Marketing Mondays_Thomas Johnson: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Andreea Borcea:
Welcome to the Marketing Mondays podcast, where we explore how we can make your offerings stand out in the health and wellness space. Through conversations with thought leaders and innovators in health and wellness marketing, we’ll discuss marketing best practices, case studies, and innovative ideas to help scale your business and grow revenues with impact. I’m excited to be your host. My name is Andreea Borcea. I’m a fractional CMO and owner of the Dia Creative Marketing Agency.
Andreea Borcea:
Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Marketing Mondays. My name is Andreea Borcea, owner of Dia Creative Marketing Agency, and I am really excited to have Thomas Johnson today. He is an executive wellness coach and host of the How May I Serve You podcast, so I love having another podcaster on here, great.
Thomas Johnson:
Awesome, awesome. Thanks for having me. I appreciate you.
Andreea Borcea:
I’m super excited. So tell me, like, what exactly is an executive wellness coach, and how did you find this as a career path for yourself?
Thomas Johnson:
So I actually used to be a celebrity trainer and a nutritionist, and just being the space for all those years, it took me a combination of various experiences that I accumulated that brought me towards this direction. So when I was a personal trainer and worked with the various clientele, I saw that there were two flaws within the wellness industry. Number one was the lack of accountability, and number two was the lack of getting to the root cause. And I had a situation with a client of mine back in the day, she was the VP of a multi-billion dollar company, and I was monitoring her nutrition intake, and I noticed she was having most of her meals at Boston restaurants in Manhattan and about eight meetings per week. In addition, she was also having 1 to 3 drinks with each meeting, and an additional glass of wine at dinner time. So when I realized this, I was like, whoa, something is, something is up, something’s going on, and I decided to have a conversation with her during our next session. So when she came through, I sat her down and I was like, look, if you continue going down this trajectory, this is just what, this is what I just observed, if you continue going down this trajectory, this is what’s going to occur. And I always expected her to be okay with this interaction because she was a very outspoken person, A-personality type, but after I spoke to her out of nowhere, she just broke down in my arms and started crying, and I was not expecting this reaction. And she told me she was extremely stressed out, how nobody understood how it was to be in her position. And that’s when it dawned on me that there were so many other executives going through the same thing, high stress. And they were wearing these masks as if they were okay. And I told myself that day that I was going to work toward creating a solution for these individuals because the wellness industry had not been able to take care of them, so hence my company right now. It’s been a journey, it’s been a journey.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, definitely, so, personal trainer versus wellness coach. What’s the difference and how do you define those?
Thomas Johnson:
So a personal trainer just focuses on the aesthetics, right? Aesthetics, how you look, muscles, weights, you know, cardio, etc. Now, as a wellness coach, I look at you from a holistic standpoint, right? It’s more of a lifestyle approach. I’m looking at your nutrition intake, I’m looking at your sleep, your stress, I’m looking at your activity level, I’m looking at very, very various aspects of wellness that you tend to adhere to. So it’s a little bit more detailed, it’s more detailed, so I’m very customized in terms of my approach.
Andreea Borcea:
Nice. I believe that. I’m sure with the customization you can actually deliver better results too.
Thomas Johnson:
Yes, indeed.
Andreea Borcea:
So tell me a little bit, on the marketing side, you know, I’m sure people are skeptical of like, well, what’s a wellness coach, and do I need one? Or maybe, I’m so type A, I’m perfect, I don’t need that, like, how do you even approach that conversation to find new clients?
Thomas Johnson:
You know, the thing is, it’s like a lot of executives and entrepreneurs understand the importance of having a money manager, a legal team, and other folks of that nature, right? But they don’t focus on the wellness, they don’t really invest in the wellness. Your body, your health, is your biggest, biggest, and most important investment, right? And oftentimes, a lot of folks within the business sector, they get so caught up in work that they tend to forget about themselves and they end up getting sick, and when you’re sick, what happens? You can’t produce, right? You are stagnant. So I look at it as you need to invest in yourself. So when I’m approaching the client, the goal is to communicate to them and let them understand that your health is the wealth, you have to invest in yourself, your personal well-being. So that’s how I kind of I like to approach my conversation.
Andreea Borcea:
Nice. Are you finding there’s a certain age when this really hits them harder? Do you have more the realization?
Thomas Johnson:
Yeah, yeah, I would say 40 plus.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, that’s when everything’s slowing down.
Thomas Johnson:
Yes indeed, because you know, for instance, if you look at some of our professional athletes, right? After retirement, these guys continue eating the way they used to, but they’re not as active, right? So even though they are athletes, but their body starts to change, their health starts to decline, even their mindsets, so it’s literally about investing in your health and well-being on a consistent basis.
Andreea Borcea:
And then, have you worked with professional athletes in that transition?
Thomas Johnson:
Yes, I have. I’ve worked with pretty much every clientele, from politicians to pre and post-natal women to executives to kids. I’ve worked with every type of body type in the industry for the most part.
Andreea Borcea:
So do you find that the transition in life is really kind of the part that weighs on people the most, like when they have the most struggles that they would need somebody like you? Or is it just like a breaking point? Like, what do you see?
Thomas Johnson:
Yeah, you know, the thing is, we all have habits, right? And we develop these habits over time. And sometimes we are so caught up in the doing that we don’t see what we’re doing in terms of our negative habits, right? We have positive habits and we have negative habits. So when you are doing these specific routines on a consistent basis, of course, there’s cause and effect. Whatever you do, there’s always going to be a reaction, sometimes adverse, sometimes positive. So as a wellness coach, I’m able to see things from the outside perspective, right? And it’s so important, this is, for instance, you hire a legal team because they understand that the law jargon and the various aspects of law, right? You will work with a wellness coach because they understand the aspect of wellness. You might be busy, you know, living your lifestyle, eating microwavable food, traveling, going crazy, drinking a whole bunch of coffee, and don’t realize that whatever you consume, it is affecting you in an adverse manner.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, definitely. Do you partner with medical professionals or like their entire, because I’m sure anyone you work with has other professionals, like how do you all work together?
Thomas Johnson:
So as a wellness concierge company, I have a lot of other professionals within my umbrella, right? So for instance, when a client comes on board after we assess the lifestyle and we dive deep, and we extract the negative habits and create a plan for them, the next step is to create their wellness support team. That could comprise of a personal trainer, a massage therapist, a dietitian, or whatever they need, okay? Now, I’m constantly building relationships with other professionals. So I don’t know everything, I know what I know, but the goal is to have the right personnel to be able to create this customized team for the client. So it’s not about me, it’s about the clientele.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, that’s very smart, especially because it feels like everyone that comes to you especially may not even know what they need, and it doesn’t make sense to have a one size fits all. I mean, have you ever had to do tried to do a one size fits all offering and then you discovered it has to be personalized?
Thomas Johnson:
Yeah, the thing about my journey is I’ve had to learn from my mistakes. Like I used to be a personal trainer, I used to create the workout plan. In the beginning, the client would be gung-ho, excited, yes, I’m going to follow this routine. After three weeks, four weeks, they start to deviate, right? So that method doesn’t work. You need accountability, you need a support team to keep, you know, just to keep you up to par.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, absolutely. With your wellness concierge business, you serve everyone across the country, right?
Thomas Johnson:
Yeah, you have to fit this category, you have to be a busy business professional, right? A busy business professional, either you are overstressed, overweight, or experiencing low energy. I have to be able to serve you because if you’re set, if you’re a person that lives a very healthy lifestyle and you have a team of professionals, you don’t need us.
Andreea Borcea:
Right, you are that team that gets you to that healthy place.
Thomas Johnson:
Yes indeed. Yes indeed. So it’s myself and a lot of folks that’s within the umbrella, the GetUpNGetFit Wellness Concierge umbrella.
Andreea Borcea:
Very cool. So how do you work across the country with clients all over?
Thomas Johnson:
So the great thing about virtual. All right, so COVID has provided some pros and cons. The pro, I would say, is the ability to tap into the virtual world like you and I, right now, we’re having this podcast interview via Zoom, right? I’m in New Jersey. You’re, I’m not even sure where you are right now, but we’re able to, California, right? West Coast, East Coast. So yeah, so we have the ability to work virtual and also in person. So the way I’m able to develop our wellness concierge team, vets, certain wellness professionals, or health professionals within the specific region, they go through a very tight vetting process before they equip enough to connect with the client, our clientele. So that’s how we operate.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, and were you thinking of going down that route before COVID as well, or was COVID the big wake-up call?
Thomas Johnson:
COVID was the big wake-up call, you know? I am a dreamer. The funny thing is, before COVID, I was experimenting with virtual training, and I was doing classes, I had a core class, I had a yoga class, but people were not hip to virtual and it wasn’t successful. But since COVID, everyone is into the virtual space, so it has made things much easier when it comes to communicating this aspect of my service.
Andreea Borcea:
Nice, nice. So how do you build trust with people? How is it that maybe they stumbled upon you or referrals? Actually, I’d love to know, how do you track new clients?
Thomas Johnson:
So it’s all about knowing where the clients are, number one, and also speaking their language, you know? I’m also C-suite advisor, right, and I’m also an investor. So I speak the language and I know, I have a pretty solid network, and I understand the lifestyle of an executive because I’m also an executive as well, right? But the thing is when I first started off, it was hard for me to get to that place, to build the trust because I was transitioning from personal training and I was trying to figure out how to get my company to this level and I was not well positioned. So when I first started off, I started pitching to folks that own private jets and people that were doing concierge services and they were like, who are you? Who are you again? And so I wasn’t well positioned, so I learned my lesson. I learned my lesson. So the goal was to position yourself, and then once you’re well positioned, you’re able to interact with various clientele and build trust. And when I meet a person, my goal is to find out how I could serve them. That’s the goal, right? What do you need? How can I be of service? It’s not about me, it’s about the clientele. Once I, once they understand that I’m here to provide value, then they are much more open. A lot of folks that tend to come from a mindset of how can I make a lot of money fast, right? You have to be able to serve the clients. You have to put the client’s interests first. You know, that’s so, so important, that’s missing with a lot of service providers that I’ve observed because I’m on LinkedIn and I’m always getting pitched from left and right.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, and I think that people can feel if it’s genuine or not when you are trying to build that trust with them when you’re actually engaged and interested in what they have to say and what their problems are. I mean, the fact that you had somebody that just opened up to you the way she did in that story just, I mean, shows the type of relationship that you’re building.
Thomas Johnson:
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, it’s about how can I serve this person, right? And if I don’t know how to serve this person, I am a geek, I’m always learning something new. I’m always diving into a podcast, doing some type of research, and learning from other individuals. If I don’t have the answer, I will pass you off to the next individual.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, interesting. So where do you see health and wellness marketing going as we move forward, based on what you’re learning so far and everything you’ve learned, like, where do you think we’re headed?
Thomas Johnson:
Now with the virtual aspect, this has helped people to really scale the company. You know, when COVID first hit, the transition period was extremely tough on health and fitness professionals, but as they became savvy and started to go towards this arena of virtual, it made things much more flexible. Like right now, I pretty much work from home. You know, I don’t need to go to a client. If it’s a corporate wellness event, that might be different. I can either go in person or set my team to go take care of that. But I have a lot of flexibility right now, which is a beautiful thing.
Andreea Borcea:
Nice. If you were to start your company over again today, what would you do differently?
Thomas Johnson:
Oh, great, great question. I would position myself, you know? Go position myself and also hire a coach. I work with a plethora of coaches. The reason why, because coaches see blind spots. So when I was transitioning my company from a fitness company to a wellness concierge company, I found it hard to communicate my mission statement. My company name is GetUpNGetFit, so try transitioning that to a wellness company. The name sounds like a fitness company, so I have to kind of expand up, expand upon it, GetUpNGetFit Wellness Concierge. So now we hear those words as a better connotation than just GetUpNGetFit. Fitness, fitness, fitness.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, it’s interesting. So, I mean, I guess the overall advice for anyone then is, as you’re growing your health and wellness business, any type, that it helps to have some sort of outside perspective to give you the, to identify those blind spots for you.
Thomas Johnson:
Yes, yes, definitely, and also find out how you can help your client. Do your due diligence, please do your due diligence. Put yourself in those spaces, interact with this clientele, find out how they speak, what they need, and how they live their lifestyle. So, so important.
Andreea Borcea:
So how did you identify? Because obviously there are lots of people that could use your services. So when you’re looking through and you’re like, okay, I wasn’t going after the private jets, but you are helping ex-athletes and CEOs. How did you kind of figure out who was your ideal customer?
Thomas Johnson:
From the previous experience with my client that broke down in my arm, you know, I had to follow through. I had to really work towards trying to serve that client base. So it took a long time, but I realized, you know, clients that are, that fit that profile.
Andreea Borcea:
More like her.
Thomas Johnson:
More like her, like busy business professionals who are constantly on the go, who are traveling from one time zone to the next. You know, those folks who are, and live a very high-stress lifestyle. Those are my clientele. Because a lot of folks don’t know how to service this clientele, but I do.
Andreea Borcea:
I’m guessing that’s also how you stand out from other options, like other options for them, right?
Thomas Johnson:
Yeah, definitely.
Andreea Borcea:
Nice, I love that. What sort of, I mean, just as an advice for anyone trying to get into serving this particular clientele, you know, marketing channels or focus, like, is this like social media heavy? Do you think it’s just in person? Well, obviously, virtual contact. Like, how, how do you actually connect with this type of customer?
Thomas Johnson:
So I have, I’ve had pretty much every social media platform, and I find that the best platform to interact with this type of clientele is LinkedIn.
Andreea Borcea:
Oh, yeah, it makes sense.
Thomas Johnson:
You know, create content on LinkedIn, create value adds, right? And just continue to provide value, you have to provide value as much as you can. And once you build the trust factor, then you could have some type of lead magnets, e-book, or some type of offering where you’re able to capture their email and the contact and from there put them on your database and continue to nurture them via weekly, or bi-weekly newsletters, but the nurturing aspect is so, so important. And then when you have some type of offering, and you’ve already built that relationship, it’s much easier because you’ve now built that know, like, and trust factor.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, definitely. What do you think is working really well for you on LinkedIn? What type of posts? Is it more like health tips, wellness tips about you, about your team?
Thomas Johnson:
So I used to do wellness tips and articles. I’ve slowed down, I’ve slowed down a bit. Right now I’m just focusing on the podcast aspect and I’m also, I’m going backwards. I’m going back towards my network because I’ve kind of created this huge network and I have not really interacted with the folks within my network. So now I’m setting up calls, having discovery meetings, finding out what these individuals need and want, and even if they don’t need wellness services, I have other ways and means to provide value. You know, either connect you to the next person, and I’ve been able to position myself where I have the means to pretty much deliver, you know?
Andreea Borcea:
I do like that. I think our first conversation you ended it with like, so what can I do for you? I think that’s such an important part of, it’s a different side of the economy, but I think it’s such an important part of us all helping each other to succeed together.
Thomas Johnson:
Yeah, because people care how you make them feel and what you can do for them.
Andreea Borcea:
Yeah, definitely, definitely. Well, and then how we can all help each other out. I like that. All right, well, any last thoughts for our audience that you’d like to leave us with?
Thomas Johnson:
Hmm? How may I serve you?
Andreea Borcea:
Perfect.
Thomas Johnson:
What do you need?
Andreea Borcea:
Well, awesome. So what’s the best place for anyone to get to check out your program?
Thomas Johnson:
So you can reach out to me through LinkedIn, Thomas Johnson, or GetUpNGetFit.com. So it’s G E T U P N G E T F I T .com. GetUpNGetFit. So it’s N, the letter N, not a n d, just a correction, and also I have a free gift for you guys. Go to free.GetUpNGetFit.com, and you’ll receive my free gift.
Andreea Borcea:
Oh, wonderful. Thanks so much, Thomas. I really appreciate this. This was super fun.
Thomas Johnson:
You’re very welcome. It was, definitely.
Andreea Borcea:
Thanks again for listening to Marketing Mondays. If you have any marketing questions at all, feel free to reach out to me directly at DiaCreative.com. That’s D I A Creative.com.
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