Dianna Bock Interview | Founder Hustle House Fitness

Bobby Starks:

Thank you for joining us again today with another guest. And it's Dianna, she is one of the founders of Hustle House Fitness here in Charlotte North Carolina.

Dianna:

Yes.

Bobby Starks:

And you guys are opening up another location.

Dianna:

That's right.

Bobby Starks:

So before we get into that, did you ever think you were going to be a business owner one day? What'd you want to do when you were growing up?

Dianna:

Oh, I wanted to be a marine biologist because I like to swim. I thought swimming with dolphins would be really cool. But I don't like sharks, so that got squashed. I always wanted to be in business. So I was a finance major as an undergrad, and then MBA and all that kind of stuff. I think that's where it kind of shifted my focus to: how do you really build wealth? And also, what do you consider to be your passion?

Dianna:

And I don't know if you've experienced this ... when you go to your first real job, you're like, "This is what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life?" And I was like, "I might need to reassess what I thought my life was going to look like." So I didn't know what it was going to be, but I was open to trying to figure that out.

Dianna:

So my dad owns his own business. And I never thought I wanted to take on that kind of risk. But then you realize, by not doing it, you're also taking a different kind of risk.

Bobby Starks:

Right.

Dianna:

I'm very risk-averse, which is interesting because we're opening a second business. But we're doing really well so I feel confident in which to do that.

Bobby Starks:

Did you help your dad out?

Dianna:

Yeah, I mean, we would go to job sites, he's a home builder, so we go to job sites and I was always around it. But I mean, again, if we talk about 2008 or other times within recession or high interest rates, it's just, you really feel a lot of it. So it's just interesting, right? Seeing it as a kid where you're like, "I don't, that's so much risk," but at the same time, it's like, well, it's what he loves to do. So now being older, I think that kind of shifted my focus a little bit. It's like, well, at least he's always doing what he wants to do and that's awesome. It's what he loves to do, and he's really good at it.

Bobby Starks:

So what did you do before you got into the fitness industry?

Dianna:

Corporate finance at a couple of big companies then got into consulting, because I liked working with businesses. I mean, granted bigger businesses on implementation, so technology implementation is one thing that I've done. I've also worked on a couple other finance initiatives where I was accounting and things like that, so really interesting stuff. But I thought it was really interesting, but it was learning how business actually runs, which is you kind of peel back the layers a little bit. Again, small portion of a large business, but it's just interesting. You get to see how people actually work, how things actually get done and it's kind of slow.

Bobby Starks:

So why, why the fitness business?

Dianna:

I was an athlete growing up my whole life, so that was a big part of how we spend our time. I was one of four, I am one of four, and two older brothers and younger sister, and we were always really competitive with each other. So it's just something where it's just fun. I mean, we were always playing a sport or attending somebody else's sports game. So something that I just never really gave up and just kind of went through college, played club sports, made sure to kind of do all of that, but still have a social life, I'm about balance. So it was just something that I just never, I couldn't seem to get rid of it. I couldn't not do it, so I got into coaching and then coaching volleyball for high schoolers and then club teams in addition to my full-time job.

Dianna:

So it's always kind of something I've done. And I was like, you know what? I really love this, it's such a positive way to interact with people and it's challenging for them. And it challenges me in new ways to try and motivate or teach or cue or whatnot that I always walked out of there feeling better. And so to me, that's an amazing experience to be able to have, because when I go into my 9:00 to 5:00, it's not always that experience, right? But for that portion of the day, I had a really good hour or whatever the class was. So,

Bobby Starks:

But since you're a business owner now, it's not like you're teaching everybody all the time,

Dianna:

No, but you still deliver the experience. And what's so great is I get to share our vision with other people and people are bought into it. The coolest part to see is when you have people come in and they're like, "Wow, this is really great," or, "I want to be a part of this." I mean, that's where I feel like we're doing the job, right? And there's so many people that are staff members, and now other owners that are so bought in that it's incredible to be able to share that. For me, I love being part of a team. That's where I feel like I really succeed. And so to be able to have this team kind of around me, that's how I knew I could be in business because, or do my own business, because I didn't want to do it alone. I was like, I need to find a good team or good partners with which to actually do it.

Dianna:

So to me, it's even better because now I see all the aspects of it. And it's not just in that one singular focus, but because we do the workouts and deliver them to the coaches and the coaches teach and all that kind of stuff. You really get to experience it not just in one way, but in so many different ways. So it's really cool.

Bobby Starks:

That's cool.

Dianna:

Yeah.

Bobby Starks:

And you built a pretty good team there. I've met a lot of your guys.

Dianna:

Yes. We've been really lucky. I attribute that to luck. I really do. And also to the fact that for the people that are bought into what we're doing, they want to share it. So it's such a... again, it's just such a positive experience for all of them, and then for us as well to kind of see... it's like watching a kid grow up. It really is. You put in all the work it's there like babies and stuff. And then I haven't gotten there yet, but apparently you reap the rewards of that later.

Bobby Starks:

Now you told me, you were just talking about being in the cool part of your job. I saw your passion just in your face. What is some of the not so cool stuff?

Dianna:

Ah, it's the things that I think I don't specialize in. So for example, I do our marketing, but it's so cool to see marketing-minded people and how they work and how much I can learn from them. So to me, it's the part that's become more fun. It's a big challenge, but it's such a great learning experience. I'm a learner. So for me, it's really great. I mean, of course, some of the day-to-day stuff can be a challenge. I think the biggest thing is just trying not to let those little things distract you from the greater picture. And so anytime I feel like I'm getting bogged down with... whether it's just emails or little things, they have to be addressed. I mean, you, can't not, right? The business never stops running.

Dianna:

But it's putting it in perspective of, "Okay. I'm going to have 15 minutes, and I'm going to do those things so that I have the next 45, the next hour, two hours to focus on everything else." So for me, I like to get that little stuff out of the way, but it's just onesy, twosy type things that, again, you just can't not do. So it could be anywhere from... we do client, some client follow-ups or some hard conversations, which you kind of need a little more time for, but those are things that are really hard, but to be honest with you, I've gotten very good at them. So they don't take as much time anymore. And again, we've built a good team to which we can kind of share some of that responsibility. So that's helpful.

Bobby Starks:

So let's talk a bit about... because you have a brick and mortar location and the pandemic. We went through that whole lockdown. And how'd you guys navigate that and keep their doors open because I think you guys did a pretty good job.

Dianna:

We did. Yeah. Again, our timing worked out. If there can be good timing, there is, this was good timing. So I think it's all about how you set up the business. So its example, like when you buy a house, you make... If you're looking at it as an investment, you have to make money on the buy. You have to know up front, you're already going to make money. Now maybe there's more upside than you thought, but kind of... Your base is covered, right? So it's similar to the way I think that we set this up on purpose, but almost by accident. You didn't obviously know pandemic was coming. But the way we kind of negotiated our deals upfront with the people that we were working with for build-out and stuff like that, that favored us going into it. It's all about... At the end of the day, it's about cash.

Dianna:

So we were able to kind of navigate some of that and Destiny and myself really... So my other owner, we went through everything that we could apply for as far as aid, we did. And we did it early. We did it often. We had a good partner as far as... So good banking relationships are extremely important, especially during that time when people were submitting. So having those relationships, we had to really lean into those. And I think that that helped us at least from a cash flow perspective, but from a technology and moving to video on demand or streaming... Actually there are a lot of good platforms out there and the support was there, people working 24/7. That's the way we were able to kind of keep the level of service. We rented out our equipment. We kind of did as many... We opened up our smoothie bar, which we hadn't planned to do until six months after we opened. So we're like, "Let's just push that up," because we wanted to be able to stay open. A little bit on-

Bobby Starks:

You rented out your equipment?

Dianna:

We did.

Dianna:

There wasn't a lot... I mean, of the things that could be rented, they were rented, but... which is a big concern to supply chain if we need to replace. But I mean, everybody was really great and we got everything back, so-

Bobby Starks:

That's awesome.

Dianna:

Yeah. So it was good.

Bobby Starks:

I didn't even think about that.

Dianna:

It was Destiny's idea.

Bobby Starks:

Oh, good for her.

Dianna:

Yeah. And I felt very uncomfortable doing it, but I was like, "I think you're right. You're right. Let's just do it. And we'll figure it out as we go." And that's a lot of what the pandemic was. Figure it out... We have a problem, find a solution, think about some other avenues, try to vet it out, but really it's just... You got to just, you just got to move. So if anything, the decision-making process was a lot shorter than maybe normal, so-

Bobby Starks:

So you guys are opening a second location?

Dianna:

We are, yes.

Bobby Starks:

And when did you guys know you were going to do that? And how hard was the process of finding another location?

Dianna:

So how long did we know? We've always wanted to open SouthPark. I've always wanted SouthPark, but finding a location was always really a challenge. The timing... again, coming through, which is great... So basically what the pandemic did was it forced us to become very good at what we do very quickly and just to be very agile. And so I think we did a really good job of getting through that time. And obviously we're still in it, things look a little bit different because we have so much more information and all that kind of stuff out there. People have actually access to resources to help them. There's actually testing, which they didn't have in the beginning, which is kind of crazy. So there's so much more than we know now. So we're still in a pandemic. However, we're actually able to navigate through that.

Dianna:

So once we kind of came through, I would say maybe the beginning of this year... So we would open a full year and we were doing well... If we can do well now, we can certainly do well again. And it was the point where we know how long the process can be for finding a new location. We're like, "Let's just start looking. We might not find anything for another year. So we have to start looking now." So that's kind of where it just... And we asked a lot of people met with our account. You know what I mean? Met with the people who we kind of wanted to get their business perspective of, "Are we ready for this?" And they said, "If you're willing to do these things, yes you are." We're like, "Well, that makes me feel a little good about it." You feel okay, a little vote of confidence when you haven't done it before, open a second location before, so-

Bobby Starks:

Yeah, I guess when you do it once, you just replicate it.

Dianna:

Well, you're just going. I mean, you're just like, "This is what we're doing. We're definitely doing this." You're kind of full steam ahead. But second it's like, "Now we scale." So scale is much different than first set up, right? It has to be able to run when you're not there, which is a much different process.

Bobby Starks:

So how do you guys find your members? I mean, there's the RockBoxes, there's the yoga studios. What is your guys' method on getting new customers because you guys are always packed out. It's crazy.

Dianna:

Yeah. So we have word of mouth, at least for fitness, is always the best, best thing out there. If you look at the stats, 60% of people are going to be word of mouth, friends of friends. So that's always going to be really important is that people have a... Whoever they are, have a positive experience when they're in the studio regardless if they become a member or not. So we have set up, again, by... We've worked in other studios, understood a couple of other business models, experienced them by whether we go or not. Every place does things very well, but they do them a little bit differently. And so it's just kind of figuring out what we do well. So delivering on that client experience every single time is something we're constantly training, retraining, trying to figure out new ways to make that experience better and consistent every single time somebody comes into the studio. So that's number one. So in studio experience, always making sure we deliver on that for that word of mouth.

Dianna:

And then I think number two, we do challenges in studio and that kind of gets a few more people in, or they might not have wanted to do it before. My goal is always to have a very good relationship in the community. So that's with other businesses, whether it's corporate, corporations, more of like a... professional services type folks, or it's partnering events with restaurants breweries. There's a couple of different things that we can do. So we do a lot of outreach. Setting up at races, things like that. I mean, it's definitely like a lead for lead, but the more leads we have coming in, that's how we get people in the studio. So we just try to be out in the community as much as possible and try to provide a mutually beneficial service for the people that are also hosting us, right?

Dianna:

So there's always kind of some trade-off. We'll come bring their employees in for a private workout or... So we try to make sure that we are good stewards of those relationships, but honestly, it's just getting out there and dropping stuff off and just forming those relationships and figuring out the way to make it work together.

Bobby Starks:

How do you guys... What is your differential between... these other fitness studios, what is your guys' method and what makes it so awesome?

Dianna:

So what I like about what we do in the way we set it up is it's results-based. So what we have built in studio... So it's, strength-based high intensity interval training, so we're building muscle, but we're also bringing that cardio component to it. So for any strength day, so we rotate three different days, upper focus, lower focus, and then conditioning. There's always going to be that HIIT component to it. So that's going to get you that calorie burn, our goal is to get you an EPOC, right? So EPOC is what's going to help you burn calories over the next 24 to 36 hours. That's where the HIIT comes in. And then you got the strength piece that's building that muscle. Again, it's going to burn calories over time. It's very science-based. But what we do to kind of not have to always go into the science of all of it is we have our 3D body scanner, so our members get access to for a year.

Dianna:

And so we'll have weekends where we make sure everybody gets in and does it, or people do it throughout their year. They're able to see on paper, black and white, how their body has changed over time. And so it gives them that kind of real comparison of the progress that they've made, because they're like, "Well, I feel different." Maybe the scale hasn't changed. We don't really look at the scale that much. We really look at body composition. So it gives them 20, 30, 40 measurements all over their body... It's accurate. And then, obviously, body composition on top of that, but it literally has so much data in there and we can kind of scale as far as... So it's personal training... That I think is more of the personal training, like the one-on-one consultation and you get the results-based workouts. So to me, it's kind of the total package.

Bobby Starks:

So how does somebody get into EPOC?

Dianna:

So there's a couple of different factors. So, height, weight, gender, age, but it's all based on your heart rate zones. So if you've got a smartwatch, that's kind of where you're hitting your peak cardio. So it's different based on everybody. So I would say, I think Queens University does like a VO2 max is probably the best way to go do it. They offer it so you can go in and they're like... students will run it for you. It's pretty interesting.

Bobby Starks:

Do you guys do anything with nutrition there? Like talk about it, or-

Dianna:

We do talk about it. So we talk about macros, mostly. We are not nutritionists. So North Carolina, you have to be a registered dietician in order to provide that advice. We kind of guide people as far as... these are the principles, but we do kind of outsource them to people that we have worked with to get that specific nutritional advice, because it's really tailored to the person. And so we can provide guidelines, but I don't like to get too much into it unless they're actually speaking to someone. You can look at the whole picture and they do blood work and it's a full picture. So I never want to discount from the fact that they really need that full-on experience if they're really looking to get into it. And most of our people do. They're like, "I really, really, really want to get to know my body better and how to..." So it's great. Yeah. So it's been pretty good.

Bobby Starks:

Yeah. I guess you could just be like, "Yeah, eat your fruits and vegetables."

Dianna:

We can get into the percentages of protein, fat, and there's a lot of... and we provide them resources of which we've gotten from some of the nutritionists just to kind of get people started as far as how to think about it and what you should eat pre-workout versus post, and things like that. So we really leave it to them, but they've given us a lot of resources to kind of get those conversations started so that people are more educated when they go in and they know more without they're looking for.

Bobby Starks:

Let's go back to just the business portion of it. What was probably the scariest part for you when you decided to... "Hey, we're going to do this at Hustle House?"

Dianna:

Put in your money. When you had to write a big check. It's like when you plan for a group trip, right? And everyone's like, "Oh man, I'm in, I'm in," and then you're like, "Well, it's going to cost this amount of money," people are like, "I'm out, I'm out, I'm out." So I think putting in the money was probably the biggest one. When you have to write that check, I think that's the biggest one because once it's in, it's like, "Well, we're definitely doing it now."

Dianna:

Well, you can always... This is the thing. I think people there's a misconception. You can always turn back, but why would you, you've made so much work. You've done so much work. You're already going, just see what's coming, right? I guess you have to put in so much time and effort. It can take a while to reap the rewards of it, but why stop now? You've already made it this far. But if you write an... you do all the legal documents, you can always walk away. It's just, what are you walking away from? And I think to me, that's actually scarier. It's like, "Well, what would happen without me? I want to be a part of it every time it comes. Like, I don't want to miss it."

Bobby Starks:

Is that what you're scared of now? Walking away.

Dianna:

No. I think the biggest thing, I just want to be good stewards of the people that we're bringing on. So the new ownership that we're bringing on, the new studio manager, we now have an uptown... I want to be good stewards to them. And that's, that's me understanding what our vision is, knowing where we're headed, having good processes, for which to them to, to have a structure of how they're going to do things, but to still give them the room to figure out how they want to be a manager, but I need to have the constructs right for them of what Hustle House does. So we know what we do, but we're owners, so we're more invested, but for somebody who's... didn't put in then it might be different. But for the most, we have a really good team, so I can't... everybody's... does a great job, but it is setting up the contract.

Dianna:

So for me, it's more about the long-term vision and hitting those, and then hitting our quarterly and yearly goals is really where we're at right now. But that's what I'm... I am more scared of missing a goal, but I'm so... I refuse to miss it that I'm not even scared of it anymore. I'm excited to go get it. So now there's not much that scares me anymore at this point, because I think the pandemic got me scared enough.

Bobby Starks:

Kind of already took you over the edge.

Dianna:

It kind of did. I don't know. I mean, gosh, you learn a lot through that. So, yeah.

Bobby Starks:

Well, good for you guys. So let's talk about you personally. So you're a mom, how many kids do you have?

Dianna:

Two.

Bobby Starks:

You have two kids, you're a mom, you're a wife, you got this business, you just opened up another one. How do you navigate all this? Because you just told me you woke up at 5:00, you've got a workout in, how do you navigate your day? How does it even look like? Because you've got so much going on, not just your business. You've got whole-

Dianna:

Every day is different. Yeah. I'm actually Type A, but I've actually learned to become a little Type B, just go with the flow a little bit more, which has been good for me as like growth as a person. How do I manage it? A lot of communication, a shared Google Calendar with my husband, and clearly communicating to what... and being true to what I can really schedule and what time that I want to spend with my kids and have it be kind of undivided attention. So in the time that I'm not with them, I'm working because I'm like, "I don't want to have to do this when I go see them," so it creates a lot of time management.

Dianna:

And then I don't know. I think you just kind of learn by doing. I mean, we have parents that live close by, so that's really helpful, like when you're kind of in a pinch, which is major when it comes to childcare, because that's kind of the biggest thing really for us, it's just making sure that our kids are obviously taken care of with people that we trust. Because at the end of the day, then it's just going to be a Zoom call. But sometimes you have to be there. So it's like, "Well, I'm going to be up late," but no, it's just taking each day and each... truly each week we plan it out and just kind of go one week at a time, but also long-term plan for the business. But as far as our day-to-day, plan one week at a time and try to schedule in a little vacation or a break where we're really disconnected. So just part of communication.

Bobby Starks:

So what would you want to tell people if they're thinking about starting their own business or thinking about [crosstalk].

Dianna:

I say, "Just do it. Just start."

Bobby Starks:

It's easier said than done sometimes.

Dianna:

So for me it was important to find the right people. So no kind of what's stopping you and how you can kind of get through those. So if it's money, right, well, how do you get more money? Or do you really need the amount of money? Because there's so many tools out there that I've learned that you really don't have to pay for. And there are a lot of people out there that are willing to... whether it's friend or a network or whatever that you can tap into. They were like, "You know what, I love this idea. I'm willing to do this for you for free for now. And then when you can pay me, pay me," there's actually a lot. And I don't like doing that because I want to pay people for their services.

Dianna:

But there are a lot of people trying to... whether they're coming out of school... They just want the experience. So there are a lot of people like that. I think it's just trying to find and trying to tell your story and having a solid story. Because you're selling a story, especially in the beginning. There's nothing really to show yet. So I would just say, "Just get started." I mean, what's stopping you? The more you think about it, you're wasting time, is the way I think about it now. Just go do it, just go do it and see. And so minimize your risk and figure out a way to get done.

Bobby Starks:

That's what scares me half the time. It's not like anything else. You know, what scares me is the voice that's always telling me is like, "Are you doing enough? Like-"

Dianna:

You got to be careful of that voice though.

Bobby Starks:

Yeah. I'm like, "Why am I still laying in bed?" It's 4:30 in the morning. I get up [crosstalk]

Dianna:

Well, you get up earlier than me.

Bobby Starks:

But I still got to work out. But that's the thing that scares me. I don't know if you ever think about that for yourself, like, "Am I doing enough? Am I doing enough during the day?"

Dianna:

1000% all the time.

Bobby Starks:

Yeah. I think that's a type a personality.

Dianna:

Yeah, because it... But I think, again, you figure out processes that work for you. So I'm all about processes, if you haven't noticed. Schedule, to-do list and it's figuring out... My to-do list is very long, but okay, so today with the time that I have after I talked to you, this is what I'm getting done. And if I get ahead, great. If I don't, at least I got those things done. So it's kind of knowing what you can do now, what you can do later, and maybe what's something like... I have a whole sheet of long-term projects that I want to do. And when I have time, we'll get to that, or if we bring on somebody and that frees me up to do some other things, then we'll do that.

Dianna:

But I would just say, "Get started." I mean, I think that's the biggest thing is why not just jump in and see where you land and frankly, if you're then not motivated to do it, then you probably shouldn't do it in the first place. But at least you started to try. You figure out where your motivation is when it takes away free time. Once you realize you have no free time, really, unless you schedule it or build it in, it's different. You get in a different mindset.

Bobby Starks:

Got to utilize that word "know" half the time.

Dianna:

Yes, knowing your boundaries.

Bobby Starks:

Can't be afraid to say it too.

Dianna:

Well, in the beginning you say "yes" a lot. And I think it's important to say "yes" almost to then learn where your "no" is. That's how I work. Not to say that that's what everybody needs to do, but I said "yes" to a lot, and then I was like, "Oh, this is kind of maybe not so good." Or you learn what works, what is worth your time, right? I don't know if it was Oprah, whoever, she said "yes" to everything. And then now she's able to say, "No, these are the things I want to do." So it's trial and error. You got to be willing to mess up.

Bobby Starks:

I actually know a cool story on Oprah. I'll tell you after this, but it's interesting, from Nashville. But let's talk about your future. What does it look like personally for you? What does it look personally for Hustle House? What do we got there?

Dianna:

So personally, I mean, it's so tied to just my family, and then Hustle House. So, I mean, I just want my family to be happy, healthy. It's very simple, at the end of the day, that we have enough quality time. My goal is really... I mean, personally, by the time my kids are in kindergarten that I can focus on Hustle House full-time, because I do have another job right now... focus on Hustle House full-time so I can pick them up from school. That's my goal. Might sound crazy, but I just want to be able to pick them up from school... not to say I won't work at night. I mean, I'm not, but just to have that. So I'm not having to put... block my time on my calendar, so I don't have anybody setting up meetings or whatever, but just know that I can be with them.

Dianna:

It might not be every day, but I have the flexibility with which to do that. But you know, once you're an owner, or a founder, or whatever, it's not 9:00 to 5:00. It's every day, and you set your schedule every day, right? So it's just more time, but that's personally my goal. And then at least with my kids and then I mean, with Erin and I... my husband, and it's just to continue communicating, and that's an everyday thing. So that's going to perpetuate forever, and I feel like as long as we're on the same page, we'll be okay.

Dianna:

And then for the gym, I mean, we want to grow. I mean, our goal is we want Hustle House everywhere, but we certainly want to be very smart where we pick and choose and who decides to kind of really be in those kind of foundational, whether it's 5 or 10 studios just because they're just going to be so close. It's going to feel so personal. That's really where I want it to go. I mean, I want it to be national. I want it to be international. I want it to be everywhere, but I certainly don't want to devalue the brand. So we're still kind of figuring out what's that balance and we're not going to know it until we do it. So the goal would be to have multiple and multiple cities.

Bobby Starks:

Nice.

Dianna:

Yes.

Bobby Starks:

So you want to be just South Carolina, Virginia, all of it?

Dianna:

All of it.

Bobby Starks:

All of it.

Dianna:

I want it all.

Bobby Starks:

Good for you. Well, thanks for joining me today. This was a great interview.

Dianna:

Yeah, no, thanks, Bobby.

Bobby Starks:

I think this is educational for a lot of people that just want to talk about getting into business or even fitness. So thanks again. And I'll definitely come in to get a workout. I keep on saying it but-

Dianna:

Yes, I know you do. I'm just going to sign you up. Just so you have the account, I'll put you in at 5:00. Don't worry, we got a big crew for you.

Bobby Starks:

Yeah. I'll just get my ass kicked. Get that EPOC.

Dianna:

I think you'll be just fine.

Bobby Starks:

All right. Well, thanks so much, and-

Dianna:

Yeah, no, thank you.