Anne Mahlum built her career by standing out from the crowd.
The 43-year-old entrepreneur, who sports spiky blonde hair, tattoos and six-pack abs, founded her boutique fitness chain Solidcore in 2013 and expanded it across the U.S. before selling it to a private equity firm in April.
Between the acquisition and two previous investment deals, Mahlum cashed out her Solidcore equity for a total of $88.4 million — and she attributes that success to her unwillingness to ever adapt.
“I try to find the uniqueness in things and then amplify it…that’s really been a big part of my success,” Mahlum tells CNBC Make It. “A lot of times people try to hide in the herd, and we try “To adapt, and I think that’s the worst advice.”
Anne Mahlum founded the boutique fitness chain Solidcore in 2013. A decade later, she sold it for $88.4 million.
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In Solidcore’s case, she turned a strenuous Pilates workout — which she says was masked by “cute” and graceful marketing — into a national brand focused on physical strength. Students reach stage two muscle failure while being pushed and cheered on by energetic trainers in blue-lit rooms.
Her way of thinking was fostered in sometimes complicated ways by her childhood home life, she says. At the age of 16, her parents divorced after her father gambled away the family’s savings. To cope, Mahlum began running and became increasingly focused on the idea of controlling her own life.
“I didn’t want to get hurt… and I felt like I could just make a difference or live a life that I had control and power over.” [by]That I would escape the feeling of hurt,” she says. “I think a lot of my drive actually came from fear.”
Mahlum’s tenacious approach may have helped her build a fitness empire that now has more than 100 locations across the United States. It has also led to legal and professional disputes.
Solidcore’s first location in Washington DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood closed after a year due to noise complaints. Mahlum was sued over machine licensing by a former business partner, and again by an ex-boyfriend who claimed he owned Solidcore. Both cases were resolved in mediation, she says.
In 2020, as gyms across the country suffered, Mahlum fired several employees who had helped get Solidcore off the ground. Later that year, in a BuzzFeed News report, dozens of workers accused her of creating a toxic, abusive workplace. The allegations were quickly followed by an employee motion calling on Mahlum to resign.
In response, Mahlum called on her company’s board to conduct an independent investigation into Solidcore’s culture, she says. She remained CEO until April 2021 and chairwoman until her departure from the company earlier this year. The experience didn’t change her “tough, demanding” leadership style, but it taught her to balance her drive with boundaries and empathy, she says.
“When we had to make some of those layoffs [I didn’t realize] I took with me [former employees’] social life, her training life, her friendships, not just her job,” says Mahlum. [As CEO]“I had to create an environment that was necessary… for Solidcore to be successful. But when it ended for people, it was really hard.”
Mahlum, a lifelong athlete, says she decided to start Solidcore after being humbled by a Pilates class in LA.
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Her plan was always to sell Solidcore, she says: her strength lies in bringing concepts to life and building communities, rather than sustaining them over time. The same month she left, she opened her next venture, a New York-based gym chain called Ambition.
To this day, people ask Mahlum if she is surprised by her success. Honestly, she says, she finds the question a little sexist – and responds by telling them she hasn’t had any luck.
“I stop and look at them and ask myself, ‘Who do you think drove the bus this whole time?'” Mahlum says. “In reality, I had a really clear vision from the beginning… and I never deviated from that goal.”
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