I Just Wanted My Team Back: Building Real Community Through Fitness | Luke Milton with Training Mate

This is the complete transcript from Episode #7 of The Franchise Champion Show, where host Alan Regala visits Training Mate headquarters in Dallas, Texas to interview founder and CEO Luke Milton. This special on-location episode showcases the unique fitness franchise that emphasizes community building as much as physical fitness. Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform.

Alan: We've got a very special episode of the Franchise Champion Show today. I am here in Dallas, Texas at the headquarters of Training Mate and I am here with Luke Milton, the founder and CEO of Training Mate.

Luke: Yeah, well, first off, thanks for coming. I'm Dallas bound, but thanks for coming to Dallas, Texas. It's wild to hear that we've got a headquarters now. So yeah, I'm really excited to show you what we do differently at Training Mate. And it is much more about building communities than just fitness like you would think when you read the name. But Australians do that really well, mate. We've got it in our DNA to get along with people already. With you, I feel like we're connected, right? We're good to go. Hey, come on in. Come on and check it out.

Alan: All right, let's go check it out.

Luke: Nice. So. Yeah. Pardon the caution tape. That's not because of us. That's construction.

Alan: That's not you. That's not someone falling over after a workout. All right, okay. Tell us about how big is this?

Luke: Yeah. So this facility now is 5000 square feet. We've got two of our concepts in here. We've got Training Mate, which is our bread and butter. That's our group fitness workout. That's our camaraderie building, community building modality that we do to really give training its essence. And here we've got an Outback concept, which is one-on-one personal training as well.

I've been very fortunate in my career. So we've gone from sports into one-on-one training, into group fitness training. So this is kind of a mashup of all of them. And our Dallas headquarters, and we've got a little office in there that we do some work in as well.

Alan: Got it, got it. So this isn't the prototypical space that franchisees would open. But you will have some good representation.

Luke: Exactly. So Training Mate in and of itself is exactly the way a franchisee will open up. We've just nailed the ability to get 36 people into a room, really buy in with each other. And it might be someone like you, Alan, that can do a million pushups in 45 seconds and someone like me that can't do 20 or so. We're all getting the same relative results out of it, working out together based off a time principle. I'm going to show you all about that in there. But Training Mate, in and of itself is the exact replication of what you would do as a franchisee.

Alan: Awesome. Yeah, awesome. So come on through guys, I can't wait.

Luke: So basically you're going to see a full demonstration of what Training Mate is. Right. You're going to get a larger than life welcome when you walk into the door. We say that your workout starts from the minute you step foot through our door.

So our gracious, beautiful, amazing front of house team are going to give you a really, really big welcome. And that's how we break down the walls of intimidation that is so synonymous with the group fitness market. I will say I'm really proud that we do that differently. We're so welcoming to everyone.

Everyone feels a part of it. It starts from this very moment when you step foot into Training Mate. Big bright welcome. Big bright smiles. You get checked in at the front desk and then you'll walk on through. So yeah, this is a part of the experience for sure. But the real magic happens in this group room there.

Alan: Okay, first of all, I mean the towels I got to say I'm a sweater. So number one, I appreciate having towels.

Luke: I just got to say, that's all right. Look, these are the little nuances of fitness businesses that a lot of people miss, right? But we're here to create an experience, not just a workout. And so many things that we've got here just come from things that I've noticed over the years, I'm like, oh, that was uncomfortable, and I'm with you.

I would sweat in an igloo. So having that sitting there for me, I'm comfortable in myself, and I know that I can wipe something up or just put it down there. I don't feel self-conscious as well. So a lot of this stuff is built around the experience of everyone really getting the most out of their Training Mate workout.

Alan: Love it. 

Luke: Yeah. Awesome, right? There's a million of those little things. Come on through. So you'll notice that all of our studios have a unique aspect or aesthetic aspect. This is what we've done at headquarters. You can make your own mind up with what's in that kangaroo cup. We don't know. Maybe it's alcoholic, maybe it's not.

Alan: It's a nice chai tea.

Luke: Exactly. But it's all about this. Having fun, having a little bit of creativity around what each studio represents. What it is is all the same as far as what you get out of a workout, what you get to experience. We do love each studio to have their own little bit of creativity, their own uniqueness that you can own in that studio and really be proud of.

Alan: That's great. Can that be tailored to like the city, the local element?

Luke: No question. We've got like "get out y'all" like the Texas sort of interaction down in Santa Monica. We've got "G'day, down under," you know, there's a bunch of different things that go in there.

We've got some locations where we have a studio with the TV working on and off. Some are our studio city locations. There's just so many different things that can go in there. But we're definitely focused on wanting to embrace the community and the area we're in, and we really want to lean into being a part of that community.

So yes is the answer.

Alan: Very cool. 

Luke: So as you start to see each studio, this is our little welcome wall. So just some little things that we've had about different achievements that people have gotten in class, whether they hit a certain amount on a bike or a rower or a skier, or if they lifted a certain amount of weight.

Yeah. This wall right here is our mate achievement wall. So this is our legend wall. That means if you've got 100 classes, your photo goes up. 255, 1000, 2000, 5000. We got all of these photos to continue to build community, to continue to give people, you know, real recognition for what it means to be a part of something.

It's not just a workout. You're a part of Training Mate, right? When you come in here.

Alan: That's amazing. We got a thousand there. 

Luke: Yeah, yeah, I see myself up there. I had to put myself up there sometimes. Yeah. Nice job guys. Very cool. That is really cool. Yeah. Every studio's got a water fountain again. It's just what we give back to people, right?

We understand there's a lot of different things, a lot of different barriers to coming into a workout class. We want to make you as comfortable as possible when you come in. So there's water refill stations. You've already mentioned the towels. We make sure that we clean after every single class. Plus we have cleaners come in at night.

We want to make sure it's always restocked, always neat and tidy from the first class to the 10th class of the day. It should be really delivered in the same way.

Alan: Nice. Yeah. Awesome. So this is where the magic happens. This is where we're going to convince Alan to cut his sleeves off and show us his...

Luke: So in this room and you will see, like, the darker room. Definitely, you know, specifically curated for fitness. But you start to see three different lines at Training Mate and that's you have three different stations. Each station has three exercises, and you do those exercises three times each. The beauty of this is you'll see a numbered system here. You'll never work out of line. So if you're on one, Alan, I'm going to be on number two.

We're going to work out together. We're going to go from this exercise to the next exercise to the next exercise. And when we're done with this nine minute section here, we're gonna have a minute rest. We're going to move over here together as a group. We're going to do the middle section, then as a group we're going to do the last section.

And every single class, no matter what day, no matter what theme we're going for that day, we finish with abs and core exercise where we all come together. 36 people do the exercises together and we finish with a quick stretch down. Everyone leaves with a smile on their face and a couple of high fives.

Alan: Sounds really cool. Yeah, that sounds amazing. Wow. And you guys change it up, like, every day, or how do I know what I'm going to be doing?

Luke: This is how I know you're a professional athlete because you already know all this stuff. I love it so much. Burnout comes in the fitness industry, not just physically, but aesthetically as well. People start to lose interest in concepts mentally by going into the same room every single day. There's no fixed equipment at Training Mate, right? So every single day, aesthetically, this room changes. The ski ergs are here today, but they might be down in that corner tomorrow. The lights are out. Maybe they're not out tomorrow. Each day changes not only the aesthetic of the room, but it just makes you feel so much more invigorated and re-energized to come and do it.

Mondays are our upper body dominant day. We combine cardiovascular endurance with resistance training. We work off a principle called blood shunting, which is the most efficient way to really get that body fit and healthy. Tuesdays are lower body. So we really focus on the prime moving muscles of the lower body, but it's still kind of an all body workout.

And then Wednesday is an all body workout. But instead of going 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off and staying in those little lines that I just mentioned, it's more of a traditional circuit class, one minute exercises, nine exercises in a row, and then you go back around again. So you're never going to get bored at Training Mate, like ever, you know?

And then we go back to upper body. Lower body Saturday is in the traditional format. All body Sunday is the same as Wednesday with a little bit more difficult sort of outlook on the workout itself.

Alan: Got it, got it. All sounds really cool. Well, I personally, haven't been involved in a lot of group exercise. I did one thing I don't know, was like eight years ago. Yeah, it was fun. But, it's been a long time and I'm super excited to test it out later today and tomorrow morning.

Luke: I can't wait for you to get involved in what you just explained is our exact target audience. So we've got Olympic athletes here and we've got first timers. We've got people who haven't worked out in 20 years. The principle base is of a timed principle instead of being off a rep count, as I explained before. So you're all going to get the same relative results out of it. The thing I love about Training Mate is it's a workout you can do every day. It's an everyday athlete workout. There's no Olympic lifting, there's no intimidating exercises.

It's simple and effective and it's for everyone. And I'm so proud of that fact that so many people that are intimidated by other gyms or other modalities in this industry feel so welcome. And when they come in to Training Mate, they all say "I was so intimidated walking in, but instantly felt so at home, so welcome and so a part of the Training Mate family."

Luke: One of the things I'm really proud of here is this. I started this as a concept in 2012, you know, a little thing. I played rugby for a living and I came into it and I just wanted to focus on community and building community because of a couple of different things that have happened to me over the years. I just wanted my team back. I wanted to feel like I belong somewhere again. And I wasn't seeing that in life. The thing that I'm so proud of now is all of our franchises really start to get the exact same results that I did, and all I wanted to do was build community. And we used fitness as a model to do that.

But we're starting to see some of our new franchisees that may not have been involved in the fitness industry before, or ex-clients of Training Mate, current clients of Training Mate wanting to change their life, but not for the same reasons that you would think a lot of fitness industries do. It was because of the community, the sense of belonging, the sense of fulfillment and ownership over something.

And now I'm seeing them pass that on to hundreds, if not thousands of other people that are coming in. To me, that is just like everything. I go to sleep at night with a smile on my face because, you know, you're seeing this pass on through other people and selfishly, right, we get so much fulfillment when we help other people.

And I'm seeing them now get this fulfillment by building these communities, using the Training Mate brand, using the training modality. But it's really cool. That's one of the things I'm most proud of.

Alan: That's really amazing. And I think, I mean, just hearing you say the word community like really gets me going and like, makes me feel good and have some purpose and a sense of belonging. Right? How does that translate when you use the word community here? I mean, because a lot of fitness places, gyms will use the word community, but like, what does it mean for you? And like, how are your franchisees and your clients actually experiencing that?

Luke: It's such a good question because every single fitness concept uses the word community. The biggest difference is we act on it, we execute it. So all the things where it goes outside of this room, we do. We have happy hours every single month, right? So on a Friday, once a month, we get everyone together and we get them into the room, we work out together and then we put on drinks or it's a community building event afterwards.

Right. Now they started out at 36 people. It was just for the class. Some people drink, some people don't drink. It's fine. We're cool. We just want everyone together. And we have had up to 100 people show up. Not even to the class. They just wanted to be involved in that little happy hour just to be part of it.

And then they'll kick on for their night. They'll go out with people, date, marry each other, become friends, give each other jobs, employ each other, hang out together, build social connections together. A lot of them stemming from a lot of these social events that we do. We got another one once a quarter. It's a little bit bigger. It's off site called our Mate Meetups. So we really focus in on building these communities external to just the four walls that you see here. Take people out, encourage them to get to know each other, meet each other. And then inside these walls, you'll notice there's a real flow to these studios. The trainer has dual-mode communication, so a lot of fitness concepts have someone sit at the top on a podium and talk down. There's one way communication, right? We're yelling out. It's all very, very loud. There's no way we can communicate back. Training Mate is actually designed where we are walking through. There's so many different touchpoints, and the whole goal here is to create a personal experience for 36 different people, and we really achieve that from the way we coach our coaches to try and be authentically themselves and really keep building that community within the four walls and then outside of the four walls as well.

Alan: Yeah, I think that's really unique, getting people together outside of the class. I mean, that does speak to community to me. Like that's amazing. Like to be able to have relationships outside of simply just saying hi, you know, as you're walking in or walking out of the gym. But to actually engage with people and talk to them and bond with them outside of the actual fitness part.

Luke: No question. Like, so much happens outside here. I'm obviously not from America. This accent follows me everywhere. My best friends are all from Training Mate, and I'm an absolute example of what happens when you put yourself out and you want to meet people. All of my close friends, all my godfathers to my kids, everything like that is all based off the people that I've met at Training Mate. My entire social circle here is based off my community from Training Mate, and I'm just so appreciative.

As a client, I'm super appreciative of Training Mate. Luckily, I own it as well, which is really, really nice. But the community is one of those things - that biggest point of difference that we really execute on. We live that community and anyone that shares that value or wants to be a community builder, I'm telling you, there is just no limit to the success you can have in this sort of model.

If you're one of those people that wants to get out there, wants to be a part of a community, wants to build communities, and more importantly, wants to leave places better for having a Training Mate, having your injection into that community than without it.

Alan: Yeah, yeah. Can I ask you a potentially tough question?

Luke: Yeah, I love them.

Alan: Okay. So, you know, I work with prospective franchisees, right? People that are looking to change their lives, they're maybe in the corporate world and, you know, they're tired of the grind and working for someone else. They want to build wealth, build an asset, and control their time. Right. And it's a big investment, right? Like huge, you know, franchising anywhere from, you know, $100,000 to, you know, several million dollars. And, you know, with this concept, you know, you've got a retail space and you've got to, you know, build out a space and the lease and all that stuff. So it can be kind of scary for people. And then in the fitness industry, you know, there's certainly been some shades of different businesses that seem really great and then, you know, they go away or they kind of plateau or whatever. So can you speak a little bit to how Training Mate, you know, it's going to be around for a long time really, and not just be kind of a, you know, up and then, you know, one hit wonder type thing, but really be something that a franchisee can rely on and be around for a very long time.

Luke: Yeah. Number one, I'm really proud that we're the pioneers of the social health movement. 13 years ago in West Hollywood, we started in a little 2000 square foot place, turned into one of the most successful training studios in the state of California. So I'm really proud that it's been around for a long time. This is not conceptual. We've been doing this for over a decade with the same success trajectory time and time again.

And what makes me really proud is that our franchisees are experiencing that as well, and achieving the same thing. To go on to other stuff that you're talking about, about financial autonomy, we all want that, right? This is a big investment, not just big monetary investment, but it's a big social investment, right? It's a big energy investment as well. Businesses become you.

So what I'm really proud about with Training Mate is myself and my wife, we are direct examples of what can happen with the financial success and with the lifestyle success that comes along with entrepreneurship and business ownership. We're really proud that we've developed the systems now that support people and deliver on the success that we've been fortunate enough to have.

We didn't start out with trust funds. We didn't start out with some magic money tree out in the backyard. We started out with a little bit of money and some really hard work, and now we have the ability to be able to live a nice lifestyle, not as stressed about money anymore as we used to be, being able to, you know, send our daughter to a private school, be able to go on nice vacations and build the family unit together, which is very important to us.

Financial sovereignty and wealth is really important for me to help our franchisees to achieve, because I know how it changed our lives with Training Mate. Right. The big difference is that we're there as much as a partner as a franchisor. We've got what we call a hit squad to go in there and make sure that the culture and the community is executed 100%. Let's go and do it together. So that's a big point of difference of how we can really guarantee hitting the Training Mate experience the way it's designed and the way it's worked in the past. And as I said, 13 years' run, right. It's not a bad track record.

Alan: That's fantastic. Yeah, that's really great. Awesome, awesome. Well, I'm super excited to try training out for myself and also to, you know, share this with my viewers and my clients.

Luke: Yeah, everyone should get into a class. You'll see exactly what we're talking about.

Alan: Here are the key learnings from my visit with Luke and the rest of the team at Training Mate in Dallas. First of all, I had an amazing workout. I was able to, you know, get what I wanted out of it, which was great. You know, there were, I don't know, 27 people or so in the workout with me, and I could really go at the pace that I wanted to as far as the intensity of the workout.

Being surrounded by other motivated people, I ended up pushing myself harder than I do on my own. So that was a good thing for me. But, you know, if someone was not feeling it that day, you know, they don't have to work quite as hard if they don't want.

I was getting and giving high fives to random people, which was really cool. The support is really awesome, and I could feel the community that was there, even though I was new. Actually, they kept calling me out by name and, you know, I ended up getting fist bumps and high fives from, you know, random people, which is pretty cool.

From a business perspective, here's what I love about the brand. You know, when they say 51% social and 49% fitness, they're not joking. It was really cool to get a sense of that community and fun. It really is based on both of those things, and you can feel it. That is what keeps members, you know, coming back for more. And also it's what keeps the trainers coming back for more.

In fact, the employee retention is really phenomenal. They don't have a lot of turnover. And it's so much fun and so rewarding that one of the trainers, the one who provided the training for my session, he actually is opening his own Training Mate studio. They're in the process of building that out right now, which is really cool.

The workouts were actually designed in conjunction with world class orthopedic surgeons to minimize impact and avoid injuries and, of course, maximize that health benefit. I actually may have just forgot to mention this, but Luke Milton was a professional rugby player. So, he had a great career playing rugby professionally in Australia. And he ended up going down the path of training before starting Training Mate.

And he trained celebrities such as Kim Kardashian. One of the great things about Luke's background and his wife's background as well, Kerry, they were able to establish partnerships with brands like Lululemon. Now, what's really cool about that is they actually go and do these activations.

These workout sessions in those stores. So like literally in Lululemon, they will like move clothes around, make some space, and they'll actually do a workout in the store, which is super cool. You know, obviously it benefits Training Mate, the brand for getting awareness, but it also is good for Lululemon as well. They have, you know, sales and are able to sell items to the members as well.

Lastly, I'll say the people behind the scenes of this business are really great. They are trying to build this business responsibly, not just sell as many as they can to anybody. They want to bring people in that are going to be a good fit for the business and be a good representation of the brand, so that they can build community and build a healthy lifestyle, you know, across the entire United States with an Australian flair, of course.