Heroes in Business - Mark Mastrov Founder 24-hour Fitness, CoOwner Sacramento Kings NBA, Founder CEO UFC Gym

Episode Date: February 6, 2021

Hit it hard, train like a MMA warrior. Mark Mastrov Founder 24-hour Fitness, CoOwner Sacramento Kings NBA, Founder CEO UFC Gym is interviewed by David Cogan, founder of Eliances entrepreneur community and famous celebrity host Eliances Heroes Radio Show broadcast on am fm, internet radio and online syndication.   

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Alliances Heroes. Alliances is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in David Kogan founder of alliances you know I say this and I say this so often but it is absolutely incredible because we continue to get so much feedback of people that I've had on the show like yeah that's right Navy SEAL Jocko Willink so make sure you continue to get that feedback over to us because it's incredible.

And we've got another incredible day of heroes where we always learn something. So make sure you continue to stay tuned. We're going to be ending the day. Are you ready for this? With the CEO of Hooters. So continue to stay tuned. Well, I got to tell you, you know, people think that you can make a new year's resolution only at the beginning of the year. And we're going to talk with our next hero about, because his company is flooded, especially during the new year, but also too is, is you can always make a resolution any time of the year. And he's the guy who you want to make it to. And you're going to find out why. So welcome to the show, Mark Mastro. He is the founder of 24 Hour Fitness. We're talking over 400 locations, 4 million members. And if that wasn't enough, he's also the founder and the CEO of UFC Gym. You can reach him at UFCgym.com or of course we'll have it on the Alliances site, Alliances.com, because as you know, it's the only place where entrepreneurs align. All right, Mark, got to jump right into this.

First of all, how do you build such an empire in the fitness industry, having that many members and that many locations, and most importantly, Mark, lasting and continue to lasting so long. Thanks, David. And I appreciate you having me on the show. It's a great question. I think obviously it's having great people around you and having the success of finding great people who have a shared vision,

can build into your culture and help you grow the business. And I was very fortunate to have great partners and great folks on side the team that became you know partners with us as we grew our company uh 24 finis you know from the the 80s all the way into the the mid 2000s and eventually sold that company and and continue to grow others such as ufc gym now where we built a heck of a platform there uh globally and operate now in 37 countries around the world. All right. So talk to us about the new concept

or how long has now the UFC gym been around? It's been around just about eight years now. And it's, you know, a gym built around traditional gym and exercise, but then mixed martial arts also plays a big role. It's not a place you go to learn to be a fighter, but you go to train like a fighter. We have amazing kids programs. So you can come in and train with your parents, if you want, or your siblings and work out and learn the different disciplines about mixed martial arts, and then get a good exercise in while you're working out as well inside the facility, cardio, strength equipment, et cetera. And we've been able to franchise that now globally. And as I mentioned earlier, we're in 37 countries and growing. It's been fantastic.

that now globally. And as I mentioned earlier, we're in 37 countries and growing. It's been fantastic. Now let's talk about, you know, resolutions because, you know, it's part of the new year and a lot of people making resolutions. Do you find that really one of the number one resolutions being people want to get health, healthy, get fit, get in shape? Yeah, it always has been. It's always been in the top one, two or three, depending on where we sit. And even in today's world where we're dealing with a little bit of a pandemic out there and trying to navigate that, it's pretty obvious that your health and your immune systems are super important. Whether you're able to get to a gym in an area where it's open for you or whether you do it at home through online or just getting out walking and exercising, riding a bike, it's super vital to keep your immune system strong,

exercising, riding a bike, it's super vital to keep your immune system strong, to keep your system and your body in great physical shape. And exercise is a big component of that. Now on the UFC gym, talk to us about the experience. Somebody walks in, what makes it different than what was going on at 24 Hour Fitness? Yeah, it's kind of like a entertainment. When you come inside the UFC gym, you've got a lot going on. We'll have a bag room where people are boxing and hitting bags. We'll have a mat area where we might be doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. You'll have a kids area where you've got a bunch of kids. It could be anywhere from 4 to 12 to 14 years old that are being gays, working out.

And then you've got your general facility with people on cardiovascular, watching television, exercising. You've got folks on the exercise equipment, whether it's selectorized or free weight. So you've got this environment with a lot of action happening inside the facility. So it feels really empowering inside. Mark, I want to ask you because while I've not interviewed them yet, you've teamed up with celebrities like Magic Johnson, Jackie Chan, Shaquille O'Neal. I mean, a number of others. What was that experience like? And how did you get it? It's been great depending on where you discuss the individual. But, you know, the first was Magic. Irvin reached out to me and

he had done a deal with, you know, Starbucks and Howard Schultz. And he said, look, I'd like to do something around the inner cities. And would you be willing to do something with me together? So we ended up opening up around inner cities and had tremendous success, a ton of fun. And then after that, the phone rang and other people called saying, hey, could we do something together? And, you know, as you mentioned, we were in Asia growing rapidly and partnered with Jackie Chan to enter a lot of markets and just had a blast with Jackie as he came out and opened club after club with us in country after country. Well, that's amazing. And again, you're very successful at what you do. And you're listening to me, watching me, David Kogan, host of the Alliances Hero Show. So make sure you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Why?

Because it's the only place where entrepreneurs align and we have with us Mark Mastro he can be reached at UFC gym calm he is the founder of 24 hour fitness over 400 locations 4 million members and now founder and CEO of UFC gym and you could reach him again at UFC gym calm and of course what on our website at alliances calm Eli a and E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. You mentioned that there's children too that are at the UFCGym.com. What do you see as far as the motivation of how to get children motivated to exercise, get away from the computer? And I think, Mark, one of the biggest things is to get off of

social media. Yeah, it's a great question, David. And you find a lot of families tackling that issue and saying that maybe getting them into a gym would be a great place where we could all work out and do something together. Traditional gyms like 24-Hour Fitness don't allow kids really to exercise. They generally have a separate area to kind of start until they get to be about 12, 13 years old. But in this concept, we've been able to incorporate kids into our mixed martial arts program so they can take classes with mom and dad, so they can all come into their gis and work out and train together, depending on what they want to take, whether it could be kickboxing, boxing, Muay Thai, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, to name a few. So the concept is mended and blended really well with mom and dad saying,

hey, let's get our son or our daughter off the computer for a little bit of time and go exercise in the gym. And as we know, a lot of schools have cut out, you know, PE. And so there isn't, you know, any kind of classes for kids in a lot of schools. So this is another way as an outlet for families to spend time together. You also mentioned earlier, as far as the number of locations, and you mentioned that it's about the people, what are some of the secrets that you share

with your franchisees of UFC Gym, again, UFCgym.com, about how to find the right candidates to hire to be part of the franchisee? Yeah, great question. And a lot of it's around the ability to communicate the charisma and the skill set. So depending on the position you wish to enter into the company, we're telling our franchisees

that you have to find the right people that fit your culture, that have a background in exercise or background in mixed martial arts, that work well with others as you do your background checks and to make sure that these are the right folks, that you feel the right chemistry is there and that they're charismatic and that people want to be around and they feel like they're easy to follow. So we try to instill that into our franchisees to find the best people within their marketplace. And so far, I've found a lot of success as the brand is so powerful. And with Dana White leading the UFC, it's very visible, very vibrant, very exciting. And there's passionate fans all over the world who want to work within the brand, which has

made it super easy for us to attract great people. Now, Mark, you're a father. You've made your mark and continue to make your mark. I mean, everybody knows the brand that you created. Everybody's going to know now that you have C-Gym brand and that. What kind of things do you instill in your children to help guide them to be successful or more than you that you've been? Yeah, another great question, David. I mean, we work hard. We've got four children, my wife and I, and we work hard to instill the work ethic in them so that they give 100% effort and that they learn everything in every aspect of life.

And so whether they're in school, working hard, making sure that they master each level as they go through class so they don't just go through the motions and get a grade. So they aspire to be better than, you know, maybe the way I grew up. I grew up, you know, with a great family, but obviously weren't very wealthy. And I was very hungry to have success in my life. I want them to have that hunger. I want them to feel entrepreneurial, but I also want them to ask good questions and be engaged so that they kind of listen and learn and navigate their life to a point where they're comfortable and find what they're passionate about. Well, Mark, you're a pioneer in what you do. You're an innovator, worldwide visionary, and helping people to get fit. That is what it's about, helping people get

fit, stay healthy. Now more than ever, you have to. You don't have a choice with everything going on. So make sure you check out Mark Mastrove by going to UFCgym.com. That's UFCgym.com. And anybody that helps people get healthy, that's a hero. Mark Mastrove, you're here on the Alliance's Hero Show. Make sure you go to alliances.com.

This has been David Kogan with the alliances hero show