Building a Business with Heart: Jamie Lanza's Guide to Entrepreneurial Success

In this episode of the Local Business Hacks podcast, host Carl Case interviews Jamie Lonza, co-founder of Camp, a health and wellness campus in Tampa and Los Angeles. Jamie shares her journey from a career in advertising to creating a unique fitness community that integrates various wellness activities on one campus. She emphasizes the importance of presence, community, and human experiences in business. Jamie discusses the challenges of starting a new venture, the significance of hiring aligned team members, and the value of listening and adaptability. The episode highlights Camp's mission to foster happier, healthier adults through a holistic approach to fitness and wellness.

• Jamie Lonza's career began in advertising, with an initial intent to follow in her father's footsteps as a public policy attorney.
• She worked at MDC Partners in New York, where she learned how to make consumers fall in love with brands.
• Her personal life has been deeply rooted in yoga, which she uses to maintain equanimity and connect with a higher being.
• Jamie's philosophy centers on being present, which she believes allows for better reception of future opportunities.

"I have a tattoo on my arm that says 'be right here,' and that's always been my mission in life, to use every tool possible to be as present as physically possible."

• Jamie emphasizes the importance of being present and how it influences her ability to receive and act on opportunities.

• Jamie decided to leave her advertising career to merge her passion for yoga with her professional life.
• The journey involved exploring different sites and overcoming setbacks, such as losing properties.
• Jamie and her family eventually found a piece of land in Tampa, Florida, which became the foundation for Camp Tampa.

"Starting to explore if I was going to leave MDC partners and leave the world of advertising and experiential advertising, what would I do? And like, what would that path be?"

• The transition from advertising to entrepreneurship was marked by exploration and the challenge of aligning her career with her personal passion for yoga.

• The initial idea was to create a yoga-focused experience with a hospitality element.
• The concept expanded to include a variety of boutique fitness offerings on one campus, inspired by experiences in cities like New York and Miami.
• The aim was to provide high-quality, accessible fitness experiences without the high costs associated with individual boutique classes.

"Would there be a way to take this Boutique Fitness World... and put it onto one campus and make it accessible enough in the price point?"

• Jamie's vision was to create a comprehensive fitness campus that offers diverse experiences at an affordable price, inspired by her experiences as a consumer.

• Jamie credits her business partner, Jen Azzarelli, for grounding and operationalizing her creative ideas.
• The partnership allowed for the successful realization of the Camp Tampa concept, combining creativity with operational expertise.
• Initial challenges included financial strain and rapid growth, which required strategic expansion and problem-solving.

"I always say that I'm like the explosion of ideas and the people and the creative, and she was a sous chef in Philadelphia and she'll sit down with me and be like, 'Okay, that's really cute, that's an amazing idea, however, this is how it's actually going to happen.'"

• The partnership between Jamie and Jen was crucial in balancing creative vision with practical implementation, leading to the successful growth of Camp Tampa.

• Rapid growth led to operational challenges, such as parking issues and infrastructure strain.
• Jamie negotiated the purchase of adjacent property to expand the campus, adding parking and new fitness concepts.
• The expansion included building a community garden and composting site, enhancing the campus's community and environmental impact.

"We ended up buying that piece of land fairly quickly... We built an 85-foot community garden, we built a composting site, we started hosting massive events on the campus."

• The expansion efforts addressed operational challenges and enhanced the campus's community engagement and sustainability initiatives.

• Camp Tampa has hosted three million campers, demonstrating its success and impact in the fitness community.
• The COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges, but the foundation and community built around Camp Tampa provided resilience.
• Jamie's journey highlights the importance of passion, adaptability, and strategic partnerships in building a successful business.

"We were able to kind of like take this property... and it really, we were like, whoa, like this is an engine, right? Like now we're talking like now it felt like it could handle what we had taken on."

• The successful expansion and community impact of Camp Tampa illustrate the power of aligning personal passion with business strategy, even in the face of unexpected challenges like the pandemic.

• Camp is described as a "human business selling human experiences," focusing on creating happier and healthier adults.
• The business emphasizes a people-first approach, prioritizing the well-being of its staff and clients.
• The company allows for organic growth and input from its employees, leading to successful innovations and expansions.

"We are a human business selling human experiences and like staying so true to that and staying so rooted in our people first and paying attention to not only them and their well-being."

• This quote highlights Camp's commitment to prioritizing human experiences and well-being as the core of its business model.

"Our mission as a company is to create happier healthier adults."

• The mission statement underscores the company's primary goal of improving the health and happiness of its clients.

• Camp fosters a culture where employees can contribute ideas, leading to the development of new programs and spaces.
• Examples include the "stations" strength training program and the sculpt and Pilates room, both initiated by employee suggestions.

"We had a coach who's been with us for such a long time... he started running a stations class in the circuit room."

• This illustrates how employee initiative led to the creation of a new and popular class offering within the business.

"We tried it, it was wild, and of course, then we continued to refine it... we built it a house and now we have the sculpt and Pilates Room."

• Demonstrates the process of trial, refinement, and eventual establishment of new classes based on employee suggestions.

• Camp places a strong emphasis on community, organizing events like live comedy shows to engage members.
• The community is described as organic and authentic, contributing to low attrition rates.

"We throw these like huge events... live comedy shows now in LA in our parking lot."

• This quote exemplifies the types of community events that Camp organizes to foster engagement and connection among members.

"You guys have very little churn and that's an existence of who your members are and what that Community is."

• Highlights the success of Camp's community-focused approach in retaining members.

• Camp aims to provide a comprehensive wellness experience under one roof, reducing the need for multiple memberships.
• This approach addresses the holistic wellness needs of members, integrating various fitness and wellness disciplines.

"Your average person that joins a boutique gym... they have three other memberships that have to do with their Wellness."

• Points out the common issue of fragmented wellness experiences and how Camp addresses this by offering diverse services in one place.

"It's incredible and hats off to you guys for really circumferences all of that underneath one... acre and supporting your community."

• Acknowledges Camp's success in integrating multiple wellness services to support their community comprehensively.

• The business emphasizes the importance of operating from a place of authenticity and deep-rooted energy.
• This approach is believed to create lasting and meaningful connections within the community.

"If the root behind it, the feeling behind it, the energy behind it isn't from that place of Truth... it will be a little bit thin."

• Suggests that authenticity and genuine intent are crucial for creating meaningful and lasting business relationships.

"The more that we push and we drive from that place of a deep root and a deep connection, we will build things that last a really long time."

• Emphasizes the belief that deep-rooted authenticity leads to enduring success and impact.

• Camp brings together individuals from various fitness disciplines, creating an energetic and synergistic community.
• This integration allows for organic interactions and collaborations among different groups.

"We didn't anticipate what it was going to be like to bring these like strength training humans, the yoga humans... under one campus."

• Describes the unexpected positive outcomes of integrating diverse fitness disciplines under one roof.

"It created this energetic community that was like whoa... people who otherwise in these clicks as you said who don't interact on a day-to-day basis."

• Highlights the organic growth of community and synergy among diverse groups within Camp.

• Attending a Tony Robbins event can be a transformative experience, characterized by high energy and a sense of community among participants.
• The event is designed to strip away societal labels and material possessions, uniting attendees in a shared journey of self-improvement.
• Participants are willing to invest significant time, energy, and money to become the best versions of themselves.

"I'm sitting in American Airlines where the Miami Heat play all the way in the top row like I can touch the ceiling from where I'm sitting and out comes on stage Tony Robbins who 15,000 people light up like that."

• The quote captures the immense excitement and anticipation of the crowd as Tony Robbins takes the stage.

"You were stripped of every label of every material item and you were now bucketed together as this group of people all invested in themselves."

• This emphasizes the collective focus on personal growth, transcending individual differences.

• Engaging in different types of exercise, such as Pilates and yoga, can lead to personal growth and improved well-being.
• Trying new activities fosters humility and encourages breaking habitual patterns.
• Creating a safe and welcoming environment is crucial for encouraging individuals to step out of their comfort zones.

"People that are really dedicated and have dedicated 20 30 years into strength training and then you say hey come take a pilates class and they laugh at you and yoga they're like no I don't need that and then they experience this."

• This highlights the initial resistance and eventual appreciation for trying new forms of exercise.

"They're becoming a happier healthier human because of it not only because there's a level of humility and trying something new and putting yourself in a place where you're uncomfortable."

• The quote underscores the benefits of embracing new challenges and the resulting positive changes.

• Adequate financial planning is essential for business success, ensuring sufficient capital to cover operating expenses.
• Making decisions from a place of fear can lead to poor outcomes; it's important to act from a place of strength and confidence.
• Hiring should align with company values and long-term goals rather than immediate needs.

"Make sure you have enough money in the bank to cover operating capital like for 6 to 9 months at least right because it takes time."

• This stresses the importance of financial preparedness in business operations.

"Mistakes that we made were just coming from a place of fear and starting to which takes time to build that confidence and that strength."

• Highlighting the pitfalls of fear-based decision-making and the importance of building confidence.

• Listening skills are crucial in the hiring process to understand candidates beyond their resumes.
• Hiring decisions should be based on company values, with a focus on long-term fit and potential for development.
• A strong company culture can attract new talent through referrals from satisfied employees.

"You need to really know how to listen like really know how to listen right because if we don't have the skill set of the tools to listen."

• This emphasizes the importance of active listening in identifying the right candidates.

"We hire by our values we fire by our values period everyone in our company knows what our values are as a company."

• The quote illustrates the centrality of company values in the hiring and evaluation process.

"Our community of our team members is incredibly strong and a lot of people who join our team now have been referred by another very strong team member."

• This highlights the role of a strong team culture in attracting new employees through internal referrals.

• The brand's growth is primarily driven by word-of-mouth referrals from people who love the brand, rather than traditional marketing strategies.
• Experiential marketing and public relations are used to amplify the brand's voice, but organic growth remains the core strategy.

"Yes, we do experiential marketing and we do some PR and we do things to get the voice out, but really it's people who fell in love with the brand who are referring other people that come into the brand."

• The focus on organic growth highlights the importance of customer satisfaction and loyalty in expanding a brand's reach.

• A unique hiring strategy involves asking candidates about their thought process rather than direct answers to assess analytical thinking.
• The ability to ask questions and demonstrate a thought process is valued over providing immediate answers.

"I don't want the answer, but I want to know your thought process on how to calculate how many pingpong balls fit inside a Boeing 747."

• This approach helps identify candidates who are analytical, thoughtful, and capable of problem-solving.

• Asking questions is emphasized as a means to open doors and encourage deeper thinking and exploration.
• The company culture values inquisitiveness and the willingness to delve deeper into topics.

"Questions are open doors and answers are closed doors, and so we're just in this constant state of expansion."

• This philosophy promotes continuous learning and growth within the organization.

• The advice to be "slow to hire, quick to fire" is discussed as a guideline for business growth.
• Implementing a 90-day probationary period with clear guidelines helps in evaluating new hires effectively.

"Probation's been a great thing that we've implemented in having a 90-day probationary period with clear guidelines and outcomes."

• This practice ensures that both the company and the employee align with expectations and performance standards.

• Cal Newport's "Deep Work" is highlighted for its insights into focusing on high-value tasks and avoiding multitasking.
• The book "Shantaram" is recommended for its life-changing narrative and depth in exploring themes of connectivity and spirituality.

"I've recently been very much into Cal Newport's 'Deep Work' and his time block planner... starting to pay attention to how much shallow work we spend time on during the week."

• These books are valued for their contributions to personal growth and enhancing productivity.

• Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings on mindfulness and being present are discussed as valuable tools for staying focused and appreciating the present moment.
• The practice of focusing on the breath is suggested as a method to maintain presence in conversations and daily life.

"If you struggle in conversation to stay present, you pay attention to the breath... because the breath is the most present portion of our life."

• Emphasizing presence helps in reducing stress and increasing the quality of interactions and experiences.

• The podcast concludes with a call to action for listeners to follow the journey on social media and stay tuned for future episodes.
• Emphasis is placed on the importance of staying present and engaged in life, rather than being distracted by past or future concerns.

"Thank you for reentering the most important thing that we can do as humans, which is be here and not be The Walking Dead."

• The closing remarks encourage listeners to apply the insights from the podcast to their personal and professional lives.