From Nonprofit Founder To Building A $300M Pilates Business

Sam Parr

Alright everyone, today's episode is with Anne Mahlum. Anne started a company called Solidcore, which is a Pilates studio. She bootstrapped it in the first year and did something like $1.5 million in revenue. It cost about $100,000 to start, and she eventually sold the company in year nine for something like $350 million. She goes through this entire story, but if you're listening, I think the really amazing part is to copy some of her attributes. After listening to her, I felt like I needed to step it up in terms of confidence and being passionate about something. In fact, around minute 30, I honestly teared up hearing some of her stories. So check it out! By the way, if you are interested in Anne, I'm going to give a plug for the Moneywise podcast I did with her, where she went deep on her finances—how much money she spends, how much money she made, everything. Because I liked her so much on that podcast, I wanted her to come on here. Check it out, and I hope you guys enjoy this episode! Let me know in the comments. Now, let's do a little background. I think you had a normal job but then started a nonprofit called Back on My Feet, is that right? Yep. And what was the original idea?

Anne Mahlum

I don't know if you know much about how the homeless system works, but many of the shelters in major cities allow you to live there for 30 days. Then, you get kicked out. They give you 30 days to get your life together, which is not very much time for someone who isn't experiencing homelessness, to be honest. It's difficult to sort of start over, go back into the city, and get back into the system. Ninety-five percent of the folks we worked with were dealing with addiction on some level. So, you know, Sam, I know a little bit of your background, and I think I mentioned in our last conversation that my dad's an addict. When you ask my dad, "Mark, what was your addiction?" he'll kind of look at you and say, "Everything," because my dad doesn't understand moderation. He had unfortunate instances with drugs and alcohol and went into an inpatient program before I was five, so I don't really remember that. But that seemed to do the trick; he hasn't had a drink or used drugs in 37 or 38 years. Unfortunately, gambling then surfaced for my dad when I was a teenager, and he struggled with that. Now, my dad fishes. He fishes every day for hours. But you have to find some place to put this energy. I felt like if you can master the drugs and alcohol and try to get away from the bad behaviors, having an addictive personality can actually be beneficial. When you get into something, you know you are in it, and you kind of obsess over it. Running was this great alternative because there is no end; you can always do more. It's there for you; you only need a pair of shoes. It was a really great substitute for a lot of these guys who were still chasing the high. I don't know if you know this, but there's a correlation between people who work out and those who actually tend to drink more because you're chasing the dopamine. You're looking for opportunities to get those elevated serotonin spikes. So, that's why, you know, working out can be a great option for people who are struggling with addiction.

Sam Parr

Yeah, basically, addictions... I mean, I don't know much. I just know my situation. But addictions don't go away. They just get transferred, you know what I mean?

Anne Mahlum

And so our thought was, you know, we can really help to change the emotional identity and get them to like themselves, believe in themselves, put them in a positive support network, and turn them into somebody who is a runner, an athlete, responsible, and reliable. Then we can advocate for them at jobs that need employees who have those types of characteristics. So, Marriott became the largest employer of Bath and My Feet, not because we were a charity, Sam, but because we actually had good candidates for them who were so appreciative to have a job in a respectable place where they got benefits, were paid pretty well, and had opportunities for growth.

Sam Parr

By the way, what do you do on your first day? So, you just quit your other job. It's a Monday. Do you just walk to the corner and be like, "Hey everyone"? Or I guess the night before, do you say, "Meet me here tomorrow at 5:30"? I don't know if you have running shoes or not, but like, make sure... you know what I mean? What do you do for the first five days?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, so I was a little more organized than that. I knew I needed the shelter to work with me and give me permission. So, I emailed the director of the shelter online. He didn't email me back right away; it took a little while for him to respond. But I kept badgering him. He tried to think of the nicest way to tell me that this wasn't going to work. These guys have bigger problems; they're not interested in running. I was very persuasive. I said, "If you could please just meet me. I literally have run by this shelter for two years. I'm not a very religious person, even though the shelter was religious, but I am being called to do this. Please meet with me and let me explain to you why I feel so compelled." So, he did. And Sam, the crazy thing was this shelter...

Sam Parr

Great lie, by the way. I'm being called to do this. Like, that's good.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, but it's true. I mean, yeah.

Sam Parr

Totally, but it's also a good... like, that's a great argument.

Anne Mahlum

Right, so he met with me and this shelter. Again, I didn't know anything about this shelter; it was called the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission. When people enter this shelter, the guys have rules. They are not supposed to have any contact with women. There are zero exceptions. They are there to, you know, no drugs, obviously no alcohol, and they have a curfew. Every rule is no women. This guy, Mr. McMillan, I owe a lot to him because he trusted me, believed in me, and was like, "Okay, I'm going to break our rules. I'm going to allow this woman to come in here and build relationships with these guys." He said, "I'm not going to tell them, Anne, that there's some young woman who wants to come run with them. I'm going to let the participants or the members of the shelter at the time ask if they are interested in joining a running club. That's it. If they say yes, I'll let you do it." I was waiting and waiting, and a couple of weeks went by. Finally, I got a response that said, "Alright, Anne, here are the names of 9 guys. These guys want to run." I was like, "Awesome! I need their shoe sizes." So, I went to a local running store and got the shoes donated. Again, I can be very convincing; it's one of my superpowers. I got them to give me all new shoes because I didn't want to show up there and buy new shoes and then give these guys, you know, crappy old used shoes. They were homeless, and I just felt like that would say, "I'm better than you," and I didn't want them to feel that way. So, I got shoes, shirts, socks, and shorts, and I went up there to meet them. I got to meet them in the chapel for the first time. I introduced myself, and then I made them sign a contract. It just said, "If you're going to join the running club, you gotta show up 3 days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday. You have to be on time. You need to come with a positive attitude, and you need to be willing to respect and support your teammates." Everybody sat up straighter in their chairs. They were waiting—at least, that’s what it felt like for me—for someone to tell them they were capable of excellence and expecting it. I didn’t say to them, "You know what, just show up if you can. It must be tough living in here. Just do your best. Please try not to be too late." It was like, "These are the expectations, and if you can't agree to them, then don't join the club. If you can't agree to them once you do join, you know you're going to get kicked off the team. We have to adhere to principles." So, everybody showed up on day one, and we all ran a mile. Some of the guys cruised and got it done really quickly, and then there was George, who took a while; he was struggling. But we made a rule that day that nobody finished the run on their own, so everybody went back to get George, and we all brought him into the finish line together. That first day was like, "Okay, this is the group." All the media was there for day one. I wanted to get the word out; everybody had to come and see this for themselves. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News, the local ABC, NBC—everybody. I mean, all of a sudden, this thing was everywhere.

Sam Parr

Alright guys, so listen up. We're doing something a little bit different here. We had this guy named Mister Ballen. Mister Ballen is one of my favorite people on earth. If you have been on YouTube or TikTok, you probably know who Mister Ballen is. He has tens of millions of followers and he's built this massive business on it. He's probably the best storyteller I've ever heard in my life, to be honest. He did this amazing podcast with us that we're going to release soon. We're not releasing the episode right away, but we are going to give it to our true fans. If you are one of those true fans and you do want this interview, we have a link below. So check it out! Click the link in the description below and you can listen to it right away. Now, back to the show. Did people cover you because you're charismatic? Like, I don't know if you had your hair like that, but you look like a celebrity with your short blonde hair. You look dope and you're charismatic. Were they covering you because you were charismatic and awesome, or because this idea was so novel? How does someone who is not as cool get all this type of press?

Anne Mahlum

Well, I think I'll give you this straight answer because this is, you know, probably a no-bullshit podcast. The video and the media were like, "Here's this white blonde girl from North Dakota putting herself in the middle of these homeless shelters, running with all of these men." The camera, the story, everything about it was like, "Wait, what?" They just kind of had to know the background. Then you add in the fact that my dad is an addict, and I'm so drawn to these guys. I could never help my dad, and running helped me. So now I feel like I can help people who remind me of my dad, you know, through this. Yeah, so I think it all just worked. Once they got to... I mean, homelessness itself, right? People are like, "Wait, the people who are homeless are actually running?" That alone made people’s brains be like, "Wait, what?" Then add in, you know, the young white girl from North Dakota—what's the connection here? So the media truly ate it up, and it was coming from such a pure place for me. I was trying to heal myself from 10 years of nothing good coming from my dad's addictions and tearing apart my family. Now I get to use all that pain as fuel to help people. You know, meeting some of the guys in our program, I really think about those first nine guys because the majority of them were charismatic and lovely. You just can't help but root for them. Once the media started to talk to Mike, George, and James and learn their stories, the fact that they're out there working hard... I mean, it's the ultimate underdog story. Volunteers started showing up, this group started to grow, and I was like, "This is an opportunity." You know, Tony Robbins talks a lot about these windows that open. I was like, "This is my window." I had just taken a job at Comcast. I was supposed to go work there in their government affairs department—a six-figure job, like everything that my college degree and graduate degree were setting me up for. This Comcast opportunity was it. I remember they asked me to go to a baseball game with a lot of senators and people from the political world who were in town, and Comcast was hosting them. I went that night, and I was like, "I am so bored out of my mind. There's no way that I can take this job." All I wanted to do was hang out with the back of my feet members. All I was thinking about was this organization and how to grow at Envision. So I called them the day I was supposed to start. I thanked them for the six weeks they gave me off from my other nonprofit job before I was supposed to start. I said, "I can't take this job. I have found what I'm supposed to do with my life, and I'm really sorry. I know it's the day before, but I gotta follow my gut on this."

Sam Parr

How old were you?

Anne Mahlum

I was 26.

Sam Parr

26

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, I mean, again, I'm asking all the adults in my life, "I'm thinking of doing this, what do you think?" And everybody's like, "Are you nuts? For your job? You're going to run with people in homeless shelters for your job?" I'm trying to explain the vision, you know, and nobody got it. My mom thinks I'm irresponsible. She's like, "What are you thinking?" My dad's concerned for my safety. All my mentor and boss people are like, "Anne, you don't even have any savings." I had no money, nothing.

Sam Parr

What was the first year's revenue? Or however you...

Anne Mahlum

I'm sure I raised $1,000,000 in the first year. I was... no shit, really.

Sam Parr

So, you're a machine?

Anne Mahlum

Oh yeah, and I would ask anyone and everyone for money. I knew who to ask. Sam, I figured out that I had to find the executives who were runners in companies that could give. So, I would only meet with people like Larry Solomon. He was my first connection. I had a huge article in *Runner's World*; it was awesome. I’ll also send you that. Larry lived in Philly and was the COO of one of Accenture's vertical businesses. He emailed me an amazing article, saying, "Rooting for you," and so on. Well, I took one look at Larry's title and I was like, "Yeah, can we please have coffee? I want to tell you more." Seriously, Larry is still a very good friend today. When we met, I was just like, "I need your help. I want you to sit on the board." Larry had just become a runner, and I said, "I really want to build this thing, and I want to make it big." So, he came on board. Larry, like Accenture, had massive connections. Marriott was a client, Venvo Bakeries, AT&T—they had so many tentacles. I just needed him to introduce me. I would go in and close the deal, but I needed him to connect me to the big players so that they could write the check. I didn't want to waste weeks or months climbing the ladder, meeting with the marketing coordinator, then the marketing director, and just getting passed up the chain. I would never be able to raise money fast enough. In every meeting I attended, I made a specific ask. Whether it was, "I need $20,450, and here's why," or "I need you to connect me to three more people." I also learned that letting me come and speak at your corporate event was powerful. I did that one time, and I realized, "Oh, this is really powerful." Now I get the whole company excited about *Back on My Feet* because it was just so innovative.

Sam Parr

So, what's your pitch to me? Let's say I'm an executive. You know, I probably spend a few hundred dollars a year giving it away to causes I care about: single moms, animals, homeless people. I mean, I guess that's kind of important. But like, why should I care about you?

Anne Mahlum

Well, for one, Sam, I would ask if you are a runner. Hopefully, you would say yes.

Sam Parr

And I

Anne Mahlum

Would you say so? You understand that, right? If you're an executive of this company, you understand how important culture is for performance and making sure your people feel appreciated and valued. Here, a lot of our members grew up in households and environments where they didn't have that before. I can tell you, being out there firsthand with all of these guys, they are some of the hardest working individuals I have ever met. But no one's given them a chance. If you don't have respect for people who are out there at 5:30 in the morning trying to put their life on the right track and doing the work and the effort, no one's running their miles for them. They are doing it on their own, and it's a pretty compelling sight to see. I can guarantee you, if you give us a check, not only will the money go to helping these individuals with Lifeguard, but we'll get your employees involved. Talk about a cause where employees can actually get involved on the ground floor, running with us. We do skill set training, where we teach these guys about financial literacy and help train them for what their next opportunity could be. I can tell you, from all the other companies we work with, we have higher employee engagement with Back on My Feet than people have had in any other nonprofit that they've worked with.

Sam Parr

You make me emotional because, like, on this podcast and in my life, I care about making money. You know, I care about businesses, and we're going to talk about SolidCore and all the traditional success that you've had. It just seems... I remember being in the hospital recently because I had a kidney stone, and I felt like I was dying. This Nigerian nurse was taking care of me, and in my head, I'm like, "You probably have seen five of me today, and you don't even make that much money." But you're making my life so much better right now. You're calming me down, and you're making this stay the best, as opposed to the doctor who makes way more money but is just in and out. That's sort of how I feel when I talk about this nonprofit stuff, which is making rich people richer. It's kind of insignificant compared to giving someone a shot or doing something that actually matters. So, did you get equal fulfillment pursuing SolidCore for the sake of wealth creation versus what you were doing with Back on My Feet?

Anne Mahlum

I had a lot of fun building Solid Core, and I feel really good about how I've made my wealth over the last 10 years. I mean, I get to make people's lives happier, healthier, and help people be more confident. My team, you know, there are thousands of people who work at Solid Core who love their job. We pay people really well; I think we pay higher than any other fitness organization. Our coaches, on a per-class basis, make over $300 a class because we've always done a revenue share model. I have just never believed, Sam, that it has to be a zero-sum game. Like, yeah, should I have made the most money? Sure, because I took all the risk and put all the money in. I have no problem saying that. Some people can disagree with me; that's fine. But do I think that my employees should have made $0? No. That's why I put a long-term incentive plan in place for them—a profit-sharing plan. When I sold the business, every full-time employee who had been with Solid Core for a year got paid on that last transaction, and they're going to get paid on the next transaction as well. I feel really good about that. So, I would say honestly, it was a similar fulfillment, but like, back on my feet made my life make sense. When I started to feel like it was time for my next thing, yes, I fought it. I fought it out of a few things: 1. Who am I? My life is extraordinary; I get to help people all the time. 2. Oh my God, fear—what if I fail at my next thing? Whatever that is, is all this going to be for nothing? People will just think I'm a one-hit wonder. That definitely was something I had to work through. I didn't really know how to top that thing, you know, all the attention that it was receiving. I was receiving all the accolades; my ego was involved for sure. But I couldn't sit there and tell Back on My Feet members in our mission to push and challenge themselves, you know, moving things forward one step at a time, growing, if I wasn't willing to do the same. So I was like, listen, I have an incredible board of like 13 or 14 C-level people. There is an amazing budget, the program, the systems, the processes, the team—everything had been set up. I really felt like I did my job as the founder and the first CEO of the organization. So, it helped me to be able to move on to the next thing.

Sam Parr

And then you go on and you do **Solidcore**, which, if you don't know, for the listener, is a Pilates studio that's just *fucking badass*. You scale that out and eventually sell it for like **$300,000,000**. But you had the story, and you could dive deep on the numbers. We went through a lot of the financials, but if I remember correctly, your idea was basically like this: you're in LA, you go to a Pilates studio, you do the math, and you're like, "Well, they have like 8 reformers here. A reformer costs this much money. I think I could do like **$100** a month if I make this in DC or New York or wherever you made the first one." Is that the right story?

Anne Mahlum

Pretty close. I discovered it in LA and then I was back in New York. I found another Pilates studio that had the same machines as them. After I went for like 30 days, I started to do the math. I was like, "I have never seen my body look like this, and it's only been 30 days!" I feel so good and I'm addicted to it. I was just bringing everybody I knew. Then I did the math again and I realized this is an incredible business. No one's really doing it on a big scale yet.

Sam Parr

Was the math?

Anne Mahlum

Well, there are 10 machines in this particular studio. The price per class was $30, and you couldn't buy a membership; you had to pay every time you went. So, how many...?

Sam Parr

How many people per class?

Anne Mahlum

10

Sam Parr

Oh, sorry. Duh, and it was a full.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, 10 times. What? Yes, it's 10. It was full every time. You couldn't get into these classes. So, there were 10 classes a day, right?

Sam Parr

Okay, so that's **$300** a session. Yeah, times **10**, so that's **$3,000** a day. Mhm, and they're full all the time. All the time where they were.

Anne Mahlum

All the time, it's impossible to get into class.

Sam Parr

And you're like, $3,000 a day times 30? That's $90,000. That would be cool.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, totally. I also felt, you know, one of the things that I tell people a lot when I speak is to "play a game you know you can win." So, I knew after Back on My Feet, I had to find another game I could win. I was the perfect person to start Back on My Feet because of my story, my experience in nonprofits, and my true authenticity for wanting to help these guys. I just had a knack for understanding system scalability and process. With Solid Core, I knew I needed something that was authentically representative of who I was. I am the workout queen! I mean, out of all my friends, I've done so many marathons. Fitness and wellness have always been a key, if not the key, priority for me. When I discovered this, I thought, "Nobody knows you can work out like this!" We're all out there jumping, pounding, you know, getting injured because it's a rite of passage to be fit. This is so different, and nobody knows about it. I know how to build community, I know how to scale, I understand branding, and I understand how to give a really good experience. Therefore, this is a game I think I can win. This is what I'm going to do next.

Sam Parr

And how old were you after this? 31 or 30?

Anne Mahlum

31, 32, 31, 32, yeah.

Sam Parr

And you had saved, like, I think you said, **$150** from five years, yeah? **$175** from like five years of running the nonprofit. And you put—didn't you tell me you put all of it into a location? Reformers, like you, transferred the money. You transferred it from Anne's checking account to SolidCorp's checking account, like all of it.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, and that didn't feel so scary because I was a 100% owner in the business. The scary part was not that it wasn't moving the money; it was that the money was going to leave that account.

Sam Parr

Yes, did it all leave?

Anne Mahlum

Oh, I mean a high majority, but the great news was as soon as I opened, we started making money. So, you know, I had... I mean, Sam, like I was... I still am, but especially back then, out of necessity, I was like a killer negotiator. I had to get you to root for me. You know, I'm talking to my general contractor, and it's like, "Listen, can we do net 60 terms? If I can pay you sooner, I will. This is who I am. I started this nonprofit; this is what I'm doing now. I have this money; I can pay you, but I'm trying to make sure I don't get in front of my skis." So, like, I would negotiate that side of things. The first landlord made me give a 4-month security deposit, which killed me. I was like, "$30 that I have to give to you that just gets to sit there." After that, I refused to do security deposits and was very successful in making that happen. But yeah, as soon as we opened and I started selling packages, I'll never forget my first sale. It was this woman named Amy, who I still know. She was pregnant and she was like, "I want to buy private sessions." She went online and she bought $25,100 worth of private sessions. I was like, "I can't believe this woman just gave me all that money. She's never even done the workout; she doesn't know anything." So, I trained her every day at 5 AM before the studio. We started class at 6 AM. Then, you know, once we opened, I got press. I leaned on my media contacts from Back on My Feet, and I got an article in The Post.

Sam Parr

Yes, it was D.C.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah.

Sam Parr

And so, how much was the startup cost?

Anne Mahlum

It was, oh gosh, I'm going to be doing math, but I know the build-out was like **$150**. I had to buy the mesh, and I had to pay a licensing fee of **$25,000** just to open the studio. That was just a licensing fee.

Sam Parr

That's insane, right? That's an insane deal. Why can't I just buy a machine? It's my machine, let me do it.

Anne Mahlum

That one... that's why I ended that relationship after a couple of years and went through a lawsuit. Then, I had to buy the machines, which I financed because I couldn't afford to buy them outright. I didn't have all the cash, right? I financed them and was paying a monthly fee to do that. Those machines were $6,000 or $7,000 a piece, so that was $70,000, but I didn't have to pay that all upfront. Then, the rent was $9... no, sorry, $7 a month.

Sam Parr

Damn! What was your first month of sales?

Anne Mahlum

Oh, I like... we literally did over **$100** in the first month.

Sam Parr

That's insane.

Anne Mahlum

It was nuts! I mean, I was betting big. You know, I think I told this story before, but I still have to tell it. I was petrified. You know those moments where you're all in and you're like, "Oh my God, what am I doing?" Larry, here comes Larry again from Back on My Feet. He's like, "Hey, listen, I'll give you $75 for 30% of the business if you don't want to use all your capital. Listen, you grew this nonprofit. I know you're going to be successful. If you want to keep a little cash, I'll do this deal." Back then, $75, when all I had was $175, was a lot of money. I was beginning to think it was a responsible thing to do to take this money. Maybe I should do this deal. Then I remember thinking, "I have the money, and if I take his money, all I'm going to say is this is a massive doubt in myself. I'm doubting myself." When things really get hard, I am then going to lean into that $75K and convince myself, "Well, at least I have that. You know, I don't need to do this. It's too hard. At least I have my $75K." So I was like, "I can't take that money. It's just going to take my drive away. It's going to take the hunger I need to feel like I'm being chased by a bear. I need to figure this out, and that's the way this is going to be successful." So, I mean, every hour, I was passing out Solid Core pamphlets, flyers—anything I could do to get you to come take the class. Fortunately, what happened was the same thing that happened to me when I took it. Everybody started telling their friends. Sam, after your first class, right? You said you were so sore. Guess what? Everybody wants to do it!

Sam Parr

Bad way, by the way.

Anne Mahlum

But everybody wants to tell each other how, "Oh my God, I'm so sore! I did this workout called Cellacore. You've gotta go!" They all want to share how much they're working out, so it just snowballed.

Sam Parr

Did you create the routine?

Anne Mahlum

That was part of the license, so I got trained on a method called **Lagree**. We had someone come in and train me, and then I trained my trainers on how to do that. I'm not a personal trainer; that's not my background. We started using their training program for us and soon realized that we actually wanted to make this more athletic. The names they were using were kind of silly; it was nothing intuitive. Then the machines started breaking, and I thought, "This relationship is doing nothing for me." I didn't understand why I had to be associated with Lagree. I wanted to create my own machines and be in charge of manufacturing. The workouts didn't make sense. I had hired someone else to do the training who had a big background in MMA, and she was certified and everything else. We started playing around with the workout, and she wrote a massive training program. Then we separated from Lagree, and he sued me immediately.

Sam Parr

Which you won, I think, right? Or I'm sorry, you're not allowed to say.

Anne Mahlum

Well, I mean, it's far enough down, but for all intents and purposes, he had to buy back his machines from me. We agreed to never talk again, which we haven't. Frankly, after we did that, all these other people who were part of Labrie then also started to make their own machines, realizing, "Why are we paying a massive premium on machines? This isn't a franchise, so we're not getting the benefit of a national brand here."

Sam Parr

Yeah, yeah.

Anne Mahlum

Like, it just didn't make any business financial sense. So, yeah, making my own machines was a huge gamble. I didn't know how to do that, obviously. Tooling, engineering, and manufacturing prototypes—I probably lost a couple of hundred dollars just because I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe even more than that. But we got a machine, and it wasn't right. I already liked it, but it didn't work properly. We had to redo it; it was a mess.

Sam Parr

What was your first year's revenue?

Anne Mahlum

The first year revenue... I think you asked me this last time and then I had a...

Sam Parr

$1,000,000.

Anne Mahlum

Well, the first... it was more than that because that was the first studio's revenue. Then, in the first year, you know, I had five of these open. So...

Sam Parr

Had I... I didn't know you had 5 at the end of the first year.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah.

Sam Parr

That's insane, right?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, but same thing. I'm like, **momentum, momentum, momentum**. Have you ever heard the funny story about Subway? I don't know if it's true or not, but I just love it, so I keep telling it. Subway had one location that was off the beaten path, and they weren't doing that great. So they thought, "You know, we need to open a second one because people will think if we have two, that we're killing it." I remember hearing that story and thinking, "That's so brilliant!" Even though we were doing well, I thought, "I need to maximize on this and get 2, 3, or 4 open so that people start seeing this thing everywhere. I must be missing out; they must be doing so well. This thing must work." That really served us well. We just kept reinvesting the profits into the next studio. I kept negotiating longer terms to pay back if I needed to, and I just stopped doing security deposits with landlords.

Sam Parr

How old was the business when you sold each different chunk? Because you sold it a couple of times, right?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, so I did a minority deal in 2017. The business was 4 years old at that time. We had 27 locations, and on an annualized basis, each one of those studios was doing about $700,000.

Sam Parr

Okay, so 27 times 700, that's roughly **$19,000,000** in revenue. Yeah, you sold the business for what valuation? Or you sold a chunk for what valuation?

Anne Mahlum

I did a pretty big valuation back then. The valuation was close to $60,000,000.

Sam Parr

Wow.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, and people... the firms definitely balked at that. I just said, "Listen, it's not so much about the number; it's about the terms." I know how much money I need to get to 100 studios, and that's $12,000,000 because I'm going to continue to use the profits. I also want to take secondary off the table, and obviously, no one liked that, especially that early. I was like, "Listen, those are the terms. Don't get so freaked out about the terms. Tell me what you need in order to do this deal." So, there was a healthy preference on the minority deal that I agreed to, and I had no problem doing that. I remember, too, people were like, "You know, Anne, how do we know you're not going to walk away for $6,000,000?" I'm like, "I would just sell the whole business if that was the case. You think I'm in this for $6,000,000?"

Sam Parr

Which is such a good way to approach it. You are good. I'm really bad at negotiating. All my staff knows that, like, "Don't come to Sam about salary discussions," because my default is, I just say, "You gotta talk to this other person about that." I just say yes to everything. So I've removed myself from negotiation because I'm too nice. And like, well, how...

Anne Mahlum

Do you think I did well on this podcast?

Sam Parr

I know, like I said, well, I don't... that would sound like a backhanded compliment, but it's not. I'm just... I'm soft as fuck. I just... I'm like, "Yeah, I'll do whatever you want." But to approach a negotiation of like, "Well, don't say no. Just tell me what you need to win, and I'll see if I can actually make that happen for you." But then, in order for you to win, it has to take into account, "Here's what I need."

Anne Mahlum

Exactly. So, I did that with landlords and, you know, private equity. It's like, you know, landlords would always balk, but we always do security. By the time, like, that's not really a response, right? What are you trying to protect against? You have a corporate guarantee, you have X... Help me understand this, and I can try to solve the problem a different way. So, I solved the private equity problem with the preferred return. You know, it's like your downside is four. I'm not going to see another dime until you make, you know, 2.5 times your money.

Sam Parr

That's just such a funny response. We always... well, why do I think of a deposit? Because we've always done deposits. Well, that's not a good reply. Give me a different reply. That's the best that is.

Anne Mahlum

The best... it really does work because you make them articulate what's important to them. Usually, what's important to landlords is the ledger, the balance sheet of the total term of the deal. That's why we were able to push rent a little bit further down the road and increase the rent in year 5 or 6. You're protected on the corporate guarantee front, so you have 3 years. I'm not going to do a security deposit, and let me tell you why that's important for me and why it benefits you. The more I get open, the bigger the brand is going to get, which will lead to more brand equity. This location will do better. So, yeah, I think people can do a better job of negotiating. It's one of the really amazing skill sets to learn. Chris Voss's "Never Split the Difference"—I love that book. I read it during COVID because I really had to get good at negotiation.

Sam Parr

What's the summary of that?

Anne Mahlum

Well, he just goes through these different strategies, right? About mirroring. One of my favorite examples is when he talks about a car. He goes in and says, "Listen, I have $10,300. That's the car that I want." Just say it was like $15,000 or something. The guy comes back and says, "Okay, great news! I brought it down to $14,000." He responds, "Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate you advocating for me, but the amount of money I have right now hasn't changed. I still have $10,300. If you can do the deal for that, I'm here." Then the guy goes back and comes down more, getting to like $11,300. At that point, he knows, right? Because he hasn't moved, he knows you're not walking away. You're so close that the guy is going to do the deal. I remember using that strategy a lot as well in negotiating. You get people to come down, and now they're just too close that they're not going to walk away. So the whole idea is not meeting in the middle.

Sam Parr

Wait, so is then do you go to 11,000 or do you stick at 10,500?

Anne Mahlum

He's stuck. He's stuck because that guy is so close now. He's not going to walk away when it's like $8. You know, it used to be $5 away, now you're just $800 or, sorry, $800 away. So he ends up getting the deal done, and he goes through different strategies on how you can mirror. You know, this is what I hear you're saying, yes. And like, don't walk away when you hear a "no." A "no" doesn't have to be a bad thing. So, me and my lawyer, who I had on staff at that time, who's just a jack of all trades and unbelievable, we read that book, Sam. Because during COVID, we knew that what was going to kill us, what was going to kill this company, was not that we didn't have revenue coming in right now. It was if these landlords sued us and made us pay rent. No one really understood who was right or wrong then. You know, it's like, "Well, this is a force majeure." It's like, "Well, we don't have any money coming in. How do you expect us to pay rent?" So we just said we have to get the landlords on our side. We have to figure out a way to restructure the deal that doesn't require us to pay rent when we are closed. We also can't kick the can down the road. So we came up with strategies like, "How about we lengthen the term of the lease? We'll add another year or two to the back end of the lease." You know, so that you have a longer tenant. If you force us to pay rent, you're not going to get another dime from us because we're going to go bankrupt. But if you work with us, or maybe we increase the rent in years 8, 9, and 10 to make up some of the difference for this. But we knew that we couldn't, in a year from now, have this like, "Okay, you owe rent for those three months and give us a check for $90,000." We had 75 studios; there was just no way we were going to recover from that. So anyway, those kinds of things... You know, people talk about how COVID killed so many gyms, and a lot of that was not just because of COVID. It was because of these operational and financial decisions that weren't made as smartly as maybe some other companies could have made, and not understanding what was going to be the demise of them.

Sam Parr

When you completely got out, it was like a $300,000,000 valuation.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, a little more than that. But yeah, that was last April when I sold out my shares.

Sam Parr

How old was the business then?

Anne Mahlum

Nine and a half years.

Sam Parr

That's a great run! When you look at what made you guys great, was it operational excellence? Was it because your brand was cool? Was it because the workout was better than anywhere else? What's the honest assessment of the one or two factors that set us apart from Barry's Bootcamp or whoever else you consider to be competition, or all the mom-and-pop places out there?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, the workout is incredible, and I'm glad you've gone to it because you can understand a little bit of what I'm saying. It's just unlike anything that was ever out there. Now, there's a lot more Pilates out there, but we had speed to market. We are the dominant player in the space, and we have a pretty cool full brand. So I think the aesthetics... we know what our brand is, right? The whole tagline is "Create the strongest version of yourself." I think the company is still doing a really good job of leaning into that. One of my favorite campaigns we did was "It's not for everyone." We really went in and said, "This may not be for you, but it's for somebody." You know, it was almost like a Nike commercial. It's like, if you like to push yourself...

Sam Parr

Those are great commercials.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, yeah, and then the...

Sam Parr

The Nike... you're talking about the Nike Olympic ones?

Anne Mahlum

Yes, exactly. They're like, "Winning, winning, winning, winning." Not for everyone. So, we did this campaign a few years ago, and it really resonated with people. They watched it and thought, "I want that to be for me. I'm tough, I'm strong, I like to push myself, I want to grow, I can handle tough things." I think there is this aura that if you know somebody who does sell a core, you're like, "I know who you are." I know exactly the type of person you are. You're driven, you're ambitious, you like to work hard, and you're not afraid of the work. The work is actually the joy for you. You want to feel good at the end of the day, knowing you put your all into everything you did. So, I think the brand ethos is definitely a big part of our success. And don't get me wrong, again, operationally, I'm a pretty good operator.

Sam Parr

Are you like pretty good where you're actually the best? Like, you're top? Or are you like, "I'm pretty good at it," but it's maybe not the best? The thing that I'm best at...

Anne Mahlum

I'm great at putting systems and processes in place, but I'm not the right person to run Solid Core today, if that makes sense. It's too big; it's too monolithic. I just move quickly, and that's not actually what you need. You need somebody like Brian, who's much more methodical, analytical, and patient.

Sam Parr

I think that for most entrepreneurs who are new, branding and some of these exercises aren't terribly important. However, if you have a proven track record—where you're like, "This person executes well"—then you can focus on branding. I believe I have that track record for all my businesses now. I spend a lot of time on branding. I'm like, "What is this? How does this make someone feel?" I consider the colors, the name, and things like that. Like I said, I don't think branding is important for most people when they're just starting out because you just have to get started and gain some traction. It seems like you guys came out of the gate with good branding. You're kind of in that boat, by the way, where this is your second company. It's like, "No, you execute." So, it's okay to think this stuff through. Who inspired you for your branding, and what was the exercise that you went through?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, we're similar there. I love branding and marketing as well. I did that for Back of My Feet and Solid Core in the beginning. You know, with Back of My Feet, I remember someone telling me, "Oh, we should call this thing the Homeless Runners Association of America." I was like, "That alone will make the thing fail." It doesn't sound cool, you know what I mean? It sounds like every other organization out there. I wanted us to be cool. When it came to naming Solid Core, it was just about reiterating a bunch of names. I thought, "Oh, that just has it. That just makes you sound badass." People would say, "Oh, that's solid." Obviously, the core piece has lots of double meanings and whatever. The brackets, I thought, could indicate your obliques and the tightness in community and togetherness. I was like, "This is it. It just looks cool." We haven't done a redo of the logo or anything; it just kind of stuck around. I mean, I have a bracket tattoo. I lifted up my shirt for you to see. I just always feel like things need to be cool for people to want to be a part of them. I didn't want to spend a ton of stupid money on branding and marketing for another idea that probably would have worked too. One of my mantras is that there's more than one right answer, and this was a right enough answer to move forward.

Sam Parr

I want to ask you about some ideas, but you kind of caused the Pilates thing, like, at the right... yeah, behind that one as well. What fitness-related businesses excite you right now? When you were talking about a few, you mentioned something, and I started thinking of Hydra. It's called Hydrox. Have you seen Hydrox? H-Y-D-R-O-X. Hydrox, I think it's called Hydrox. Yeah, is it Hydrox? Sorry about taking it wrong.

Anne Mahlum

Like the competition.

Sam Parr

Yes, the competition in New York... I went and saw it. It is awesome! It is awesome! I saw that and I'm like, "Oh, this is really going to be a thing." I mean, it's already a thing, but this is really going to be a thing. Are there any things that you see where you're like, "This is going to pop?"

Anne Mahlum

Well, this... I will talk about boutique fitness in a second. But one of the things that my husband and I, along with a bunch of friends, just did is 29 029. Have you heard of this event?

Sam Parr

Yes, the founder in Hampton. Did you talk to him?

Anne Mahlum

Mark, yeah, I did talk to Mark.

Sam Parr

So, I'm going to go to... they're releasing the schedule soon. I'm going to one of them.

Anne Mahlum

You gotta go! We just did it. So, the 29,029 is the elevation of Everest. They created this event where they partner with ski mountains, for the most part, around the country. You have to climb whatever the number of times up that mountain is, that's the equivalent of Everest. We were in Mont Tremblant, which is in Canada, and our mountain was about 22,100 feet in elevation. So, we had to climb this thing 15 times, 1.7 miles each time. It was steep! I'm like a marathoner; I've done these things, so I really thought, "I'm just walking up a hill; I'll be fine." It was completely different from anything I've ever done before, especially for the pure duration. If you think it takes you 60 to 90 minutes to get up these things, you're out there for 15 to 20 hours. Some people were on their feet for 30 hours to get the 15 hikes in within the time allotted, which is 36 hours. It is unbelievably inspiring to see the people that are there. Most people are there because they're going through a divorce, they're fighting some health battle, or they've lost 100 pounds. They've got something bigger going on in their life, and they need to show themselves that they can climb the effing mountain physically so that they can go back and do it emotionally, mentally, spiritually, whatever. It's just awesome! Like, it's awesome.

Sam Parr

Yeah, and his business is wild. Basically, I think they sell out most of all their events now. I think it's like $5,000 to go, and they provide the accommodations. It's not like you're slumming it; it's really nice stuff. So, do you think that's going to take off?

Anne Mahlum

I think things like that... I think there's going to be high rocks. I love the innovation. There was a CrossFit Games. I think you're going to start to see more events. You know, remember when like Ragnar and some of the... you know, Ragnar Relay?

Sam Parr

No, what's that?

Anne Mahlum

Oh my gosh, so Ragnar used to have you.

Sam Parr

It's like, how do you spell it?

Anne Mahlum

Ragnar... it might still be going on. I just don't know anybody who does it anymore. But it was these relays where you had two vans and you had like 24 hours to run 100 miles. You were literally driving through the night. Your vans were moving on to different stations. It was just, again, so cool. I don't really know if it's still going on, but...

Sam Parr

It is I.

Anne Mahlum

Think it is.

Sam Parr

And the company that owns it, I think they own a bunch of different events now.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, so I think that I do. I really think that there's this continued movement. I mean, I know you don't drink, and I really don't drink a lot either. My friends don't want to be partying; like, everybody in my group is looking for physical fun activities to do with their time. I think these sorts of endurance challenge events of all kinds are going to continue to grow and pop up all over the place because that's how I think a lot of people want to spend their time. I'll tell you, I didn't have my phone with me for the entire time I hiked. I refused to bring it with me, and I just am craving being out in nature, challenging myself physically. I think a lot of other people are too, so you're going to see more of that, I think, a lot.

Sam Parr

The way Mark told me, I asked him, "What makes you guys special?" He didn't give a big breakdown, but he said, "One of the things is that we make it so that most of the people are going to fail. We want it to be hard enough that if you get done with it, it's a big deal to you, and you're going to want to talk about it." He mentioned that most events actually make it so too many people succeed. He was talking about the mindset behind making that event.

Anne Mahlum

But you know what they do really well? So, the ascents, they list different mountains. You actually don't feel like you're failing. Even though you may not have made it to Everest, if you climbed 10 of those, you made it to Kilimanjaro. So, they give you a medal, a Kilimanjaro medal, instead of like...

Sam Parr

The absolute all to all of it. You did all of it. Yeah. Did you almost quit at all, or were you like, "No, I'm getting this no matter what"?

Anne Mahlum

Well, Mark will tell you. I didn't get any sleep the night before, and I actually had a mini meltdown. I'm like, "I don't do well with sleep deprivation. I'm not gonna be able to do this." So, I was on 3 hours of sleep, and my strategy was, "I'm just gonna do as many as I can as fast as I can before I hit a wall." I was on pace to probably finish within the top 5. Then, on my 11th lap, it just... you know, like, have you ever done an endurance event? The wall just happens, and it happened. I made it up the mountain halfway, and in the time it was taking me to reach the whole thing, I had to sit in the med tent for 45 minutes. I'm asking them, "I can't keep going. I need to go down the mountain. There's my half of lap count so I can come back tomorrow." And they're like, "No." I was like, "What?" Now I really can't go down, and I just couldn't get myself together. Along comes Mark, and he gives me Coke... like, not that kind of Coke. He gives me Coca-Cola.

Sam Parr

Coca-Cola

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, and he... sugar was like, "Yeah, you're gonna do this. I'm gonna walk up the second half of the mountain with you. You know you're not gonna go back down. I can see it in your eyes. You're not somebody who needs to go back down." So, I took that shot of Coca-Cola and got up. We made it up the second half of the mountain, and then I went down, went to bed, and finished my next four in the morning. But yeah, Mark came along and saved me.

Sam Parr

You had this... you put in the notes, you said the number one reason we had to let people go was because they lacked proper judgment and critical thinking skills. You said, "What I discovered was that the best critical thinkers are great at taboo because you have to think on your feet and be strategic when you describe the word." You want to get people to say what's taboo. I don't even know what that is.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, so **Taboo** is a game where you have teams. You get a card, and at the top of the card, it says a word. Let's say it says "book." You have to get your team to say that word, but underneath that word "book" are five words that you can't say.

Sam Parr

to

Anne Mahlum

Get them to say it. So if I say "page" or "reading" or things like that, you have to think creatively. I have to know who's on my team. You know, like how would I get Sam to say this word? There are people who crush that game. From my experience, whenever we've played on a retreat or something, the people who get stuck, flustered, or can't think on their feet usually don't work there very much longer. I'm like, there has to be a correlation between this game, the ability to figure it out, and knowing who's on your team. How do you make this happen? Thinking on their feet. Some of the smartest people that I think are in my friend group are also excellent at that game. So there's something there.

Sam Parr

You also said something like, "Well, AI is taking over fitness." You can personalize data, supplements, exercise, and food based on individuals. For example, if you're a 44-year-old woman who wants to gain 10 pounds of muscle, we know your blood work. We know this about you; we know that about you. Here's the program that you're going to be using, or you should be using. Is there anyone in the space who you like who's taking advantage of that insight?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, so I'm an adviser and an investor. I will disclose that I work with a company called Oxfit. They offer an at-home fitness solution that's sort of like Tonal, but I think it's much more comprehensive and better. Their AI capabilities are really progressing to do just that. It knows when you're tired and understands how you're lifting the weight, your imbalances, and whatever else. They are really investing in AI so that you can partner with it. You can add your blood work and every sort of data that you have about yourself, along with your goals. Then, it will design exactly what you need to be doing. I think we're really on the brink of this taking off in a lot of different areas. However, there are still a lot of people who are just checking the box. I think that's why they get frustrated; they're not doing the right things for the results they want. It's a little bit of a guessing game—not knowing your metabolism, your deficiencies, your age, or your hormones, and how all these factors affect the workouts you do. I believe that in the next five years, it will be kind of foolish to just guess what you should be doing to work out.

Sam Parr

I've had a handful of friends get diagnosed with cancer recently. One of my friends detected it because he did one of these pre-novo scans or something like that—one of those scans that you pay money for. In 50 years, or some amount of decades, we're going to look back and think it's insane that you had cancer growing inside of your body, and it could have been okay had you just been told that it was there. It's like you've got this foreign thing in your body that you don't know about, and we accept that as normal now. But I think that in the future, we're going to be unwilling to accept that. So, I'm personally really interested in that. I am also quite interested in figuring out exactly the fitness or diet that works for me. I can't base it off of blood work. I don't think I've seen a product out there that's doing it and nailing that yet. I think a lot of it is pseudoscience. None of it is awesome at the moment, do you know what I mean?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, I agree. I think it will get there because if people can figure that out... Imagine if you've been so frustrated your entire life to not see the results when you're willing to do the work and put in the effort, and it's still not happening. I just think it's only a matter of time with where we are with the AI stuff and the demand for it, frankly.

Sam Parr

Are you going to start another company?

Anne Mahlum

No, sir, not right now. I know too much. The beauty of starting companies is, I think, a lot of times, naivete. I'll also be truly honest that the financial motivation is a little bit gone. Of course, you know, I really felt with Solid Core that I was doing a good job. I was very into both, but it was like, "I'm going to make people's lives better." I felt like I was the perfect person to do that. So, I haven't had that experience, and I'm also not looking for it right now. But if I come across something again, or if I move, and I feel like, "I have to do this," that is when I will do it. For now, I just feel like I'm giving myself some freedom and time to feel this new chapter.

Sam Parr

Are you seeking anything, or are you just... like, because that's an interesting mindset that I've been in before? I don't know if I approached it the best way, but it's like the mindset: I'm just going to go out and live. I'm going to be my ears open, and if I get called...

Anne Mahlum

Yes, I'm just going to live right now. And yeah, I think even if I got called right now, Sam, I wouldn't... I don't know if I could do it.

Sam Parr

Like, because you're tired or you're happy.

Anne Mahlum

Exactly, it's not tired. I'm actually very energized. But you've read the book *Die With Zero*, right? I think we talked about that. So, I'm just... you know, I want to be playing. I'm trying to stay in my feminine because I've been in my masculine a lot in my life. I want to have room for prioritizing play. For me, that is beach volleyball, any kind of sports, connecting with friends and family, and being able to be a little bit carefree. I don't want to put so much rigid structure around my schedule. I just feel like I need a breather from that, and I'm not willing to do it.

Sam Parr

Alright, so we are about to wrap up, and Anne was like, "You gotta talk about this idea." Alright, what's this idea? I read it, but I need you to explain it better. So you've got this idea. Tell me about **Jump Seat**.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, so you've all been at the airport, right? And like, your flight gets canceled or delayed, and you're desperate to get home. Of course, you go up to the airlines, and they can't do anything because they're not going to kick anybody else off of the flight. They don't care about your status and whatever. So the idea for Jump Seat is very much like Ticketmaster or something else. There's a platform where, let's just say, Sam, your flight got canceled and you're like, "Damn it! I have to get home." You go on Jump Seat and you offer $1,000 for any seat on any flight going back to where you live.

Sam Parr

Let's say I'm going back to New York.

Anne Mahlum

Okay, so you're going back to New York. You put the offer out there, and all someone has to do is accept your offer. You trade seats; they are now on your flight whenever that flight gets rescheduled. But they don't have the same timeline that you do to get home, so it's like no problem. It can work in reverse as well. If I'm at the airport and I'm like, "You know, I have a flight back to Miami, but I'm in no rush," I can put my seat up for sale. If someone else wants to get home sooner, they can buy my seat.

Sam Parr

Well, it's like SeatGeek for play tickets. It's where someone owns them, but if you own it, you can auction it off. You can totally auction it off.

Anne Mahlum

But think about how much happier customers would be with airlines if you could build on the airline to take a little bit of the cut. Now, I'm a happier Delta customer because I solved my own problem, even though Delta couldn't solve it. But they're allowing this platform. You can even do it for seats. Let's just say I'm on a flight and I'm sitting in 32A. I'm like, "I really want to fly first class." This person has a first-class seat; they don't really care, so they put up their seat for like $500. They'll come back and take my economy seat, and now I get to sit in first class.

Sam Parr

Would you ever pursue this?

Anne Mahlum

No, because I don't think this is a game I can win. I'm not like a tech person or something. That's why I want this product; I want to use it. So, that's why I want somebody who's like, "Oh my God, this makes so much sense."

Sam Parr

And you fell in love with the name "Jump Seat." That's a good name.

Anne Mahlum

It's a great name, and I have a logo and everything. Like, someone... do you really? It's so good! I'll send it to Ari; you can see it.

Sam Parr

How could someone... wait, would you actually work with someone if they wanted to? If yes, how would they do that? Do you want to give away how someone could contact you? Could they just DM you on Instagram?

Anne Mahlum

Yeah, if I... if you can.

Sam Parr

That your if.

Anne Mahlum

You can't figure out how to find me. You're not the right person to.

Sam Parr

Totally.

Anne Mahlum

Jump seat stuff. So, yeah, I think... yeah.

Sam Parr

How about you think, well, whoever owns Jumpseat.com, they're just sitting on it.

Anne Mahlum

it and

Sam Parr

Not using it? You own Jumpseat.com?

Anne Mahlum

Of course, I own it.

Sam Parr

How much did you pay for this?

Anne Mahlum

$5 or something.

Sam Parr

Not much. Jumpseat.com was $5.

Anne Mahlum

I bought it years ago. I literally had this idea for such a long time. Then I thought, "Just make the logo." I had my friend make the logo, and it's really good. The name is so perfect. It's like, I can just trade seats, and people are like, "Oh my God, airlines are never gonna allow that." But I'm like, they already allow aggregates like Expedia. They're already in their back-end system, and this solves a problem for them. They can make more money by just taking $5 off every time someone switches seats. Why would they care?

Sam Parr

This is so funny. I thought this was a half-baked thing, so you're in.

Anne Mahlum

I mean, I would love for someone to do it. I'll give you the... wait, I won't give it for you. You can give me a little bit of equity in the company, and you can run with it. But you're going to have to convince me why you're the right person to do it.

Sam Parr

What would they have to say to convince you?

Anne Mahlum

Well, I'd have to know again why it's a game they can win. What's their background? Do they have the tech? Do they have any connections in the airline industry? Have they ever built anything like this before? You know, why would this be interesting to them? Do they know how to scale and build something like this? Do they have the tech experience, which I don't have at all?

Sam Parr

God, that's so funny! I went to JumpC.com and I'm like, "Oh hey, it's registered, but no one's using it." I did not realize you're this far down. Alright, so here's what I want to know: you're going to have to message me, and I'll do a shout-out if there are any results. But you have to let me know how many people message you and if anyone's actually promising.

Anne Mahlum

Okay, I will.

Sam Parr

I said it last time, it felt like I was being not genuine because I was so happy. But you inspire the shit out of me, and you're one of my favorite people on earth. I have found myself since we last talked, approaching a situation and thinking, "What would Anne think about this?" So I just want to thank you for being part of my life and doing these podcasts. You're the best.

Anne Mahlum

You mean?

Sam Parr

A lot to me.

Anne Mahlum

That's really sweet! We'll get you a T-shirt, Sam, that says "What would he do?" Just kidding.

Sam Parr

That would be great! That would be great as long as it's a crop top. Yeah, exactly! As long as it's a crop top, then it's good. It must be at least 2 sizes too small.

Anne Mahlum

Yeah.

Sam Parr

I appreciate you. Thank you very much. That's the part.