Casey Conrad is the founder and CEO of Healthy
Inspirations, a women-only franchise that was merged with the women-only
fitness franchise Slender Lady of Coronado, CA. The Slender Lady
clubs are being converted and took the Healthy Inspirations name.
They will incorporate the weight loss model inherent in Healthy
Inspirations facilities.
Casey Conrad is the President of Healthy
Inspirations LLC, the new merged company, which took effect January 1, 2007. Conrad is a 25-year
veteran of the health and fitness industry. Ms. Conrad has worked
with over 300 health club clients throughout the world, providing
operators of health and fitness facilities with tools and strategies
in sales, marketing and management. Ms. Conrad has operated 2
Healthy Inspirations Centers in the United States since December,
2000 and a third since 2005.
She has a new book out called Winning The
Struggle To Be Thin. Find more details at: www.winningthestruggle.com.
The company now operates about 130 locations, 87 in the
U.S. and 43 in other nations, mostly in Australia. Centers, which
are all franchises, are located in about 20 states, including: CA, VA,
MD, TX, WI and MN. The company plans to roll out a regional sales
model. Ms.
Conrad plans to create more medical alliances and has put
together a national medical advisory board.
The original model had Healthy Inspirations Centers located
within a larger facility, such as a medical facility, hotel, resort,
spa, exercise facility or club, country club, or gym. However, all
new locations are stand-alone facilities.
Some centers are in the conversion phase and may
still bear the signage of Slender Lady. All centers are expected to
be fully converted by Jan. 1, 2008.
The typical customer of this program is a 35-45 year
old woman with 30-40 lbs. to lose.
The Program
This is a weight loss and lifestyle program that guarantees its
participants will lose 2-3 lbs. per week. To participate in the plans providing
weight loss and coaching, one must make the commitment to a one year contract. Its main distinction is that at their
centers you find four distinct components:
-
nutritional guidance and one-on-one coaching,
-
company brand supplements and shakes
-
on-site exercise
-
relaxation therapy, massage chair.
Optional Synergie treatments ($40-80 per treatment), using a
vacuum massage machine that stimulates blood circulation and collagen
production, are available also. They are an aesthetic treatment designed to help
reduce the appearance of cellulite. Not all centers offer Synergie.
Healthy Inspirations claims to be a total lifestyle program
rather than a quick fix. The program is done over an extended time period to
ensure that the client integrates their new behavior into their life, not just
being involved in the plan until they reach goal weight.
The company gives clients individualized meal plans to meet each
client's lifestyle with regular food bought at the grocery store. The calorie
levels range from 1200 to 1800/day. The meal plan follows the Glycemic Index and
is based on ADA guidelines.
Company supplements are not mandatory for the weight loss plans
but are strongly recommended. These include shakes, nutrition bars, and fruit
juice drinks, to be used as snacks. Clients get a health assessment before
starting the plan, during which the supplements needed are determined. The
company will not guarantee a client's weight loss unless they use the company
supplements, since they feel it's easy for the dieter to "cheat" and use their
own snacks which may not be portion or calorie controlled.
Clients are provided with personal one-to-one coaching
sessions three times a week during their Healthy Weight Loss phase, two times
per week during their Healthy Balance (stabilization) stage, and once per week
during their Healthy Lifestyle (maintenance) stage.
As for the exercise, the centers use a circuit training
approach, usually with hydraulic equipment, that takes 30 minutes or less to
complete (i.e. an express workout like Curves and other women's chains). Some
centers also have traditional strength training equipment in addition to the
hydraulics.
Franchise owners come from many backgrounds, including nursing
and personal training, while the coaches are most likely to be persons that were
successful on the program and were trained in-house to coach others.
Plans &
Costs
One-time sign-up fees to get started range from $199
to $249,
depending on the franchise and where it's located.
This fee also covers the cost of the educational materials (6
audiotapes, a support CD for use by the client's family, friends and
co-workers, an educational booklet covering nutrition/weight loss
topics, and a cookbook). You pay for the plan one month at a
time--not the full year up front.
Healthy Inspirations offers three plans, as
follows:
Tone & Talk - This plan costs $39/month and
covers circuit training exercise only, plus a "girl's night"
discussion group. There is no weight loss plan or coaching
associated with this option. Only 10% of the company's customers
choose this option.
On Track - This plans costs $59/month plus
the cost of company supplements/meal replacements (shakes, bars,
snacks) and includes exercise training, the weight loss plan, and
one coaching session per week. Also includes a once weekly
relaxation treatment.
Fast Track - This program costs $79/month and
includes everything in the On Track plan but with more coaching
sessions--3 per week.
The "average" customer spends about $55/month on the
supplements, although many spend more than this, especially if
family members also use them. When a client falls below the
guaranteed rate of weight loss, an "intervention" program is
available to get the person back on track.
Based on a one year contract with the minimum
sign-up fee of $99 and a supplements cost of $55/month, a person
would spend about $1,467 on the "On Track" plan and $1,700 for the
"Fast Track" plan.
This may sound expensive but one must remember that
this is for a full year of service and coaching. And, if one
added the cost of a one-year health club membership and coaching
and supplements, the price would exceed this amount., not to mention
the additional time it would take to go to different locations for
each service. The company
also points out that it is recognized by Blue Cross/Blue Shield in New England
and BC/BS and Aetna in Wisconsin. These insurers will subsidize
varying amounts of the program, usually 50% of the monthly fees. The company is pursuing agreements with other
insurers and in other regions.