Episode 232

In this episode, Anne Mahlum, the founder of Solidcore walks us through her journey from launching Back on My Feet to scaling Solidcore from a single studio to 100+ locations, including the fundraising playbook that raised over $200M. She shares the toughest growth challenges, how she preserved culture during rapid expansion, the moment that reframed her view of success and failure, and why she chose to share millions from the sale with employees. Practical exit-planning advice, leadership lessons, and the founder’s next projects round out a candid conversation about building purpose-driven, scalable businesses.

Guest

The beginning of Anne’s  Mahlum entrepreneurial journey is nothing short of extraordinary. In 2007, she found herself running by a homeless shelter in Philadelphia. She engaged the shelter to start a running club, which she quickly transformed into a national non-profit called Back on My Feet. The organization, now with an $8M annual budget, uses running as a vehicle to help those experiencing homelessness become empowered to change their lives. Under Anne’s leadership as CEO, she grew the organization to 14 cities. Since its inception, Back on My Feet has helped thousands of individuals achieve employment and more self-sufficient living. But Anne didn’t stop there. She created success again when she founded pilates-inspired solidcore in 2013. As its founder and CEO, she grew it into one of the country’s most successful fitness companies in less than a decade by raising more than $200M through private equity to scale it to more than 115 locations across the U.S. The company currently has thousands of employees and hundreds of thousands of clients across 30 states, including former First Lady Michelle Obama Anne successfully  exited [solidcore] in April 2013 and shared millions with her employees after sale.

A true self-made success story, Anne’s entrepreneurial ventures have resulted in a personal net worth of over $100M. 

Anne has been honored many times for her leadership and entrepreneurial spirit. Most recently, she was featured by CNBC for her continued success over the years. She has also been recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a ‘ Women Who Mean Business’ winner, and was named both an ABC World News Person of the Week and a CNN Hero for her work at Back on My Feet. She has given three TEDx talks about finding your passion, letting go of your complacency, and helping others. She has also received notable media attention highlighting her talent, including articles in CNBC, The Washington Post, The Washington Business Journal and Runner’s World.

Host

Olyasha Novozhylova @notbasicblonde_

NotBasicBlonde Podcast @nbbpodcast