and stuff. So I came back and I helped him find a new banking institution to get a new credit facility for the business. And in the whole process. He was like, why don’t you just buy this off of me? And I was like, Well, if you do x, y and z, then we can talk. And so that’s kind of where we’re at right now. So I’ve got, you know, great. I still have great, I have d3 capital that we’re working on, and then I’m getting ready to take over a CMS and buy that off of my off of my father.
43:41
Wow, that’s awesome, dude.
Curt Anderson 43:44
Very impressive. Now, now, Bo, when you sleep, by the way, do you have time to sleep any or what’s going on there? Yeah. I
Bo DePaoli 43:51
mean, I work all the time, but I love to work though, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s somewhat fulfilled. I like the challenge of taking something from nothing and building it, right? I remember as a kid, you know, we used to have like, you know, the Lincoln Logs and the Legos, but there was this other stuff that was called constructs. I don’t know if you guys remember constructs, they were these plastic things, and you could build things off. And I would sit there for hours and just build and build and build and build. And that’s kind of how I look at business, right? You know, you you take some you take an idea, you sell it, you market it, you sell it, you build a good team, and then you just scale from there. You put in the right procedures and the right operations to be able to grow the business and get it to where you want. Now I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but I you know, I at least have an understanding of what it’s going to take to get all of these brands to where I want them to be. And the biggest thing is, is the people behind you and your team to help you get the brand to where you want to go. Yeah,
Curt Anderson 44:53
I also love that. So all right, Bose, we wind down. How about leadership? Let’s talk about that for a second. Then. Close out leadership, just share a little bit again, you know, you know athlete, you know, Total Fitness junkie. Just share a little bit about how you apply your fitness, you know, acumen into your leadership. As an entrepreneur and been building that you know you’ve mentioned, I really admire how you know what you did through COVID. You constantly credit your team. Just share a little bit about like, your leadership acumen, if you will, just for other entrepreneurs out there that are trying to build their team.
Bo DePaoli 45:30
Yeah, and I think John could probably relate to this. I think it’s ever evolving. I think that you’re not born a leader. Leadership is a skill that you constantly have to refine practice and work on I remember when I first started, when I bought the gyms, right? It was much different managing somebody else’s business compared to your own business. And so when you have a team in place, I remember, man, I would get anxiety about just confronting something somebody about something they did wrong, right? And it’s, it’s about learning how to approach those subjects. It’s about learning how to coach people and bring them up. I mean, the biggest thing that I try and live by is elevate and delegate. Right? It’s all about coaching your people up and getting them to realize their potential and make them do the same thing by elevating and delegating the people below them. And so that’s what I really try and and push with my staff. Again. It’s, I’m a work in progress. I still have a long way to go, but it’s, it’s something that I really try and strive for and and I think that’s what makes a successful business, you know. Well, I’ll tell
Curt Anderson 46:44
you, that’s a sign of a great leader is when you’re dedicated to raising and producing other leaders. So, you know, hats off to there. John, takeaways from our conversation with this man? What? Dude, I’m ready to run through a wall right now. Like, what your takeaway from this conversation with both today? No, it’s
John LaRoy 47:01
incredible. I mean, there’s a lot of things that like you as a business owner and as just a person, when you hear a lot of I can’t, whether it’s from your team, whether it’s from your kids, it’s from vendor partners, I can’t, I can’t, I can, and I feel like I get in trouble too much, because I never say no. And then you look at a guy like Bo who’s got all these different businesses, all these different reports, 500 you know, all different employees, different different skill sets of leadership required to lead those different people as well, like manufacturing settings much different than setting, right? But there’s similar problems. You know that that uncomfortability that you get when you have to tell people bad news, you know, never, you know, when I was coaching, the worst part of the entire experience was cut day, right? And the same thing here. It’s never fun, but it’s necessary, right? In order for you to continue to drive the organization forward. You know, I’m wondering, Bo, did you get to elevate or delegate to elevate from Jaco in Extreme Ownership?
Bo DePaoli 48:12
You know what? I think I did get it from that, yeah, you know, because
John LaRoy 48:15
there’s another thing in there where you talk about, you know, mitigating your losses in order to drive the organization forward, right? You know, sometimes you have to have those tough conversations and situations to look at the overall picture and the future and the success of many rather than the failures of a few. So, yeah, leadership ever evolving? You know, I totally agree with Bo that leaders aren’t born there’s people that are born with certain skill sets that you need to some people have communicators, some people but all of those parts of creating what we call a leader, and some people have strengths here, and other people’s have weaknesses here, and it’s all about how you continue to recognize those weaknesses and either elevate and delegate someone that’s stronger than you in that position, or work on making yourself better. And I always encourage, I’ve said this a lot. You know, it doesn’t matter if I was making break parts, T shirts, chairs, desks or whatever. I just enjoy building like you’re a sambo. It just so happens that we’re making branded apparel right now, and I do really like it, because it helps people the power of the brand, especially when you build one like bow, several light bow, one of the ways that you convey that now, more than ever before, is through branded apparel and just happy to be a part and have conversations like this with a lot of different people now, because people don’t wear a suit and tie to work anymore, and if they’re proud of the logo, hopefully they’re going to put, put, put some ink on it and wear it around. So that’s
Curt Anderson 49:52
right, we just, you know, we had our desk couple weeks ago. I use this line all the time now John, where he said, you know, like branded apparel, T shirts are just like that. You know that? Temporary tattoo where you’re sharing something that you’re proud of. And you know you always talk about that brand promise. And so what I love, Bo is that you know how you’re flashing your colors, the grip, fitness and just really representing your brand. We’re got your we’ll have your LinkedIn, in the chat, in the chat notes, where can people find you, connect with you, learn more about all the wonderful things that you’re doing. Yeah.
Bo DePaoli 50:23
I mean, LinkedIn, I’m on Instagram, on Facebook, Bo DePaoli is, you know, my handle on all of those, and that’s, that’s about it. Mean, and then just going back to the branded apparel, I have so much going on, I literally wear the same thing every day. I’m very simple, right? I’m just this way. I mean, Mike makes fun of me all the time. He’s like, you wear the same damn thing. I do wash it. I do wash it. You know, I’ve got several of the same things, so I don’t have to think too much about what I gotta wear the day. You know, I still wanted to, I wanted to piggyback off what John said on leadership. I recently went to a leadership retreat and in Gettysburg, and we learned all about it’s actually put on by an organization called Battle battleground leadership, and they will take you through, they tour you all through Gettysburg, and they show you all the points of the civil war that happened there. And you want to talk about absolutely insane what these men went through during that time, and they talked about the leadership between the South and the North, right, General Lee, General Custer, you know, the general from the north, and how President Lincoln was having a deal with this throughout this whole time. It was, I mean, it was absolutely fascinating how leadership decisions, small leadership decisions, not large ones, small leadership decisions, change the outcome of that Civil War exponentially between the North and the South. And the very last leg of the tour is we went to the final battle there. I apologize, I don’t remember the name of the field, but it was this wide open field that the South were marching towards the north to try and take over, and they were literally walking into gunfire and cannon fire across this field there’s like it just blows my mind that men were willing to sacrifice themselves like that, walking into gunfire, walking into cannon fire, just based on an idea. And here’s what I learned about this. I think a lot of people think that the Civil War had a lot to do with slavery, and it did, but he told me that the biggest reason between the South and the North was they were fighting against states rights versus federal rights. The North wanted federal rights and the South wanted states rights, and how ironic it is that we’ve come full circle now 150 years later. Wow,
Curt Anderson 53:10
dude, you’re giving me chills. I’m a I’m a Civil War junkie, and I just, I, right before COVID, I took my family of I’ve been there multiple times, to Gettysburg. I just, I You gave me chills. I know the exact field that you’re talking about. I can picture it. Knows. You know the whole battle that took place. And you’re right. It was little concise decisions, like split second decisions on the field with bullets blowing by you. Of like, do I turn left or do I turn right? Do I tell people to do this, or do I do that? And it’s a Thank You, God, John, we might have to do a separate episode just on that alone, just talking about your leadership. And I wish I would have been there. Bo, that sounds absolutely fascinating. What a powerful experience. Yeah,
Bo DePaoli 53:55
I highly recommend it for anybody. Yeah, it was okay. All right,
Curt Anderson 53:59
I know I’ve kept us like way, way, WAY longer. So Bo, first off, I want to give you a heartfelt thank you. Thank you for sharing your passion, your enthusiasm, your leadership. Just man, what, what a what a conversation this has been. We wish you massive, massive success with your ventures moving forward. We’re rooting you on, cheering you on, and just, you know, cannot wait to see how you are. Just keep making the world a better place. Uh, John, last words that you want to share as we close out?
John LaRoy 54:28
No, just thank you. I know it’s it’s tough to get couple hours of time, especially with how busy everyone is. And I just appreciate you coming on. Appreciate your business. It’s great. Meeting you through our mutual mutual friend and brother, my brother in law, Mike, but yeah, no, this has been great. I mean, I absolutely love doing this. I know Bo, I think when we first met, you were either just launching your podcast or couple episodes in. Got to
Bo DePaoli 54:56
mention that I have a podcast too, yeah, yeah.
Curt Anderson 54:59
And what’s the name of. Podcast. Bo, oh, raw
Bo DePaoli 55:01
and relentless,
Curt Anderson 55:03
dude. And you know what? And what’s funny is, I’m taking notes. I’ve got integrity and relentless right there. I’m like, when I think of Bo, these are the two things I just wrote down, integrity and relentless. What a perfect name for your podcast, dude. You are super impressive. What an inspiration today. Thank you for sharing your man, just everything that you shared today was just awesome. So all right, we’re going to close out. Man, join us. Anything that you miss i Man, do yourself a favor. Hit that rewind button. Go back and catch it from the beginning. Bo, we thank you, applaud you, commend you. We wish you massive success. John, thank you for your time. We’re going to close out, and we’ll catch you guys next week.