What does it take to build a HIIT fitness concept that genuinely challenges people across four distinct dimensions — endurance, strength, power, and agility — while also running a commercially successful studio business? In this episode of Escape Your Limits, Matthew Januszek sits down with Kory Angelin, who stands at the forefront of Volofit, a new fitness concept by Tough Mudder Bootcamp, to explore the mechanics of great member experiences, smart sales strategy, and what separates boutique studios from big-box gyms.
Kory brings more than 25 years of experience in fitness and business to the conversation. As a two-time published author, award-winning fitness expert, and podcast host, he is someone who has thought deeply about the intersection of brand passion, sales craft, and the kind of member journey that turns first-timers into advocates. His perspective on what actually drives gym membership growth is both practical and grounded in real operational experience.
About Volofit by Tough Mudder
Kory Angelin is a fitness and business veteran with over 25 years of experience across both industries. He stands at the forefront of Volofit, a new HIIT fitness concept by Tough Mudder Bootcamp that challenges individuals through four areas of fitness: endurance, strength, power, and agility. The concept reflects a broader philosophy that great fitness experiences should be structured, measurable, and genuinely demanding.
He is an award-winning fitness expert, sales strategist, speaker, and the host of the Rep It Up podcast. He is also a two-time published author — including '#Sellout: How a Great Experience Can Help You #SELLOUT of Your Product' — and was named among the Top 20 Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2020 by The Chicago Journal. His writing and speaking work centres on the argument that the best sales strategy is an exceptional experience, a conviction that runs through everything Volofit is designed to deliver.
Kory's combination of fitness expertise and commercial acumen makes him an unusual voice in the studio space — someone who can speak with equal fluency about programming design, buyer personas, and onboarding journeys. For fitness operators trying to understand how to sell without feeling like they are selling, his approach offers a genuinely different framework.
Key Insights from the Conversation
- Passion for your brand is not a soft skill in a fitness studio — it is the primary sales tool, because members can tell immediately whether the person selling them a membership actually believes in what they are offering.
- The member onboarding experience is where retention is won or lost; an unbelievable first journey through the studio creates an emotional anchor that sustains membership far longer than any loyalty programme.
- Understanding your sales cycle — knowing which touchpoints move a prospect from curious to committed — allows studio operators to invest their time and energy where it actually converts, rather than spreading effort evenly across every channel.
- The difference between big-box gyms and boutique studios is not square footage or equipment; it is the specificity of the promise and the depth of the community, which is why boutique concepts can charge a premium that larger facilities cannot.
- Buyer personas are as relevant in fitness as in any consumer business — knowing who you are trying to reach, what motivates them, and what objections they carry changes every element of how you market and sell memberships.
- Digital marketing for fitness studios works best when it is designed to generate qualified leads rather than broad awareness — social media content that speaks directly to a specific person's desire or frustration converts far more effectively than generic brand messaging.
- Whether fitness studios still need dedicated sales staff is not a simple yes or no; the answer depends on the concept, the price point, and the complexity of the decision — but in most boutique contexts, a skilled human who cares about the brand remains the highest-converting asset in the building.
Why This Conversation Matters
Matthew Januszek's work has always been shaped by the conviction that fitness concepts succeed or fail on the quality of the experience they deliver — not just the equipment in the room or the programming on the floor. Kory Angelin's approach to Volofit reflects that same belief, and the commercial philosophy he describes maps directly onto the questions Matthew explores with fitness entrepreneurs and operators through his own work with Escape Fitness USA.
On the LIFTS Podcast with Mohammed Iqbal of SweatWorks, Matthew regularly digs into the operational and sales questions that determine whether a fitness business grows or stalls. Kory's framework for member experience, sales cycle management, and the boutique-versus-big-box distinction gives operators a concrete set of tools for thinking about their own businesses — which is exactly the kind of practical insight that makes Escape Your Limits worth returning to.
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About Matthew Januszek
Matthew Januszek is the co-founder of Escape Fitness, the functional-training equipment brand he built from a UK startup into a global name supplying many of the world’s leading gyms, studios, and hotel fitness spaces. Following the separation of the UK and US businesses, Matthew’s focus today is Escape Fitness USA and the next chapter of the brand in North America. He hosted more than 300 episodes of the Escape Your Limits podcast and now co-hosts the LIFTS Podcast with SweatWorks founder Mohammed Iqbal, covering the business, science, and technology shaping the fitness industry. Explore more interviews and episodes on MatthewJanuszek.com.
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