The Monday Report-Raise The Bar Conference 2024 Recap Edition
Mar 4|This is my 3rd year attending the Raise the Bar Conference learning experience. Best for entrepreneur coaches and small fitness business owners who want to learn how to set themselves apart.
Personal & Professional Update
Just under two weeks from the conference trip, I am just starting to get things together to try and put a few lessons into practice once I return from The Real Coaches Summit in Las Vegas(you can still purchase a ticket BTW). I haven’t done back to back education events like this in a long time, and they defininfly were note as packed with information as these two are. THis will be a new experience for me to have these two learning experiences back-to back.
I am not only excited to attend the event next week, but I am also excited to exhibit FITLETE to the coaches in attendance. Before heading out there, I have many things to finish, but the final countdown begins today.
The Raise The Bar Conference Recap
V.I.P. Experience
I did not attend the VIP experience this year, so I asked Megan Cooper, whom I met at 2023 Raise The Bar and have become good friends with over the past year.
Megan is the Owner of Studio ME Fitness in MINNEAPOLIS, MN
It is my 2nd year attending the Raise The Bar Conference as a VIP. The lineup of speakers initially drew me to the conference, and now the connections keep me coming back. Going to the meeting, I had just done a SWOT analysis (strengths, opportunities, opportunities, and threats) with my team and my leaders, so I was in a mindset of “how can we do better” going in.
This year's VIP experience included a half day of content (new) and dinner with the presenters. The half-day started with access to a gym to get a workout in. Many people kept to themselves and went and did their own thing. I was a bit bummed it wasn't an actual group workout, so we could get to know each other better. Then, we dove right into the presentations. My main takeaway was to turn your mess into your message. I also felt that much of the content presented in the VIP was then presented during the main conference. I can’t say I took a lot away from the content during that half-day.
The main conference itself was jam-packed with content from great speakers. A few presentations from last year were repeated, and while they were still good to hear, I was disappointed. It also felt as though the past couple of years have been geared towards online trainers. While I can still learn from it, owning a brick-and-mortar, having a team, and the overhead are very different!
The best night of the conference for me was actually the last night (when the conference was over). I found "my people" who had physical locations, a similar business model, and similar revenue. We started chatting about successes in our business and problems we’ve been facing and have already connected since we returned home.
Would I do the VIP again? Yes! I'm already signed up and can’t wait to see the amazing speaker line up and reconnect with my people.
Megan | Owner, Studio ME
My Experience(Speaker Recap)
DAY 1
Derek Mendoza: Elevate your coaching game: building your strategic framework for outcome-based success
always enjoy that he starts each presentation over the last three years by stating, “What I am about to discuss is my way; it doesn’t have to be your way, but this is part of my system, and you should use it to help you build your own methods that work for you.” This year, he followed that up by emphasizing it’s more important to develop a system that works for you and your clientele rather than making a system you think other colleagues will agree with. You’re on the right track if your system creates a clear mission, connects, identifies roadblocks, nourishes the clients’ needs, and you can stay realistic in your promises.
Nick Lambe: Sharing your message big and small- Speaking and communicating skills for profound impact
I loved his message and approach to using your voice as a way to tell a compelling story. We all talk to our clients and are looking for ways to deliver pretty bland information in ways that are “sticky.” While I don’t currently have aspirations to speak on stage, I can get an incredible amount of benefit by learning to express the full range of my speaking voice, which is typically not very expressive and not nearly as expressive as my facial expressions can be.
Andrew Coates: How to succeed with social media, make an impact, grow your business without selling your soul
Learning about Andrew's social media journey is probably the most relatable way the topic is discussed. The point that I wrote down, emphasized, and highlighted in my notes as he kept talking was, “People don’t pay for the information anymore; they pay for you, the relationship you foster with them, and your ability to help them digest the information in a way that moves the needle of progress towards their goal.”
Molly Galbraith: How to become the go-to coach for women
I don’t think this message will ever get old, and some of the statistics are still shocking despite it being the 4th time I have heard this version of Molly’s presentation. Of course, I would like to hear her talk about other things in the future, but each year, I am in a different space in time and can always take something new from the same presentation. About 50% of my clients are women, so it would be irresponsible of me to think these points about the crossroads of women, body image, and training environments don’t apply to me.
Sam Miller: The five currencies of online health and fitness business (time, money, audience, influence, expertise.
I will have to make an edit here once I watch the recordings because, unfortunately for me, I was having a really bad headache just before Sam’s presentation and had to leave the venue. I only caught the last few moments Sam was on stage.
Eve Guzman: Launching without limiting-how to amplify your offer
Talk about taking a leap of faith! Eve has a great(and rare) origin story, and there is much to learn from the path she chose to launch her career in this field as a coach. Taking calculated risks to switch careers can work in your favor, but it is risky. It will come with some very fast struggles, which is the biggest lesson to take away from this presentation before she dives into the specifics of her online product launching system and process. In my opinion, her Launch philosophy all comes down to one simple phrase: “Your launch is only as good as the message,” meaning the work you put into building interest, trust, and expertise is all about being clear and concise about the topic, narrowing your message and content during your open cart period and addressing objections upfront.
Luka Hocevar: Fill these 6 buckets to build a successful career in the fitness industry
The six buckets visual analogy was a great way to frame a topic that discusses something that can get too quickly into the “just hustle harder” culture that exists in our industry. He does say that you do need to put in a lot of work, and that is not an issue because he used these “buckets” as a step-by-step guide for things you need to “Fill Up” in order to have a sustained career and then go in order. I liked this because it wasn’t just telling people they only needed to put their heads down and work in the trenches until they made it. It was about building relationships and going out of your way to meet people; everything you do today is practice reps for the stuff you can achieve tomorrow and seek knowledge to understand more, not just to acquire. On the knowledge point, he said while knowledge is a bucket of self-improvement, it is one that will never be full, and you should always try to keep contributing to it.
DAY 2
Adam Bornstein: Building and owning your audience
I was most excited to hear Adam speak because I had quietly (creepy?) followed any of the steps in his journey he has shared through his blogs and articles. His presentation was a mix of his story as a professional and then a list of topics where he asked the attendees to pick a few. My favorite of those discussed was how we need to be obsessed with trying to know our audience. The ways to do that are to allow them to test products, ask them as many questions as possible, and not shy away from someone providing you with negative feedback. If someone goes through a trial with you and tells you it honestly sucks, it’s much better than someone who tries to protect your feelings and gives bland feedback.
The quote from his presentation that might be my new favorite one is, “Frustration is eliminated by education and action.”
Shanté Cofield: Turning up what matters most for scaling your impact
I don’t think there is a better person to talk about the compounding benefits of being all in on being yourself than Shanté. I like how Shanté provides valuable context to points of emphasis in the presentation by saying things like “people who do memorable things get remembered.” It doesn’t seem all that insightful until she follows it up with something like who would miss you if you were gone(besides your family)? She found a unique way to convey the message that you need to care about the people who like you for who you are and what you stand for and have the courage to double down on making sure it’s known.
Nick Shaw: 7 lessons learned on the way to $100M in revenue
Switzerland. This reference can make sense even without the context of the presentation, and it resonated with me more than I wanted to admit. Being neutral or “not rocking the boat” like Switzerland might be okay for global politics and a country’s values, but it makes the existence of a brand in our content-based industry fade into the background. I made FITLETE act more like a utility for trainers and aimed to be an unbiased resource, but in doing so, I might have made my brand weaker by simply trying not to upset someone. I have come to the realization that I won't ever make everyone happy no matter my stated mission, and Nick’s presentation helped drive that point home with his story for the growth of Rennesaince periodization.
Funk Roberts: How to create a tribe business- the 27 secrets to optimizing retention, engagement, & revenue growth by building a tribe of loyal followers that never leave you
There is a lot to learn about building a tribe around your services or brand from Funk. I knew he understood the topic he would discuss when he started speaking about the community around Jeep drivers/owners. Have you ever heard of the Jeep Wave? However, I had to get to the root of his messages by shedding the “alpha male” message/values he used as examples because that’s what he had explicitly built for his community. The most influential piece I took away from Funk’s presentation was to systematize my onboarding process for new clients. This roadmap will help them understand your values, focus, and mission and set expectations for them as they begin their journey.
Dennis & Kelsey Heenan: Collaboration strategies for connection, growth and sales
As successful as they are, their presentations are always relatable and the ones I enjoy the most each year they have presented. I think they have a significant advantage over other speakers because they work in tandem to deliver the information for the presentation. This allows them to seamlessly switch speakers depending on who has more expertise and perspective on the point they are trying to make. The way they broke down the different ways you can use alternative partnership styles was insightful. It’s difficult to explain in a review in short form because I am new to this topic, but I did write down that in each partnership style there was some aspect of being mutually beneficial even if the workload within the partnerships wasn’t 50/50.
Jordan Syatt: A fireside chat Q&A
The moral of Jordan’s story is very simple, but even for me, it is a struggle to execute. To put in as many cliche phrases as I can: Do the damn thing, Just Publish it, Keep writing, You never know whos watching, creators need to create more and create more often, it’s never going to be perfect, so who cares and publish it anyway, not everyone is going to like it, your first stuff is going to be your worst stuff, and finally, the more you do, the better you’ll be.
My Professional Opinion Of The Conference As A Whole.
(+PRO) THE SPEAKER TOPICS: As much as I like Derek & Nick as human beings, the speakers and their topics are why I register each year. While there are many ways a conference can be beneficial, if the topics are not compelling or challenging, they don’t bring value to the event for an attendee. You don’t have to agree or champion each topic and the specifics discussed, but they should allow you an opportunity to challenge your own beliefs and inspire action aligned with or against the points discussed. Coming out of an event knowing what not to do and what you don’t want is equally valuable as knowing what to do and what you do want.
(+PRO) THE SPEAKER TIMING: They drastically improved keeping speakers on time! Years prior, this was one of the more prominent pain points I had with attending. It might seem like a small detail, but when sitting in a dark, windowless room like most conference locations, you want to rely on the schedule to know when you can see some daylight. The large countdown clock for speakers to see on stage seemed to help keep them on time or only a few minutes over.
(+PRO) THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE: Derek and Nick do their best to give the most value they can in their events, and this starts with the pre-event virtual social options, a hosted virtual experience with a dedicated virtual host(tipping my hat to you, Beth Yarzab, for doing an incredible job).
(+PRO) THE DAY 1 EVENING SOCIAL: Believe it or not, a quality mid-conference social is extremely important when attending an event like this. I say that as someone who has traveled solo to about 99% of the events I have attended since 2011. The socials are the perfect place to not only further the conversation you had with people you were sitting around during the event but also an opportunity to make connections you would otherwise not be able to make in a formal setting with like-minded professionals.
(-CON) THE FOOD TRUCK: There are always things that can go wrong and are completely out of control no matter how hard you try, and unfortunately for Derek and Nick, the food truck/catering company they had at the two-day event dropped the ball big time. Even with the option to pre-order & pre-pay for your food, the food truck was utterly unprepared and overwhelmed on the first day, and then, on day 2, about an hour before lunch, Nick came on stage saying they wouldn’t show up today! I can’t hold this against them as hosts because they did put in the effort to make sure there was food onsite and available, but it did have an effect on the planned lunch hour, which is always a favorite time of mine for attendees to socialize and talk about what they learned about. If they do the same thing at next year's event, I am sure they will do whatever they can next year to avoid a repeat. Again, I am not blaming them for this, but they are the hosts, and it does fall on their shoulders at the end of the day.
(-CON) THE MEN’S PANEL & THE WOMEN’S PANEL: As much as I wanted to like the panel discussions, it just missed the mark for me. Compared to the other aspects of the conference, these just felt like an afterthought. The panel names were just odd, and I didn’t understand the need to title them men’s and women’s panels when there were no real topics to be discussed associated with the titles. This is not a commentary on the people who spoke as part of the panel but more on the structures used; one was a hosted panel with some questions specific to each panel speaker, and the other was long stories and open discussions. I think neither was done well this time. The best part is that this can be an easy fix for future events and adds value to the event by increasing audience participation. Maybe add a way for the panels to have a specific direction or general theme and then allow the attendees to submit questions to be asked in an “out of the hat” type of way.
What I think will add value to future events.
Raise the Bar is a great conference title, and I think they have an opportunity to keep raising it by adding in an event feature others typically miss. At this size (150-300 people), there is some legitimate ability to structure beneficial networking opportunities between the attendees. The presenters and the topics covered will always drive conferences like this. Still, there is a tremendous opportunity for attendees to talk through problems, issues, and interests with one another. Each attendee is there for a different reason/purpose and can have expertise of their own that they can share with another attendee in need.
Possibly, in the future, we could have a time slot where we can break into groups surrounding a topic or issue we are having and create a "problem-solving" breakout session. This way, the audience (and presenters if they want) can interact as a collective mind. It Might be nice to include something like this as an active participation segment in the conference instead of always needing more speakers to fill the time. If desired, these structured problem-solving segments can bleed into casual social times like lunches and evening socials. You can collect specific information during conference registration and make it required as part of the sign-up process when purchasing the ticket. Taking it a step further, if you are like me and usually go to events solo, you can structure something like interest/issue-based assigned seating, which can be an excellent way to segment the groups and encourage productive networking beneficially. It doesn’t have to be so specific, but something as easy as segmenting the room by which side of the business the attendee wants to improve Online or In-person.