Injury put the brakes on a promising career for athlete Peter Hull, but he turned his pain into a purpose.
His fast-growing fitness chain Fitstop, which in its early days was run from a tin shed in Brisbane, will take on the US market early next year.
The brand plans to launch in 10 locations in California, with US fitness personality Peter Pisani appointed the North American athletic director.
“It’s pretty exciting,” says managing director Hull, 35.
“For the brand it’s our next step in building a global fitness community.
“We want to showcase our concept to the US market and allow them to experience first-hand what makes Fitstop so special.”
Fitstop was launched in 2013 and has just hit 20,000 members. It has a presence in Australia and New Zealand and will open its 100th location in January.
The vision to conquer the US was cemented during the pandemic, as the company partnered with Lift Brands to help accelerate growth.
“It’s the biggest global fitness market in the world, so that’s where we’re heading,” Hull explains.
The expansion was fast-tracked after surpassing expected results in an initial 12 months, raising a further US$2.5 million ($3.3 million) to finance the founding team and launch the platform for the US.
The lease for Fitstop’s Los Angeles headquarters has just been signed, with a January launch, while the first 10 fitness studios will open over the course of 2023.
Pisani will play a critical role in Fitstop’s global fitness team, overseeing the 2023 program globally and managing North America’s athletic department.
The CrossFit athlete worked across F45 as the global performance director before moving onto workout app FIIT in the UK, driving growth across the brand’s online product offering, especially during COVID-19.
Hull says he had followed Pisani’s journey with admiration and when he moved back to California from the UK, the timing was perfect to approach him about Fitstop.
“We flew Peter out to Australia and he fell in love with our brand from the first session,” he said.
“Fitness is in our DNA, so for us, the right step was implementing an athletic director, prior to a US CEO. We wanted to find someone who lives and breathes Fitstop — we found that in Pete.”
Peter Pisani, Fitstop North American athletic director. Source: supplied.
Pisani says he is looking forward to bringing the Fitstop package to the US.
“I don’t know how he’s done it, but (Peter Hull) has conceived a way to put performance and the benefits of progressive intensity into a 50-minute session that leaves people thinking — this was awesome, I need this, and I feel like I can take on life outside of this,” he said.
“The intention of fitness is not to train so hard you can’t walk. But to train so you can go for a run, go for a hike, go for a bike ride — do these things you’re wanting to do to enjoy life.”
As a younger man, Hull was set on becoming a professional motocross athlete, but injuries, including two knee reconstructions, put paid to that plan.
Instead, he fell in love with teaching athletes and threw himself into research on athletic support and performance, establishing a training methodology he “truly believed in”.
In the early days, Hull trained athletes, friends and family out of his parent’s garage and did a stint as a fitness trainer in a small studio.
He scrubbed up on his business knowledge, doing training with Jack Delosa’s entrepreneur course.
Networking with Stuart Cook, former CEO of Australian Mexican food chain Zambrero and an early-stage investor, also helped. Today Cook is Fitstop’s chairman.
“He’d been there and done that. I really learnt a lot from him. We’ve just been able to really progress and bring in the right people at the right time,” Hull said.
Fitstop had two locations when it decided to become a franchise in 2017.
“We really believed we had a model that could scale and make a genuine impact, and get amazing results for everyday athletes,” Hull recalls.
The Fitstop program is managed through a custom-built app, allowing members to add training targets.
The brand offers a range of 50-minute sessions combining strength, high intensity and endurance, providing athletic-inspired training in a guided group setting.
“Fitness for me is all about building human connection, and we do that through our group training format. You actually train with your training buddies, your community or your fellow members every single day,” Hull saidbef.
“We say an everyday athlete at Fitstop is someone that just wants to be fit for life.”
