Episode #365: Brandon Cullen, MADabolic, CEO

Brandon Cullen is a former professional hockey player and one of the Founder's of MADabolic. (Fun fact: MAD stands for Momentum Anaerobic Durability.) Along with his partner Kirk Dewaele, "The duo founded MADabolic after noticing a hole in the fitness market. There were no high-quality group fitness training systems for people who prioritize strength, value structure, and demand results…everyday people, and people past their sport looking to age athletically…people, it turned out, like them."

The MADabolic brand has been quietly, but slowly and surely expanding. . .but doing so mindfully and cautiously. He chats with Pete about their trials and tribulations of becoming a franchisor early on, managing franchisees (and marketing to find the right franchisors.) Their goal is to get to "200 successful units" in the next 5 years.

He says, "We just started noticing that different people were coming in the doors. We removed the scoreboard, we removed the barbell, we started play playing around with a lot more work-to-rest ratios versus chasing reps [in the CrossFit model.] That a-ha moment became when we actually funded a second location and put this experimentation into a full program."

Cullen goes on about their plans for expansion in certain key markets ("going deep instead of wide"), challenges of educating the uneducated consumer, what they feel is their brand's special sauce, and more! This is one group you'll be hearing a lot more about down the road.

Click here to download transcript.