ETS Performance
Jed Schmidt's Personal Brand Strategy
Positioning, Content, Platform Playbooks, and Speaking Templates
Section One
Every piece of content maps to one of these pillars. No content exists outside them.
The primary pillar. Jed's authority comes from knowing the franchise model intimately and building an alternative that outperforms it. Content attacks structural flaws with specific data: the $49,750 franchise fees, coaching turnover economics, investor-vs-coach misalignment.
Content Themes
Target: Franchise industry, PE firms, business media
Speaks directly to the 15,000+ college S&C coaches nationally. Jed built the system that lets coaches keep coaching while earning $100K-$200K. He designed the three-month boot camp, the revenue share structure, and the talent pipeline from college programs.
Content Themes
Target: College S&C coaches, NSCA community, aspiring operators
Establishes credibility with parents and sports medicine. Jed positions as the CEO who deployed VALD force plates at 50+ locations for youth athletes, partnered with Mayo Clinic, and invested in evidence-based infrastructure at network scale.
Content Themes
Target: Industry press, healthcare partners, evidence-seeking parents
Section Two
Evidence that establishes credibility. Specificity is the brand voice -- every claim cites a number.
Former Anytime Fitness Executive
Understands the investor-operator model from the inside -- fee structures, royalties, unit economics
10 to 50+ Locations Without Franchise Fees
Competitors charge $40K-$50K. ETS charges $0. Growth funded by revenue share economics, not capital extraction.
Inc. 5000 (2024)
External, institutional validation of the growth thesis from a recognized business authority
75% Annual Member Retention
Structural outcome of revenue share alignment -- the director earns more when the athlete develops more
12+ Pro Athlete Investor-Owners
Kirk Cousins, Chad Greenway, Adam Thielen, Harrison Phillips, CJ Ham -- invested, not endorsed
CEO Interviews Every Director
Personal selection of every operator -- filtering for coaching identity, not capital availability
3-Month Residential Boot Camp
Housing provided. Competitors offer 3-5 day orientation. The quality filter that replaces the capital filter.
The College S&C Talent Pipeline
"The honeypot" -- hundreds of CSCS-certified, master's-degreed coaches at $52K-$78K. No competitor recruits from this pool.
$100K-$200K Director Earnings
Revenue share tied to facility performance. Same CSCS certification, same coaching floor, structurally different economics.
0% Competitor Saturation on Revenue Share
No direct competitor uses revenue share instead of franchise fees. Open white space in the entire industry.
VALD Force Plates at Network Scale
Only EXOS and IMG Academy come close. Deployed across 50+ locations for youth athletes -- unprecedented.
Mayo Clinic Research Partnership
Longitudinal data on youth athletic development. Not a logo partnership -- a data pipeline for research.
Catapult + Hawkin Dynamics Stack
Multi-technology deployment at youth training scale. Same tools used by NFL and Olympic programs.
Near 50/50 Male/Female Participation
Exceptionally rare in the industry. Evidence that the training model appeals across gender lines.
5% Competitor Saturation on Deceleration
70% of ACL injuries occur during deceleration. ETS addresses it at every facility. The industry does not.
Section Three
Jed writes like an insider who left. His authority comes from knowing how franchises actually work -- and having the standing to say "there's a better way" because he built one.
Open with a specific number or structural observation
"D1 Training charges $49,750 in franchise fees. We charge $0. Here's what changes when you remove the capital barrier."
Name competitors directly when citing public data
"Athletic Republic: $50,000 fee. $300K-$674K total. ETS: $0. Same market, different economics."
Close with a question the audience would actually answer
"If you could change one thing about the S&C career path, what would it be?"
Use structural critique, not personal attacks
"Nobody puts coaching turnover on the P&L. But it's the line item that explains why 75% of youth athletes change programs within two years."
The sell is implicit -- the insight is the product
"Revenue share alignment produces 75% annual member retention. That's not a marketing number. It's a structural outcome."
"We're disrupting the fitness industry"
Generic startup language. State the structural difference instead.
"Hey everyone" / "So excited to share"
Open with data. Never with pleasantries. First three seconds are the hook.
"Like if you agree!" / "Drop a comment below"
Engagement bait. Instead, close with a real question the audience would discuss.
"World-class" / "Elite" / "Best-in-class"
Empty adjectives. Replace with the specific data point that earns the claim.
"Our amazing team" / "We're proud to announce"
Corporate boilerplate. Jed's LinkedIn never reads like an ETS marketing post.
"Game-changer" / "Revolutionizing"
Hyperbolic. Let the data speak. 50+ facilities, $0 fees, Inc. 5000 -- the evidence is the claim.
Links in the post body
LinkedIn algorithm suppresses posts with links. Always put links in the first comment.
Structural
Attack the model, not the people. Identify misaligned incentives. Show the mechanism.
Specific
$49,750 not "expensive." 75% not "high." Three months not "rigorous." Numbers earn trust.
Direct
No hedging. No "I think." State the observation, show the data, let the reader draw conclusions.
Conviction
A CEO who bet his career on this. The tone is earned certainty, backed by three and a half years of data.
Section Four
Week 1: Establish the thesis. Week 2: Data and proof. Week 3: Director stories. Week 4: Industry engagement and forward narrative.
Mon · Day 1
The Franchise Insider's Confession
"I came from Anytime Fitness. Here's why I built the opposite."
Tue · Day 2
College S&C to ETS Director: The Math
Carousel: $49,750 vs. $0 franchise fee comparison in 6 slides
Wed · Day 3
Coaching Turnover: The Hidden P&L Line
"The franchise model's biggest cost isn't royalties."
Thu · Day 4
The Irrational Bet
"Every franchise exec would have called this approach irrational."
Fri · Day 5
I Interview Every Director
"The CEO interview is not scalable. That's the point."
Mon · Day 8
The Capital Barrier Myth
"D1 charges $49,750. We charge $0. Here's what happens to quality."
Tue · Day 9
What ~10% of Facilities Have
Carousel: VALD force plates, bilateral asymmetry data, 6-week re-tests
Wed · Day 10
Invested, Not Endorsed
"12 pro athletes wrote checks. Endorsements are marketing. Investments are conviction."
Thu · Day 11
The Honeypot
"We recruit at NSCA conferences. Competitors recruit at franchise expos."
Fri · Day 12
The Exposure Economy Myth
"70% quit by 13. Less than 2% earn a scholarship. Force plates measure development."
Mon · Day 15
The Midnight FDD
"He opened the franchise disclosure document at midnight. $49,750. He had $8,200."
Tue · Day 16
Franchise Playbook vs. ETS Model
Side-by-side carousel: fees, onboarding, operator role, retention
Wed · Day 17
The ACL Gap
"Female athletes are 2-8x more likely to tear their ACL. Most programs don't measure it."
Thu · Day 18
Three Months Before One Session
"Other franchises offer a 3-day orientation and a binder."
Fri · Day 19
Why Do You Still Want to Coach?
"The question I ask every director candidate." Engagement post.
Mon · Day 22
The $0 Fee Long-Form
LinkedIn Article: 1,500-2,000 words. Full structural argument against the capital barrier.
Tue · Day 23
A Day in the Life
Carousel: ETS director's schedule, 5:30am to evening. Coach and own, both, every day.
Wed · Day 24
10 to 80 Without Franchise Fees
"In 2020: 10 locations. Summer 2026: 80. All without franchise fees."
Thu · Day 25
Mayo Clinic: Not for the Logo
"The data is the product. The partnership is the proof."
Fri · Day 26
100 Buildings, 100 Coaches Who Own
"That's not a franchise goal. That's a model proof."
Days 29-30: Repurpose & Engage
Repurpose top 3 posts into Twitter/X threads. Compile best comments into a follow-up post. DM the 10-15 most engaged commenters. Review analytics to adjust Month 2 calendar.
Section Five
Channel-specific strategies for each platform where Jed builds authority.
5,000+
Followers by Month 3
50+
Avg. comments per post
3+
Inbound media/podcast inquiries
Target 2-3 business/franchise podcast appearances per month and 1-2 S&C/coaching podcast appearances per month. Each episode generates 10+ social clips.
60-Second Origin
Anytime Fitness → joined ETS at 10 locations → the structural flaw → the bet (10 to 100 in 5 years) → 50+ facilities, Inc. 5000, $0 fees.
Three Signature Stories
The Midnight FDD ($49,750 vs. $8,200). A director's before/after ($52K to $137K). The VALD data moment (23% to 14% bilateral asymmetry).
Clip-Worthy Sound Bite
"The franchise model recruits investors. The athletes need coaches. We built the model that recruits coaches."
IFA Convention
International Franchise Association. The industry's main stage.
Franchise Update Conference
Franchise development executives. Where operators get recruited.
NSCA National Conference
The coaching community. Where ETS directors come from.
Inc. 5000 Conference
Growth story narrative. Leverages existing Inc. 5000 recognition.
Outbound
1x/quarter op-ed pitches to franchise trade press. Customize the angle per publication. Share FDD comparisons, unit economics, retention data.
Inbound Flywheel
Consistent LinkedIn thought leadership generates journalist interest. Target: 2+ business media features by Month 12. Build relationships with franchise industry analysts.
All platform playbooks shown for print. Interactive tabs available in the digital version.
Section Six
Ready-to-use openings for keynotes, podcasts, media pitches, and investor meetings.
Every franchise in youth sports follows the same playbook: charge the operator $40,000 to $50,000 in franchise fees, recruit at franchise expos, hand them a three-day orientation and a binder, and hope the coaches they hire at $40K don't leave by March. They always leave by March. And the parent standing in the lobby -- the one who just signed a $219 monthly commitment for their twelve-year-old -- will meet a new face next quarter. We built a model where the person in the lobby is the person who will be there next quarter, and the quarter after that, because their income depends on it. $0 franchise fees. Revenue share. Three-month residential boot camp. Fifty-plus facilities and growing. I'm Jed Schmidt, CEO of ETS Performance, and I want to show you what happens when you stop recruiting investors and start recruiting coaches.
I came from Anytime Fitness, so I understand the franchise model from the inside -- the fee structures, the royalties, the investor-operator economics. When I joined ETS Performance at 10 locations, I committed to something most franchise executives would call irrational: take it from 10 to 100 in five years without charging a single dollar in franchise fees. Three and a half years in, we'll hit 80 by this summer. Inc. 5000. Twelve pro athletes -- Kirk Cousins, Chad Greenway, Adam Thielen, among others -- who didn't endorse us, they invested their own money. And every single one of our 50-plus facility directors is a former college strength and conditioning coach who completed a three-month residential boot camp and still coaches on the floor 15 to 20 hours every week. The bet was that product quality would drive growth faster than franchise capital. The data says it does.
The youth sports franchise industry charges operators $40,000 to $50,000 to open a facility. ETS Performance charges $0. Instead of recruiting at franchise expos, ETS recruits from college strength and conditioning programs -- a talent pool of CSCS-certified, master's-degreed coaches making $52K to $78K that no competitor in the private sector targets. Directors complete a three-month residential boot camp with housing provided, coach on the floor every day, and earn $100K to $200K through revenue share tied directly to athlete development. CEO Jed Schmidt, formerly of Anytime Fitness, joined ETS at 10 locations and committed to 100 in five years. Three and a half years later: 50-plus facilities across 20-plus states, Inc. 5000, VALD force plate technology at every location, a Mayo Clinic research partnership, and twelve pro athlete investor-owners. The story is the single most contrarian economic choice in the franchise industry -- and the data that says it works.
The youth sports training market is $40 billion and dominated by franchise models with a structural flaw: they recruit operators for capital, not coaching competence. The result is a $49,750 entry cost that selects against the most qualified people in the industry, 12-18 month coaching turnover that families experience as a revolving door, and retention rates that are mediocre because the incentive structure doesn't align operator income with athlete outcomes. ETS Performance fixed that misalignment. Zero franchise fees. Revenue share compensation at $100K to $200K. A three-month residential boot camp that replaces the capital barrier with a competence barrier. The result: 50-plus facilities across 20-plus states, 75% annual member retention, Inc. 5000 recognition, and twelve pro athletes -- the most demanding performance consumers on the planet -- who evaluated the model and invested their own capital. We are targeting 100 facilities and we are three-quarters of the way there.
Section Seven
20 specific article and post titles organized by pillar, each with a one-line hook.
1. Why $0 Franchise Fees Produce Better Operators
The capital barrier is not a quality filter -- it's a coaching filter in reverse.
2. Nobody Puts Coaching Turnover on the P&L
The hidden cost that shows up in Yelp reviews, not on pro formas.
3. Scaling Without Franchise Capital: The Unit Economics
How a $0-fee model actually funds expansion when everyone says it can't.
4. Revenue Share vs. Royalties: A Structural Analysis
When the director earns more as the athlete develops, everything changes.
5. The Franchise Model's Blind Spot: Who Gets Filtered Out
$50K selects for capital. $0 selects for credentials. The talent pool is different.
6. What I Learned at Anytime Fitness About Why Models Break
An insider's structural critique -- not a grudge, but an observation with data.
7. 12 Pro Athletes Invested. None Endorsed. Here's Why.
When the most demanding consumers of athletic performance write checks, it's due diligence.
8. The Honeypot: An Invisible Talent Pool Nobody Recruits
Hundreds of CSCS-certified coaches watching their ceiling from the first paycheck.
9. We Recruit at NSCA Conferences. They Recruit at Franchise Expos.
Where you recruit defines who you get. And who you get defines your product.
10. From $52K to $137K: A College S&C Coach's First Year
Same CSCS. Same coaching floor. Different model. Real numbers.
11. Three Months, Not Three Days: Why Boot Camp Duration Matters
When a parent asks "how is this coach qualified?" the answer is the timeline.
12. The FDD at Midnight: What a $49,750 Page Feels Like at $8,200
The franchise model was not built for the people most qualified to run the facility.
13. Why I Personally Interview Every Director Candidate
The CEO interview is not scalable. That's the quality filter.
14. Coach and Own: The Career Path That Didn't Exist Until We Built It
The S&C profession had two exits -- climb or leave. We added a third.
15. Only ~10% Deploy Force Plates. We Deploy Them at 50+.
The gap between what the research says and what the industry does is where we operate.
16. The Exposure Myth: A $3,000 Lottery Ticket With 2% Odds
Development creates opportunity. Showcases measure attendance fees.
17. 70% of ACL Injuries Happen During Deceleration. 5% of Programs Train For It.
The most dangerous movement in youth sports is the one most facilities ignore.
18. We Partnered With Mayo Clinic. Not for the Logo.
10,000+ athletes. Six-week re-test cycles. A dataset useful to research institutions.
19. What Your Daughter's Bilateral Asymmetry Score Means
Female athletes are 2-8x more likely to tear their ACL. We measure the metric that predicts it.
20. 70% of Kids Quit Sports by 13. Here's What the Data Says About Why.
The dropout epidemic is not about interest. It's about how we train.