Eric Levitan is the founder and CEO of Vivo, the premier virtual small group fitness program designed specifically for adults 55 and older. He left corporate America after 25 years of working in technology and running software companies to try to positively impact people’s lives and make a difference in the world.
After witnessing the decline of his own parent’s quality of life as they got older, he learned that we naturally lose muscle mass as we age. This is a primary contributor to a reduced quality of life and loss of independence, as well as leading to numerous age-related maladies such as falls, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and more.
However, consistently engaging in a strength training program reverses age-related muscle loss and is the number one factor in maintaining a high quality of life and independence as we age. This knowledge is at the heart of why he created Vivo to be an impactful program to guide older adults to a better life.
Eric holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Duke University. He resides in Atlanta with his wife and 2 daughters, and he is deeply involved in his community.
Follow Vivo on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
What You’ll Learn In This Episode
- The importance of strength training as you age
- Adult children giving the gift of health and wellness to their aging parents or loved one to help keep them stay independent
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by onpay built in Atlanta. On Pay is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at Onpay. Now here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one, but before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor on pay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories today on the Atlanta Business Radio. We have Eric Levitan with Vevo. Welcome, Eric.
Eric Levitan: [00:00:49] Thanks, Lee, for having me, I appreciate it.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:50] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Vivo. How are you serving, folks?
Eric Levitan: [00:00:55] So Vivo is an online but live and interactive fitness program for adults 50, five and older, with a real focus on building strength. And the important elements around that to really think about are the fact that this is online but live and interactive. So much of what we see in the digital fitness landscape today is video based or a live streamed class. When we think of Peloton, you know, participating, you could be one of 10 or one of ten thousand. Those work really well for individuals who are really self-motivated, who are probably on the Morphett side and know what they’re doing. For those of us who are less comfortable with exercise and eat a little bit more guidance, having some live and interactive aspect of what we’re doing is critical to the success. And that’s really what we’re all about is how do we engage people and meet them where they’re at and get them to consistently participate in a fitness program that’s going to have real health outcomes for them?
Lee Kantor: [00:01:52] So now when you say it’s kind of live and interactive, what does that experience going to look and feel like for that participant?
Eric Levitan: [00:01:59] So what we do is we actually have small it’s referred to as small group personal training, and we do it all online over Zoom. So we cap the classes at eight people, which is this fabulous? No, that’s small enough that everybody gets individualized attention. So if something hurts, if your form is bad, if you need an exercise modified because of an existing condition that you have, if you’re not working hard enough, it’s small enough that everybody can get individualized attention from a live trainer that can see you. You can see the other participants. No one’s muted, no one’s everyone’s showing their video. But it’s also big enough that we create this very socially engaging, community driven experience. And what happens is that’s where the magic is that gets people coming back. It makes it fun, it makes it lively, and it ends up being an appointment in your calendar. And so if you’re late for a vivo class, you’re probably going to get a few text messages saying, Hey Lee, where are you? And that’s a fabulous motivator to keep doing exercise and look at the end of the day. We all know exercise is good for you. The question is, can you create it as a as a habit and behavioral change that you do it consistently because that’s what really generates outcomes and improvements in your life.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:14] So it’s similar to a group exercise class I would take if I was in the gym, but I’m doing it in my living room.
Eric Levitan: [00:03:22] That’s right. And we make sure to keep it small enough that it’s got this level of intimacy and high touch that is really important, especially for older adults who are coming in with almost certainly one or more conditions that they’re dealing with today.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:36] So in the case of I’m doing class with one of your trainers, the trainer might come up and say, Hey, Lee, you’ve got to bend down more when you’re doing those squats or keep your back straight or something like that. I’ll get that level of customization.
Eric Levitan: [00:03:51] One hundred percent and even one step further, they’ll say, Lee, I know that you are still recovering from your knee replacement surgery. When we go do this exercise, I want you to do something a little bit different from everybody else. And that’s an important element. Again, because for those of us who are who are in that age group, we are all battling something. Whether it’s a chronic condition or whether you just woke up that day and your knee hurts or your back hurts and having the ability to have that level of communication with someone who understands you and how to continue to engage and challenge you but modify it for your needs, it’s a really important element.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:29] Now is the service only these live classes or if I participate in a class, do I get a recording of it? So if I want to do it on my own later, I can do it again.
Eric Levitan: [00:04:39] So for the right, for the time being, everything that we’re doing is a live and interactive experience. It’s actually a part of what we’re working on. We’re beginning to get requests exactly like that. Lee So part of what we’re doing is beginning to create a library of exercises that we can provide to you, and you can continue to do them on your own.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:58] But right now it’s am I paying per session? Is it per month? Like how? How does the membership work?
Eric Levitan: [00:05:05] It’s actually a monthly membership and you can choose to go once a week, twice a week or three times a week. The science of strength training is that it should be done two to three times a week to make progress once a week is more about maintaining or you’re currently at. Given the fact that we all lose muscle mass as we age, it’s a really significant problem that does not get enough attention doing a program, any strength training program, but in particular a program like Vivo two to three times a week is really desirable if you’re going to sign up for once a week. We absolutely encourage you to do more strength training on your own.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:39] Now, am I going to need any equipment or is this bodyweight exercises or use stuff around my house
Eric Levitan: [00:05:45] So we actually provide every new customer we actually do? Two things. We provide everyone with a welcome kit, and in that welcome kit, we deliver two resistance bands and it’s the the tubes with the handles, which is a little bit more substantial and we leverage those resistance bands quite frequently throughout the class. And what’s great about those is they’re really flexible in terms of the kinds of exercises you can do. You can do chest press, you can do back rows, you can do bicep curls, you can do shoulder press and on and on and on. And it actually creates a level of challenge to get outcomes. But on the flip side, they’re really gentle on the body. You can be really specific around how you control these. So to safely protect your joints, your tendons, your ligaments, et cetera. The other thing that we do in a new customer signs up is we actually conduct an assessment. We have a team at the Duke School of Medicine where we actually have every new customer meet with one of our our team members there who conducts a baseline of your strength and balance. And then we reassess every two months so we measure your progress and we share that progress with you. It’s a fabulous motivator to see how much strength and balance you increase after just two months. And then to continue to watch that increase as you keep having these assessments is a really cool thing. And I can tell you, Lee, one hundred percent of everybody that has ever participated in our program and had a baseline assessment and a reassessment two months later has shown improvement literally one hundred percent. And it’s not rocket science. If you consistently do strength training, you get stronger. That’s just what happens. But it’s pretty amazing to see and having the progress be measured and really tangible. Data capture ways is a very cool thing to be a part of.
Lee Kantor: [00:07:34] Now is this a service that you expect people to stay with this kind of forever? Or is this something that it gets them to a certain point? And then they join a gym where they have access to more equipment and more challenging workouts?
Eric Levitan: [00:07:47] So at the end of the day, we want this to be a part of everybody’s habit. The the way that we all age is you naturally lose muscle mass and it’s progressive. So the older you get, the faster you lose it. This is not something you can do for eight weeks and you’re done or 12 weeks or 16 weeks. This has to be something that every human being on the planet does for the rest of their life. Now that’s a pretty intimidating thing to hear, but it’s also the truth. And so helping create that awareness and education is important to know that just like you want to incorporate walking into your daily routine, you want to be doing strength training two to three times a week for really as long as you humanly can. And that will have a significant difference on your quality of life and independence. And if people need a program like Vivo to continue and create that accountability, we absolutely want to be that partner. If you need vivo to get started and then you develop the motivation to do this on your own and join the gym, that is certainly something that will encourage. But this is creating the awareness and education around the need to do strength training as a really significant part of your health and wellness profile for really the rest of your days. So that’s it’s an important thing to understand.
Lee Kantor: [00:09:00] Now is the buyer of the service, the actual senior or the adult. That’s fifty five and older who says, You know what? I have an exercise. I see the importance and value of this, so I’m going to sign up. Or is it the kid of somebody maybe who has just fallen or is having some sort of issues that they believe that health and wellness might be, you know, might help them age a little better, maybe keep them in their house a little longer so they can stay independent?
Eric Levitan: [00:09:28] It’s a great question, Lee, and the answer is actually both. We have probably 60 percent of our current customer base. Maybe sixty five percent of our current customer base are individuals that came on their own. They are driven enough that they want to continue to age in place, maintain their independence and quality life, and they join a healthy dose again. That remaining kind of thirty five to 40 percent are actually adult children or family members or caregivers of older adults who join with them. And it’s this really cool experience. I’ll give you a very personal example of this. I do veeva with my dad twice a week, and we have done vivo together twice a week for the last 18 months. And not only is an amazing experience to watch my dad, who’s 80 years old, participate in a program like this and make just an unbelievable amount of progress and how it’s changed not only his strength and balance, but his quality of life and his other health outcomes, but it’s actually improved our relationship. We have a shared experience that we do twice a week together. You know, we used to talk on the phone once a week before the pandemic.
Eric Levitan: [00:10:36] What did you do this week? What did you do this week? It was kind of a very rote conversation. Now we actually see each other. My dad lives in Philadelphia, I live here in Atlanta. We get to see each other twice a week. We get to participate in this facilitated. Variants together, he sees me working hard, I see him working hard. There are elements of what we’re doing that get everybody talking. I’m learning more about my dad. He’s learning more about me. It’s this really incredible experience that I would love everybody to kind of have. That opportunity is not only helping your parents get healthier, but really furthering your relationship through a shared experience. And you know, the other kind of side effect of exercise is it releases endorphins. And I think when you’re done with an exercise class, you feel better. And I think the people that you do this program with, you naturally associate with more positive feelings because of what is happening on a chemical basis. And there’s something really profound about that, and it’s something that I’m glad you asked.
Lee Kantor: [00:11:33] Now, is it is it possible like you and your father have participating in the same class? Is it possible for me to get a family membership where me, my dad, maybe my brother can all be in the same class at the same time, and it’s under one kind of family membership?
Eric Levitan: [00:11:51] Absolutely. And we also see that where we’ll have four or five, six, even eight people who are all friends and family participating together. And quite honestly, that is an incredible experience to to witness because it’s one thing when strangers come together and begin to build community and the stickiness that that can create. It’s another thing entirely when an existing community or family and friends in this case join together and the camaraderie that happens right away. And it’s a really cool thing to witness. So yes, if if adult children and their respective parents and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles join together, it’s a really cool experience to watch.
Lee Kantor: [00:12:34] So what’s next for vivo? How do you kind of forecast next year? Is it just getting the word out and getting more people involved? Or are you partnering with different organizations to help grow the the brand?
Eric Levitan: [00:12:48] So it’s really both. I think from a direct to consumer perspective, we absolutely want to get the word out about what we’re doing. We were really fortunate to get connected with a journalist who wrote an article featuring us in the New York Times last year, and we saw the power of of exposure and awareness and what that can do in terms of of getting people to sign up and look again. This is something that literally whether you do, you know, vivo or not, everyone needs to be thinking about strength training. And so as we continue to promote this, get the word out and attract more customers, that’s that’s something that’s very much on our on our radar. But in parallel, how do we continue to develop those relationships with other businesses that are promoting health and wellness, whether they be health care providers, insurance companies, senior living communities, home care agencies, corporate wellness and employee benefits? There’s an awful lot of opportunity to really develop relationships and partnerships with organizations that this can provide some significant added value, help improve health outcomes, help reduce costs, and I think there’s a fabulous opportunity there.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:57] So if somebody wants to learn more, what’s the website?
Eric Levitan: [00:14:00] The website is Team Vivo team. As in Tim, when you join Vivo, you become a part of a team and what you will see is an opportunity. A because of the holidays, there are some really attractive gift packages that are out there, but just as importantly, if not more importantly, we offer free intro classes. And that’s a really important thing to note because for a lot of us, when we think about the term, whether you’re, you know, fifty five and older or younger, the term strength training can sometimes conjure up an image that feels a little scary and feels like something that isn’t us. And really, the truth of the matter is it’s again not to belabor the point. It’s something that we all need to be thinking about and doing as we age. And so we want to show people that this is something that is accessible for anybody. Regardless of your age or fitness level, you can engage in a strength training program at any point in your life and build strength and function and change the course of how you’re aging. You can regain your quality of life, you can maintain your independence and age in place, and we want to allow people the opportunity to experience that for themselves. So you’ll see a button to join a free class, and it’s a great way to experience in a very non-threatening way, very accessible to just experience a class. Understand how this works and the fact that you know what? You can do it. You may think that you can’t, but everyone can do it, and it’s a really cool thing to watch.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:28] Well, congratulations on all the success, and thank you so much for sharing your story today.
Eric Levitan: [00:15:33] I really appreciate the opportunity. Lee, Thanks. All right,
Lee Kantor: [00:15:35] This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Atlanta Business Radio.
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This transcript is machine transcribed by 
