Today we’d like to introduce you to Conrad Sanchez.
Hi Conrad, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up between France and Spain, in a region called the Basque Country. I lived in Berlin for a year to improve my German, then moved to London for an internship to finish my Master’s in Management.
After graduating I moved to NYC in 2007, worked in finance, and hated it so I became an executive assistant to a Venezuelan Billionaire. Working for him, I met his personal trainer and it made me want to switch careers. I always wanted to help people and I wanted to work in a field where you could never stop learning. I’ve now been a trainer for 14 years and got another Master’s, this time in Kinesiology.
Throughout my career, I mostly worked with people with injuries, pains, aches, and chronic conditions such as diabetes. In 2019, I came across electrical muscle stimulation fitness (EMS). I immediately saw the potential it had in addition to the obvious benefits.
EMS fitness is a 20-minute workout that is as effective as a 60-90 minute session of weight-lifting. It’s short and effective, but the other benefits are that it circumvents many obstacles around exercising consistently such as time, injuries, access to equipment, and motivation (EMS Fitness can only be done with a specialized personal trainer), but can also help people with limited mobility, and people with fears of getting hurt, not fitting in with the gym culture, not wanting to lift heavy weights, and so on.
Covid made me move out of NYC, and after a short stint in Washington D.C., I finally got tired of East Coast winters, and, my brother who’s been in Los Angeles for the past 10 years finally convinced me to move here. I had been consulting for Bodybuzz Fitness for a few months, an EMS company operating in San Diego and Las Vegas, so I made a proposal to join the company by expanding it to Los Angeles. Bodybuzz created the position of Director of Education and Technology and I became a partial owner.
I have been in LA now for seven months, growing the company via social media, blogging, training clients, and educating trainers.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Moving to LA had some challenges. After living in big cities such as Berlin, London, NYC, in addition to Bordeaux and San Sebastian, I never needed a car so that was a big adjustment but I knew that before coming. What I didn’t know was that I would get stranded on the highway twice in one month! One time the radiator of my brother’s car I was borrowing decided it wanted a substitute while on the 405 during rush hour. A few weeks later a nail decided that having four wheels full of air is overrated, also on the 405, also during rush hour.
I was also able to avoid getting Covid for 2 years. I got it within a month of being here. Luckily, I was able to quarantine at my brother’s photoshoot studio, except the studio doesn’t have a shower and only locks from the outside. For 2 weeks, my brother would come to open up so I can walk outside to get some sunlight and food, and then lock me back in.
Business, however, took off pretty quickly through word of mouth so I’m grateful for that.
I was also lucky to find a reasonably priced apartment in Santa Monica.
As you know, we’re big fans of Bodybuzz. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Bodybuzz offers at-home and in-office EMS personal training. Electrical muscle stimulation fitness is a unique modality that combines technology and science to deliver the most effective workout available.
I have been getting as educated as possible in EMS since 2019. Whole-body EMS devices have only been FDA-cleared since 2018. I got certified through all the major manufacturers: XBody, Miha Bodytec, E-Fit, and Wiemspro. I read all the peer-reviewed research available to stay up to date with best practices. I have also visited different studios around the US, Brazil, Spain, France, and Germany, so I’ve seen many business models to form a good idea of what works and what doesn’t.
Bodybuzz is unique for several reasons. We emphasize evidence-based practices, not only for EMS protocols but also in our exercise selection and progressions. As the Director of Education, I write blogs and social media posts to educate people on the existence and benefits of EMS, but I also hold regular internal meetings with our team to elevate our knowledge in the field.
Bodybuzz is unique in the fitness industry as well, because we invite all employees to take part in our stock options, making everybody a partial owner. This may be common in tech companies, but it is not common in the fitness industry.
I’m proud of Bodybuzz because we offer a very effective workout to many people that wanted to get stronger but had limited options. Many people can benefit from EMS, from everyday people to athletes and celebrities but for certain people that are injured, lack mobility, lack time, lack motivation, EMS won’t only be great, it will be the best option the fitness industry can offer right now.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My first mentor was Camille Eroy-Reveles, my teacher in personal training school. She helped me realize that most of the fitness industry is marketed to able, already-fit bodies, neglecting many other populations. Helping these populations became my niche.
Michael Sambrano and Linda Sondik, owners of FitLore where I worked as Director of Fitness showed me how valuable forging relationships and nurturing them was, especially when starting a business.
My current co-owners Yvette and Jeff King have been great supporters in everything I have done so far with Bodybuzz.
Monica Plizska, owner of Beauty LTL, and Margaret Tomaszewicz, founder of WODA European Natural Skin Care, were my first clients in Los Angeles and recommended me to everybody they knew.
My brother Alex Sanchez, owner of Area 64 films, convinced me to move to LA, housed me for 3 months, and let me borrow his car.
And my girlfriend Tejal Patel, owner of Tejal Yoga and Yoga is Dead podcast, continues to support me every day through highs and lows.
Pricing:
- $60 for an introductory session
- $160 for 1 session
- $127/session in an 8-session package
- $187/session for 2 people (duos) in an 8-pack
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bodybuzzfit.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conradfitness
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conradfitness
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conradsanchez/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bodybuzzfit
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bodybuzz-carlsbad-3
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/bodybuzzfitness
Image Credits
Sarah Kinsumba (profile pic) Bodybuzz (all other photos)
