In this episode of The Owner Seat, Albert Ramos sits down with Bobby Hines & Anna Hines — longtime fitness and wellness operators who’ve built, scaled, and managed multi-brand franchise businesses across Anytime Fitness, Basecamp Fitness, and Waxing The City over nearly two decades.

Bobby recently sold his final Anytime Fitness location after almost 20 years with the brand — and now advises owners on acquisitions and exits as a Business Advisor at Transworld, bringing a true operator lens to M&A (not an Excel-only view).

Anna has built a multi-brand franchise portfolio while navigating leadership, growth, and family alongside Bobby — making this a rare conversation about the real lifecycle of ownership, from build → scale → exit.

If you’re a fitness or wellness franchisee, multi-unit owner, operator, or entrepreneur, this episode is essential listening.

Because exits aren’t just financial.

They’re emotional. They’re identity. They’re timing.

And most owners don’t learn the truth until they’re already too late.

This is not a sales pitch.

This is a real operator conversation about what ownership costs — and what it gives back when it’s done right.

🔍 In this episode, we cover:

1. What Bobby didn’t understand when he opened his first Anytime Fitness
2. How the meaning of “success” changes as you scale from 1 unit to multiple
3. The moment business stops feeling exciting and starts feeling heavy
4. What it actually feels like to sell something tied to your identity
5. The emotional moment most owners don’t expect when they exit
6. Exit timing: what “someday” really costs franchisees
7. What makes a business truly sellable in fitness & wellness
8. The biggest myths around valuation (and what owners get wrong)
9. What buyers notice immediately that owners miss
10. The role of clean financial reporting in deals actually closing
11. How SBA lenders look at fitness & wellness deals today
12. How to build optionality while you’re still growing (not when you’re burnt out)
13. What a “good exit” looks like beyond the check

This episode is for owners who want choices — not financial regret.

I’m Albert Ramos, Fractional CFO and Founder of Stratego Intel Consulting.

I help fitness, wellness, and franchise brands ($500K–$30M+) build cash visibility, clean financials, exit-ready reporting, and optionality, including:

1. 13-week cash flow visibility + decision rules
2. Unit-level economics + margin...

In this episode of The Owner Seat, Albert Ramos sits down with Mo Iqbal — Chief Strategy Officer at ABC Fitness, Founder & Chairman of SweatWorks, and Co-Host of LIFTS.

Mo operates at the intersection of fitness, wellness, platforms, payments, AI, and scale, advising some of the largest and fastest-growing gym, studio, and franchise ecosystems in the world.

If you’re a fitness or wellness business owner, franchisor founder, franchisee investor, or multi-location operator heading into 2026, this episode is not theory — it’s a warning and a roadmap.

Because fitness is no longer a workout business.

It’s becoming the operating system for human health — and the operators who don’t understand who owns the platform, the data, and the behavior loop will slowly disappear from relevance.

This episode gets direct about what’s breaking, what’s consolidating, and what business owners must change now to survive the next phase of the industry.

This is not tech hype.

This is how power shifts actually happen.

🔍 In this episode, we cover:

1. Why fitness is becoming the operating system for health — not a workout category
2. How platforms and ecosystems quietly decide which brands win and which fade
3. Why AI is becoming the “behavioral middleware” of fitness and wellness
4. What signals operators must generate so AI systems recommend them
5. Why “one app for everything” fails — and what stacks should look like instead
6. Where operators waste money on AI because they bought a story, not a system
7. How Pilates, GLP-1s, peptides, recovery, and longevity actually fit together
8. What smart operators are doing with GLP-1 reality instead of fighting it
9. How to integrate longevity offerings without destroying execution
10. The most under-discussed KPI that predicts survival in boutique fitness
11. Why payments, pricing friction, and onboarding decide retention
12. The fork-in-the-road decision every owner faces heading into 2026

This episode is essential for:

1. Gym owners
2. Studio owners
3. Franchisees
4. Franchisor leadership teams
5. Multi-site fitness & wellness operators

If you don’t understand platforms, AI, and ecosystem economics —

you don’t control your future.

I’m Albert Ramos, Fractional CFO and Founder of Stratego Intel Consulting.

I help fitness, wellness, and franchise brands ($500K–$30M+):

In this episode of The Owner Seat, Albert Ramos sits down with Christine Garcia, franchise owner of BODYBAR Pilates in Strongsville, Ohio, with a second BODYBAR studio in Brunswick currently in pre-opening buildout.

Christine is deep in the trenches — past franchise award, lease signed, possession transferred — navigating site selection, buildout delays, capital planning, and the real timeline to opening day.

Before becoming a franchise owner, Christine spent over 20 years with the Department of Veterans Affairs, including 14 years as a Program Analyst managing budgets, operations, outcomes reporting, and execution inside a complex healthcare system. That background gives her a rare, grounded lens on what franchising actually demands.

If you’re a fitness or wellness franchise buyer, a first-time franchisee, or a studio owner considering expansion, this episode is essential listening.

Because buying the franchise is the easy part.

Building and opening the studio is where most people underestimate the risk.

This is not a sales pitch.

This is the real playbook — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

1. Why Christine chose BODYBAR Pilates — and what disqualified other franchises
2. What due diligence most franchise buyers skip (and regret later)
3. What really happens after the franchise is awarded
4. Site selection realities and lease terms that actually matter
5. How long buildouts really take — and why timelines slip
6. The hidden costs that don’t show up in franchise brochures
7. How much contingency capital franchisees truly need
8. Where delays quietly destroy cash flow before opening
9. What good franchisor support looks like during buildout
10. What Christine would tell someone who thinks they’ll open in 90 days

This episode is for operators who want clarity before signing — not lessons learned the expensive way.

I’m Albert Ramos, Fractional CFO and Founder of Stratego Intel Consulting.

I help fitness, wellness, and franchise brands ($500K–$30M+):

1. Build pre-opening and buildout cash plans
2. Model real unit-level economics
3. Plan contingency capital correctly
4. Avoid cash-flow collapses during delays
5. Scale without financial guesswork

👉 Book a CFO Strategy Call

If you want clarity before or during a buildout:

https://calendly.com/albertramosjr-strategointel/youtube-podcast

In this episode of The Owner Seat, Albert Ramos sits down with Michael Iannuzzi — Partner and Franchise Practice Leader at Citrin Cooperman, CPA, and Certified Franchise Executive

Michael works at the intersection of private equity, franchising, and financial diligence, advising franchisors and multi-unit franchisees across fitness, wellness, QSR, and multi-location consumer brands.

If you’re a fitness or wellness business owner, franchisor founder, franchisee investor, or multi-studio operator thinking about a sale — or simply wanting a business that is sellable on command — this episode is essential listening.

Because when private equity shows up, the conversation shifts fast:

from vision and growth stories

to proof, financial evidence, and Quality of Earnings (QoE).

This episode breaks down what buyers actually look for, why deals get retraded late in the process, and how owners unknowingly give up millions through preventable diligence mistakes.

This is not banker theory.

This is how deals really get done.

1. What Quality of Earnings (QoE) really is — and why it determines valuation more than revenue growth
2. How private equity diligence teams evaluate fitness franchises and multi-unit studio portfolios
3. Why most add-backs fail and what makes an add-back defensible vs. wishful
4. The financial cleanup owners delay — and how it destroys leverage during negotiations
5. What a deal-ready financial data room actually needs to include
6. How working capital pegs quietly transfer risk from buyer to seller
7. Franchise-specific landmines that stall or kill deals (royalties, ad funds, FDD inconsistencies)
8. Why clean monthly closes and unit-level reporting instantly change buyer confidence
9. How fitness and wellness operators can prepare 12–24 months ahead without slowing growth
10. What “sellable on command” really looks like for franchisors and franchisees

I’m Albert Ramos, Fractional CFO and Founder of Stratego Intel Consulting.

I help fitness, wellness, and franchise brands ($1M–$30M+):

1. clean up multi-location financials
2. build 13-week cash visibility
3. standardize unit-level economics
4. prepare for private equity, debt, or strategic exits

If you want CFO-level clarity before diligence begins:

👉 Book a CFO Strategy Call

Today on The Owner Seat Podcast, host Albert Ramos goes behind the curtain of STRIDE Fitness — and into the part of franchising most brands avoid talking about:

Leadership under load.

Standards under speed.

And what it really takes to scale without breaking culture, people, or unit economics.

My guest is Anthony Badalian — President, COO, and Partner of STRIDE Fitness.

Anthony has spent 12+ years in the trenches building multi-unit operations, leading high-performance teams, and driving execution inside franchise systems.

This episode is for fitness + wellness business owners, franchisees, and franchisors who are tired of:

1. “franchise opportunity” hype with zero operational truth
2. culture slipping the second growth accelerates
3. talent burnout disguised as “high standards”
4. unit economics guessing instead of weekly discipline
5. leadership pressure being treated like a personal weakness

1) Leadership under load (the part no one trains you for)

When leadership stops being exciting and starts being heavy — and how great operators process pressure without leaking it into the team.

2) Standards without burnout

How STRIDE thinks about “high bar” execution without destroying morale, retention, or culture.

3) Talent decisions that protect the business

The hidden cost of keeping the wrong people too long, how underperformance spreads, and what operators must spot early.

4) STRIDE Fitness franchising: what’s getting protected as they scale

The real mission behind STRIDE beyond “treadmills + sweat” — and the non-negotiables that can’t be compromised as the franchise system grows.

5) The STRIDE franchisee scoreboard (5 numbers weekly)

If you’re in the Owner Seat, you don’t get to guess. Anthony breaks down the weekly metrics a STRIDE operator must know to stay profitable and stable.

If you’re a franchisee / aspiring franchisee:

You’ll learn what matters before you sign — the standards, the pressure, and the operating cadence that separates winners from owners who stall.

If you’re a boutique fitness owner:

You’ll leave with real frameworks for leadership, team execution, and performance standards that scale without culture collapse.

If you’re a franchisor / emerging brand:

You’ll understand what breaks first in growth — and how to protect culture and unit economics while expanding fast.

📊 Work with Albert — Fractional CFO for Fitness & Wellness

I’m Albert Ramos, Fractional CFO + Founder at Stratego Intel Consulting.

I help fitness, wellness, and franchise brands ($500K–$30M) build cash visibility, utilization + pricing models, and capital planning so decisions are clean and defensible.

Book a CFO Strategy Call (Albert):

https://calendly.com/albertramosjr-st...

Free Stratego CFO Playbook:

1. GLP-1s Are Rewriting the Gym Business Model — Here’s the Playbook (Bob Thomas)
2. Gyms Are Becoming Longevity Centers: GLP-1s, Peptides, HRT & the Truth About Profit
3. The Longevity Supply Chain: Why Your GLP-1 Partner Can Make or Break Your Brand
4. Ozempic Didn’t Kill Fitness — It Exposed Weak Retention, Weak Systems, Weak Economics
5. From 6 to 120 Clubs to Longevity Medicine: What Operators Must Do Before 2026

Today on The Owner Seat Podcast, host Albert Ramos goes behind the curtain of the fastest collision in fitness and wellness right now:

medicine + longevity + the gym business model.

GLP-1s, peptides, hormone optimization, telehealth, and outcomes-driven longevity aren’t “future talk.” They’re here — and operators are either building the bridge… or getting disrupted by it.

My guest is Bob Thomas — CEO & Founder of NexGen MD Scientific and Founder of Nexgen MD 360.

Bob is a 40+ year fitness industry operator who’s seen multiple cycles of hype vs. reality — and he helped shape real scale as a sales/ops executive during Life Time’s growth from 6 clubs to 120 clubs.

Today, he’s building the infrastructure behind longevity medicine the right way:

1. NexGen MD Scientific: a wholesale supplier serving healthcare providers with hormone solutions built on quality control, compliance, and trust (including a DEA-compliant facility and rigorous standards).
2. Nexgen MD 360: a doctor-supervised weight management program coordinating with clinics across the U.S. — designed around medication + nutrition + education, not “medication only.”

This episode is for fitness + wellness owners, franchisees, and franchisors who are tired of:

1. chasing longevity trends without knowing what’s real
2. partnering with sketchy vendors that create brand + legal risk
3. guessing on how GLP-1 demand changes acquisition + retention
4. bolting “medicine” onto fitness and wondering why it doesn’t stick
5. losing margin to programs with weak ops and no outcomes system

1) What’s real vs. hype in GLP-1s, peptides, and HRT

What operators need to understand now — and what narratives are misleading the market.

2) GLP-1s and gyms: the operational shift nobody is modeling

How GLP-1 adoption changes retention, onboarding, programming, and the member lifecycle.

3) “Medication-only” is an outcomes trap

Why the real winners bundle medication with nutrition, education, strength training, and adherence systems.

4) The longevity supply chain: quality, compliance, and...

Today on The Owner Seat Podcast, host Albert Ramos goes straight at the thing most fitness + wellness founders keep trying to “AI their way out of”…

Broken financial infrastructure.

My guest is Bill Dillmeier — an operator-minded finance leader who’s obsessed with the boring stuff that actually determines whether your studio scales cleanly: accounting systems, revenue + cost truth, cash timing, and decision-grade visibility.

Bill’s core message is simple and it should make every owner uncomfortable:

Better forecasts don’t fix broken financial plumbing.

Infrastructure comes before insight.

This episode is for fitness + wellness business owners, franchisees, and franchisors who are tired of:

1. running the business off bank balance + vibes
2. using Stripe/Shopify as a P&L
3. “forecasting” from spreadsheets that don’t match reality
4. finding out margins are leaking after month-end
5. buying dashboards/AI tools that only amplify bad data
6. making growth decisions without clean unit economics

How forecasting becomes guesswork when revenue, costs, and timing don’t live in one system of record.

Why bank balance, sales platform revenue, and spreadsheet reporting quietly destroy confidence as you scale.

The practical building blocks: chart of accounts structure, close process, cash vs accrual clarity, location-level tagging, and reconciliation discipline.

What happens when Sales, Ops, and Finance all show up with different numbers—and why conviction drops even when revenue is growing.

Why the next wave of software pricing (usage-based, tokenized, variable) makes real-time cost visibility mandatory—not optional.

If you’re a boutique operator:

You’ll learn what to fix first so your P&L becomes decision-grade—and your cash stops surprising you.

If you’re a franchisee:

You’ll leave with a clearer infrastructure model to protect margins, manage local labor/COGS, and make growth decisions with confidence.

If you’re a franchisor:

You’ll understand what a “finance system that scales” looks like across locations—so you can standardize reporting, protect brand economics, and stop allowing drift.

📊 Work with Albert — Fractional CFO for Fitness & Wellness I’m Albert Ramos, Fractional CFO + Founder at Stratego Intel Consulting. I help fitness, wellness, and franchise brands ($500K–$30M) build cash visibility, utilization + pricing models, and capital planning so decisions are clean and defensible.

Book a CFO Strategy Call (Albert):

Today on The Owner Seat Podcast, host Albert Ramos

goes straight at one of the fastest-growing (and most

misunderstood) categories in wellness and recovery:

halotherapy (dry salt therapy) — what it is, what it

isn’t, and how operators can monetize it without hype.

My guest is Lisa Marie Semerly — Chief Revenue Officer

at Halotherapy Solutions, President of the World

Halotherapy Association, and a multi-modality spa owner.

She’s also not coming from “wellness vibes” — she spent

15 years in pharma (respiratory + dermatology), including

over a decade at Merck, before jumping into ownership and

scaling this category the right way.

This episode is for fitness + wellness business owners,

franchisees, and franchisors who are tired of:

1. adding “recovery” modalities that don’t get used
2. buying equipment that becomes an expensive coat rack
3. seeing wild claims that create distrust (and legal risk)
4. guessing on pricing, packaging, and utilization
5. missing the margin upside of low-labor modalities

What dry salt therapy is, what clients report, and how to

market responsibly without crossing into medical claims.

Why adoption spiked, what’s real, and what operators should

expect from consumer behavior going forward.

How to think about ROI inside compact space (even a 4’×4’)

and which modality mixes actually convert to repeat usage.

Why low labor + high throughput can print margin — but only

if you operationalize onboarding, education, and usage habits.

What’s getting exposed in wellness marketing, why standards

matter, and how serious operators protect trust while scaling.

If you’re a boutique operator:

You’ll learn how to add recovery profitably, drive repeat

sessions, and avoid the “novelty trap.”

If you’re a franchisee:

You’ll leave with a clearer model for pricing, packaging,

and utilization targets — so the investment earns back fast.

If you’re a franchisor:

You’ll understand how to evaluate modalities like a serious

platform: standards, claims language, unit economics, and

scalability across locations.

📊 Work with Albert — Fractional CFO for Fitness & Wellness

I’m Albert Ramos, Fractional CFO + Founder at

Stratego Intel Consulting.

I help fitness, wellness, and franchise brands ($500K–$30M)

build cash visibility, utilization + pricing models, and

capital planning so decisions are clean and defensible.

Book a CFO Strategy Call (Albert):

https://calendly.com/albertramosjr-strategointel/youtube-podcast

Free Stratego CFO Playbook: