Ellipse In The News

Knock Out Breast Cancer

PRESS RELEASE
November 21, 2008
Appleton, WI

More than 500,000 people worldwide die from breast cancer each year.  And we’re sick of it.

People from this community want to make a difference.  And every bit counts. 

ELLIPSE FITNESS members from five different locations stepped up and participated in raising money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Over 200 Pink Ribbon goods were sold for the commendable foundation including t-shirts, tanks, and even, pink boxing gloves, totaling over $800.  Some participants chose to make donation challenges, affirming the fact that some of us are serious about making it a priority to knock out breast cancer.

The co-founders of Ellipse Fitness and owners of Ellipse Management Inc. are Lisa Welko and Shana Conradt, the first women owners of a national health club franchise.  These women consider it a privilege and a priority to raise awareness and support for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Welko and Conradt are passionate about providing nutritional education, weight loss programs, lifestyle coaching, and overall personal wellness for women and men, alike.  Their fitness franchises help members grow stronger and healthier via bootcamp and kickboxing classes, interval training, and resistance sessions.  And educating people about breast cancer research is no exception to their program.

When asked about the event, Welko said, “Ellipse feels that together, we can knock out breast cancer for good.”

Breast Cancer Awareness at Ellipse

PRESS RELEASE
September 29, 2008
Appleton, WI

ELLIPSE FITNESS headquartered in Appleton WI and founded by Lisa Welko and Shana Conradt, is the first women owned National Health Club Franchise, it’s goal is to teach women how to have and maintain an active, healthy lifestyle.

Ellipse studios provide nutrition and weight loss programs, personal wellness and lifestyle coaching, and bootcamp, interval training, kickboxing and resistance classes only. This positive environment is key to helping women make choices that, in turn, prevent disease. Teaching about nutrition and providing regular exercise are two main ingredients in avoiding diseases such as breast cancer. Ellipse is truly a niche franchise and is the first of its kind in the fitness industry, in part due to its classes only concept. This specific component of the Ellipse model increases camaraderie and member retention tremendously.

Ellipse Fitness studios are much smaller than conventional gyms consisting mainly of one large room for daily scheduled classes. Start up and operational costs are greatly reduced since there are no weightlifting machines or cardio equipment. Members get much more attention than at a typical gym due to personal training in a group atmosphere which results in higher membership fees and a potentially more profitable business model.

Hundreds of women, as well as men, have lost weight, learned healthier eating habits, become stronger, and experienced health altering body fat composition changes. During the month of October, Ellipse is focusing on the prevention and early detection of breast cancer. Ellipse wants to assist in funding the research conducted to find a cure to a disease that affects so many women. For the entire month of October, Ellipse will be donating a portion of the proceeds when special, pink boxing gloves and select protein bars are sold. Ellipse will also be hosting “Customer Appreciation Week” the week of October 20th. Members will be encouraged to help a friend they care about take the first step toward cancer prevention by joining Ellipse!

"In a world otherwise saturated with fitness concepts that don't work, this one works," said Eric Riess, a St. Louis lawyer who specializes in franchising and is helping Welko and Conradt market their business. "It's a little bit of personal training and a little bit of boot camp. They'll make you do the routine. And the reason people are willing to pay a little more is because they get something out of it. A lot of people have tried the $30-a-month clubs and found that they got nothing out of it."

Riess said the chain's focus on giving back to the community, raising money for domestic-abuse shelters (Victory Over Violence) as well as breast cancer awareness is indicative of owners "who really get ‘it’. They're socially conscious, and love and understand the fitness business.”

To contact an Ellipse location closest to you, visit us online at ellipsefitness.com.ation, or not be dependent on insulin if you are diabetic," Losser said. "If you could change your life in 11 weeks, why wouldn't you?"

In boot camp, getting fit means getting back to basics
By LeiLani Richards 

Boot camps may have been tailored to prepare troops for battle, but now it's the latest exercise craze to transform bodies.

The boot camp course, which is called an Amp'd session, is held about six miles away from campus at Ellipse Fitness, located at 801 Hoffman Road in Allouez, Wis. The extreme fitness course is offered three times a year. Starting Sept. 22, the center will be holding another 11 week program.

During the course of 11 weeks, participants are measured to track their weight loss, and given guidance on eating habits to ensure success.

The first day, a photograph and measurement of body fat is taken to form a baseline of where people are at.  "It is so motivating and directed at each muscle group," said Tracy Losser, a female participant. "The program does not just incorporate exercise, it's everything, psychological, physical and information about nutrition."

After six weeks, another measurement is conducted, and at the end of the course participants receive a final measurement.

"Measurements are done to get participants to picture their goals," said Heather Trevarthen, owner of Ellipse Fitness-Allouez. "It is about pushing yourself past where you have been before."

Instructors expect participants to engage in two cardio days and two strength training days per week. It is designed to alternate each day from cardio to strength training. Although it seems like a lot of work, the regime is constantly changing, so people do not become bored with the same old routine.

The classes consist of the latest exercise trends, such as tabata-a quick high and low weight-loss program that all ages and sizes can participate in to get the heart rate going. On other days, exercises performed in grade school, such as pull-ups and push-ups are done to strengthen the body.

This course is designed for men and women of all shapes and sizes. Anyone can participate, even those not at a certain fitness level. For those who cannot do a full push up, don't freak; it's all about working up to a personal level. However, if the instructor feels that a person is lacking, they will be physically and mentally pushed to the limit.

"We are going to push you, and it's going to be hard," Trevarthen said. "You are going to be placed out of your comfort zone and be tired, but it's 11 weeks and you can see light at the end of the tunnel."

Shana Conradt, co-owner of Ellipse Fitness-Allouez, said the most important thing people will gain is mental strength.

"We will do things that are not necessarily incredibly physically challenging, but we do them for a length of time that it becomes mentally challenging," Conradt said.

The boot camp course may be overwhelming for some, but for those who have participated and dedicated time their lives have changed. Losser, for example, is a 42-year-old registered nurse, mother of four and grandmother of one and has participated in two Amp'd programs. She is now back at the size she was when she was 19.

"I paid a personal trainer thousands of dollars and received minimal results," Losser said. "I joined Amp'd after, and it was amazing. The second time was even more amazing. The results were incredible, and the instructors were motivating and great friends who are supportive and energetic."

The student rate for the Ellipse Amp'd 11 week program is $300, which includes nutritional guidance, weekly e-mails, before and after pictures, bi-monthly body fat testing and full Ellipse core program membership. The regular membership price is $400.

"It's one hour out of your day to make yourself more healthy and get off your hypetension medication, or not be dependent on insulin if you are diabetic," Losser said. "If you could change your life in 11 weeks, why wouldn't you?"

In boot camp, getting fit means getting back to basics
By Lisa Strandberg • For The Post-Crescent • August 2, 2008

Shari Kappell calls herself an addict. The 30-year-old has come to depend on something potent to get her through her day.

That something? A boot camp exercise class she attends during her lunch hour.

"I feel healthier and stronger, mentally and physically," she said. "I don't have love handles anymore. No more muffin top. I see muscle definition in my arms. I think they're awesome. I want to wear tank tops all the time."

Who wouldn't get hooked on that?

Modeled on the intensive physical training regimens for new military enlistees, boot camp exercise programs are intended to whip a soldier — or a middle-aged woman or a mom still sporting her baby belly — into shape using simple, back-to-basics exercises like push-ups, lunges and good ol' wind sprints. Most classes of the genre last two to three months, meet multiple times per week and maintain that drill sergeant feel familiar from TV and movie depictions of basic training.

Kelly Stanton, the instructor of the Total Body Boot Camp class at the Fox West YMCA, can manage that last part handily. He's a former U.S. Navy serviceman.

"He does call (participants) his recruits," said Jennifer Ruis, the facility's health and fitness coordinator. "Every time I peek in, they are dripping wet, they are bright red, but they are laughing."

Who has a little soldier in them?

Kappell started her love affair with boot camp exercise about four months ago when she enrolled in the AMP'D program at Ellipse Fitness in Appleton, where she had been working out for about two years. "I was seeing results," Kappell said of her usual fitness regimen, "but I didn't think I was strong enough to do boot camp."

No one was more surprised than Kappell to find that she was. That's the beauty of boot camp, according to Shana Conradt, co-owner of Ellipse Fitness — it can work for individuals at any fitness level.

"If you're fit and want to really test yourself, perfect. If you just want to try something new, even if you're not incredibly fit yet, you can do that," she said.

The concept works for a wide variety of folks because participants can adapt exercises to their level of fitness — like doing push-ups on their knees instead of on their toes — or do fewer repetitions of each exercise until they build enough strength to complete a full set.

"I have had a few of the newer participants come up to me and say the first week they were just dying, and after five weeks they can keep up. They can do more weight. They feel better doing it," Ruis said.

The lack of choreography involved in boot camp classes also appeals to many participants, including men who might not otherwise groove on group exercise. Both Conradt and Ruis report a good mix of males and females in their classes, which include participants from their 20s to their 50s.

Treating participants to tough love

A measured level of instructor sadism seems to be a draw in boot camp classes.

"More people are looking for that these days — someone that will push them to their limit and see if there's anything left," Conradt said. "For one hour, I will make you scream bloody murder as long as you're willing to do it."

Instructors temper the challenges they set forth for participants with a big dose of praise and celebration of progress. "It's very encouraging. They don't let you down. If you can't do something, it's modified so you can," Kappell said. "No matter what level of fitness you are, it doesn't matter."

"You have to be right on the verge of pushing them and loving them so they know it's OK," Conradt said.

"They know their stuff," Kappell said. "They work every muscle from the tip-top of your shoulder down to the forearm."

Anatomy of a boot camp class

An extensive knowledge of fitness helps instructors integrate practical, functional exercises into boot camp classes. In their original military context, those exercises prepare a soldier for warfare. In group exercise classes, Ruis said, they are "any type of exercise that uses your whole body, challenges your muscles, challenges your core, but also uses your mind. They translate the best into day-to-day living."

Packed in the boot camp instructor's bag of tricks are a long list of moves that primarily rely on a participant's own body weight as resistance. Perhaps No. 1 on the list is the push-up, which aligns as expected with the drop-and-give-me-five, drill sergeant mentality behind real boot camp.

"There are a billion ways to do push-ups," Conradt said. And participants eat them up.

"I love push-ups — any type of push-up they throw at us," Kappell said. "They're the best."

From there, exercises vary from squats to sprints to partner drills — basically anything the instructor can concoct, "ridiculous things where you say, 'The last time I did this was in high school,'" Conradt said.

Boot camp exercise is not without a tolerable degree of agony. Asked whether there's any groaning from participants when the instructor introduces the next exercise, Ruis said, "Every good class has that."

Seeing results that satisfy

Despite her dislike of the many sprint drills in her boot camp class, Kappell keeps coming back, signing up for a second 11-week session after the first ended. That's largely because the class has brought her to a level of fitness she hasn't seen in years.

A former cheerleader, Kappell said, "I was fit through high school but had a kid, got lazy, the usual stuff.

"Once I started AMP'D and stuck to the nutrition program, I've lost 15 pounds."

She also firmed up considerably, trimming her waist by five inches in the program's first five weeks. "I'm pretty pear-shaped, and I started to fill out on the top. My top and my hips evened out," Kappell said. "I'm actually seeing quad definition in my legs, and I haven't seen that since high school."

"Participants all agree that (boot camp) is hard in a good way," Ruis said.

"More than anything, you're going to see a decrease in body fat and an improvement in how you look," Conradt said. "For men, you are definitely going to see more muscle. For women, they're going to be leaner, more toned, and things are going to be back where they belong again."

Results like that explain why participants come back for more. As Conradt put it, "If they hate you for 60 minutes, they'll love you at minute 61."

Lisa Strandberg: pcfeatures@postcrescent.com

Franchise keeps it simple
Group exercise is a singular pursuit
By John Craig, Editor Fitness Business News - 06.2007

APPLETON, Wis. - Lisa Welko was teaching a cardio kick-boxing class at a martial arts gym five years ago when one of the young women in her class approached her with an idea: Let's open our own health club.

It's a quaint notion that a lot of people ponder but few actually pursue.

But for Welko and her eager sidekick, Shana Conradt, this was no idle chatter. Within a few months, they opened a fitness club devoted strictly to group exercise. They worked seven days a week teaching classes, vacuuming floors, and running the front desk. After nine months, they hired their first instructor.

"We're normal people who thought the world needed something different," said Conradt. "We wanted group-exercise classes where members get treated as if they're with a personal trainer. These are not girly classes."

Welko and Conradt apparently struck a chord. The duo now has four Ellipse Fitness clubs in Wisconsin, with a fifth in development, and plans to franchise throughout the Midwest and in Texas.

While many health clubs strive to offer something for everyone, Ellipse clubs maintain a singular focus on group exercise. The clubs consist of a large workout room with meager locker and shower facilities, and a daily schedule of seven 45-minute classes. There are no weightlifting machines and no cardio equipment. Monthly membership fees are high ($70).

"In a world otherwise saturated with fitness concepts that don't work, this one works," said Eric Riess, a St. Louis lawyer who specializes in franchising and is helping Welko and Conradt market their business. "It's a little bit of personal training and a little bit of boot camp. They'll make you do the routine. And the reason people are willing to pay a little more is because they get something out of it. A lot of people have tried the $30-a-month clubs and found that they got nothing out of it."

Ellipse Fitness franchisees need $100,000 to $130,000 to get a club off the ground and pay 5 percent of their monthly dues as a royalty. Clubs need only 50 members to break even, Welko said, and can cap their memberships at 200.

Welko, 35, and Conradt, 28, contrast the Ellipse blueprint with that of a typical gym that charges lower monthly dues while maintaining three times the square footage and a wide array of cardio and weight machines.

"Who do you think is going to have an easier time getting to the break-even point?" Conradt asks.

"I was skeptical at first," Riess said, "but was struck by the high energy level of these women. Their attitude was, 'We've got a concept and we want to share it.' They've got a passion for what they're doing."

The challenge in franchising will be to find other owners who can match the energy and drive of the Ellipse founders.

Riess said the chain's "Victory over Violence" campaign to raise money for domestic-abuse shelters is indicative of owners "who really seem to get it. They're socially conscious, and love and understand the business. I think they'll attract good franchisees."

Cardio kickboxing provides an effective total body workout

By Lisa Strandberg
pcfeatures@postcrescent.com
The Post-Crescent - Posted May 26, 2007

Sara Femal has seen a lot of change in herself since she started going to kickboxing classes a year and a half ago. Twenty pounds of change, to be precise.

"I wanted to feel better and tone my body up," she said. "I've done many things in the past, and (kickboxing) was what I saw the best results from."

To Shana Conradt and Lisa Welko, owners of Ellipse Fitness, where Femal attends class five times a week, that's no surprise.

"It's a great aerobic activity and something that's a little bit different from walking on the treadmill or riding a bicycle. It keeps you mentally alert during the workout, which has a tendency to provide better results," Conradt said. "It burns a ton of calories as compared to other forms of cardiovascular exercise."

"Just about every muscle is worked," said Lance Lewis, owner of Champions' in Menasha, where fitness kickboxing is offered as part of a 10-week bodyshaping course. "No part is isolated."

"True kickboxing is martial arts — fighting someone else using kicks and punches," Welko said.

Its cardiovascular sibling began gaining popularity about a decade ago, when martial artist Billy Blanks created his first tae bo video.

"The best way to describe the difference is that in martial arts, we teach (students) skills on their way to the black belt," Lewis said. "Learning the art is the focus, and the side benefit is the exercise."

In cardiovascular kickboxing, on the other hand, breaking a sweat is what it's all about.

Welko, Conradt and Lewis agreed that quality cardiovascular kickboxing programs retain a basis in well-executed martial arts skills: jabs, crosses, hooks, front kicks, roundhouse kicks and the like, all performed using equipment such as boxing gloves and punching or kicking bags.

"Both Lisa and I were trained to do it from the martial arts end," Conradt said. "I went through yellow belt, the first level, which teaches you the right form and teaches you where to breathe. If you do it properly, you're going to get more benefit from the muscles."

Those muscular benefits, most noticeable in the abdominals, hips and buttocks, according to Conradt, make the activity popular among women.

"It's known to do amazing things to your abdominal muscles because of the fact that you're kicking. Every time you raise your leg, you have to use those muscles," she said.

Kickboxing also uses other muscle groups notoriously weak in women — those of the upper body.

"For that female clientele, using the upper body is so important. It's very easy for them to walk on a treadmill or ride a bike, but their upper body then is not getting a whole lot of resistance or exercise at all," Welko said.

Punching and kicking bags create the resistance that improves strength in the course of a cardiovascular kickboxing workout. In Champions' classes, Lewis said participants begin with 25 to 30 minutes of rhythmic skills, as in a traditional aerobics class, and then spend the second half of class working with the bags.

"When you go to the bags, there's a change in mentality," he said. "When we go to the bags, we're fast and furious."

It's that fast and furious approach, interspersed with opportunities to catch your breath, that yields results.

"There's a lot of interval training in kickboxing," Welko said, referring to the practice of alternating high-intensity activity with short periods of active rest. "It definitely builds endurance."

"It burns more calories than just working out at a moderate level for 45 minutes, so it's nice to go up and down like that," Conradt added.

Besides its impressive tally of calories burned, kickboxing offers several other benefits.

"It's very popular because it's empowering to women," Lewis said. "Long gone are the days of blind aerobics. People want there to be meaning in what they're doing. Fitness kickboxing is purpose-driven. You realize you could really use these skills."

That is true directly as well as indirectly.

"(Students) see a lot of changes in their body that have nothing to do with what they're doing here at the gym," Welko said. "This time of year, all we hear about are tennis and golfing. 'My drive is 80 yards farther, my tennis game is better, and I have more lateral motion.' Those are the things they don't realize they're getting from kickboxing. … They're just more aware of where their bodies are in space."

"They think they're doing (kickboxing) for their physique, but they don't realize it's going to follow them when they slip on the ice and they don't actually fall, they catch themselves," Welko added.

While better balance and injury prevention are long-term benefits of kickboxing, those attempting it for the first time need to use caution to avoid doing any damage while engaged in the activity itself.

"It's important to throw (punches) with proper form so you don't injure ligaments or tendons," Lewis said. "If someone's going to do fitness kickboxing, they should work with someone who can break the moves down."

Conradt emphasized that kickboxing doesn't meet all of the body's fitness needs and that the activity should be alternated with straight strength-training workouts.

"To see results, you need a combination of those two things. You can't just do aerobic activity every single day," she said.

One of the best aspects of kickboxing, according to Femal, is its versatility.

"In the classes I've taken in the past, it's more routine, and kickboxing definitely isn't."

"It's exciting. You can change the workout every single day so you can continually see results because your body never knows what's coming," Conradt said. "People that have been members for four year still come four to five days a week."

The Buzz: Fitness, massage places open; competitor closes
By Maureen Wallenfang
Post-Crescent staff writer
April 19, 2007

The wellness business is well or ailing, depending on which business owner you ask. For three operations in expansion or startup mode, things are looking good. Another shut, however, as an apparent casualty of an unhealthy bottom line.

Opening

Ellipse Fitness — in expansion mode through its new franchise arm — sees its third franchised studio open April 30 on Appleton’s north side. That follows its January franchise debuts in Darboy and Allouez. Waukesha’s Ellipse, the fourth, opens in June. Ellipse is one of the few local businesses making the leap into franchising itself.

“We just hired an outside franchise director and that’s a big step for us,” said Shana Conradt who owns the company with Lisa Welko. Ellipse, she said, is “a classes-only club specializing in kickboxing, boot camp and body shaping classes. We also have a personalized weight loss program.”

New Appleton North franchisee, Jackie Phiscator, a former JanSport employee, is a huge proponent of the business because she’d first been a client. “It’s a mix of cardio and strength training. You become lean. When I started, I thought, ‘If this doesn’t kick my butt, nothing will.’ It did.” The result, for her, was a 30-pound weight loss. Her Ellipse studio is at 3505 Commerce Court, behind the Hardee’s at Ballard Road and Capitol Drive.

Massage by Spa BenMarNico’s opens today, and it’s another place that seeks to increase well-being. It’s inside Best Western Bridgewood Resort Hotel in Neenah, and is a branch of Sue Russo’s growing empire that includes Salon BenMarNico’s in Buchanan and Spa BenMarNico’s in the CopperLeaf Hotel in downtown Appleton, where business is booming.

“She’s done a great job for us at the CopperLeaf and we’ve seen a definite increase in our weekend business. A part of it is attributed to her spa being there,” said Rich Batley, operating partner at both hotels, who invited Russo to Neenah. He said the Bridgewood location will start with a varied menu of massages. “Maybe down the road we’ll do a whole spa here.”

In Neenah, as in her CopperLeaf location, Russo wanted to take the “it’s just a girl thing” excuse out of the spa experience and make it welcoming for men as well. “We’re doing a lot of couples massages. That’s a big trend,” Russo said. “The hotel is located on a golf course, so we assume we’re also going to get a lot of golfers for our sports massage.”

Closed

At the same time others are opening, one wellness business closed. Superior Massage and Wellness Center at 2700 E. Enterprise Drive, on Appleton’s northside, shut after less than two years in business. On www.superiormassageandwellness.com, owner Tammy Gillespie gives contact information for therapists, yoga teachers and life coaches as well as gift certificate redemption. Gillespie was not available for comment, but briefly had a note on her Web site saying the decision to close was financially prudent.

More openings

One of the displaced Superior Massage and Wellness Center’s massage therapists, Nancy Creighton, saw the opportunity to open her own business, Massage for People and Pets, in Grand Chute. She’ll take people clients at her 1111 N. Lynndale Drive office, and do pet massages in homes. “Massage is especially beneficial for athletic dogs, older dogs and large breed puppies while they’re growing,” she said.

As with other new businesses, find details at Buzz 411 on www.postcrescent.com.

Sassy’s Bar & Grill opens Friday in Center. It takes over the spot that was previously the Red Fox Supper Club, N4510 County A, north of Appleton. Its new owners changed the personality of the place. “We’re not a supper club, we’re a bar and grill,” said Terri Buman who owns the place with husband Scott. They added darts, pool tables and put in a burger/salad/wraps menu.

Moves

Plaza Philippine Store moved from Locust Street to 131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Appleton, site of the closed Admired Gifts. The specialty grocery store stocks Filipino foods, like the highly prized Goldilocks brand of siopao steamed buns, frozen fish, sweet pork and sauces, and draws customers from as far away as Wausau. “They moved from their home, but they still want their own foods,” said owner Liz Thomas of the transplanted Filipinos who will drive many miles to find her store. To thank them, she’s putting on a pig roast in May.

Grand Chute’s Petco moved Monday from 345 Mall Drive to a new location at 711 N. Casaloma Drive, the strip that also includes The Wire Whisk and Guitar Center. Petco is on the end where Country Sampler once stood. The 14,000-square-foot store layout is similar to the new Petco that opened on the eastside in February. Both have full service grooming salons.

Looking

Plenty of readers have asked over the years when, or if, Hansen’s Dairy & Deli in Green Bay will ever make it to the Appleton area. Now it looks like that will happen.

Hansen’s new owners, Larry and Andrea Verheyden, hope to find a good spot and open in the Fox Cities within the next 12 months. The store will sell ice cream, dairy products, sub sandwiches and pizzas.

“There should have been one there 10 years ago,” said Larry Verheyden, who also owns Royal Electric in Little Chute. “You won’t find us on College Avenue or by the Fox River Mall,” he added. “What makes the stores successful is that they’re truly neighborhood stores.”

Maureen Wallenfang can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 287, or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com.

Lawyer lights fires under franchises
By Gail Appleson
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/06/2007

When lawyer Eric Riess was a kid he wanted to be a firefighter or a movie star. His inspiration was the 1970s television series 'Emergency!' Riess would get on his bike and pretend he was a firefighter on the show's Squad 51 and ride around the neighborhood with sirens blaring; the sirens being his own voice. Riess didn't exactly grow up to be a firefighter, instead he manages the corporate practice group at St. Louis-based Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale P.C., where his specialty is franchising law. 'I ended up being this, and I end up putting out fires on a daily basis. Isn't that ironic?

Why did you become a lawyer?

I was a CPA for many years, but I decided to be a lawyer, as hokey as it sounds, because I wanted to be a politician. I thought it was the only way I could change things I was dissatisfied with. Who knows what are you dissatisfied with when you are in your mid 20s? You name it, you're dissatisfied with it.

I would say 80 percent of the politicians are lawyers, so I said I needed to go to law school. … I had so much debt coming out of law school that I couldn't afford to go into public service. I had to just take the highest-paying job that was offered.

What kind of law did you first practice?

I worked in commercial litigation, but commercial litigation today is so adversarial that when it cost me my first marriage, I said, "Well, this is nuts. I've got to get into something that is more suited to my CPA background and less adversarial." So I found this thing called business law. I came here (to Greensfelder) in 1999 because it was the most entrepreneurial firm I found. It was like the businesses I represented. It understood it was in the business of law and wanted to grow and had ambitions. And that was a hoot. That was cool. Since that time, it's grown from 80 lawyers to 170 lawyers.

Why is franchise law your passion?

When you drive down the street, I would venture to guess that 50 percent of the businesses you pass are franchises. It's the way U.S. business gets done. Guess what? Today there are only 2,500 franchise concepts. The prediction for the next five years is that there will be 2,500 more franchise concepts. … It's not only the way that U.S. business gets done, it's the way of the future for U.S. business.

The part that really gets me juiced every morning is helping these franchise concepts grow. I don't just want to be a document producer for them, I don't just want to draft documents and say, "Here you go, good luck, hope you grow." I fly to my clients routinely, I strategize with them on Saturdays, on Sundays and in the evenings on how should we grow where should we grow. I'm a hands-on guy.

There's no bigger kick than watching a concept go from one location to 100 locations. And I would bet you there are very few practice groups in the law that can have that sort of a kick, that kind of continued excitement. It's always fun to talk to the CEO of a hundred-plus franchise system and know that he or she knows you were with them when they just had an idea.

How did you get started in franchising?

My first franchisor was Show-Me's, which is a beach-themed restaurant chain. I was at (local law firm) Thompson Coburn at the time. It was not something that I sought out, but it was something I fell in love with. It just seemed to be a natural thing for me. After I got Show-Me's, I went to an American Bar Association Franchising Forum. Then I really got juiced.

I saw the group of lawyers that serviced the franchising industry was not all that large but that the franchisors were large in number. And I thought, "This is a niche I need to focus on." Today I represent both franchisors and franchisees. If there are 2,500 franchisors, that means there are hundreds of thousands of franchisees. And each franchisee is a business. So if you represent franchisors and franchisees, the number of businesses that are available to you because of the niche you practice in is unbelievable.

Can you tell me about some unusual franchise proposals you've received?

I got a call from a professional wrestler in Los Angeles. He heard I would fly anywhere in the U.S. on my nickel to visit with any true prospect who thinks he wants to franchise the business. He wanted me to fly out and visit him. And you know how kids have visions of sugar plums? Lawyers sometimes have visions of dollars. OK, so I had a vision of dollars.

So I said, "Is this the next WWF? So what's your concept?" He said he's going to teach people to wrestle. That means he would sell you and me a franchise and then teach you and me how to wrestle. Our business would be then to teach other people how to wrestle. I don't make fun of people's dreams, but that was one that didn't meet my threshold of likely to succeed.

How about an example of a system you believe would succeed?

Ellipse Fitness. I got a call from two young ladies in Appleton, Wis., who had a concept for a fitness business. We live in a world where there are more fitness concepts than you can shake a stick at. Why did I think they were something special? One, they were completely woman-owned. That made them unique. Two, they were socially conscious. Their business consisted of two locations that routinely had events to support domestic abuse shelters. And they were hands-on.

Did you try out the concept yourself?

Look at me. I didn't. I smoke cigars, OK? I'm not a fitness buff, but I liked what they told me enough that I flew up there on my own nickel. We launched them in September of '06, and they've sold five franchises so far.

Does it worry you that your start-up franchisors will be going up against much bigger competitors?

How many big concepts do you know of but you don't particularly care for their products? But they are huge. One of the fun things to do is to create competitors of those systems that truly believe they have a better product or service to sell. It's a gas to be able to take a vacation and drive down the road and see a location of one of your franchisors that's the upstart of the industry and the established competitors are nervous about them. That appeals to that rebel instinct. That appeals to that business-building instinct and to that excitement level when I was the Squad 51 guy.

Sweatin' for A Cause
03/17/2007

On Saturday, March 17 the First Annual Victory Over Violence fitness marathon was held at Ellipse Fitness. (1200 Mayflower Drive, right outside of Greenville) Victory Over Violence is a yearly event, held at all Ellipse locations, to raise money for domestic abuse. This year there were 2 4-hour timeslots to choose from. Loyal participants exercised for the 4-hour period doing regular Ellipse workouts consisting of bootcamp, kickboxing and muscle sculpting exercises. Each of the 26 members raised money by asking people to sponsor their workout. The day was high energy, sweaty and worth the effort! The event raised a whopping $7192 for Harbor House. Lisa Welko, co-owner of Ellipse Fitness said, "The recipients of this donation will feel it's benefits long after our muscle soreness and fatigue have subsided." The money was presented on Thursday, April 5 to a sincerely appreciative Harbor House staff. "Can't wait until next year!" Welko said.