KARL GOODMAN

FOUNDER ATHLETES AUTHORITY

BUSINESS STRATEGIST

MARKETER

NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER

  • Founder of Athletes Authority
  • Marketing Maverick
  • Business Strategist
  • Newsletter Publisher

take a peek inside the mind of athletes authority’s founder and director of business strategy.

Who is Karl Goodman?

Hey, it’s Karl,

Thanks for arriving at this page.

Welcome to my little corner of the world.

Do you want to know something quite strange?

Given how large the industry is, don’t you think it’s odd that there isn’t a single, well-known resource for gym owners to go to if they want to level up their business?

While there are a million websites to visit to become a better coach… I can’t even count one website that is common knowledge to go to if you want to become a better operator.

After scratching my head for over 5 years waiting for such a site to emerge, I gave up waiting and said to Lachlan my business partner (the frontman of Athletes Authority):

“I’m going to make my own.”

So I carved out this tiny segment of the internet as a resource for gym owners and ‘behind-the-scenes’ guys like me to go to when they want to level up.

So if you’re a gym owner (or want to be one), then I think you’ll like it here. You can subscribe for free daily tips here, read the mini-courses I’ve written here, or even consider if you meet the criteria for my exclusive, paid newsletter here.

But before you go off exploring, it’s worth acquainting yourself with this page.

The reason this is worth reading is because it will take you on a 40,000 ft view of how I see the world of business, and how I approach decision making for AA.

I am a father to two boys, a husband, and a proud gym owner.

I’m also a lateral thinker, an outsider, and a misfit.

I’ve always looked at the path well travelled and said…

“Let’s try something else.”

It’s probably why the idea of betting against conventional wisdom has always appealed to me.

This is the concept of zagging while everyone else zigs. It’s not commonly done, but it’s also not new. In fact, it’s been a trademark strategy of any business in history who has produced asymmetric returns.

Think Uber, AirBnB, Tesla, Apple, Google, Amazon…

All the household names we couldn’t live without follow this strategy.

At some point, they all bet against conventional wisdom.

They look at the market, and they go the other way.

It is a key feature of differentiation…

And it’s by design, not by fluke.

In an extremely cluttered marketplace where everybody is shouting “me too”, traditional differentiation no longer works.

The marketing textbooks that line the shelves of the career academics that teach entrepreneurship couldn’t be more outdated.

In the age of the internet, there are two strategies you can choose from:

1. Do what everyone else is doing and slightly change something… whether that’s slightly cheaper, slightly better or slightly faster. This yields you typical results.

2. Do something radically different. Something that your market can’t ignore. While riskier, this yields you asymmetric and exponential results.

So let’s address the elephant in the room upfront.

Having the courage to zag while the industry zigs is scary. It requires you to be brave. To see where the industry is heading, and head the opposite way.

To take the path less travelled.

Because there’s so much more value for you and for those you serve, when you choose to go the other way. 

And the beauty of this strategy is that you don’t need to have the genius of Elon Musk to do it.

Heck, I’m a school drop-out who couldn’t get his Year 12 grades.. and now I’m here.

The only skill you require is having a sense of what the ‘herd’ is doing.

When they move left, ask yourself the question:

“What happens if I go right?”

But taking the road less travelled is not for everyone.

Because it takes a fair bit of ‘crazy’ to defy the crowd and go the opposite direction… most herd-followers will tell you it’s too risky.

But that’s also where the opportunity is… because you know only a handful of crazy ones (maybe like you) are brave enough to not blindly follow the herd.

Because if you own a gym like me… there is no way you aren’t even a little bit crazy, right?

Talking about crazy, one of the best ads I’ve ever come across is from Apple.

After Jobs returned as CEO of the company after his lay-off, he came up with this ad. He had realised something quite profound: Apple was for those who ‘think different’.

He had realised that those who thought they were crazy enough to change the world… were the one’s that did.

If you want to watch his speech where he first launches the ad, I’ve embedded the video below. It’s the best 7-minutes on YouTube I’ve ever spent. The pinned comment sums it up best:

“A 4-year marketing degree condensed into 7-minutes.”

Whoever Lorraine is… she won the internet that day.

I don’t know about you… but I like to do meaningful work.

I like to do stuff that matters.

Doing something meaningful is important to me. It’s important that the work I do makes a difference.

It’s why I started a gym for athletes… because deep-down, I believed athletes deserved a gym that’s built for them… that if they had a home away from home, I could help them reach higher and achieve more in sport.

And it’s also why I mentor other gym owners crazy enough to take on all the risks to be of service to their community.

Those two things make up my life mission, and they symbiotically serve each other.

The gym is living proof that owning a facility doesn’t have to be a ‘passion project’.

And mentoring others helps me pass the lessons on.

I have sweet-FA interest in thinking about doing and talking about doing.

I like to DO and ACT, not THINK and TALK.

Because there is enough information out there and it’s clearly not working.

Most of us gym-owners are broke and on our knees; most athletes aren’t becoming pro; most mums are still frustrated they can’t lose weight; most Dad’s are still ‘stuck’ working for the man…

If information were the answer… we’d all have everything our hearts desired.

I founded Athletes Authority in 2016. I’ve owned it with my business partner Lachlan ever since.

At some point, I’ll add to this page and include my origin story. If you care to read it, come back here sometime soon. If you subscribe, I’ll make sure you’re updated when I do. But the long and short of it is this:

I love what I do.

I wake up thinking about it.

Go to sleep dreaming about it.

And spend every waking moment living it.

I go to ‘work’ every day, excited at the possibility of helping build my own little empire, and helping others do the same.

My work is my life.

It’s a life mission.

By design, I’ve created my business so it serves me and that mission.

Athletes Authority is living, breathing proof that you can build a gym that you can be proud of.

It is proof that you CAN build the gym of your dreams.

It is proof that being a gym owner CAN be a viable way to support your family & your life WITHOUT working 80 hours a week only to make ends meet… just.

I have manufactured intentionally it so I can also do this — write, inspire and lead other gym owners to do the same.

Because Gym Owners rock. We are the ultimate risk-takers in a world where everyone wants to hide behind a computer screen. We are the crazy ones.

We are the ones brave enough to make millions of people’s lives better… to build a place where they can better themselves.

So we deserve to thrive.

We deserve to have a seat at the table… and not be on our knees waiting for the scraps.

Which is a nice segue into why you might be here, reading this page.

There are two reasons.

The first is out of curiosity. You’ve heard about me and want to know more.

In that case, 

“Hi. it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

If you want to ask a question then subscribe to my email list, and then the next email I send you, hit reply and ask away. I write almost every day to gym owners with tips and info that makes their life better.

Or, you may be here out of need... you want your life as a gym owner to be better and you want it to have more meaning. I can help you with that.

On top of my free (almost) daily emails, I also do a monthly, paid, physical letter that gets delivered to your door. It shares the behind-the-scenes of running a $3.5 million dollar a year in revenue gym and teaches you the principles and tactics that keep me there. It’s called ‘The Alley-Oop‘. I called it that because it makes your gym look good. 

Finally, I have a close-knit mastermind for those who are brave enough to follow in my footsteps.

It’s for gym owners who have a passion for athletic development and sports rehabilitation… so it’s not for everyone. As I said it’s a tight-knit group but it’s also the most useful and practical mentorship program in the world if you’re in this niche. That I know for certain (and I guarantee it with my own money, too).

Anyway, that’s a little about me.

Welcome to my world.

- KARL GOODMAN