Get rid of athletes that are just models and get real athletes people that’s actually compete and not just talking about bodybuilding. Sports / athletes / runners/ bikers/ Ironman / marathon / fighters/ hybrid athletes /. Having models that only go to the gym with onlyfans doesn’t represent your brand.
@booneboone9705 that's where you're wrong. The largest percentage of buyers are female. The largest followings of IG Instagram accounts is primarily female "models". They're the ones moving the most traffic to showcase products to the largest demographic of buyers.
I wanna know who the hell is in the design department know cause it’s getting kiddy with the oversized gothic prints on the men’s tshirts. Bring back the minimalistic logos for the adults.
I 100% agree I don’t love wearing oversized tees at the gym. Too much oversized clothing. I want more of the form fitting T shirts that we saw 2016-2019 range. There can be a mixture of minimalist and graphics but the oversized should only be like 10-15% of T shirts I’d say.
This is why I support Alphalete! Your "oversharing" makes me more confident in supporting the brand. I like knowing this stuff and I really like when I hear it from you.
Sales are down because you customer is the average 9-5 worker barely making ends meet. And your prices have kept going up and quality going down . Especially the fact that your Canadian store is in US prices and being affected by conversion and not a set price in CAD . It's crazy expensive for us and we can't keep up with the constant capitalistic consumption you expect from us .Greed will ruin your company
Also all your bras are made for fake big boobs/tiny boob's. Any woman with real boob's can't wear your bras . Heidi is doing way better with bras in buffbunny and making clothes that actually fit the larger sizes and people with different body types.
This whole brand reeks of making women sex objects and only suiting the hourglass bodybuilder skinny chick's. Not inclusive. Very few items have both fit and larger models shown wearing the clothes . Guess what many people don't start looking perfect when they join the gym and they still deserve to look good and to feel included and start their journey
Bro, tbh Alphalete clothing has really gone down. Not the quality but the fit. Alphalete is trying so hard to be trendy they forgot why most people liked your brand. Before you could've gotten any piece of clothing and the fit was so good you want to wear it everywhere. Now the fits are all over and 99% of the clothing are oversized or just weird fitting. I understand trends sell, but everything is oversized for over 1 year now.
I’ve been following Alphalete since the start and I agree with you cutting down athletes. It was starting to become too large of a group, losing its exclusivity. A lot of the recent athletes made Alphalete their personality, which was a bit “culty” and like you said is never good. At the end of the day is your business and you need to put personal relationships aside and do what’s best for it long term.
Yes I understand your POV. But he said he’s looking for athletes that “live it” and really are for the brand so if they made their entire personality Alphalete, that is the epitome of “living it” and being about the brand. So that was a tad confusing
This video really resonated with my Christian. It's a lonely place where you are. I can 100% relate. It's awesome when people at your level share what you do.
Me and my wife visited Alphaland July 20th ish. We were on our way back to Hawaii from competing at the Pittsburgh Masters on the 17th. We love the place! Amazing equipment! The entire property is amazing. Bathrooms, showers, customer service, merch, parking, everything hands down one of the best gyms I’ve ever been to. Vibe was good too! I see a lot of possibilities to do a lot of youth events. Especially with the basketball area and soccer fields. Anyways thank you for the great experience. We will stop in again next year…. Definitely
I agree with the athletes. It doesn’t feel special if so many are getting free products and having codes everywhere. Would be more honest to have fewer
I remember when you first launched and was supposed to be minimal or no influencers. They never did anything for your brand other than take money away.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, myself, these video documentations reminds me that your success was not built in a day and that running a business is equivalent to signing up for a never ending series of problems 😂😂. FYI, I look up to you and Heidi a lot because you guys are self-made and never got complacement about where you are now. I love the Alphalete brand and products precisely because of what you stand for 💪💪. This is Tenacity in action and we love to see it 👍👍.
Anytime a “finance person” steps in they start with cuts to make gross profit numbers look better. The hard part then becomes growing the business the following year and beyond. Great video as always.
In most businesses yes, but in this business I’m not so sure. Christian I feel wanted to take over the world. As he’s gotten older I feel like he’s less trying to be Nike or heck Gymshark. And more content with making the millions he did when he was more personable. If you have heard other business owners speak. They usually said I made more profit when I had 2 stores and 10 employees, than when I had 20 stores and 200 employees. Sometimes higher revenue doesn’t equate to a more successful person or business. Max said I made more money my first year with Sour Stripes online than I did my next year being in Target Walmart etc. As the business gets bigger the margins get lower and the level of upkeep to continue that growth dissolves that what otherwise would have been profit.
When we had a finance officer, her goal was to build the bank accounts. Her method of doing so was to cut corners and costs. Now it has come back to bite us in the butt, because needed maintenance was deferred and delayed. Oversight and accountability was neglected on employees work habits and as a result, we paid so much more in salaries for wasted time than we should have. Now, several years later, with repositioning of job duties, we are seeing our mistakes, but it’s cost us in lost revenue. Deferred maintenance ended up costing major dollars in repairs and replacement costs. Projects that should have taken a few weeks, turned into months, costing us major money. Smh bottom line, the owner ALWAYS has to have their eye on what’s going on and can’t hand it over to someone else, and you HAVE to have good communication and trust.
Kudos to you, Christian, for seeing a problem in your business and taking care of it. Letting go of people is always hard but it's necessary sometimes. Thanks for finally explaining.
This was sick. Thank you for always keeping it transparent. As a corporate business girl who also influences I love learning how to do better and the in and outs. Respect you & Heidi so muchh!! So grateful I get to work w ur wife at BuffBunny. ❤
I’ve been here longer than some of the new athletes. Honestly, team shouldnt be more than 12-15 and you need to let them shine. I still remember the first Russ vid dropping, then Merjin… thats the kinda vibe we need back.
Love the transparency in this video. Reminds me of when I used to watch your vlogs at uni and you’d put little bits in about BTS of the business of alphalete/explaining certain topics🫶🏼
The clothes quality have gone down significantly. The prices are really high and I’m never able to wear their clothes. They’re either too tight or just too loose.
He keeps using “refined” but he’s basically doing what every corporate business does… use the fewest amount of employees possible but make them do the most possible work.
To the remaining athletes: remember it doesnt matter how close you are to C Gusman, if you dont bring money to the boss it is just business and business need money. Therefore that internal relationship you have with your co workers it is all just business. Now bring in more money please
It’s awesome to see you and your company MATURING. I’ve seen this a lot with the startups I’ve been a part of. And it’s natural in the beginning to be ambitious, scrappy, and have big dreams. Eventually you have to remeasure and re-evaluate. This is def part of your story to building and keeping a successful business.
As a Alphalete and CG supporter for 8+ years I loved the portion about the athletes. Getting athletes that represent the brand through being themselves and lifestyle is great way to go. A brand that I find stands out a lot is Darc Sport. When you go to their page, there’s a certain image they maintain. It’s clear that their athletes are strictly gym BEASTS. Clear message of who they want and who they are.
Chris, it sucks to see you have to air out the laundry, but as someone that's been to the gym, has bought the clothes, and enjoyed the experiences I had while in Alphalete/Alphaland, this feels like the right move. There was some things that made the gym on paper feel off, but physically felt amazing. It also bled into the clothing, the financial structures I could feel, and the overall structure of the company that felt like it knew the vision, but needed to execute on a tighter level. I think your passion, focus, and "big picture" mindset is what sticks people and the business together, but these changes are good, as with my recent visits, new talks I've had with Sales, and a lot of people around the gym and the quality upping within clothing, it just feels like this is narrowing the focus on the problems and cutting out the fat. I want to see you succeed, you are a champion for me in my own personal goals, and I want to see this only go up for here. I'll be rooting for you, thanks for the info and the hard talks.
its very simply... usa Is in a recession and we been in one and now one realizes.. most people had big years in the pandemic years and now there is s HUGE REVENUE downfall for most companies online. and influencers are not influencing because they focused on trending content and going viral vs creating real influence with value.
Much respect Christian! I started watching you back in 2014-2015 and learned a lot from you! Fast forward to now and I have bought into a business and created another! Anytime I find speed bumps along the way I go to your videos to find guidance! The business I created is structured very similar to Alphalete and hearing how you are finding that happy medium in your business really helps me grow my business! Not everyone will understand/ see this change the way the Owner will, but keep being a great human Christian! You provide so much more than you receive!
As a business owner, I can appreciate taking a step back to look at the full picture. Ppl sometimes will get hurt in the process regardless of how gentle you try
Facts: he needs to bring back the lifestyle shirts and wide-neck shirts. He literally started the trend, and now companies like Bylt Basics and Cuts Clothing have taken over the market, but this time clothes he made were high quality.
Brother lets goooo! I'm here for it. Haven't watched you in years because it all became fame hype. Now we work, now we get in the trenches, now we carry the boat on our backs! You got this Christian! Supper inspired
That’s the Christian Gusman I first started following and grew to love! Hang in there man! You’ve got this! You always have and always will! Smart young man! 🙂🔥
Get rid of the baggy “new age” fashion forward crap. I miss the nostalgic scoop necks and rolled muscle t’s. The stingers and cutoffs and performance joggers. That’s what the OG’s want!
Wow, that was a Lot to share and I bet it wasn't easy to do! I hope you somehow keep that transparency element and can work it into your refinements of brand and everything else to come. For me and my family, Alphalete/Land is a destination gym that we love to visit when we're in Houston. I worked out in your gym wearing one of your very original designs and got some laughs saying it was the OG shirt, as in come on, buy a new one. But, I'm 64 and I like being the OG :). I sincerely enjoyed receiving my birthday message from Alphalete, that I just received last week. Transparency, authenticity along with Learn More, Dream More etc. That's who I see today from the brand. Good luck, enjoy the journey for your next iteration of continued success!! You are the formula for success.
This is why I follow you. The honesty you give into everything really opens up so many things for me. I appreciate you sharing all these tips. I look at these videos to help me in my business either coaching or even my gym. I also really love the reduction of the athletes as well, it was getting to packed with people who didn’t really care for the product as much as the OG athletes like rob or even Emily.
Man, as a business owner listening to this 7 years in this is so relatable. Not at this scale but the principals. I love that this conversation and honesty is happening.
Brands have their ups and they're downs and sometimes you got to cut People based upon the brand being greedy yes he bought a brand new big ass house what was wrong with the old one that's my question. @@TheMikeTv
His personal finances and company finances are not linked. And remember, a company cutting staff doesn't mean the company doesn't have money. It generally means the positions getting cut don't contribute positively to the company anymore. Sucks to hear but doesn't change reality.
The way I resonate with this SO much in so many ways! Managing, growing, and supporting a team is one of the most challenging things as a CEO because as you said nobody teaches you that - it’s very much something we have to lean into and figure out based on what works for our own businesses and most supportive for our team too. Thank you for sharing all of this!! Excited for what’s to come for you and Alphalete as you and the company go through this phase of refinement!!
Im in corporate. This happens. As an individual contributor It makes me hate companies because this is what happens even though I understand layoffs and reorganization needs to happen. But many times CEO’s dont come upfront and say the why… For this , I respect Christian for going out in to the public and making this video. As the company progresses I encourage you to keep being as transparent as you possibly can. This will create a great culture and environment and when employees go onboard they know what to expect. Thanks again Christian for what you do and I hope everything goes well 👌🏽
Thanks for the insight since I have been seeing a lot of those videos from athletes. Can only imagine the stress behind making those decisions to let people go. Wishing you the best of luck and hope Alphalete comes back bigger and stronger, been supporting since 2016 💪🏼
CG I am Alphalete for life but over the last year, year and a half the quality of the product and style has gone down. I believe when you took a step back.
Request to bring back shirts for those who want something simple - viscose blend t’s, plain colors, etc. Went with cuts since you haven’t had any for years but still doesn’t compare to the older alphalete ones I have (which are thinner and superior material blends). 🙌🏻
As a CFO myself I’ve seen this a lot with entrepreneurs…they have no clear idea of what’s really happening from the accounting backend. So you present the figures and they’re in shock. That’s why I always stress the importance of budgeting and forecasting. You see where you are today and where you want to get to in the future. Entrepreneurs panic when the figures look bleak and start to cut all the “fat”…hiring people and building out your team requires lots of skills and experience, knowing what you want and how you want the team to look like..hiring the right people with the right skillset. The thing is you develop those over your professional career. A lot of “entrepreneurs” lack those skills because they never were leaders to begin with in an organization that allows them to gain those skills.
Takes a lot to post a video like this, your transparency is amazing I hope that everyone can avoid the same mistakes and I’m certainly listening with open ears and taking it to heart, also I love the new kitty ❤
Christian, coming from a Texas business owner. Always remember family first. Do what’s best for your family. Unfortunately we cannot be responsible for others, as bad as we want to. We all love you and Heidi and never stop being YOU! 💪
What most new company owners don't realise, is that structure needs to come before growth. Big numbers are great, until you realise that the team is inefficient when it comes to managing the growth. Good on you for making the changes, and getting a grip on the numbers internally. The ROI on having your own internal finance department is ALWAYS underestimated because the thought for new business owners is extremely 1-track minded, SALES, SALES, SALES. They forget that there's an entire back end to the business that needs to be planned and nurtured.
Being a part of this company has always felt and been a pleasure. And after watching this video.. I can tell you now it’s made me even more excited to still be involved. Thank you Christian… Not for only believing in me and taking me on as an athlete but also the transparency of this video is genuinely appreciated by all of us. Especially the life long Alphalete fans !! Learn, dream, and be MORE 📈 LFG. To the moon 🌙
Maxing employees out to max capacity? Good luck with that. Remember company morale and culture are also super important. That’s the downfall of many companies. Turnover is expensive.
Initially I thought the same thing. Then I remembered this is Christian. So what I think he meant, was instead of having 100 people giving 10%. He’d lower the number, invest in them better and maximize their potential with the company. In the times I’ve met him and talked with him over the years, I don’t feel he’s a, make 1 person wear 5 hats and burn them out kinda human.
@@jeremyflores6508 Hopefully that’s what he means. I don’t think he’d be that type of guy but sounds like his finance person is a little cut throat and all they care about is the bottom line. I witnessed the same thing at my current job. CEO was a fabulous caring man, our team was like family. He let corporate type people come in to take the pressure off as we grew and now it’s like a straight up corporate job. Cold people and morale is super low to the point they are now shoving company culture down our throats every Monday. It’s sickening really. The only reason I stay is because I have tenure and make more money than I would at most other jobs out there. Thankfully I can shut my office door to avoid hearing all the miserable workers talk crap all day about how much they hate it there.
Good stuff Christian. Definitely appreciate you sharing the tougher aspects of running your own business... the right decisions aren't always the easy ones. Wishing you guys the best as you reset the direction.
Hi Christian this video means a lot to me. In the past few years I have felt really disconnected from Alphalete as a brand which made me sad as an customer who has watched you grow the company from the start. I’m excited for this new chapter for you and for us as consumers.
“Refining”- Such a bunch of BS. When you need to lay people off, you always then refine the responsibilities of the remaining people. One of the main reasons Alphalete was successful is because of TH-cam. You mostly stopped uploading to TH-cam, so you lost some of that customer base. Combine that with all of the competition (like Inaka) and your brand is less relevant.
The whole fitness industry trend and lifestyle is in decline. It reminds me of the aerobics movement of the late 80s and early 90s. Social media platforms are flooded with fitness influencers and viewers are just plain tired, bored and fatigued from it all.
P&L and Gross Margin should be forecasted M/M, Quarterly, and Y/Y. In turn should be reviewed and reported on in the same cadence to identify variance, anomalies, and even consistencies. An overview should be delivered to you or the Ops Manager each month to stay proactive before these things catch up. Utilize Tableau or something similiar. This will automate all of your metrics, inventory, purchases and sales into charts to easily review and digest. Hard to learn this way but the tools are all there to easily manage these things. And it’s honestly pretty damn fun to dig into.
Great Video ! The old school raw videos are the best man I hope to I can see the band like before. Back when you just started and influencers weren't a thing I was really contemplating on trying work hard to be a athlete but then I realized many kens and barbies were just taking over with no love for the brand (brands I general) so it can't takes away the point of representing a brand. I rally hope we can now see full on ppl like yourself that care about a brand 👍🏽
Literally just had a convo like this with my friend. I’ve had 20k months this year vs $2500 months and it’s all about recalibrating and keeping at it 😭✨ ty for “ over sharing “ !!! I’m 24 and just tryna be successful for my fam and myself. Ty !
That makes sense. I remember when the channel and the brand reached their peak a few years ago-I used to see a lot of people at my local gym wearing Alphalete apparel. However, over time, the brand identity seemed to get lost. It felt like new athletes were constantly being introduced, channel wasn't posting much - perhaps as you said, distractions and a lack of clear focus. Now, at my local gym, I don't see anyone wearing Alphalete, Gym Shark, etc. Anyway, best of luck going forward!
Just wanna say Thank you Christian for sharing it, in fact your “oversharing” it’s one of the reason why i followed and support u and alphalete since 2017 ❤ Keep doing what you’re doing
I can't wait for the rebirth of Alphalete - Christian and Maxx were the OG faces of fitness youtube that helped me become interested and later undergo a 100lb fat loss transformation. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this brand
Takes a real one to make the tough decisions for the better its a position that many dont understand you can be loved one day and hated the next but thats why you make the big bucks managing everything big up being transparent keep truckin 💪🏽
You are definitely one of the greatest. Kids that don't know what it means to follow their dreams or what it means to grow and start a business, I ALWAYS tell them to follow this channel and start at the beginning.
Christian, not only are you amazing person but such a positive influence on so many people. I think it is truly amazing how you can come on TH-cam and tell everyone what’s going on, and how things are going to be. I’ve been watching your videos for about 6-7 years now and all I can say is wow, from where you started to now is crazy and awesome at the same time! Keep doing you brother and great things will come because you are a great person. Thankyou
The bigger any brand in the world the more problems. Its called business and Problems get bigger lol. Thats y many will never reach true generational business wealth. The 1% of the 1%
Been seeing Guzmans growth even before he opened his first small garage gym. The growth is crazy & you can tell he genuinely cares. Never seemed to change as a person even through the success. Some people may not like the way things work but being a boss & business owner is HARD. Can’t imagine having employees you care about.
Basically the number 1 mistake most people make when they “make it”. They overspend when times are good because they assume it will be that way forever. Like the saying goes, when the tide goes out, you see who’s swimming naked.
As a Director of a small company that has tripled in size over the past few years I can totally relate to the idea getting more out of your current employees.
Amazing insight Christian. As a business owner myself its so refreshing to know I can learn from you somewhat, as you say, they dont really teach certain aspects of running a business! I love Alphalete and I feel the peak was 2022 in terms of clothing, style and fit. I really hope to see Alphalete shine again in its clothing design
An owner/company being completely honest is awesome and very rare to find a company that does that and good to their employees. Which is why I work where I work because it’s soooo hard to find a good company that really appreciates their employees and are honest. So what you’re doing is what builds a very successful company and creating a team that appreciates their employees/shows it is really good! Keep doing what your doing man I highly respect company’s that do this.
This is pretty refreshing to see not going to lie. As an alphalete gym member everything from the outside seems like it’s going perfect all the time. As if some literal cheat code was found. That these problems don’t exist and that it’s only a vertical future. I recently started working for our family marketing company and I’ve seen these problems in a much smaller scale. We also had a problem where we were too fixated on big goals and talking all sweet in the meetings and not really having any plan of action to change things. My dad recently told me that the most important part of a meeting is the follow up not the meeting itself. I’m helping out with the logistics and budgeting for a promotional project and when I report everything numbers related to my boss I can tell she was not used to seeing the health of the project before. It really helps confront problems up front before waiting for it to get worse and our communication is better. She literally told me that last year for the same project that she didn’t find out they went over budget until the project was done. The sake of getting the project done and getting more clients was more important at the time than the actual project (our service to the client). Not just with me but I’ve seen great improvements overall when the company started to focus on each component of every sector of the business. We are trying to avoid costly mistakes because we are growing right now and these little details matter. Thanks for the vid CG, really helps people out. I’d be interested to see a video on exactly how you communicate everything to your employees and ensure that everyone knows what they are doing!
I used to genuinely love the amplify collection but for the price is not worth is especially with other brands having more affordable prices with just as good or almost better products. I hope you guys can make a come back genuinely
Get rid of athletes that are just models and get real athletes people that’s actually compete and not just talking about bodybuilding. Sports / athletes / runners/ bikers/ Ironman / marathon / fighters/ hybrid athletes /. Having models that only go to the gym with onlyfans doesn’t represent your brand.
100% agree
The models sell, though. This clothing industry doesn't sell to performance athletes.
It’s sad but the girls sell.
@@9118RayActually the fitness models don’t move the needle like they used to.
@booneboone9705 that's where you're wrong. The largest percentage of buyers are female. The largest followings of IG Instagram accounts is primarily female "models". They're the ones moving the most traffic to showcase products to the largest demographic of buyers.
i felt like there was so many random new athletes not so in touch with the soul core of the brand but you guys understood that i love alphalete
Yes! I’m happy for the change ❤
I wanna know who the hell is in the design department know cause it’s getting kiddy with the oversized gothic prints on the men’s tshirts. Bring back the minimalistic logos for the adults.
1,000%! I haven’t boughten a haul from Alphalete in such a long time! Hate the new vibe with the clothes…..one word…..tacky.
Facts!
I want the old core shirts for men that said alphalete on the chest from 5 years ago.
@@NFLBlitz214EASILY my favorite of theirs. Been praying every time I go on their site that it’s back lok
I 100% agree I don’t love wearing oversized tees at the gym. Too much oversized clothing. I want more of the form fitting T shirts that we saw 2016-2019 range. There can be a mixture of minimalist and graphics but the oversized should only be like 10-15% of T shirts I’d say.
This is why I support Alphalete! Your "oversharing" makes me more confident in supporting the brand. I like knowing this stuff and I really like when I hear it from you.
Sales are down because you customer is the average 9-5 worker barely making ends meet. And your prices have kept going up and quality going down . Especially the fact that your Canadian store is in US prices and being affected by conversion and not a set price in CAD . It's crazy expensive for us and we can't keep up with the constant capitalistic consumption you expect from us .Greed will ruin your company
Also all your bras are made for fake big boobs/tiny boob's. Any woman with real boob's can't wear your bras . Heidi is doing way better with bras in buffbunny and making clothes that actually fit the larger sizes and people with different body types.
This whole brand reeks of making women sex objects and only suiting the hourglass bodybuilder skinny chick's. Not inclusive. Very few items have both fit and larger models shown wearing the clothes . Guess what many people don't start looking perfect when they join the gym and they still deserve to look good and to feel included and start their journey
Make more money
@MRHIPHOPVEGAN Alpahlete isn't "luxury " that isn't their target market and the quality isn't there
I agree with the fact that aphalete quality sucks ass
Christian looks so much healthier now. Great video.
Was just going to say this.
apparently he deletes comments if someone does not share this opinion 😄
@@Frazenification well your comment is still here so idk about that lol
i commented that his face is puffed up due to steroid use -> 5mins later deleted
He better, he's on trt
Bro, tbh Alphalete clothing has really gone down. Not the quality but the fit.
Alphalete is trying so hard to be trendy they forgot why most people liked your brand.
Before you could've gotten any piece of clothing and the fit was so good you want to wear it everywhere.
Now the fits are all over and 99% of the clothing are oversized or just weird fitting.
I understand trends sell, but everything is oversized for over 1 year now.
Please make a video going over the history of the company, make it a documentary! The high the lows, all of it.
No.
He saw Gymshark and copied them. The end
Nah.
he already did it
I’ve been following Alphalete since the start and I agree with you cutting down athletes. It was starting to become too large of a group, losing its exclusivity. A lot of the recent athletes made Alphalete their personality, which was a bit “culty” and like you said is never good. At the end of the day is your business and you need to put personal relationships aside and do what’s best for it long term.
Facts
Yes I understand your POV. But he said he’s looking for athletes that “live it” and really are for the brand so if they made their entire personality Alphalete, that is the epitome of “living it” and being about the brand. So that was a tad confusing
This video really resonated with my Christian. It's a lonely place where you are. I can 100% relate. It's awesome when people at your level share what you do.
Me and my wife visited Alphaland July 20th ish. We were on our way back to Hawaii from competing at the Pittsburgh Masters on the 17th. We love the place! Amazing equipment! The entire property is amazing. Bathrooms, showers, customer service, merch, parking, everything hands down one of the best gyms I’ve ever been to. Vibe was good too! I see a lot of possibilities to do a lot of youth events. Especially with the basketball area and soccer fields. Anyways thank you for the great experience. We will stop in again next year…. Definitely
Remember guys this duck lives in Texas #democratic state controlled by tyrants and peace’s of poop that are all about the money .
The cat walking by in the background in the beginning 😂 yep it's his house now.
Haven’t bought Alphalete in years. The fits and the prices are out of control. Trendy oversized is not for me.
I agree with the athletes. It doesn’t feel special if so many are getting free products and having codes everywhere. Would be more honest to have fewer
I agree! I think more brands should downsize like this.
I remember when you first launched and was supposed to be minimal or no influencers. They never did anything for your brand other than take money away.
transparency goat 🐺🐐
As an aspiring entrepreneur, myself, these video documentations reminds me that your success was not built in a day and that running a business is equivalent to signing up for a never ending series of problems 😂😂.
FYI, I look up to you and Heidi a lot because you guys are self-made and never got complacement about where you are now.
I love the Alphalete brand and products precisely because of what you stand for 💪💪. This is Tenacity in action and we love to see it 👍👍.
The fact you've built what you've built without the right infrastructure and clear metrics makes you a Legend.
What's up serge! Gonna build Christian an athletic wear growth infrastructure?
Anytime a “finance person” steps in they start with cuts to make gross profit numbers look better. The hard part then becomes growing the business the following year and beyond.
Great video as always.
In most businesses yes, but in this business I’m not so sure. Christian I feel wanted to take over the world. As he’s gotten older I feel like he’s less trying to be Nike or heck Gymshark. And more content with making the millions he did when he was more personable. If you have heard other business owners speak. They usually said I made more profit when I had 2 stores and 10 employees, than when I had 20 stores and 200 employees. Sometimes higher revenue doesn’t equate to a more successful person or business. Max said I made more money my first year with Sour Stripes online than I did my next year being in Target Walmart etc. As the business gets bigger the margins get lower and the level of upkeep to continue that growth dissolves that what otherwise would have been profit.
@Solana good points, also seen it in a lot of companies
When we had a finance officer, her goal was to build the bank accounts. Her method of doing so was to cut corners and costs. Now it has come back to bite us in the butt, because needed maintenance was deferred and delayed. Oversight and accountability was neglected on employees work habits and as a result, we paid so much more in salaries for wasted time than we should have. Now, several years later, with repositioning of job duties, we are seeing our mistakes, but it’s cost us in lost revenue. Deferred maintenance ended up costing major dollars in repairs and replacement costs. Projects that should have taken a few weeks, turned into months, costing us major money. Smh bottom line, the owner ALWAYS has to have their eye on what’s going on and can’t hand it over to someone else, and you HAVE to have good communication and trust.
@@SolanaTrue Guzman ain’t going no where but down
The ending was beautifully said. How important it is to be your own brand on your own mission because we’re all unique. Much love Christian 🤝🏽
Kudos to you, Christian, for seeing a problem in your business and taking care of it. Letting go of people is always hard but it's necessary sometimes. Thanks for finally explaining.
This was sick. Thank you for always keeping it transparent. As a corporate business girl who also influences I love learning how to do better and the in and outs. Respect you & Heidi so muchh!! So grateful I get to work w ur wife at BuffBunny. ❤
I’ve been here longer than some of the new athletes.
Honestly, team shouldnt be more than 12-15 and you need to let them shine.
I still remember the first Russ vid dropping, then Merjin… thats the kinda vibe we need back.
Same!!
Love the transparency in this video. Reminds me of when I used to watch your vlogs at uni and you’d put little bits in about BTS of the business of alphalete/explaining certain topics🫶🏼
Yes, agreed. I really love hearing what's going on BTS of Alphalete.
This make sense why I noticed some more athletes were gone last month
The clothes quality have gone down significantly. The prices are really high and I’m never able to wear their clothes. They’re either too tight or just too loose.
@@NathanDrake-hm6li it’s that alibaba quality .
@@Parlaytrauma😂😂
I'm only here for the cat
I mean how did u find out about the cat then?
Same.
Found out about the cat on sour podcast
Haha! Yes the cat!!
I love his cameos….back and forth….
He keeps using “refined” but he’s basically doing what every corporate business does… use the fewest amount of employees possible but make them do the most possible work.
Been here since 2013, respect for being transparent about the journey.
Looking healthy like the good ol days.
still looks smaller and worse than he did when he was natty lol
Fr, he looks much better and he’s getting older haha. Good for him.
@@thegaslightneverends You're a bum.
@@maestrojamieson9385
Well articulated. And that is business. Onward and upward. And also, kitty 🥰
To the remaining athletes: remember it doesnt matter how close you are to C Gusman, if you dont bring money to the boss it is just business and business need money. Therefore that internal relationship you have with your co workers it is all just business. Now bring in more money please
It’s awesome to see you and your company MATURING. I’ve seen this a lot with the startups I’ve been a part of. And it’s natural in the beginning to be ambitious, scrappy, and have big dreams. Eventually you have to remeasure and re-evaluate. This is def part of your story to building and keeping a successful business.
You got your glow back Christian! Looking good!
As a Alphalete and CG supporter for 8+ years I loved the portion about the athletes. Getting athletes that represent the brand through being themselves and lifestyle is great way to go. A brand that I find stands out a lot is Darc Sport. When you go to their page, there’s a certain image they maintain. It’s clear that their athletes are strictly gym BEASTS. Clear message of who they want and who they are.
Chris, it sucks to see you have to air out the laundry, but as someone that's been to the gym, has bought the clothes, and enjoyed the experiences I had while in Alphalete/Alphaland, this feels like the right move. There was some things that made the gym on paper feel off, but physically felt amazing. It also bled into the clothing, the financial structures I could feel, and the overall structure of the company that felt like it knew the vision, but needed to execute on a tighter level. I think your passion, focus, and "big picture" mindset is what sticks people and the business together, but these changes are good, as with my recent visits, new talks I've had with Sales, and a lot of people around the gym and the quality upping within clothing, it just feels like this is narrowing the focus on the problems and cutting out the fat. I want to see you succeed, you are a champion for me in my own personal goals, and I want to see this only go up for here. I'll be rooting for you, thanks for the info and the hard talks.
its very simply... usa Is in a recession and we been in one and now one realizes.. most people had big years in the pandemic years and now there is s HUGE REVENUE downfall for most companies online. and influencers are not influencing because they focused on trending content and going viral vs creating real influence with value.
Much respect Christian! I started watching you back in 2014-2015 and learned a lot from you! Fast forward to now and I have bought into a business and created another! Anytime I find speed bumps along the way I go to your videos to find guidance! The business I created is structured very similar to Alphalete and hearing how you are finding that happy medium in your business really helps me grow my business! Not everyone will understand/ see this change the way the Owner will, but keep being a great human Christian! You provide so much more than you receive!
As a business owner, I can appreciate taking a step back to look at the full picture. Ppl sometimes will get hurt in the process regardless of how gentle you try
Am I the only one who misses the old clothes from 5 years ago? Just clean v-shape fitting shirts
Facts: he needs to bring back the lifestyle shirts and wide-neck shirts. He literally started the trend, and now companies like Bylt Basics and Cuts Clothing have taken over the market, but this time clothes he made were high quality.
Hair lookin much better
He really does look healthier.
Brother lets goooo! I'm here for it. Haven't watched you in years because it all became fame hype. Now we work, now we get in the trenches, now we carry the boat on our backs! You got this Christian! Supper inspired
That’s the Christian Gusman I first started following and grew to love! Hang in there man! You’ve got this! You always have and always will! Smart young man! 🙂🔥
Been here from the very start by the way! lol! The first used equipment in the small space you made a nice gym! 😊
Get rid of the baggy “new age” fashion forward crap. I miss the nostalgic scoop necks and rolled muscle t’s. The stingers and cutoffs and performance joggers. That’s what the OG’s want!
Getting dailed in, I’m cheering for you. We all appreciate the transparency. It’s not always fun and gravy
Wow, that was a Lot to share and I bet it wasn't easy to do! I hope you somehow keep that transparency element and can work it into your refinements of brand and everything else to come. For me and my family, Alphalete/Land is a destination gym that we love to visit when we're in Houston. I worked out in your gym wearing one of your very original designs and got some laughs saying it was the OG shirt, as in come on, buy a new one. But, I'm 64 and I like being the OG :). I sincerely enjoyed receiving my birthday message from Alphalete, that I just received last week. Transparency, authenticity along with Learn More, Dream More etc. That's who I see today from the brand. Good luck, enjoy the journey for your next iteration of continued success!! You are the formula for success.
This is why I follow you. The honesty you give into everything really opens up so many things for me. I appreciate you sharing all these tips. I look at these videos to help me in my business either coaching or even my gym. I also really love the reduction of the athletes as well, it was getting to packed with people who didn’t really care for the product as much as the OG athletes like rob or even Emily.
Yes I miss the Tim, Nikki, Jovan, Shawley, Russ and Nabil said !! But he’s evolving
Man, as a business owner listening to this 7 years in this is so relatable. Not at this scale but the principals. I love that this conversation and honesty is happening.
Got to pay for the big mansion so somebody’s got to go
Exactly! 🤦🏻♂️
Brands have their ups and they're downs and sometimes you got to cut People based upon the brand being greedy yes he bought a brand new big ass house what was wrong with the old one that's my question. @@TheMikeTv
@@thetreverpittsa question your nosey ass doesn’t need an answer to. You obviously do not know how business works. What is wrong with you people 😂
Jealous? Don't be. That's a horrible feeling.
@@nanam9179 🤣🤣 keep drinking the kool-aid!
Lack of cash flow management and no scenario planning.
Well done genius. Thank god you’re in the comments
I like how you posted a video of you buying your 20 million dollar mansion right as you laid off everyone. True CEO
Any of his employees can leave, dedicate themselves, and start their own company. Nothing stopping them if they want to put in that work of their own.
Not related at all douche. He’s been living in the same house for like 9 years
💀
I didn't even watch this video, but I saw that post and then this popped up 😅
His personal finances and company finances are not linked. And remember, a company cutting staff doesn't mean the company doesn't have money. It generally means the positions getting cut don't contribute positively to the company anymore. Sucks to hear but doesn't change reality.
The Dodo led me here and all I’m gonna say is I felt joy to see Simba cruising by in the first minute…yay! Lol good job saving that baby 👏🏼😸
The way I resonate with this SO much in so many ways! Managing, growing, and supporting a team is one of the most challenging things as a CEO because as you said nobody teaches you that - it’s very much something we have to lean into and figure out based on what works for our own businesses and most supportive for our team too. Thank you for sharing all of this!! Excited for what’s to come for you and Alphalete as you and the company go through this phase of refinement!!
This gym has all the bells and whistles but the price for joining is insane ❌❌
Im in corporate. This happens. As an individual contributor It makes me hate companies because this is what happens even though I understand layoffs and reorganization needs to happen. But many times CEO’s dont come upfront and say the why… For this , I respect Christian for going out in to the public and making this video.
As the company progresses I encourage you to keep being as transparent as you possibly can. This will create a great culture and environment and when employees go onboard they know what to expect. Thanks again Christian for what you do and I hope everything goes well 👌🏽
Thanks for the insight since I have been seeing a lot of those videos from athletes. Can only imagine the stress behind making those decisions to let people go. Wishing you the best of luck and hope Alphalete comes back bigger and stronger, been supporting since 2016 💪🏼
Love the transparency. Leadership isn’t about making the right decisions, but about making the tough ones and standing by it!
One of the best videos you have made recently man. Really appreciate you sharing your learnings and being open about it!
CG I am Alphalete for life but over the last year, year and a half the quality of the product and style has gone down. I believe when you took a step back.
Request to bring back shirts for those who want something simple - viscose blend t’s, plain colors, etc. Went with cuts since you haven’t had any for years but still doesn’t compare to the older alphalete ones I have (which are thinner and superior material blends). 🙌🏻
As a CFO myself I’ve seen this a lot with entrepreneurs…they have no clear idea of what’s really happening from the accounting backend. So you present the figures and they’re in shock. That’s why I always stress the importance of budgeting and forecasting. You see where you are today and where you want to get to in the future. Entrepreneurs panic when the figures look bleak and start to cut all the “fat”…hiring people and building out your team requires lots of skills and experience, knowing what you want and how you want the team to look like..hiring the right people with the right skillset. The thing is you develop those over your professional career. A lot of “entrepreneurs” lack those skills because they never were leaders to begin with in an organization that allows them to gain those skills.
Takes a lot to post a video like this, your transparency is amazing I hope that everyone can avoid the same mistakes and I’m certainly listening with open ears and taking it to heart, also I love the new kitty ❤
Christian, coming from a Texas business owner. Always remember family first. Do what’s best for your family. Unfortunately we cannot be responsible for others, as bad as we want to. We all love you and Heidi and never stop being YOU! 💪
What most new company owners don't realise, is that structure needs to come before growth. Big numbers are great, until you realise that the team is inefficient when it comes to managing the growth. Good on you for making the changes, and getting a grip on the numbers internally. The ROI on having your own internal finance department is ALWAYS underestimated because the thought for new business owners is extremely 1-track minded, SALES, SALES, SALES. They forget that there's an entire back end to the business that needs to be planned and nurtured.
Being a part of this company has always felt and been a pleasure. And after watching this video.. I can tell you now it’s made me even more excited to still be involved. Thank you Christian… Not for only believing in me and taking me on as an athlete but also the transparency of this video is genuinely appreciated by all of us. Especially the life long Alphalete fans !!
Learn, dream, and be MORE 📈
LFG. To the moon 🌙
No chance of letting you go son, you’re the best male they got for regular content and care of the brand 🫡
Maxing employees out to max capacity? Good luck with that. Remember company morale and culture are also super important. That’s the downfall of many companies. Turnover is expensive.
Initially I thought the same thing. Then I remembered this is Christian. So what I think he meant, was instead of having 100 people giving 10%. He’d lower the number, invest in them better and maximize their potential with the company. In the times I’ve met him and talked with him over the years, I don’t feel he’s a, make 1 person wear 5 hats and burn them out kinda human.
@@jeremyflores6508 Hopefully that’s what he means. I don’t think he’d be that type of guy but sounds like his finance person is a little cut throat and all they care about is the bottom line. I witnessed the same thing at my current job. CEO was a fabulous caring man, our team was like family. He let corporate type people come in to take the pressure off as we grew and now it’s like a straight up corporate job. Cold people and morale is super low to the point they are now shoving company culture down our throats every Monday. It’s sickening really. The only reason I stay is because I have tenure and make more money than I would at most other jobs out there. Thankfully I can shut my office door to avoid hearing all the miserable workers talk crap all day about how much they hate it there.
@@jeremyflores6508it cost more to hire new people than keep old. Learn some basic finance
Your honesty is who you are. What you did was extremely hard. Your commitment to the business will make you successful
Good stuff Christian. Definitely appreciate you sharing the tougher aspects of running your own business... the right decisions aren't always the easy ones. Wishing you guys the best as you reset the direction.
Hi Christian this video means a lot to me. In the past few years I have felt really disconnected from Alphalete as a brand which made me sad as an customer who has watched you grow the company from the start. I’m excited for this new chapter for you and for us as consumers.
“Refining”- Such a bunch of BS. When you need to lay people off, you always then refine the responsibilities of the remaining people. One of the main reasons Alphalete was successful is because of TH-cam. You mostly stopped uploading to TH-cam, so you lost some of that customer base. Combine that with all of the competition (like Inaka) and your brand is less relevant.
The whole fitness industry trend and lifestyle is in decline. It reminds me of the aerobics movement of the late 80s and early 90s. Social media platforms are flooded with fitness influencers and viewers are just plain tired, bored and fatigued from it all.
P&L and Gross Margin should be forecasted M/M, Quarterly, and Y/Y. In turn should be reviewed and reported on in the same cadence to identify variance, anomalies, and even consistencies. An overview should be delivered to you or the Ops Manager each month to stay proactive before these things catch up.
Utilize Tableau or something similiar. This will automate all of your metrics, inventory, purchases and sales into charts to easily review and digest. Hard to learn this way but the tools are all there to easily manage these things. And it’s honestly pretty damn fun to dig into.
He already has a finance officer my guy, relax😅
Yep, this is why you hire people with business degrees and significant experience, rather than friends.
Did not finish the video yet but I doubt that they do not already have some dashboards. This is the absolute basis of a business tbh.
Great video man, love the honesty and the rawness around business, feels.
Great Video ! The old school raw videos are the best man I hope to I can see the band like before. Back when you just started and influencers weren't a thing I was really contemplating on trying work hard to be a athlete but then I realized many kens and barbies were just taking over with no love for the brand (brands I general) so it can't takes away the point of representing a brand. I rally hope we can now see full on ppl like yourself that care about a brand 👍🏽
Thank you for being raw and open Christian! 🙏🏼 Great learning tips for everyone 😊
Literally just had a convo like this with my friend. I’ve had 20k months this year vs $2500 months and it’s all about recalibrating and keeping at it 😭✨ ty for “ over sharing “ !!! I’m 24 and just tryna be successful for my fam and myself. Ty !
Stood by you even without all this information but now it’s just even more respect from one business owner to another. 👊🏽
That makes sense. I remember when the channel and the brand reached their peak a few years ago-I used to see a lot of people at my local gym wearing Alphalete apparel. However, over time, the brand identity seemed to get lost. It felt like new athletes were constantly being introduced, channel wasn't posting much - perhaps as you said, distractions and a lack of clear focus. Now, at my local gym, I don't see anyone wearing Alphalete, Gym Shark, etc. Anyway, best of luck going forward!
Just wanna say Thank you Christian for sharing it, in fact your “oversharing” it’s one of the reason why i followed and support u and alphalete since 2017 ❤ Keep doing what you’re doing
I can't wait for the rebirth of Alphalete - Christian and Maxx were the OG faces of fitness youtube that helped me become interested and later undergo a 100lb fat loss transformation. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this brand
Hard recession incoming for a few years. Expect more cuts and little progress.
Takes a real one to make the tough decisions for the better its a position that many dont understand you can be loved one day and hated the next but thats why you make the big bucks managing everything big up being transparent keep truckin 💪🏽
been watching since 2016 and I think the athlete cut was needed 100% right call. Excited for this next chapter
Hard recession first before they can grow any further.
You are definitely one of the greatest.
Kids that don't know what it means to follow their dreams or what it means to grow and start a business, I ALWAYS tell them to follow this channel and start at the beginning.
Christian, not only are you amazing person but such a positive influence on so many people. I think it is truly amazing how you can come on TH-cam and tell everyone what’s going on, and how things are going to be. I’ve been watching your videos for about 6-7 years now and all I can say is wow, from where you started to now is crazy and awesome at the same time! Keep doing you brother and great things will come because you are a great person. Thankyou
Thanks for the transparency brother, really appreciate the insight into the journey!
To see how far you've come since before OG CG gym, is so cool to watch. Your current employees are lucky to have you
I appreciate knowing that you still have struggles to work through, even with such a success brand. Love this content.
The bigger any brand in the world the more problems. Its called business and Problems get bigger lol. Thats y many will never reach true generational business wealth. The 1% of the 1%
Been seeing Guzmans growth even before he opened his first small garage gym. The growth is crazy & you can tell he genuinely cares. Never seemed to change as a person even through the success. Some people may not like the way things work but being a boss & business owner is HARD. Can’t imagine having employees you care about.
Basically the number 1 mistake most people make when they “make it”. They overspend when times are good because they assume it will be that way forever.
Like the saying goes, when the tide goes out, you see who’s swimming naked.
As a Director of a small company that has tripled in size over the past few years I can totally relate to the idea getting more out of your current employees.
Amazing insight Christian. As a business owner myself its so refreshing to know I can learn from you somewhat, as you say, they dont really teach certain aspects of running a business!
I love Alphalete and I feel the peak was 2022 in terms of clothing, style and fit. I really hope to see Alphalete shine again in its clothing design
Business decisions are hard, but necessary. Appreciate the candor - and insight/shared wisdom. 👍
An owner/company being completely honest is awesome and very rare to find a company that does that and good to their employees. Which is why I work where I work because it’s soooo hard to find a good company that really appreciates their employees and are honest. So what you’re doing is what builds a very successful company and creating a team that appreciates their employees/shows it is really good! Keep doing what your doing man I highly respect company’s that do this.
Thank you for being transparent about the high and the lows! This is exactly why I bought into this brand because of the authenticity from top down 🙏🏽
Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do
This is pretty refreshing to see not going to lie. As an alphalete gym member everything from the outside seems like it’s going perfect all the time. As if some literal cheat code was found. That these problems don’t exist and that it’s only a vertical future. I recently started working for our family marketing company and I’ve seen these problems in a much smaller scale. We also had a problem where we were too fixated on big goals and talking all sweet in the meetings and not really having any plan of action to change things. My dad recently told me that the most important part of a meeting is the follow up not the meeting itself. I’m helping out with the logistics and budgeting for a promotional project and when I report everything numbers related to my boss I can tell she was not used to seeing the health of the project before. It really helps confront problems up front before waiting for it to get worse and our communication is better. She literally told me that last year for the same project that she didn’t find out they went over budget until the project was done. The sake of getting the project done and getting more clients was more important at the time than the actual project (our service to the client). Not just with me but I’ve seen great improvements overall when the company started to focus on each component of every sector of the business. We are trying to avoid costly mistakes because we are growing right now and these little details matter. Thanks for the vid CG, really helps people out. I’d be interested to see a video on exactly how you communicate everything to your employees and ensure that everyone knows what they are doing!
Looking much healthier and better. Keep going brudda
I used to genuinely love the amplify collection but for the price is not worth is especially with other brands having more affordable prices with just as good or almost better products. I hope you guys can make a come back genuinely
Re-organizations happen on a yearly basis with big corporations. It’s just the beginning, change is constant. Glad you are learning
Always enjoy these open honest chats (and that OG intro).