Solve One Problem: Interview with fitness entrepreneur Vince Del Monte

I recently went one on one with fitness coach and sales entrepreneur Vince Del Monte.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Vince: I launched my first e-book in 2005 when you could charge $77 for air! I sold tens of thousands of copies of No-Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets to Insane Muscle Gain. This was my flagship program built around my own Skinny-Vinny to Fitness Model Champion transformation and positioned myself as The Skinny Guy savior for more than a decade. I gained a reputation online as The O.G. of Online Fitness Marketing and have had more than 15 years of experience launching low ticket, high ticket, and subscription-based fitness programs. This led to my eventual evolution of becoming a fitness business coach striving to teach others how to do what I did.

Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?

Vince: The One Way Play! In order to move up the Wealth Ladder which includes going from Generalist to Specialist to Expert to Celebrity Authority, you need to build your business around the concept of ONE. Solve one major problem for one type of person, with one flagship program at one price point, utilizing a unique process. It all starts with the 5 P’s: Person, Promise, Program, Price, Process.

Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing and branding?

Vince: Your business needs to be built around MOM - Marketplace, Offer and Messaging. Who is the ONE person you're speaking to? What is your Godfather offer? What is your unique messaging that sets you apart from the competition? M.O.M. should be on your mind at all times when planning out your new venture. Narrowing down your audience to that one niche, whatever it may be, will prove effective down the road. When you know exactly who you are targeting, what they’re willing to pay, and how you can connect to them with proper messaging - you end up saving yourself a whole bunch of time trying to understand your audience, ultimately making your entrepreneurial journey a lot less complicated.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Vince: A CEO has three tasks to their job: Vision, Building the Team, and Elevating Prestige. Hire 1 main role every 90 days. A 7 figure organization chart is all you need to get to 7 dollar figures. This will consist of a CEO, operations leader, marketing leader, sales leader and delivery/fulfillment leader, tech team and customer support team. The cadence of your meetings should be 1 weekly traction style (L10)  meeting for 90 minutes, with weekly 15 minute calls with each team member and 60 minute quarterly team meeting with each member. Managing must happen with Score Cards that include reporting and Key Performance Actions to support the team in hitting goals.

Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Vince: An effective leader will be clear on the vision, the path towards achieving the mission, and will lead with values. Mine is to help 1,000 fitness professionals scale profitable online fitness businesses while becoming Leaders Impacting Transformations (L.I.T.)  An effective leader creates a safe and challenging environment for growth, recognition and belonging, learns what drives each team member, and helps them become emotionally connected to the desired end state of the company.

Adam: What are your three best business tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Vince: 1. Keep it simple. With growth comes complexity and complexity kills growth. Utilize simple scales and advanced breaks. Commit to selling one program to scale before adding a second program to your suite. 2. Data, data, data. You can’t build a business on drama, only error-free data that gives visibility of key performance indicators that can guide the marketing of the business. 3. Dominate one traffic channel before moving to another one. 

Adam: What are your three best fitness tips?

Vince: 1. For testosterone optimization, go to bed and get up at the same time. Limit alcohol to no more than 2 drinks per week, and hit the weights hard at least 4 times per week. 2. When lifting, don’t swing the weights, squeeze your muscles. It’s not what you lift, it’s how you lift. Think about contracting your muscles against resistance, rather than moving them from point A to point B. 3. For nutrition, start your day with The Meats and Nuts Breakfast to optimize brain function and help your body utilize fat as a source of fuel for the day (rather than sugars). 

Adam: What are your best tips on health and nutrition?

Vince: Avoid anything in extremes unless you want extreme disappointment. The best nutrition regimen will be rooted in red meat at least 4-5 meals a day, animal fat, minimal fruits, moderate veggies, 4+ liters of water a day and carbs when you’ve earned them (i.e. post-workout). If you want to look and feel solid, eat solid food and avoid anything packaged, boxed or made in a laboratory. Eat whole foods and your body will thrive.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Vince: My father always told me, “If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for everything.” I’ve built a brand around being vocal about my faith, knowing what I believe inside and outside of the gym, and I’m unapologetic about who I am.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Vince: If you’re a fitness coach, online is the future and your business should be thriving. There has never been more opportunity and if you realize that, regardless of what happens in our world with all the craziness at the moment, no one can strip away your freedom to focus and what you focus on grows! 


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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