Blog
Notes from the stage, the coaching room and the gym.
Short posts on speaking, coaching and CrossFit. Each one tied to the city where it happened.
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Wellness keynote guide
A planner's guide to booking a wellness keynote in Canada: current bureau fee ranges, the topics worth booking in 2027, and how to brief the speaker so the session changes something.
Gym numbers guide
The handful of gym business metrics that decide whether an independent gym survives, with current benchmarks, honest formulas and a one-page scorecard you can copy.
Executive health guide
Five numbers predict how long an executive over 40 keeps performing. Here is the research behind each one, a simple test you can run this week, and the small daily habit that moves it.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
Opening a Second Gym Location: What Going From 3 to 8 Taught Me
Fitness Town grew from three locations to eight while I was COO. The growth worked because of systems and managers. The hardest lesson: growth outran the leaders.
Speaking · October 11, 2026
Men's Mental Health in the Workplace: A Guide for HR Leaders
Men make up nearly three in four suicide deaths in Canada and use mental health care less. Here is what the data says, what actually works in a male-heavy workplace, and how to brief a speaker on this topic with care.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
Gen Z Gym Members: Why They Churn and How Gyms Keep Them
Gen Z is now the biggest source of new gym joins and the group most likely to cancel. Here is what the data actually says, what younger members want, and how a small gym keeps them past month three.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
The 2% Solution Explained: 30 Minutes a Day, Backed by Evidence
The 2% Solution is 30 minutes a day, about 2% of 24 hours: 15 minutes moving, 5 minutes still, 10 minutes reading. Here is what the research supports, where it stops, and how to start this week.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
Entrepreneur Mental Health in Canada: What the Numbers Say
One in three Canadian small business owners went to a professional for a mental health concern last year. Here is what the Canadian surveys show, with their caveats, and what to do about it.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
How Much Strength Training Per Week? The Minimum Dose Over 40
The best evidence links 30 to 60 minutes of strength work a week with the lowest risk of early death. Three 15-minute sessions get you there. Here is the programme, the tests and the 12-week plan.
Speaking · October 11, 2026
Fatigue Management Safety Talk: What Crews and Managers Need
Fatigue is an impairment hazard with a measurable injury cost. Here is what the research shows, what a fatigue talk should cover for crews and for managers, and how to make it stick with policy.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
CrossFit Open Participation Is Down: What Affiliate Owners Do Now
Open registrations dropped from 343,496 in 2024 to 233,815 in 2025, then climbed to about 254,690 in 2026. Here is what that says about gym health, and how to decide whether the Open still earns a place on your calendar.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
Grip Strength Test for Men Over 40: Norms, Risk, 12-Week Plan
In studies of more than 640,000 adults, every 5 kg of lost grip came with roughly 16 to 20% higher risk of death. Here is how to test yours, what the Canadian norms say for ages 40 to 79, and a 12-week plan to move the number.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
How Much Do Gym Owners Make in Canada? Owner Pay Benchmarks
Most gym owners can't say what they actually earn because their pay is buried in the profit line. Here are the Canadian benchmarks, a worked P&L and the fixes.
Speaking · October 11, 2026
Virtual vs In-Person Keynote: Cost, Attention and When to Choose
When a virtual keynote is the right call, when it is not, what it really saves you, and how to design a session a remote audience will actually stay for.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
Average Revenue Per Member at a Gym: ARM Benchmarks and 6 Levers
Most gym owners overstate their ARM because they average across every membership type. Here is how to calculate it by tier, what the 2025 benchmarks look like in Canadian dollars, and six levers that raise it without touching your base price.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
Is 6 Hours of Sleep Enough? The Six-Hour Trap for Executives
Six hours a night feels fine. In the lab, two weeks of it impaired thinking about as much as up to two nights without sleep, and people did not notice. Here is the evidence, the business cost and a seven-night audit.
Speaking · October 11, 2026
Workplace Mental Health Statistics Canada: The HR Business Case
The workplace mental health statistics for Canada that hold up in a budget meeting, with source and year, plus what works, what does not and a one-page proposal template.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
Long Working Hours and Productivity: The 50-Hour Wall for CEOs
Past roughly 50 hours a week, extra hours buy very little extra output and the health risk climbs. Here is the evidence, its limits, and a 50-hour budget a founder can actually run.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
Gym Failed Payments: How Canadian Gyms Stop Involuntary Churn
Some members never decide to leave. Their card expires or a debit bounces and nobody calls. Here is how a Canadian gym measures that loss, handles cards and PADs, and wins those members back.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
GST on Gym Memberships in Canada: A Gym Owner's Tax Guide
Memberships, drop-ins, class packs and personal training are taxable for GST/HST once you are registered. BC PST mostly skips memberships but hits apparel and equipment. Here is the full breakdown with sources.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
How Much to Pay CrossFit Coaches in BC: Employee or Contractor
Most class coaches in BC look like employees under the law, whatever the contract says. Here is how the tests work, why work-trade is a trap, and what a compliant coach actually costs you.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
After Your Executive Health Assessment: A 90-Day Action Plan
An executive health assessment gives you a sharp snapshot and then hands the hard part back to you. Here is a 90-day plan to turn the report into changed numbers.
Coaching · October 11, 2026
Fitness vs Smoking Mortality: What the 122,007-Person Study Shows
A Cleveland Clinic study of 122,007 adults found low fitness carried a death risk on par with smoking or diabetes. Here is what that really means, and how to raise your number in 12 weeks.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
HYROX Affiliation Cost and Payback for Small Gyms in Canada
HYROX doesn't publish its Training Club fee. Here is what affiliation includes, what equipment you need, how to work out payback, and how an independent competes with GoodLife and Movati.
Consulting · October 11, 2026
Is ClassPass Worth It for Gyms? A Gym Owner's Real Funnel Data
607 drop-ins became 10 paying members at my gym. Here is what that means for ClassPass economics, which visitors are worth chasing, and when to cap aggregators.
Coaching · October 5, 2026
Digital overload: why always on is not a leadership strategy
A practical digital reset for leaders whose attention, sleep and decision-making are being crowded out by an always-on workday.
Consulting · October 2, 2026
Pricing your gym memberships: the decision most owners keep putting off
Most gym owners know their prices need a look and keep delaying it. How to think about the decision clearly, without guessing.
Consulting · October 2, 2026
Fitness business consulting in Vancouver: how it works
What fitness business consulting with Dai looks like for Vancouver gym and studio owners, from the first conversation to the decisions you act on.
Consulting · October 2, 2026
Gym Retention Rate Benchmarks and a Retention System That Works
The average gym keeps about two members in three each year. Here are the benchmarks, the honest way to measure your own churn, and the retention system I would run in any Canadian gym.
Coaching · October 2, 2026
Executive health coaching in Vancouver: how it works
How executive health coaching with Dai works in Vancouver: in person or online, who it suits and what the first conversation looks like.
Coaching · October 2, 2026
Resilience for leaders: build capacity before the hard quarter
Resilience is not something leaders find in a crisis. It is built in the weeks before. Here is where to start.
Speaking · October 2, 2026
Resilience speaker in Vancouver: what a good resilience keynote covers
What to expect from a resilience keynote, how to tell a useful one from a motivational one, and how to book one in Vancouver.
Coaching · October 2, 2026
Executive health coaching or executive coaching? The difference
Executive coaching works on the role. Executive health coaching works on the person carrying it. Here is how to choose.
Speaking · October 2, 2026
What a keynote speaker costs in Vancouver
A straight answer on keynote speaker fees in Vancouver: what drives the price, what local booking saves you, and what Dai charges.
Speaking · October 2, 2026
Booking a burnout keynote speaker in Vancouver
Why Vancouver companies are booking burnout and resilience keynotes, what a good one covers, and what to expect from Dai's version.
Speaking · October 2, 2026
A keynote for your Vancouver leadership offsite
How to use a keynote inside a leadership offsite so the idea survives the drive home, with practical notes for Vancouver planners.
Consulting · September 26, 2026
The operational mistakes that cost gyms their members
Price, changing circumstances and avoidable friction can all cost members. A practical review of onboarding, attendance and the front desk.
Consulting · September 26, 2026
Member experience: what your front desk is really selling
Your front desk is not checking people in. It is deciding whether they come back. A look at the member experience from someone who still runs one.
Consulting · September 26, 2026
Co-owning CrossFit BC: lessons in culture, partnership and retention
Dai and his wife Christie co-own one of Vancouver's longest-running CrossFit gyms. These are the lessons that survived contact with reality.
Consulting · September 26, 2026
Hiring a fitness business consultant: what to look for
What to ask about operating experience, scope and decision-making before hiring a fitness business consultant.
Speaking · September 26, 2026
Vancouver team offsite ideas that change behaviour, not just the mood
Planning a leadership offsite in Vancouver or Whistler? How to build a day people remember for the right reasons.
Coaching · September 26, 2026
Burnout in Vancouver founders: what the high cost of building here does to you
Vancouver founders carry high costs, long hours and a culture that looks healthy from the outside. Here is what actually helps.
Speaking · September 26, 2026
Hiring a keynote speaker in Vancouver: a planner's guide
What Vancouver event planners should know before booking a keynote: timing, venues, local advantages and the questions that matter.
Speaking · September 26, 2026
Choosing a sales kickoff speaker in Vancouver
Sales kickoffs need energy that lasts past February. What Vancouver sales leaders should look for in a keynote.
Speaking · September 26, 2026
How to choose a keynote speaker who actually changes the room
A plain guide for event planners: what a keynote is for, what to ask before you book, and how to tell a motivational speaker from one who changes behaviour.
Speaking · September 25, 2026
Keynote, workshop or emcee: which does your event actually need?
Three formats, three different jobs. How to pick the right one for your conference or offsite.
Speaking · September 24, 2026
What to put in a speaker brief (so the talk fits your room)
The one-page brief that turns a generic talk into one your audience thinks was written for them.
Speaking · September 23, 2026
Why corporate teams book a resilience speaker, and what they should expect
Resilience is not toughness. It is the small daily habits that keep people steady when work gets heavy.
Coaching · September 22, 2026
Executive health coaching: what it is and who it is for
Executive coaching usually ignores the body running the business. Executive health coaching starts there.
Coaching · September 21, 2026
Founder burnout: the signs you are ignoring
Burnout rarely arrives as a crash. It shows up as small trades you stop noticing.
Coaching · September 20, 2026
In-person or online executive coaching: which works better?
Both work. The right one depends on how you are wired and where you are.
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