HALO Academy 2 Minute Financial Drill: Exclusivity Period
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
Release Date: 07/02/2025
Episode #575: Scaling Planet Fitness-Lessons in Execution and Growth from CJ Bouchard
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
In this episode of HALO Talks, industry veteran CJ Bouchard opens up to host Pete Moore about the realities of entrepreneurship in the fitness industry, sharing candid stories of risk, resilience, and what it really means to build from the ground up. From betting his savings on a fledgling franchise in North Carolina and initially making daily two-hour commutes, to pivoting and learning tough lessons about club size, site selection, and market expansion, CJ reveals how grit, adaptability, and a clear mission have fueled Excel Fitness’s phenomenal growth. Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) is one of...
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Episode #574: Elevate Fitness Evolution-Real Estate, Recovery, and Community Impact With Tom Muller
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
In this episode of HALO Talks, host Pete Moore sits down with long-time friend and industry veteran Tom Muller, owner of Elevate Fitness in Syracuse, NY. With roots that stretch back to the Gold's Gym days, Tom shares his journey through decades of shifting trends, club expansions, and the pivotal decision to rebrand and tech-enable his business for the modern member experience. From innovative fitness programming and thriving tennis and swim programs to the impact of major local investments like Micron and Amazon, Tom reveals the strategies that have kept Elevate thriving in a stable,...
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HALO Talks Fast Break: Pickleball Consulting, Court Installs, and Industry Trends With Kaitlin Miller from Court Kings
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
Excited to share highlights from this week’s HALO Talks FastBreak featuring Kaitlin Miller from Court Kings. A level 5 player herself, Kaitlin and Pete dive deep into the rapid growth of pickleball and how Court Kings innovative court solutions are shaping the industry—especially for health and fitness facilities. 3 key takeaways: Booming Demand: Pickleball courts in NYC (especially at ) are booked solid from open to close—sometimes with waitlists to join! If your facility hasn’t added pickleball yet, now is the time. Turnkey Court Solutions: Court Kings was recently named the...
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Episode #573: How LightStim Revolutionized LED Beds and the Med Spa Industry with Steve Marchese
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
Welcome to another episode of HALO Talks! In today’s episode, Integrity Square Founder and host Pete Moore sits down with Steve Marchese, the founder of LightStim, to dig into the transformative power of LED light technology and its growing role in med spas and wellness centers across the country. Steve shares the LightStim origin story, which was born out of a personal mission to help his own son combat dangerously high blood pressure when traditional medicine offered no solutions. What started as a family "Hail Mary" turned into years of rigorous innovation, FDA collaboration,...
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Episode #572: Building Hone Fitness-Jim Solomon’s Urban Strategy and Lessons from Toronto’s Fitness Scene
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
Welcome to HALO Talks, where we dive into the entrepreneurial journeys and strategic insights shaping the HALO sector! (Health, Active Lifestyle, Outdoors.) In this episode, host Pete Moore sits down with longtime friend and industry veteran Jim Solomon, founder of Hone Fitness. Broadcasting on location from Toronto, Jim shares his story of more than 26 years in the fitness space, from his early days as a senior associate at Gold’s Gym to building and selling clubs in Toronto’s unique urban neighborhoods. They talk candidly about the “puzzle” that is site selection in metropolitan...
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Episode #571: Why Personalized Men’s Health Is the Future-Insights from MNLY's Founder, Luke Hartelust
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
Welcome to another episode of HALO Talks! Today, host Pete Moore sits down with Luke Hartelust--a dynamic entrepreneur and now the founder of MNLY--who made the leap from the oil and gas rigs off the coast of Australia to California’s innovative health tech scene. Luke shares his journey from the grueling world of offshore drilling to launching and scaling fitness businesses, including his instrumental role in bringing F45 Training to Southern California. The conversation dives deep into his latest venture, a groundbreaking men’s health platform that uses AI, cutting-edge blood...
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Episode #570: Lessons from Three Decades in Fitness-Rick Dennis’s Approach to Member Experience and Club Operations
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
Welcome to HALO Talks! In today’s episode, host Pete Moore sits down with Rick Dennis, Co-Founder of Bakersfield’s Body Xchange and a definite "OG" in the HALO sector. With over 30 years of experience—including a storied career at Family Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and launching successful clubs with longtime partner John Ovanessian—Rick shares insights on evolving gym models, member experience, and responding to changing trends. Rick and Pete chat about how Body Xchange became a place “where everybody trains,” adapting to the post-COVID demand for more strength training, flexible...
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Episode #569: Essence Over Analytics: Duff McDonald Explores Purpose, Presence, and People in Entrepreneurship
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
Welcome to another episode of HALO Talks! Today, host Pete Moore sits down with Duff McDonald, former investment banker and well known business journalist, for a fantastic chat. Duff, whose career has spanned investment banking, business journalism, and bestselling books like “The Golden Passport” and “Tickled,” shares insights on how numbers and data have come to dominate our understanding of business and life—but why they often fail to capture what really matters. In this episode, you’ll hear Duff break down the difference between “experts” and “specialists,” challenge...
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Episode #568: Scaling Physician's Choice From Startup to $250M-Logan Chierotti on Smart Growth and Supplements
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
On this episode of HALO Talks, host Pete Moore sits down with Logan Chierotti, founder of Physician’s Choice supplements, to dig into the in's and out's of building a high-growth company in the HALO space. Logan discusses his journey from working in digital marketing to launching what is now the top probiotic brand on Amazon, with annual revenues approaching $250 million. He opens up about the importance of focusing on value and science-backed products, the challenges of navigating both e-com and retail distribution, and the lessons learned in building a top-tier executive team. Whether...
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Episode #567: The Shift to Turnkey Fitness Tech: Spren’s Evolution in a Demanding Market with Jason Moore
HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness
In today’s episode, host Pete Moore sits down with returning guest Jason Moore, CEO and founder of Spren (formerly Elite HRV.) Jason shares the journey of his company’s cutting-edge technology, which transforms any smartphone into an advanced biomarker and body composition analysis tool. With over a million users and thousands of coaches trained, Spren’s platform is accelerating how gyms, coaches, and fitness enthusiasts track results and stay motivated. Pete and Jason dive into the evolution of Spren’s technology, lessons learned from the pandemic, and how partnerships with industry...
info_outlineEvery Wednesday we release our all new “HALO Academy: 2 Minute Financial Drill" by Integrity Square Founder & HALO Talks host, Pete Moore on everything you need to know for financial literacy, unit economics, legal documents used for M&A and capital raises, capital sources you can access, understanding how financings are structured, valuation metrics and parameters, and what you need to know about your own business before engaging in cap raises and/or a potential sale. If you missed our email about this, you can re-read it here:
====================================================== RESOURCES
- https://www.integritysq.com
- https://www.halotalks.com
- https://www.thehaloacademy.com
- Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/@halotalks
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ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Pete is the Founder, Managing Partner and Chief Dream Architect at Integrity Square ("ISQ"), a leading boutique financial advisory firm focused on the $4.7T Health, Active Lifestyle, Outdoor ("HALO") sector. Since founding ISQ in 2010, the firm has played an active advisory role in 100+ mergers & acquisitions, private placements and advisory assignments across North America.
Pete Moore and his team have also invested in passionate entrepreneurs at HigherDOSE, XTEND, and Promotion Vault. ISQ's media and "live education" properties include HALO Talks, the leading B2B podcast in the sector, Time To Win Again, and the HALO Academy, an Executive Education Bootcamp Series.
Prior to ISQ, Pete was Head of the Active Lifestyle & Wellness Group at Sagent Advisors (2003-2010.) Prior to 2003, Pete was co-founder of FitnessInsite, a SasS sales management platform with 1500+ clients (based in AZ.) At FitnessInsite, Pete invested his personal capital, leveraged his credit cards and learned what it takes to manage a startup.
Pete built his business and financial acumen on top of the foundation laid at three critical positions early in his career: Senior Associate at Brockway Moran & Partners, the private equity owner of Gold’s Gym International, Inc; worked as an Associate at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; and an Analyst at Chase Securities. (Now JP Morgan.)
ISQ saw a need for a deeper & more useful level of education in the HALO sector. In response, we launched the HALO Talks podcast, with 500+ completed interviews and over 120,000 downloads. HALO Talks has become a “must listen” for anyone working or investing in the sector.
Pete graduated from Emory University (BBA, 1994) and received his MBA from Harvard Business School (1999.) While at HBS, he co-founded IRON PLANET, the leading B2B auction site for used heavy equipment, which was sold to Ritchie Bros for $758 million. His hobbies include: Football, basketball, tennis, podcasting, amateur ventriloquism, pro bono DJ and fitness enthusiast.