Franchisee at 21. Franchisor at 24. Interview with Sam Waller, CEO of Stepz Fitness

He bought his first gym at 21 with money a member fronted. At 24, he became franchisor himself and inherited a near-legal mess with unhappy franchisees. Sam Waller, CEO of Stepz Fitness, joins Joel to give an honest account of the franchisee-to-franchisor jump and the decade-long turnaround that followed. What you'll learn in this episode: - Why the people who miss out on a territory become your loudest critics, and how to handle franchisor envy - The franchisee Sam should have moved on day one, and what keeping him too long cost the network - Why he stopped running conferences for years, and why that was a mistake - How he deals with negativity head on now instead of letting it fester - The hybrid model that undercut F45 at $30 a week while staying sustainable long term - Why he sells gyms to his own managers, and how that built his best long-term owners - Why he is back on every first sales call after a year away from them - The pricing decision he calls one of the worst the business ever made - His plan to reach 100 locations by 2035 without cannibalising existing franchisees Timestamps: 0:00 The model change that fixed the business 0:42 Meet Sam Waller, CEO of Steps Fitness 1:59 Starting as a franchisee at 21 4:42 Taking over a troubled business at 24 6:49 The marketing fixes that worked 7:43 Building the hybrid gym model 10:03 Teaching franchisees to spend on marketing 11:44 The on-brand video debate 16:36 Why franchisee posts drive enquiries 19:52 Too much disclosure scares prospects 20:49 Brand vs the personality behind it 21:30 Changing culture over 10 years 30:02 Handling negativity head on 31:49 The hybrid model explained 34:52 The website pricing mistake 37:37 Back on every first sales call 39:23 The founder-led marketing advantage 43:00 The plan for 100 gyms by 2035 45:36 Recruitment leads and spend 49:10 Filming video with franchisees 51:54 Going public and building a personal brand 55:15 Why content solves everything