How Solidcore’s Founder Built and Sold a Nearly $100 Million Fitness Empire

This week on Slay The Gatekeeper, I’m joined by Anne Mahlum, founder of Solidcore, builder of a 100+ studio empire, and the force behind one of the most iconic nine-figure exits in boutique fitness.
Before scaling Solidcore into a nationwide powerhouse, Anne founded Back on My Feet, a nonprofit that empowers individuals experiencing homelessness through running, structure, and community. Years later, she took a completely different idea: a Pilates-inspired concept she discovered by accident, and turned it into a category-defining brand she eventually sold for $98.4 million.
In this episode, Anne breaks down the cheat codes that shaped her life and career: why having a Plan B is really just planning to fail, how to build a culture people rise to meet, what separates high performers from excuse-makers, and how she built a company that eventually ran without her, giving her the leverage to negotiate the exit on her terms.
This conversation is direct, unfiltered, and loaded with founder wisdom. If you’re building something big, leading a team, or trying to level up your resilience, this episode will show you what going all in actually looks like.
02:30 Finding purpose in unexpected places
05:45 The Pilates class that sparked solidcore
08:10 Identifying your unfair advantage
11:25 The first-to-market window that changed everything
18:40 Building culture through standards, not slogans
22:05 Money literacy: why information isn’t the problem
27:20 Turning down $75K to stay all-in
32:15 Why EQ matters more than experience
36:50 Letting go: building a company that outlasts you
‼️🔗 Resources Mentioned
• Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
• How to Win Friends & Influence People – Dale Carnegie
• You Are a Badass at Making Money – Jen Sincero
• Tony Robbins (Date With Destiny, plus his free content)
• The Moneywise Podcast
• Content by Sam Parr
About Anne Mahlum
Anne Mahlum is an entrepreneur and female motivational speaker who's passionate about empowering people to live life on their own terms. The beginning of Anne’s entrepreneurial journey is nothing short of extraordinary. In 2007, she found herself running by a homeless shelter in Philadelphia, and had the foresight to realize that running and community could be the catalyst to truly change lives. 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 2023 and shared millions with her employees after the sale.
Connect with Anne:

📱 Instagram: @annemahlum
💼 LinkedIn: Anne Mahlum
🌐 solidcore.co
Stay connected with me
📧 Contact: courtney@smoothmedia.co
👍 Instagram: @courtlynnjohnson
💼 LinkedIn: Courtney Johnson
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