A Year in Review: A Reflection on my First Year at Intelivideo and How We Have Evolved

This month marks my one-year anniversary at Intelivideo and the last 12 months have been, in one word, intense.

I joined the team when the ship was already sailing, in the midst of one of the craziest years ever, especially for the fitness industry. As I learned the ropes, I worked side-by-side with an incredibly skilled team to focus on smart, steady navigation. While I had to quickly embrace my role, the entire company had to figure out how to operate in a new world filled with never-before-seen challenges on top of having a brand new CEO. But despite the influx of both personal and operational challenges, we experienced astronomical growth over the course of the past year, and our achievements are to be celebrated.

Since March of last year, we’ve doubled the number of customer logos on our client roster and almost tripled the number of fitness locations we serve. We’ve formed strategic partnerships with industry titans including ABC Fitness Solutions, InnoSoft Fusion, Les Mills, Glofox and most recently, Matrix Fitness. We received recognition in numerous prestigious rankings, including our first-ever inclusion in the Inc. 5000, where we secured a spot in the top 700.

Looking back on my first year as CEO of Intelivideo, there are so many highlights that come to mind, as well as lessons learned for the betterment of Intelivideo.

Chaos, Change, and the Need for Flexibility

This past year proved that in business, there are some things you can count on, but many more you cannot. The level of managed chaos in any industry is ever-changing and if you’re prepared, you’re better off. My mindset has certainly shifted as a business leader and I take “nothing is as it seems” into consideration with every business decision I make for Intelivideo.

COVID taught all of us at Intelivideo that it’s important to be flexible and innovate your offerings, services, and processes in the face of challenges. We had to upgrade our digital platform to align with the changes taking place in the fitness industry — namely, the need for a hybrid model that empowers individuals to workout in the club or on demand at home.

Every member of our team was an integral piece of the puzzle that came together which led us to achieve the growth we’ve experienced despite such an odd year. As for my part, I leveraged my 25+ years of both managing people and operating health clubs (most recently for Gold’s Gym), and this breadth of experience helped to inform my decision-making as a company leader. Because of the pandemic and the subsequent desire for on-demand digital fitness content, we’ve learned how to tweak market strategies to help health clubs monetize their services by offering options inside and outside of the gym.

I was thankful that my club-level operating experience was useful to help us figure out how to be more tightly integrated into the “plumbing” of a club’s ecosystem so we can better serve our customers, and in turn, so they can better serve theirs.

Meeting Demand with On Demand

As we worked to evolve our offerings over the past year, we’ve continued to chart new courses. For example, Intelivideo has just begun to launch its B2B2B partnership model, such as the ones we formed with ABC Fitness Solutions and Matrix Fitness. We plan to continue our expansion into other areas, and to become the name to beat in collegiate, wellness, and medical fitness spaces in North America.

Today, our no. 1 goal is to become THE recognized leader of the on-demand livestreaming infrastructure for the commercial fitness and wellness space, and we’ve proved that we’re certainly on our way there.

Quiet Confidence

I’ve learned that the nature of what Intelivideo does means we don’t have to be in the spotlight or the name on the marquee; rather, we’re behind the scenes, giving businesses of all sizes an enterprise tool that allows them to monetize and scale like never before. But make no mistake: Intelivideo is much more than powerful back-end support. We bring the integration, connectivity, and hybrid innovation to propel others to game-changing levels. And if this past year has been proof of anything, it’s that we do this better than anyone else.

Looking Ahead

I believe the future of the industry is extremely bright, and I’m so proud of our team and their perseverance through the transition forced by the pandemic. As we dive deeper into the B2B2B space, I see the many ways that the ability to transform as a company means attracting more big partnerships — and that translates into huge wins for a small business like ours.

Being CEO of Intelivideo has definitely kept me on my toes, but I’m beyond grateful for the ways in which the fitness community has supported my belief in a hybrid model. This is something I’ve advocated for before the pandemic even started, so it’s been a pleasure watching this vision come to life with Intelivideo. I’m looking forward to next year as we continue to make exciting advances at Intelivideo and in the world of digital fitness offerings.