“The right thing is always the right thing.”
That quote is inscribed on the wall at Fitt‘s headquarters in Pittsburgh where brothers Anthony and Joe Vennare built their location-based wellness discovery empire. And, more importantly, it drives every decision the company makes.
I spoke to Anthony Vennare, CEO and co-founder of Fitt for this week’s episode of #WeGotGoals at the absolute perfect moment: just after Fitt closed a fundraising round that included MINDBODY’s participation as a strategic investor. This, Anthony explained, was a big goal for the company from the moment it started to build what Fitt is today.
As an outsider, it’s been fun to watch Fitt grow, innovate and help wellness-minded people discover new healthy experiences. But after speaking to Anthony, it would be impossible not to root for him – he’s relentless, hardworking, disciplined and grounded. You’ll hear that shine on today’s episode – it explains much of the company’s success.
On this episode:
2:15: Anthony explains Fitt in his own words, describing the location-based platform that’s in more than 30 global cities.
3:15: Anthony talks about his childhood, his first job cutting grass and why he enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 17 – noting that his dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer just after he left for training.
6:41: Anthony shares how he, his brother and a team of friends converted a 12,000 square foot indoor skate park into a gym and how they were able to rent it for $1,500/month. At 21-years-old, he built a business and scaled that to 40 locations and a proprietary certification program called Kettlebell Cardio.
8:20: Anthony shares how he and his brother Joe decided to sell the gym and move into online media – keeping their eyes on Eater, Infatuation and Thrillist and deciding to build something similar for fitness and healthy living.
11:15: Anthony talks about Fitt’s strategic partnership with MINDBODY – a relationship that took two years to build.
13:00: Anthony describes the unique positioning of Fitt in smaller markets like Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis.
14:00: Anthony shares his secret to success – “I am just exhausting” and also talks about how his industry-facing content from Fitt Insider helped in getting his first meeting with MINDBODY.
16:45: Anthony teases the big vision for how Fitt’s content will impact users of MINDBODY
17:30: Anthony speaks to the future of Fitt, including making the product the best it can be and his aspirations for potential acquisitions to truly reach a huge audience.
19:30: Anthony shares that about 30 percent of FITT’s audience is made up of people who are traveling and what Fitt’s building to empower that audience.
22:00: Anthony talks about what it’s like working with his brother and how he lives way within his means and simply (he rides a vespa and doesn’t own a car, by the way).
25:00: Anthony talks about he and his brother’s unique take on business: creating companies that “fill voids in other companies.”
Resources:
- FITT Insider
- Anthony Vennare on LinkedIn where he shares a lot of industry reports and updates
If you loved this podcast episode with Anthony Vennare, please take a moment to leave us a rating or a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!
