The James Smith Show

Ollie Marchon joins James Smith for a business masterclass on what it really takes to build a fitness brand in the UK right now. A former professional rugby player turned coach, Ollie started out cold calling leisure centre members and training clients in a converted cattle shed. Ten years later he runs Marchon across four verticals: in-person gyms, an online training app, a sports nutrition range and a growing community of hybrid athletes.

🎬 Edits Course: https://jamessmith.business/ig-edits

👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

🤼‍♂️ Wear Adapt BJJ: https://adaptjj.com/

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

Check out Marchon - https://marchon-global.com/

Follow Ollie on instagram - https://www.instagram.com/olliemarchon/?hl=en

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:28 How Ollie Built Marchon

02:29 How Covid Accelerated the Online Business

03:57 Spotting the Gap in Sports Nutrition

05:28 Building a Brand Nobody Has a Bad Word About

06:32 Bricks and Mortar or Online First?

08:32 Why Every Coach Should Coach in Person First

09:59 From Failed Rugby Career to Freelance PT

11:48 Starting a Gym in a Cattle Shed

12:40 The Small Group Training Model

13:59 Why You’re Always Being Watched on the Gym Floor

14:26 Scaling From One Gym to Two

16:18 The Hires Nobody Tells You About

17:27 Where the Opportunity Is in Fitness Now

19:53 Why Hyrox Affiliates Won’t Last

20:23 James Gets Humbled at CrossFit

22:55 Will GLP-1s Bring a New Wave of Gym Members?

25:06 The Barry’s-Style Strength Gym Model

26:38 Personal Training Is a Luxury Most Can’t Afford

27:55 Why One-to-One Sessions Go Stale

29:51 Jiu-Jitsu Clubs Are the New Health Clubs

32:44 The Real Cost of Running a Gym

34:20 The £200K Business Rates Bill

36:29 Why We Should Want Businesses to Make Money

38:28 Break Even Jumped From 180 to 250 Members

39:48 Why Investors Won’t Fund Bricks and Mortar

40:34 What Happens When Gyms Close

42:39 The Economics of a Jiu-Jitsu Gym

45:38 Building the Marchon Training App

48:56 Price Testing and the Profit Squeeze

51:08 Training as a Customer Acquisition Tool

52:48 Why Online Coaching Is a Lifestyle Business

54:38 Neutonic Pouches and Paid Ads

55:34 James’s Lockdown Slump

56:48 Launching the Marchon Nutrition Range

59:20 Hiring Celtic’s Head of Nutrition

1:01:30 Bootstrapping vs Raising Money

1:03:47 Marchon’s Best Seller: Workout Fuel

1:05:44 Why You Shouldn’t Fear Carbs Before Training

1:07:58 Rituals, Cues and Building Habits

1:09:16 The Protein Price Crisis

1:10:52 Protein Shakes and GLP-1s

1:13:38 GLP-1s as a Business Performance Aid

1:16:46 Why Food Is More Enjoyable on GLP-1s

1:17:49 The Hungry Months Behind Every Abs Photo

1:19:43 James’s Prescription Travel Stack

1:20:41 How Easy Is It to Get GLP-1s?

1:21:53 The Highest Leverage Play in Weight Loss

1:24:08 The Full Marchon Product Range

1:26:58 Marchon’s Top Five Sellers

1:27:56 Do You Actually Need Electrolytes?

1:30:11 Lessons in Impatience From Necker Island

1:33:17 Expensive Mistakes and Finding Your Hero Products

1:35:38 Every Business Is Personal Training Full Circle

1:37:11 Why Ollie Brought In a COO
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Olly Staniland joins James Smith to break down what actually makes a YouTube video work. Olly works on James's YouTube channel and, like James, studied under Ed Lawrence. They go through real thumbnails and analytics from James's channel, why one video with 80,000 views made nothing while another with 60,000 made thousands, how Matt Armstrong and Carwow built huge channels by repeating one format, and the status games that drive what people click and buy.

👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

🏋🏼‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com

Olly Staniland's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ollystaniland

Olly Staniland On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/olly_staniland/

He explains:

◼️ Why you should package the title and thumbnail before you film

◼️ How to steal winning title formats from other niches

◼️ Why more views doesn't always mean more revenue

◼️ The split-testing rules that stop your metrics misleading you

◼️ Why long-form viewers trust you more than short-form followers

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:32 What Makes a Good YouTube Video?

02:46 Package First, Then Film

06:01 The Big Mistake Creators Make on YouTube

07:34 Stealing Titles From Other Niches

11:53 What Is YouTube Actually For?

15:38 Why You Can't Pivot a Big Channel

16:05 Views vs Revenue on the Business Channel

21:11 Split Testing and Misleading Metrics

24:11 Long Form vs Short Form Trust

26:07 Ed Lawrence and the $1,000 Phone Call

31:32 Who Actually Watches YouTube

33:48 Why End Screens Matter

35:39 How YouTube Made James a Better Business Owner

37:35 Scripting vs Riffing

40:31 AI Slop and Copied Scripts

42:00 Dial-Up, The Pirate Bay and LimeWire

44:56 Why Nobody Writes Their Own Emails

46:23 Should You Pay Someone to Run Your Channel?

47:15 Building an Offer for the Boys

54:16 Launch It Before You Build It

55:18 Why Transformation Videos Work

58:13 Matt Armstrong's Car-Build Empire

01:02:35 Raffling the Cars

01:06:48 The AdSense Maths

01:08:37 Carwow's Same-Video-Forever Format

01:11:08 The Status Games We All Play

01:15:47 What Status Has to Do With What We Buy

01:19:51 From Top Lad at Uni to the Real World

01:23:30 Status and Health

01:24:36 Tough Love for Starting a Channel
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Ross Edgley joins James Smith for a reunion years in the making. Ross is the ultramarathon sea swimmer who swam around Great Britain and then the whole coast of Iceland.

Ahead of his new book How To Hero, he opens up about losing his dad, waking up in hospital after failed swims, and being told doctors had never seen blood work like his on a living person. He also explains the brain science of why some people keep going when everything hurts and others tap out.

🎬 Edits Course: https://jamessmith.business/ig-edits

👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

Ross Edgley's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@RossEdgley

Ross Edgley On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rossedgley/

He explains:

◼️ The part of your brain that decides whether you grit it out or quit

◼️ Why purpose has to outweigh pain if you want to finish hard things

◼️ How your reward system crashes when results don't show up

◼️ Why running on anger and self-talk burns out over long efforts

◼️ What Viking berserkers and Icelandic sagas teach us about heroism

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:41 Reunion and Ross's Biggest Night Out

02:24 How Becoming a Dad Changes Everything

06:50 Why People Aren't Having Kids Anymore

09:29 Does Family Switch Off Your Stress Response?

11:17 Loch Ness, Lake Trasimeno and Waking Up in Hospital

14:15 Swimming Through 12 Hours of Darkness

14:45 Why Iceland Produces So Many Physical Freaks

17:32 CrossFit Champions, Vikings and Eddie Hall

19:46 Water Polo: One of the Hardest Sports on Earth

23:57 Getting Crushed by Roger Gracie

27:41 The Brain Region Behind Grit or Quit

29:53 Everyone Is Scared Before They Compete

32:52 Arousal, Warm-Ups and Competing Your Own Way

33:43 Berserkers and the Viking Battle Frenzy

36:37 Nasal Breathing and Building CO2 Tolerance

39:21 When Training Past Your Body's Alarms Goes Wrong

42:23 James Freezing His Sperm Before Tour

43:03 Losing His Dad and the Myth of Sisyphus

48:03 Khabib, Grief and Finding a Reason to Get Up

50:37 How Jiu-Jitsu Gave James's Training Purpose

52:40 Swimming on the Spot for Four Hours in Iceland

55:43 Why Feedback Keeps People Going

58:39 Everyone Needs a Cheerleader

01:00:20 Why Ross Would Never Step Into a Cage

01:02:39 Goggins, Gratitude and Ross's Shadow Self

01:05:55 James Trains to Ruin Other People's Days

01:07:39 Are All High Achievers Psychopaths?

01:08:43 Thor, Odin and Why Heroes Aren't Pretty

01:10:43 Building Your Ego, Then Destroying It

01:12:05 A Million Followers and Feeling Nothing

01:13:42 The $50,000 Vegas Trip

01:15:48 Ross's Ayahuasca Experience in the Amazon

01:23:07 James's First Time on Ketamine

01:29:06 Hating Therapy and Low Testosterone

01:29:45 How Amazon Tribes Worked Out Ayahuasca

01:31:02 Icelandic Folklore and Living With Nature

01:32:19 James's Mushroom Trip and Duty to the Flame

01:39:29 How Psychedelics Led James to Fatherhood

01:42:58 When Psychedelics Go Wrong

01:45:43 Modafinil, Clenbuterol and Two Weeks in Barcelona

01:47:39 Fuelling the World's Longest Non-Stop River Swim

01:49:38 GLP-1s, Digestion and Losing Muscle at Sea

01:52:59 Getting Destroyed by a Competitive Eater

01:55:25 James's Boring Meal Prep Strategy

01:57:47 Hernias, Snapped MCLs and Getting Older

02:01:40 Stem Cells and Extending Your Career

02:05:18 Do Peptides Actually Work?

02:08:03 Should England Rugby Use Hype Videos?

02:12:49 Mike Tyson's Stare

02:14:03 Training With Volkanovsky and Tom Aspinall

02:17:05 How To Hero Release Date
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Alan Barratt on entrepreneurship, business ownership, and the reality of building a brand from the ground up.

Everyone wants the freedom of being an entrepreneur, but few are ready for the weight of total responsibility. Alan Barrett, the founder of Grenade, joins me to discuss what it actually takes to succeed in the protein bar market. He shares the unfiltered truth about being unemployable, taking full ownership of your outcomes, and navigating the friction that comes when you start disrupting major industry players.

🎬 Edits Course: https://jamessmith.business/ig-edits

👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

🤼‍♂️ Wear Adapt BJJ: https://adaptjj.com/

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

Try Grenade: https://www.grenade.com/

Grenade on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@teamgrenade

Allan Barratt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/al_barratt/

Chapters:

0:00 Trailer

1:20 How Alan and James actually met

3:23 Richard Branson: "I don't know where there is"

5:24 Starting Grenade on a 500 pound loan

9:27 Selling supplements gym to gym

11:29 The first protein flapjack

15:36 When the supplement industry was the Wild West

17:38 Positioning against the chocolate bar

21:40 Making a bar people could actually afford

25:46 Why most people should not be entrepreneurs

27:48 Selling the first business

31:50 Doing right by people pays you back

35:52 Fitness plus military: where the name came from

37:42 The fat burner that started it all

41:46 The fight for the Grenade trademark in America

45:02 The bottle, the shape and a copycat industry

49:10 Borrowing a 17-tonne gun to steal the show

53:11 Demand outstripping supply

57:18 Beating Twix into the UK top 20

59:20 Mars complains to Nielsen

1:01:13 No disruption in chocolate for 40 years

1:01:40 The phone call from Giovanni Ferrero

1:03:23 Ferrero or Cadbury: a two-horse race

1:07:26 Choosing Mondelez, and going full circle to Birmingham

1:11:34 The lawyer who got it badly wrong

1:15:36 Cashing half, rolling half back in

1:19:37 What Grenade is worth now

1:23:41 What America teaches you about packaging

1:25:43 When one can bursts across 50 pallets

1:29:51 Fifty countries that supposedly share a language

1:33:55 Where Grenade goes next

1:35:59 The Cadbury Creme Egg protein bar

1:40:05 Those companies are gone. Grenade is still here

1:44:10 Hitching the caravan to the Ferrari
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Rebecca Oliver-Mooney joins James Smith for a conversation that starts with a left-handed can and ends up somewhere far more uncomfortable. Founder of the Raising The Glass network and a drinks industry buyer who has sat on the other side of the table from hundreds of challenger brands, Rebecca explains why most founders put half their message where the shelf will hide it, why GLP-1s are about to reshape what food and drink gets made, and why menopause is the category nobody has been willing to build for yet.

👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith

🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith

📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business

🏋️‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com

Rebecca Oliver-Mooney On LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-oliver-mooney-65730614/

She explains:

◼️ Why retailers cover the bottom half of your packaging, and what belongs up top

◼️ What GLP-1s actually do to appetite, and why the shame is the bigger problem

◼️ Why menopause is the next outcome-led category in food and drink

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:26 The Left-Handed Can

03:07 Why Retailers Hide Half Your Packaging

03:42 Ingredients vs Benefits On Pack

04:43 The Conversation About Hiding The Eye

06:19 What Raising The Glass Actually Is

07:55 Was I Being Hypersensitive?

08:44 The Free Mentoring Platform

10:16 Do Men Really Interrupt More?

11:53 Two Women Founders Getting On Shelf

14:18 Toy Trucks And Gendered Play

17:29 Changing Your Political Stance

18:16 Algorithms And Echo Chambers

19:50 Women Coming Into Neutonic

21:26 Electrolytes And The Salt Brands

23:50 GLP-1s: The Real Conversation

24:38 Do You Still Eat On GLP-1s?

28:07 The Shame Around The Medication

30:36 Never Being Hungry Again

32:13 Two Extreme Views On Telling People

36:08 GLP-1s Compared To Insulin

39:20 When Only One Of You Can Afford It

40:53 Wealth, Connections And Starting Again

46:25 Are Men More Driven To Seek Status?

47:59 The Iceberg Model

48:48 Imposter Syndrome

51:11 Raising Investment

53:33 This Candidate Is Probably Going To Be A Man

55:58 Equality vs Equity

58:25 The Employee Who Was Caring For His Mum

59:08 HRT And Dr Louise Newson

01:01:30 Menopause Behind Closed Doors

01:03:32 Anabolic Steroids And Crashed Estrogen

01:04:43 Nothing Is Explained At School

01:06:21 Menopause As The Next Category

01:10:20 Calm, Energy And What Sells

01:15:08 How Buyers Actually Pick Products

01:18:18 The Category Diamond

01:19:06 Smoke And Mirrors For Challenger Brands

01:21:29 Find Your Tribe

01:23:01 You Deserve To Be In The Room

01:25:13 Fake It Till You Make It: The Power Pose
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