Full Episode Transcript

Why Wellness Means Business

The global wellness economy has doubled in just over a decade, and it's projected to approach $10 trillion in the next few years.

That's an enormous opportunity for fitness and wellness entrepreneurs.

But there's another side to that story. Businesses that aren't paying attention to how consumer expectations are changing risk getting left behind.

And in this first episode, I'm going to show you exactly why wellness means business and what this massive shift could mean for your business.

You're listening to Wellness Means Business with Casey Conrad.

I'm Casey Conrad, and I've spent more than 35 years helping fitness and wellness businesses grow. If you've got expertise, a product, a program, a service, a wellness modality, or some combination of those, but need to build a better business around it, you're in the right place.

Wellness Means Business gives independent fitness and wellness entrepreneurs practical strategies to attract more clients, increase sales, grow revenue, and build stronger, more profitable businesses.

So, let's get down to business.

In today's episode, I want to scare the heck out of you.

And that may not sound like a great way to start off a new podcast, but I've been around this space for nearly 40 years, and what I'm seeing is too many businesses missing the boat.

So let's go over some numbers.

In 2013, the global wellness economy was $3.4 trillion, according to the Global Wellness Institute. In 2024, that was $6.8 trillion.

That's double, right?

But it's estimated to be $9.8 trillion by 2029.

Just think of that.

And look, a lot of you listening to this have been in the fitness industry for a very long time. So, for all my fitness industry colleagues, let's put that into a little perspective.

Also according to the Global Wellness Institute, the global fitness industry was $150 billion in 2019, and in 2024 it's estimated to be $250 billion.

Okay, yeah, that's pretty good.

But look at the size difference, and look at the trajectory of the growth rate.

The reality is, there has been a shift.

This has been happening over the past 10 years.

In 2018, I wrote an article for Club Insider Magazine that said, "Is the Wellness Revolution Finally Here?"

And I talked about a Wall Street Journal article that specifically mentioned how people were spending exorbitant amounts of money to go to these recovery centers.

So they had this expensive gym membership—or even a cheap gym membership—but then they'd turn around and go spend money on a cold plunge or red light or infrared sauna, whatever.

At that time, think back to 2018, that was pretty profound, if you would.

Well, today, of course, COVID accelerated this shift dramatically.

People are much more concerned and educated about overall well-being. There's much less focus on how you look and more on how you feel.

How well are you?

And I mean that in the truest sense of the word, both emotionally and physically.

It's not just a shift in the concern, but in the proactivity of it.

Think about today the number of apps and rings and watches and all of these things that we have that people are tuned into.

How much deep sleep have I gotten?

What's my heart rate variability?

People are concerned about well-being.

And it's interesting because if you go and do some research as to what the trending concerns are, here are the top 10.

Number one, metabolic health.

Now look, don't get me started about GLP-1s. I am not a fan of GLP-1s, and we'll do an entire episode on that.

I do think it gives us a great opportunity, but I don't want to go down that rabbit hole.

But people are concerned about metabolic health, especially as some of these lawsuits are starting to come down the pipe as it relates to GLP-1s.

Sleep.

This is huge. It's something like 32% of all adults in America have sleep issues on a somewhat regular basis, either the quality or the quantity of their sleep.

Of course, stress. People today are uber stressed out.

Mental health, anxiety, nervous system regulation—all of these are very hot topics.

Overall longevity and healthy aging, of course, are a concern due to my generation, the Boomer generation.

Gut health. This is a growing problem, and this has a lot to do with mental health. It also has to do with toxins and things of that nature.

Strength, muscle, mobility—and some of these are interconnected, right? When we talk about longevity and healthy aging, that all ties in. But these are showing up as independent concerns when we do the research.

Of course, functional nutrition.

We're dating ourselves here by putting in a reference, but if you look at what RFK Jr. is doing with things like dyes and GRAS—generally regarded as safe—ingredients in foods, whether you agree with it or not, people are becoming more tuned in to optimal functional nutrition.

Is this going to support my body, or is it going to take away?

Pain relief, joint health.

And I don't know about you, I'm going to be 62 here in one week, and when I was a kid, no one got a joint replacement, right?

And now it's like, "Oh yeah, I went and got my knee replaced. I'm going to get the other one. Got my hip done. Got my shoulder done."

I mean, it's literally just common practice and big business.

Then hormonal health.

Of course, both men and women are concerned about hormonal health, but women in particular are concerned about menopause and all of the issues that go around that, and all the other health issues that are exacerbating that.

Energy. The fatigue level.

People are exhausted.

And tied into that is also cognitive health. Big, big issue.

These are really hot topics, and they offer incredible, incredible opportunities for us.

Because people don't wake up one day and say, "I need to know more about my sleep."

In fact, it frustrates me because at my wellness studio in Tennessee, we try to educate people, and they're like, "I don't really care why. Just help me."

Right?

They wake up and say, "Why can't I sleep anymore? I used to sleep fine."

Or, "Why can't I get rid of this midsection weight? I used to be able to drop weight quickly."

Of course, some of these are age-related things, but not always. There are plenty of young people dealing with metabolic issues for sure.

Seventy-eight percent of Americans are overweight or obese.

"Geez, I can't go up and down the stairs. What's going on with my knees? How do I do that pain-free?"

Or, "Why can't I eat certain things anymore when I used to eat them?"

And certainly, for a lot of us, "How can I stay independent and active? How can I avoid going into memory care or a nursing home?"

I hear that a lot with the older generation, and with the explosion of Alzheimer's, certainly it's an issue.

All of these things make up what we refer to as the wellness economy.

And here's the biggest shocker of all, to me at least.

When polled, 84% of consumers now say that wellness is either their top priority or an incredibly high priority.

And this is not anecdotal research. This is McKinsey. This is a major, major research firm.

So we're talking about an incredible space, and this is precisely why Wellness Means Business matters.

At the beginning I told you I wanted to scare you.

Well, here's the scary part.

If you're in either the fitness space or the wellness space—it could be independent, working online or having a physical location—and you're not paying attention to what's happening here, guess what?

There are plenty of people who are.

And given that this industry is going to reach $10 billion—$10... I mean $10 trillion, sorry about that—$10 trillion in the next few years, businesses that figure out how to meet those needs for the consumer, and then how to package them, market them, sell them and deliver them, are going to be the ones to capture the opportunity.

I say, look, evolve or you're going to lose out.

If you do not start moving into this space, you are going to get left behind.

I've got plenty of clients in the fitness space where an infrared sauna, red light, cold plunge therapy place popped up—maybe not in the same plaza, but right across the street—and they have a knee-jerk reaction to add those.

Or the wellness facility that all of a sudden wants to throw in a $60,000 red light bed but doesn't know how to market the darn thing, and now they can't even meet their payments.

You also have the chains.

Chains are coming in and gobbling up independents or putting them out of business because they've got the staff and they've got the money that us independents don't have.

Here's where I see the future.

Not only are we seeing a shift in what people are focusing on, but I think we're seeing a pendulum swing.

What do I mean by that?

I see that people are now more concerned—not about, "I want to bargain on this." They're willing to pay more for the personal attention, for somebody to just walk them through.

"Please get me through the clutter of all of this wah, wah, wah out there and help me navigate this incredibly complex space."

Right?

"I got the Oura Ring. It's telling me what's going on, but I don't know how to fix it."

People don't want to call in and deal with an AI chatbot anymore or have to sign into a kiosk.

Yes, I get it. There are some generational issues where they don't mind that.

But more and more people, especially people who have the money, want that personal attention.

And I think that is fantastic, fantastic news for people who are independents.

Whether you're a physical-location business or an entrepreneur who works remotely or online, this is the future opportunity.

And wellness technology is a huge piece of this.

Think about it.

Ten years ago, nobody knew about red light. Now you go to your mother's house and she's got a VOOM red light facial panel in her bedroom.

It's changing. It's shifting.

Heck, even the CDC has recently acknowledged biofeedback has expanded in terms of who can use it for what application, and they've acknowledged frequency as it relates to therapies.

The things that were considered fringe or woo-woo just a short period of time ago, you're hearing two-hour podcasts on Joe Rogan about these things.

So it is definitely becoming mainstream.

And look at the explosion—I mentioned it before—but look at the explosion of these recovery centers.

The infrared sauna, cold plunge, hot yoga—not just regular yoga, but infrared sauna yoga—all of these places that are popping up all over the place.

It is definitely an opportunity, and you're seeing other businesses start to integrate them.

You go into any of the big health club chains now and they have recovery centers.

It is there.

And this is exactly why I want to come to you on a regular basis with the Wellness Means Business podcast.

I told you at the beginning I wanted to scare you, but I don't want you to leave scared.

I want you to understand that this is an exciting time.

Out of every major shift in the economy, there have been people who have absolutely leveraged it and been out in front of it.

And I think the opportunity for you as an entrepreneur has never been greater.

Here's the catch, though.

Opportunity doesn't mean revenue unless you know what to do with it.

And that's why I created this podcast for you, the smaller business owner, entrepreneur or operator who wants to tap into this market.

Maybe you're already tapped into it and you just wanna stay on top of the trends and tweak what you're doing.

But here I'm going to give you the strategies. I'm going to talk to you about the skills, the tools, those things that you can immediately apply to your specific business.

And I'm going to bring in other perspectives.

One of my many mentors, Jay Abraham, said this:

"If you want to increase your business by 10%, go out to other similar businesses, see what they're doing well, emulate them, and integrate it into your business. But if you want to increase your business by 100%, go outside of your industry and bring those ideas back."

So each of our episodes here is going to fall into one of a few categories.

Some are going to be similar to this in the sense that they're more educational, focusing on a strategy, a skill or a tool.

Today, this is the first podcast, so I'm talking about the big-picture umbrella.

Others, I'm going to interview operators, and those will be more like case studies so that you can hear: Why did they do this as it relates to the wellness opportunity and their business? How did they do it? How did they launch it? How did they price it? How did they package it? How did they sell it?

I think the Socratic method is one of the best ways to learn.

Others, I'll bring in wellness experts.

I might bring in somebody who's a doctor or an inventor or the manufacturer—not to sell you on things, but to educate you on those particular modalities.

And then some I'm actually going to do hot-seat audits.

Eventually I'll have the application set up so that you can apply to that, where, complimentary, you're saying to me, "Hey, I've got this thing here in my facility or my business, and it's not doing so well. Let's break this apart into all of the components."

And then I'll give you strategies and skills.

What would I do if you were paying me my consulting fee to come in and work with you?

All of them are going to be the Casey Conrad high-value, no-BS.

And I'm being very, very intentional about not cursing on these podcasts because I'll get dinged for explicit language on them.

Those of you who know me, I occasionally drop an F-bomb.

And people say, "Well, why are you doing this, Casey? You charge thousands of dollars for your consulting fee. Why are you doing this and putting it out there for free?"

Look, guys, I started my own business when I was 25.

I had zero plan.

Literally zero plan.

I just had an idea: "I want to be a sales consultant."

And a lot of enthusiasm, but not a business plan.

It was really by pure determination—pig-headed determination—that I eventually succeeded.

And yes, since then I've had 12 books and dozens of audios and videos, and I've spoken in 24 countries. I've done all these amazing things, and now I have a wellness studio in eastern Tennessee.

But the reality is that I'm in the—I don't want to say the twilight years—but I'm at a place where I can give back.

And I love teaching.

So I want to help you avoid the mistakes and maximize your success faster.

So that's it in a nutshell.

I want to help you make a difference, make a profit, and remember that wellness means business.

Until next time, I'll see you on the other side.