The Business Behind Mr. Olympia: Media, Branding & Millions with Dan Solomon

Tell me more about why licensing, how licensing, and why you added that business strategy to the mix. It's the commerce of status. I thought to myself, because I was the big bodybuilder. I was the guy that actually rooted for bodybuilders. It was the thing that I really connected to as a kid. Ronnie or Jay? Well, both, right? Because she lived with Eras. 22 million fit-minded followers, follow our collective social media across muscle and fitness. Michelle Limpia Flex, all of it. The Olympia represents something very powerful in the world. So now I want to start with a myth of Mr. Olympia, that it is an event. It's a bodybuilding event. My presupposition from businessmen is that it's a media company. Myth or truth? There's a lot of truth to that, but it's also the central artery of the global fitness movement. It's the thing that connects it all. When you come to Olympia weekend, you are surrounded by a sea of commerce, right? Equipment companies, apparel companies, nutrition companies, regenerative medicine, wellness. It all lives in this massive ecosystem that is the Olympia. The Olympia is kind of perched atop this massive industry of fitness and healthy living. It all comes together. Well, we go back way back then, and we talk about, actually, let's start with your background first. Because you were media prior to being this. You ran events, radio show, all that sort of stuff. How did the media business bring you into this and prepare you for this? Right. I've always had interest in the fitness industry, and I've had positions, and I've been a publisher and an editor and a writer and done all those different things. What happened was, the media piece started back in 2005. I was driving around South Florida, and I was listening to an interview with some famous local NBA player. I thought to myself, because I was a big bodybuilding fan. I was the guy that actually rooted for bodybuilders. It was a thing that I really connected to as a kid. Ronnie or Jay? Well, both, right? Because two different eras, right? But I got to be careful. But it was all those guys. It was from Arnold and Franco Colombo and on up, and it was a real fun time. And it really represented a big part of who I am and all that. So I'm driving around, and I'm hearing this interview, and I said, how strange is it that there is no way for a bodybuilding enthusiast to hear the words of their favorite bodybuilders much the same way any other sport? Because back in those days, there was no YouTube. There was no Instagram. There were no platforms where people could consume media that way. So I decided to come up with a concept called Pro Bodybuilding Weekly. I linked up with this global online syndicator, and you had to spend money on this big transmitter box, and you had to plug it into the wall, and there was a studio that you connected to. I think it was in Arizona. I was in Florida. My coach was in somewhere else, and we would connect. And every Monday night at 8 o'clock, we would talk about the news surrounding the world of bodybuilding. Contest results, break it down. The guys would come on. They would talk trash with each other. You know, Franco Colombo and Frank Zane would come on, and they would take shots at each other, and Arnold Schwarzenegger would come on, and it was Lou Ferrigno, and all those guys, they would come on, and they would tell their stories. And it was such an opportunity. But then getting to the business side, I recognized quickly that we had created, without realizing it, the first and only way for fitness-themed brands to communicate verbally with a captive audience of fitness, is to create a sense of bodybuilding enthusiasts. And at that time, the supplement industry was making a big push, right? And so it created a real opportunity for us to generate some real commerce. I think that people don't really grasp the power of being a media company behind what you do, because year-round now, the Mr. Olympia brand, Miss Olympia brand, is out there in the world, creating content daily, weeks-re-following the stories of, and so on. I want to get more into that in a moment, but let's go even further back. Joe Weeder, you know, I read his book as a kid. I think everyone read Joe Weeder's book at some point in time. And for those who didn't, so Joe Weeder is the iconic pioneering founder of the bodybuilding movement. Back in the 1940s, when leading men in Hollywood didn't have muscle, it was frowned upon to work out. It was a whole different world back then. Sports teams did not have training rooms. They did not have trainers. After the games, these guys would go out and drink beers. They weren't drinking protein shakes. It was a whole different world. But Joe at that time identified the importance of muscle. And he had the foresight to see where the world was headed when it came to muscle. So he created the first ever sports supplement company called Weeder Nutrition. There hadn't been one before. He created a magazine called Your Physique, which would one day become muscle and fitness years later. But it was a magazine that was just a little pamphlet stapled together. And people would pay 25 cents to learn how to build their biceps, to build their app, to get bigger, to get faster, to get stronger. And it started there. They would go around and I actually made a movie about it. It's called Bigger. And it's a movie that stars, you know, Julianne Huff and Robert Forsters in the film. And it's a really great cast. We're real proud of it. And we released it in theaters in 2018. And it's the story of how Joe and his brother, Ben had this vision and decided to introduce muscle to the world in a way the world had never received it before. And yeah, so Joe started it all. Yeah, I look back at the business lesson behind taking an idea and making it a global movement. Yeah. And I think that that's probably one of the best ways to describe what Joe started is a movement. And I think a lot of businesses don't get that. How do you still today honor that movement idea? Yeah. So I think the movement piece for us is much like the Super Bowl or the World Cup or the NBA finals. The Olympia represents that in this space, right? And the reason why the Super Bowl is what it is or the World Series is what it is. It's not because of the game or the event that's happening on that day. It is the ecosystem that lives around all of it, right? So I think that's how we try to do it. The Olympia as we approach it isn't just the world championship of our sport. It is the highest symbol of achievement in the world of fitness and muscle building. So what the Olympia represents as a brand when you see the Olympia logo, when you see that iconic image of Joe Eater's arms crossed, standing on. Joe Eater's big arms crossed. Yes. And you see that that's the symbol of the highest level of achievement, much the same way Dana has been successful in taking combat sports and Mitz martial arts and the UFC represents the highest level of that movement, that lifestyle. That's what the Olympia represents. So we really tried to capitalize on that. You threw a word in there which movement has to have is lifestyle. Yeah. Because again, I don't think businesses understand the power of making a lifestyle and finding a lifestyle and becoming synonymous with that lifestyle. That's right. Yeah, it is a lifestyle. And I always refer to it as one because I always say a lot of people say, oh, Mr. Olympia is this big massive body. I don't want to look like that. I have no ambition of looking like Mr. Olympia. Yeah. And I that's great. I get that you're not going to. So don't worry about it. But unless you have the genetics, right? It's like, dear Joe Eater, I read your book and it is still that I still look like this, right? Yeah. The genetics out there. Yeah. No, but for in reality, it's not about trying to look like or trying to be Mr. Olympia. It's about learning from Mr. Olympia. Yeah. It's about being inspired and motivated and lifted up by Mr. Olympia. And I think the thing that people are always most surprised about is the cognitive and intellectual capacity of a world-class elite level bodybuilder. Do you ever have an opportunity to sit in this and hopefully you will one day sit down with somebody who has won the Mr. Olympia? Well, yeah. Well, Jay, I became friends with Jay several years back and it's like. So Jay, Joe is a great example. Jay, Joe is very bright. If you sit down with Jay and you talk to him about physiology, musculature, muscle building, the business of bodybuilding, the business of fitness, the transformative spirit that lives in this space. And you talk to Jay Cutler about that. Jay will articulate that in a very powerful way with tremendous experience. So I always say that's the piece of all of this. So when you get back to the whole thing about how this isn't just about the physiques, it's not about the bodies. It's about the stories and Joe Weeder always used to talk about that. He always used to say, this thing is growing rapidly, not because of the way that guy looks on stage. It's because of the story that led him down this journey because make no mistake about it. You cannot enter this arena. You cannot go down and do what this thing requires in terms of suffering, dedication, saccharine. This isn't golf or you take a lesson and play for seven, eight, not to minimize golf. It's the hardest sport in the world. I get that, but it's not the same. Bodybuilding is a massive lifestyle. It is a commitment unlike any other. And in order to get on that train, typically if you peel away the layers of somebody and you look at the early stages of your life, they dealt with some really heavy things. They dealt with bullying. They dealt with things that were really significant medical experiences, personal things that they confronted. And that's what set them up to be able to go down this journey. These aren't regular people with regular life experiences. But that brings us to the point, though, the lifestyle, the community, the tribe, the telling the story of your customer. I think way too many businesses, they try to make the business, the hero, instead of the customer, the hero in your business, your customer, your competent, your athletes are the hero. The hero is not you, the business. The hero is the customer. And that I think you guys do that in a way, the movie, the previous movies, like the movies way back when it was Schwarzenegger. What was the name of that one? Pumping Iron. Pumping Iron. And then you guys did another one bigger, the bigger iron. We did bigger. And then we just recently released a doc on Prime Amazon called Dream Dig, which is the story basically about what we do with the Olympics. So you think about that telling the story of your customer. Is that a strategy? Is it a we have to do this or is it just ingrained you now? So we have to do it. But the fun part about that, and I'm glad you brought that up. It's understanding who your avatar, who your buyer profile is, right? So you just said, in asking this question, you just said the athlete, right? But the more I've peeled away the layers, the more I've dug into this world, the more I've realized our customer isn't the athlete. Our customer is the guy who walks into a gym for the first time. And maybe he's trying to overcome a quadruple bypass surgery and he joins the gym because he wants to get healthy enough so he can dance at his daughter's wedding or it's the 18, 17 year old kid who joins a gym because he just got his ass kicked at school the other day and he's having real self esteem issues. So he wants to get himself together, get bigger, get stronger and improve his self esteem and improve his self-swagger and on sometimes stay clear of really serious psychological issues, right? So that's who I think about when I wake up every day. It's not Mr. Olympia. It's not the sponsor of the exhibit or yes, that's a big part of what we do, but it's that person and that to me is who we're trying to connect. What one of the stories on your site was, you know, the mom who had the babies and then came back and went into the whole thing and it became, you know, so but that story and telling those stories, let's be blunt, that movie made the industry so leaps. I mean, the industry leapt ahead. It did. Because of that movie. Yeah. You know, so the movie for those who haven't, the 19th, it's called Pumping Iron and it's basically the story of the 1975 Mr. Olympia, which was held in a city called Pretoria in South Africa. And it basically chronicles a guy named Arnold Schwarzenegger from Austria competed against his rival, Luc Fereigno, and it takes you down this path of what, you know, the mind fuckery, if you will, of what they go through. I'm Australian. That's how we speak. Sure. To to get to that stage. And of course, in the end, Arnold ends up defeating Luc Fereigno, but it sort of takes you through that process. But what's changed since those days, the Olympia back in those days, was a brand that tied directly to massively built guys who competed for big bodybuilding titles. The Olympia is in the whole industry has evolved in so many different ways. You've got so many levels, male levels of competition, female level competition, different body types, different shapes, all that stuff. And the chances are pretty good now that your kid's third grade teacher competes and an organized physique competition or my best friend is going through this right now. Yes. You know, he hit a phase and him and I, I'm 54, he's 55 and Damon hit a phase where his doctor said, if you don't get healthier, you're going to die. Right. And Damon being Damon decided to go to the extreme. Yes. And he's in cutting right now. And he's like a 30 something pounds in the last few weeks that he's dropped a cut weight for a tournament. And I'm watching him go through this and it's a mental game more than a physical and it's so gratifying to hear stories like that because there was a time when bodybuilding was this niche, very time to underworld, right? And when I hear stories about your very successful friends who are taking on this lifestyle, when you come to an Olympia and you look at the front row, don't be surprised when you see guys like Shaquille O'Neal or Mark Wahlberg or, you know, Dwayne Johnson's involved. These guys, they come around and they're very closely connected, right? To, right. Yeah, Shaquille. By the way, this is this is Dan's book, Wind Fuel and Shaq is the guy that wrote the thing about why you have to read this. Yeah. And Shaq, by the way, Shaq's favorite thing to do is to create these videos on social media where he actually does these silly bodybuilding routines and he loves it. Like he connects with that lifestyle and he'll show up with the event. We don't pay him to be there. He loves it. He sits there from start to finish and he talks to me about why this guy finished fourth and he understands the, you know, the physiology and how to break down a physique because that's a whole nother animal, right? As being able to break down a physique at a bodybuilding or fitness competition. But so many people are starting to connect with this lifestyle and so movie studios are connecting to our world because they're trying to tap into our audience. And of course, all these other segments of business are starting to connect with our world and that is so critical. And it tells us that maybe, maybe we're doing something right because it took a while to get there. Understand what he just said, guys. Connect to our world. Connect to our lifestyle. So too many businesses that, and I'll be really blunt, dominating a niche. It's okay. Dominating an entire market is what this brand is. Okay. So building a brand is not about the logo and that it's about the community. It's about the lifestyle. It's about the world that you build. And I think that's one of the business sides of this that people don't truly grasp. And that ecosystem, as you, your word is, it is the suppliers, all the product makers from the, the things, but it's, it's the, all these things make that whole community. The competition is just one. The people that buy the tickets to come watch the thing. That's a good revenue sauce. Sure it is. But you know what though? It's, it's fun because I don't want it to get lost in any of this. And I always, whenever I'm in an opportunity or somebody like yourself who was achieved so much, has a podcast and invites me to be on it. That's so much bigger than me. And I can't even articulate that enough to tell you that there was a time when guys like you didn't think about bringing in extensions of the global fitness or bodybuilding movement into your arena. It was unheard of. It was, it was, but the fact that we're all kind of, I got to give up. We're all kind of, I got to give our, our good friend, Sean Telly a shout out because Sean actually brought us together. So thanks Sean for doing that. But the fact that I'm sitting here talking to you and your audience, you're the same guy who will interview guys like Gary Vee and other massive achievers in the world. And I've loved listening to your show for years and you do a great job, but to be able to sit here and talk to you about my slice of commerce, my slice of the world. It's so gratifying and it really speaks to the work that so many people beyond me have done to sort of connect these worlds and to make us relevant. Well, let's go back to the media world just for a second because I think that we got to the point where the movie launched the industry way ahead. It's kind of like you mentioned Dana and UFC, the TV show launched UFC into that mainstream Arnold and Lou going on to be famous movie stars sort of thing that again launched the industry even further. But if you go back to the magazine business, muscle and fitness, flex, Joe's original pamphlet thing being how do I put this nicely? You guys didn't use the media. You became the media. You owned the magazines rather than putting ads in magazines. It's like it's almost like the Red Bull strategy. Right. So there's there's two reasons why we do that. One is because first of all, when a bodybuilder walks on the Mr. Olympia stage or any other stage, you have to have a connection with that individual, right? And then when they walk out there by the time they they've done that, if you've done our job, the stories and how they got there have been told. So there's a more visceral personal connection to that particular competitor. But then on the business side, the reason why we do it is because when you sponsor the Olympia, you're not just sponsoring a four or five day event, right? You are sponsoring, you're gaining access to a year round visibility engine, right? So when if you are a nutrition, a supplement and equipment company and you want to make sure your brand evolves, you're not just getting these activations that occur on site over the course of the few days. You get an entire you have opportunities to tap in into a entire year of editorial and storytelling and E-blast and all the things that, you know, we do with our social media 22 million fit minded followers, follow our collective social media, cross muscle and fitness, Mr. Olympia, flex, all of it. And so we make that world available in a way that can be extremely beneficial and that enables us to get to an entire different price point. A title sponsorship at the Olympia is a seven figure transaction for a company. There's no other fitness themed event in the world that even comes close to being able to command that level of commitment from a sponsor. And it's because of what we do for them throughout the entire year. And that's what the media does. Yeah. I'm intrigued. Maybe one day we do the TV show similar to the UFC one for muscle and fitness. I thought it'd be fun. But anyway, I digress. So that then leads me to another business strategy of Mr. Olympia licensing. You build a brand so strong, you're wearing the necklace, you know, that image and likeness is out there. Tell me more about why licensing, how licensing and why you added that business strategy to the mix. It's the commerce of status, right? So the Olympia represents something very powerful in the world. If you are tied to this lifestyle in any way, shape or form, the Olympia really means something. Yeah. It is a status. It is a level of achievement. It is a... It's the Rolex. It is the Rolex. It is a bucket list place to be. When people come to the Olympia for the first time, it's much like the horse racing fan finally getting to the Kentucky Derby or the golfing enthusiast finally making it to Augusta. You come to the Olympia, whether it's as a fan or as a competitor and you walk on that stage, it means something. And we work very, very hard. A lot of people don't fully grasp the extent that we go to continue to tell the story in a way that makes people really appreciate the status and the significance of what the Olympia, what that owe, what Joe Weider, what that all represents in the global fitness movement. And so that directly ties in to a licensing initiative because obviously the more status, the more prolific impact that the Olympia as a word, as a brand, as a logo has, we're able to go around the world to equipment companies and nutrition companies and any other parallel category, an endemic brand, right? That lives in that space and be able to allow them if they're willing to pay for it, right? And we feel like that it's a suitable brand and it speaks to the caliber and the quality of what we stand for. They can use the Olympia to sell their product. And it's been a big part of our revenue model. It's one we don't talk a lot about, but I appreciate you seeing it because there are people out there that are licensing experts, really, like the Jamie Salters of the world, those guys who really know that lane. I mean, Disney is the world's best licensing company by a million miles. You guys have used it in such a way that it not only was a revenue model. And I think that the distinction for the way you've used it is it built the brand. It didn't like it made the brand stronger by finding the right partners. So is there a strategy for finding that partners? Do you go looking for them? Do they come to you? How do you build that? Typically, they come to us and it almost has to be born that way because it's very difficult to engage in my opinion in the licensing space and what we do without it being their ask. So typically most licensing deals and there's probably people who are savvier marketers and savvier salespeople than me that would tell you there's another way to do it. But for us, it has served us well. People come to us. They have companies that are in a space where they feel like that credibility is powerful. There's a company called New Tech, which is a Korean based exercise equipment company. They are one of our main sponsors, which also brands a license, a licensee deal. And they will tell you they were sitting here. The impact that the Olympia and that connection has had on their growth has been massive. One of our other major sponsors, Integral Medica, based out in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They also have connected to the licensing element of what that Olympia relationship and they all came to us because they identified the value of it. They understood that in their particular lane, they needed advantage. They need a separator. So even if you are a gym and you are all of a sudden becoming an Olympia approved gym, that is a massive impact in this space. Yeah, it's a very big difference. And I think that that's where a lot of companies don't realize that your brand is not just the logo. Your brand is everything you do. And how well you do it or don't do it is a part of that. So, okay, let's go next phase of business for you guys. If the way I'm just breaking down the business model here, gang, the event business. Because I see a lot of companies that should have an annual event that should give annual awards. Because like, let's be blunt, gang. If I give my award and I'll use me, right, action coach, if I give an award to my customer, that customer puts the award on the wall, they shouted out the social media, my brand is everywhere type thing. The Mr. Olympia brand is not probably a week goes by where Jay Cutler doesn't remind me on his social media that he's four times Mr. Olympia type thing. And him and Ronnie had a good run there for a while. But you think about that whole idea for you. Okay, when you sit down and start thinking about the business of Mr. Olympia, you build an event. But I mean, you, you can go, we have a great company, let's build an event. It started around Joe building that event. Yeah, it did and it didn't. So Joe, we had the media and he had the bodybuilding competitions and he was doing all of that. And then he realized that there was, it was too fragmented. There was different organizations and he wanted to go ahead and create the definitive world championship. The world championship. Maybe I should do the world championship of business. You should. You absolutely should. So he's sitting at a table much like this. It was he, his brother, his wife, Betty Weeder, who's still among us and she's beautiful and she's 90 something years old. And they're sitting around and there was a guy there sitting there named Larry Scott. Larry Scott was at the time regarded as the best bodybuilder in the world. He had won a couple of titles. But there was nothing that could anoint somebody, the king, the top guy. So he's sitting there and he says, let's create an event and let's make this the, I won't say the Super Bowl because this actually happened before the Super Bowl was born. Yeah. Fair, right? Yeah, you wouldn't call it Super Bowl. It was nothing. That's right. So let's create this thing. So he's literally sitting there and there's a brand of beer called Olympia beer, which some people may know about. And it's sitting on the table and they were trying to come up with a name for it. And they look, he looks at the can of beer and he goes, what about Mr. Olympia? So that's how the name was born. So I've never heard that story. I tell the story because it's a fun story to tell, but it's also a point of clarity. The event wasn't the first thing he created, but he knew that if he owned control of who the number one bodybuilder in the world was, that was a massive advantage because by him owning this thing, he would now be in complete control of the story lines, complete control of the influence that comes with being the best in the world. So he really committed to it. So to your point, if you created a world championship of business, right, you would suddenly be in a position of authority and influence to anoint that person or to name that person. But the event person, the event industry is a very tricky one. Fun story to tell, not so fun to live. I will tell you this. The Olympia was acquired. There's been three owners of the Olympia. Joe Weeder was the first. The second one was a company called American Media, which is that big publisher of the inquire us weekly, all those big grocery store tab woods. Because they wanted the magazines back then. Correct. That's right. And they spent, and it was a public deal. They spent $350 million to acquire an asset group that included the Olympia, that included Muscle & Fitness magazine and a series of other fitness themed media. And for the go in, and they spent all this money to buy it. So that was the second owner. And then back in, and I was with American Media during that. You worked with them back then. Yes. I was brought into overseas, the Olympia for them back at that time. And then the CEO of AMI, a very polarizing business person named David Packer, whose name comes up in a lot of conversation for different ways. But he was always a fun boss to work for, right? He came to me one day and he said, I need, or I would like to seek out somebody to buy this asset from us. Got it. The fitness lifestyle asset that included all of those things. So I happened to know a guy named Jake Wood, who's based out in Arizona. And Jake was a real, is a real deal, ultra passion, authentic, lifestyleist of the bodybuilding world loves this stuff. He's had great success in his life. He and his father built this very successful company that created fasteners to build airplanes, right? And they sold it for a big, a big payday. And he now was in a position to live out his dream and to buy this thing, right? Much like a football fan, buying the Super Bowl, if that were a possibility. And so he came in and I brought the parties together. And so Jake buys all of this back in 2020. And. Code it. Weeks after the deal closed, weeks after the hours after the ink dried on the contracts, the world shut down. He had just acquired this asset for a substantial sum of money, by the way. And he now had this thing and we were in a spot where we couldn't have the event. I mean, we've all been in spots where we've bought stocks at the wrong time or we've done. This was one of the most hard luck. I felt for Jake in this spot. It was a really tough spot that he was in. We never took our eye out the ball. We used it as a real opportunity. We were going to put this event on the event was supposed to happen in Las Vegas. Five weeks before the event was supposed to happen, the governor here in Nevada announced that more than 200 people cannot gather in one place at the same time. So we had already sold thousands of tickets. It was an absolute shit show scenario, right? To be. Oh, I remember. Yeah. So we had to go ahead and we had to scramble. It takes about seven months to fully produce an event of this scale. So we went ahead and we found a venue in the middle of Florida, the Orange County Convention Center. I will forever being your debt in Orlando. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, he made sure that the path was clear for us to come on in and put on our event. It was obviously a smaller event than normal. It wasn't the, but we were able to honor the tickets that we had already sold. And most importantly for us, we were able to create the stage for these athletes to compete in guys, men and women who were already multiple months into their content. Prep and a contest prep for an event of this caliber is a very intensely arduous, you know, commitment, right? And these folks were able to compete and we were able to crown our champions that year. So the event business is a tricky one, but now it's back to full swing, right? The event business has never been. So what are the, I guess, main things that make the event business really work? Yeah. So I think the challenges will make the event really work, obviously, is just, you know, just building up that demand, right? I mean, of everything that we do over the course of the years to tell the stories. And I want to stop you there because too many business people are focused on supply more than demand. Yeah. I ask you how to succeed in something and your immediate reaction is demand versus supply. You don't go into, well, we have the right people running the back office and doing all that sort of stuff. You immediately went to demand. Yeah. Is that always been your thing? It's just kind of the way I think about it, right? I feel like it's a significant advantage to walk into. I feel like you've already won if you've established demand, right? It's just a matter of how you win and how the win looks, right? But in our case, the Olympia represents something very important. We don't have the luxury to shrink it. We don't have a luxury. We have 11 competitive divisions from bodybuilding, male and female to bikini and wellness and wheelchair and all these other divisions that wellness and physique that compromise our competitive landscape. There are other events that have the luxury to eliminate events, do what they want to do with prize money or other element. We don't. We have a responsibility. There is a governing body called the IFBB professional league, which sanctions the world of competitive bodybuilding at the highest level. They sanction the Olympia and hundreds of other Olympia qualifying events that take place in cities around the world. Every Saturday night in a cities around the world, there's eight to 10 events that take place and these events are Olympia qualifiers. You got to win there to get there. Right. And it's this whole system that it leads to the Olympia. So we do not have the luxury to compromise or to shrink or to not have our events, right? We have to do it. So, but to answer your question, yeah, there is licensing. There is sponsorships. There is exhibitor sales as part of the Olympia for those who have not experienced one is the Olympia Expo, right? And that's the part that a lot of people forget about because the Olympia has been so heavily branded as a bodybuilding competition. You know what people don't realize is if you come to the event at the Las Vegas Convention Center, there's five or 600,000 square feet of convention center space where some of the best brands in the fitness lifestyle from, you know, like I mentioned earlier, equipment and apparel and nutrition and supplementation and wellness and all of these other even non endemic categories that come in. They want to connect with our audience and thousands and thousands and thousands of enthusiasts. They come to the doors and they get to learn all the latest of what's happening around the global fitness. It is a B to C environment. And we're really proud of that. And they come in and they really connect and they're surrounded by like minded people. They build relationships and and it gives these companies the opportunity to connect and market to that brings the next business model into the game. And that is the connect the model. You know, if you look at Amazon, Amazon connects small businesses, they're more than 30, almost 40% of their businesses, small businesses selling to end users type thing. Your business platform is you connect to that group with that group sort of thing and you, you know, you share the windfall of those two groups coming together. That Xpo idea, I think that too many businesses don't get to the idea of you can have sponsors. You're healing that market. It's even like for my podcast. Now that we've started adding sponsors to the podcast and people are like, well, why would you have sponsors? Because I want my customers to be able to deal with the best of the best customers. You know, the best suppliers. So I think that that's a really important aspect of understanding. Now, that all brings us back then to the overarching thing of all year round. There's social media. You guys are not just good at it. There's a lot of amazing stuff you do. But before I get to that, I want to get to this whole network of events around the world. Most people think that they're the only company that can sell what they do for themselves, but you've literally got thousands of agents around the world promoting your brand. Every single month. There's some great ones too. There's some great events, right? There's an event that there's a massive event that takes place in Dubai. There's a fitness Xpo in Germany. It's one of the biggest in the world. There's a great event in Columbus, Ohio, over here called the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic. Arnold versus our seven time champion. And he puts on an event called the Arnold Classic, which I'm sure a lot of your audience is familiar with. And it's one of the best fitness Xpo's in the world. They really bring a lot of people. It's positioned in Columbus, Ohio. So it's kind of an easy event to access, to drive to. It connects a lot of that region. But yeah, all of those events, in the end, those winners feed into the culmination of the year, which of course is the Olympia. So that does serve us well. We're always the storyline. We're not a storyline for a week or for a month. The Olympia is always the ongoing narrative of the year. So that definitely serves us well. Another thing that serves us well also is if you sponsor or an exhibit at the Olympia, especially if you're a high level sponsor, we really work hard to bring you into our world and not just provide the value that's on the contract, right? We try to make sure that you have access to distribution. We like to make sure that if I know somebody, you know, like you or another power player in the world who might be able to provide value. And I think we're all sort of taking that on in our businesses, right? You also give them a chance to just have a photograph with someone. Sure. Just that alone, I'm sure there's some sponsors that just become sponsors just to have a photo, you know? For sure. They want to have that because, well, I know, for example, you just mentioned that. So a great example of that, the event that Arnold puts on in Columbus. Make no mistake about it. A lot of people, companies are there because they want that moment where Arnold's going to stop by, take a picture. They then take that picture, put it on their social media, put it on the wall in their office, on headquarters, and that's their badge of honor. That's their status moment. So yeah, we're all selling status right at the end of the day. And I respect that model. And Arnold has been famously amazing out of leveraging that aspect of who he is, right? He's done it real well, Lou, obviously. Jay's done it. Ronnie's done it. I mean, back to the strategy. And I don't think that a lot of people get it, gang. Having thousands of people out there in the world as your affiliates, whatever the, you want to call it, it's a strategy of having a network of people that promote your business for you. Type thing. So that brings me to the social media side of it. Because let's be blunt. There's more people mentioning, I would say that you guys are better at getting social mentions than you are at social media. If that makes sense. I would agree with that. You know, is that a strategy? Do you plan it? Is it just, how does that happen for your business? No, I don't think it's a stroke of genius at all. Actually, to be honest, I don't think we're very good at social media, to be honest with you. Now, we have a very. You're great at social mention. Yes, we are. We are. No, for sure. So especially now with AI, right? The model, that's a whole nother thing we can get into. And it's probably another show altogether. But yes, social mentions is a big part of who we are because obviously everybody is trying to get to that rarefied air of the Olympia stage, right? So it's always going to be woven in. So that creates a world where we are mentioned in nearly every conversation that exists, whether or not it's the first thing that comes out of Jay Cutler's mouth. I am a four-time history Olympia or whether or not somebody has just qualified for the Olympia or whether or not a supplement company or an exhibitor has just inked a deal to be at the Olympia or an influencer is announcing to his followers that he in fact, or she will be at the Olympia experience. It has a way of weaving its way into everything that we do. So it's a keen observation by you to see that when I say we're not particularly great at social media, there are better ways to use social media. Then the way we use social media. Well, you guys are stuck with the same problem a lot of businesses are. And that is that you're a corporate brand. You're no longer Joe Weeter. You know, when it was Joe, there's like imagine him today in the social media world. Oh my God, the guy would have more followers than everyone combined sort of thing. But that struggle is the struggle for all of us in business. You've got to be there's got to be a front person for the business. And, you know, you've taken up that mantle for Mr. Olympia is being out there. And hence the book. Right. Was that as a strategic decision to put the book to self-brand? So I'm glad you asked that. And I appreciate talking about the book. The book is not a book about bodybuilding. It's not a book about fitness. It's a book about, you know, some of my approaches to business, understanding self-awareness, navigating fear, understanding that the most powerful superpower that you can have is being able to see the world do the eyes of the person in front of you. And all of that stuff that we all talk about. So that's what's in this book. And the book has been great. But to your point, I wrote the book because I have worked real hard over the last few years to connect with different audiences to be able to get in rooms that people that typically have jobs like mine don't get into. Yeah. And the book has really served me well. So I know you work with a lot of clients who are focused on their personal brand and they're trying to connect in different areas. The book has served me well. The book has sold fine. But the most powerful beneficial aspect of this book has been and has given me an opportunity to show the world that I am capable of a different level of thinking that goes beyond. That goes beyond sense. I'm not just a Mr. Olympia meathead. I wrote a book. 100%. You got it. Oh, buddy. That's funny. That is funny. It's not just that I wrote a book. It's the nature of the topics that I wrote about. Yeah. And I have other business interests in my life. And this has really served me well to start those conversations. I don't think people realize that the purpose of a book is really the best brochure you'll ever have in your life. Yes. You know, because it actually shows people what you think, how you think, who you are, what you stand for, all of those sorts of things. But I come back to that personal branding side of things because I think personal branding for a CEO today is almost vital. You know, more people follow Phil Knight than follow my Nike sort of thing. More people follow the founder than the actual brand in vast majority of cases. So you guys are genius at the social mentions. Genius at social proof, I think, because the social proof of everything that happens just, you know, keeps the brand. That that letter, you know, the winner of Mr. Olympia is the winner. Like it's not a, oh, we thought you were close to winning. No, no, you are the world champ. That's right. At that point in time. But when we come to personal branding, I had a challenge with it, right? I told you before that, you know, I didn't want to go out and be the face of the company. Was that something that you and Jake discussed that you would do that? Like as the CEO or the president of the company, or is it just something that you realize you had to do with? It's just the responsibility when there's when there are stages around the world that give you an opportunity to walk out onto those stages and talk to whether it's hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of people about this lifestyle, about what we do at the Olympia. And a lot of what I talk about isn't just about what happens on the Olympia stage or coming to the Olympia. A lot of times I talk to groups of people about how the, how the fitness and bodybuilding lifestyle can be a bridge to really amazing things. What makes this industry really unique. And I'm sure you've seen this a little bit is this industry is comprised of some massive success stories. People that started off on a bodybuilding stage, living this lifestyle, the characteristics that live within a competitive bodybuilding like dedication, sacrifice, suffering, a relentless approach to getting this thing, whatever it is, whether you want to get your pro status or whether you want to just win or whether you want to just get in shape for a photo shoot, whatever your goal is. If you're willing to take that on your wiring is typically such that you will be successful and whatever you do and whatever you do next will be infinitely easier for having had this experience. Imagine walking out on a stage half naked, right? And you're standing more than half. Yes, more than that. And you're standing in a room full of strangers, a judging panel of men and women that have never seen you, don't know you, and they're sitting there telling you your value. They're telling you that you are 16th place, 12th place, whatever you are, and they're measuring you and the level of vulnerability that comes with that. If you are able to do that, no matter what you do next. And I have so many friends that have taken that lifestyle and have built brands have had half billion dollar exits, have achieved massive success. And it all started because of the habits that they established in the world competitive bodybuilding. And that to me is a really cool thing. So when you talk about getting out there and talking and bringing the carrying carrying that flag and doing that whole thing. I think it's a responsibility to Joe Weeder who started all of this to basically make sure we're doing everything we can. This is a movement that we're building in my role atop the Olympia. What makes it different than maybe a lot of the other events. And there's some great event promoters out there, really good ones, excellent ones actually. And I think what makes what I do different is I feel like my responsibility is not just growing the Olympia. It's growing the sport, the movement, the lifestyle. And I feel like that will all trickle down because the Olympia sits atop all of that. So a lot of times if you hear me speaking, it's topics that are all about growing this movement and building this lifestyle. The Olympia is going to win regardless, right? And so that's been a strategy that I've deployed and I think it's worked. Yeah, the responsibility factor, like, you know, a lot of the entrepreneurs that I talk with and that watch this show, they started their thing. So they have that founder idea. You inherited something that deserved you, the irreverence of the brand. Like people just revered Joe Weider and all those champs that we've talked right through and that keeping and carrying on the movement. But business strategy that you just, I don't know if you realize you threw it out there. Sometimes it's about getting a percentage of the pie. Other times it's about building the size of the pie. That's right. It's the law of abundance, right? It's the whole thing. And that's kind of what I've always subscribed to. A lot of people feel like this is competing or events are competing with each other. We're not competing with each other. It's not about getting more pieces of the pie. It's about making this pie bigger. And that's, of course, the law of abundance. That's what we're trying to do here. And it's worked well, but we have a lot of work to do. I mean, there's so much more that we need to do. And when we finish this interview, bro, I'm going to be blowing up your phone because I know what you do is taking things from 10 million to 100 million, right? And that's what we're trying to do at the Olympia. That's what we're trying to do with our industry. So I can't wait to talk to you more about all that. But there's definitely a lot of work still to do. Yeah, look, I don't think that any business, it was a joke with a few of my team the other day. We look back at some old videos we put up on YouTube and it was like, oh my God, did we really post that? And I'd say to the team, look, if we look back at an old video and think it's still good, then we haven't evolved. For sure. If you don't look at what you're doing and think there's still a lot to be done, then you don't have that vision of the future. So let's finish there. What is the vision for the future for the Mr. Olympia? And how do you share that with people out there, especially your team? Because your team is, they're all dedicated to the industry, the movement, the culture as well. Yeah, I know. I mean, it's, first of all, we, in a shout out to my team, they do a great job. And it's a smaller team than most would think, right? As most teams seem to be these days, right? But now really the objective now is to just start to leverage some of these technologies. We're starting to deploy certain elements of artificial intelligence to create more of an interactive experience with the people who live this lifestyle. It can no longer be about just physically getting to the event, which of course we know is always the pinnacle experience. But I think a lot of the things that we're trying to do now is just trying to create a year and a year out value, provide more education, provide more inspiration. There's a lot of people out there who are building businesses around this world. And we want to help people be successful. A lot of these that I talk about when I do interviews like this or when I go around and I talk to groups is how you can take this passion, this lifestyle and turn it into something you can monetize and you can build packaging your expertise into something sellable. So that's the kind of stuff that I think is an extension off of what we're doing at the Olympia. We want people to come to the Olympia and feel like they have access to things that are going to make them far more successful in their lives as a whole and ways that go beyond sets, reps, abs and biceps. Brilliant. You're on the $100 million podcast. We'll be back next week with more for your success. Remember the fastest way to scale is to learn from those who've done it. That's what this show is all about. See you on the next episode.