Fitness software outfit Mindbody recently welcomed close to 1,000 attendees #IRL to its annual Bold Conference in sunny San Diego, California, as Lisa Starr reports

For many participants, it was their first trip on a plane or to a conference since before the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, but everyone quickly remembered how wonderful it was to be in the company of like-minded colleagues.

The conference theme – Unstoppable – was ever-present, as masks were worn, temperatures were taken, and the spacious ballroom and meeting spaces allowed everyone to spread out for the thought-provoking and inspiring presentations and educational sessions.

Co-founder and executive chair Rick Stollmeyer kicked off the conference in a session entitled ‘The business of wellness in a post-COVID world’; Stollmeyer shared his individual thoughts and excerpts from his book Building a Wellness Business that Lasts and then was joined by experts in a panel discussion to discuss the opportunities that will define the fitness and wellness sector in the next decade.

Stollmeyer said we all need to harness our entrepreneurial spirit and skills to trade out of the current challenges and to thrive. He identified five key behaviours and characteristics that can get us there – authentic enthusiasm, grit, adaptability, agile thinking and effective decision making. To be agile, we need to be constantly zooming in and zooming out when it comes to looking at our operations and businesses, so that we can keep track of the big picture and also the detail, he said. Too much of one or the other and we fail.

Effective decision-making requires that we listen to our heart, our head and our gut and balance all three before moving forward.

You can watch the panel discussion at www.HCMmag.com/panel.

Additional mainstage presenters included Thomas Drew who addressed ‘Social Media: Mastering the game without sacrificing your mental health’; Mindbody CTO Sunil Rajasekar sharing his vision for the future and Q&A sessions with celebrities Dan Levy, creator of tv series, Schitt’s Creek and actor and activist, Jameela Jamil.

Focused breakout sessions by industry experts were available for fitness and yoga studio owners and managers on topics such as ‘Perfecting and growing your virtual studio experience’, ‘Maximising revenue with AI messaging’, ‘Rethinking retreats’ and ‘The future of fitness studios’.

Live performances
Musician, beatbox champion and vocal percussionist Butterscotch wowed the audience with an all-live vocal and mixing performance, using her powerful voice to defy gender and musical social constructs, and Tyra Hawthorne shared her passion and story behind founding the Heartbeat Music and Performing Arts Academy (HBMPAA), which aims to bridge the gap in traditional education by introducing at-risk and underprivileged youth to the benefits of music and dance education.

The students of HBMPAA have been featured in nationally televised parades, television commercials, and network shows, and they closed the segment with a rousing marching band performance, winding their way through the ballroom and bringing the entire audience to a standing ovation.

The event also provided an expo pavilion hosted by Mindbody staff and interest groups as well as partner companies, many of whom make software that enables studio and club owners to get the most out of their software. Firms included ClassPass – recently acquired by Mindbody – FitGrid and iKizmet, as well as Mindbody Partner Award winners Apiant.

LoopSpark, Studioease and REACH.ai were also present throughout the conference to answer questions and showcase their products.

At a Bold conference, you never forget what industry you’re in – one of the most fun features is the way fitness is woven throughout. Most attendees wear athleisure all day, the better to take part in the numerous fitness-related activities. Morning, mid-day and afternoon workout classes feature barre, meditation, yoga and strength sessions, along with cutting-edge classes such as BollyX, Empower30, Jazz Funk, SWERK, and Soul Shakin’ Yoga. The entire delegation enjoyed the Bold Bash at Petco Park, a local major league baseball stadium, for music, food, drinks and dancing with the skyline of San Diego as the backdrop. Many attendees were already registering for the 2022 event, which will be in Los Angeles in September 2022.

Lisa Starr is a contributing editor at Spa Business magazine