Founderâs Story
Sean Greeley, Athlete, Coach, Entrepreneur, Husband and Father
When youâre 26 and you hear a doctor on the other end of the line say âI donât mean to scare you, but itâs Stage IV Melanoma Cancer and you must get to surgery immediatelyâ (knowing Stage V cancer is terminal) â your life changes in a profound way.
People often wonder how I went from being a professional wakeboarder to founding and becoming CEO of NPE.
How a high school kid from New England turned down scholarships for both Track & Field AND Music (I played cello for 12 years) to move to Florida in 1996 to follow his dream of competing professionally in wakeboarding.
(You can imagine my parentsâ reactionsâŚ)
Or how that same guy later walked out of his first class at business school saying âscrew that!â â leaving $10,000 of the 1st semesterâs tuition on the table â would go on to found and grow a company that has been listed 8 times on the Inc. 500 List of Fastest-Growing Privately Owned US Corporations (2010-2017).
Well, Iâm not your average CEO and NPE isnât your average company.
Since 2006, weâve helped over 45,000+ fitness entrepreneurs in 96+ countries grow to the next level. Weâve been listed 8x on the Inc 500/5000 list of fastest growing companies, and weâre a global team with offices in Los Angeles, London, and Sydney.
Itâs been incredible to watch how this company has grown over these past 14+ years. And Iâm proud of my team and thankful to all those who have made it possible.
NPEâs evolution has been my lifeâs evolution.
The heart and history of the company is intertwined with my own. Itâs really the culmination of the 4 core aspects of who I am: athlete, coach, entrepreneur, and husband/father.
And getting that phone call was the turning point.
At a point in my life where I was struggling to figure out âwhatâs next?â it finally brought many aspects of my life together and made my path clear.
Trust meâŚit doesnât get much clearer than that!
Facing death forced me to figure out what was really important to me and what I really wanted in life.
First and foremost, I am an athlete.
Sports and fitness have been a lifelong passion and pursuit of mine. Itâs one of the reasons NPE chose to focus on helping coaches and fitness businesses to achieve their dreams.
I played a lot of sports growing up. I raced downhill skiing (my Mum was a ski instructor), ran the 400m in high school â making it to the New England Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, USA â but by far my favorite times were summers at the lake, enjoying waterskiing (my dad taught me how to waterski when I was 5) and then eventually wakeboarding.
After graduating in 2001, with my Undergraduate degree in Psychology and Business Management from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, USA. I worked my way up the ranks to compete on the US Team in the 2001 Wakeboarding World Championships in Duisburg, Germany and again at the 2002 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Second, Iâm a coach.
While wakeboarding I began coaching. Initially, I just coached wakeboarding and gymnastics part-time, but that eventually transitioned into coaching fitness and conditioning for both athletes and adults.
My first client was an elderly gentleman named Bob. He was my âworkout partnerâ at Ballyâs gym because you couldnât technically be a trainer there if you werenât working for them.
Bob struggled with some injuries and in working together we restored him with enough strength and flexibility to enjoy his passions of golf, activities with his family, and more.
Iâll never forget coaching him through some movements one day â in an old stripped out racquetball court filled with Hammer Strength equipment â when I realized âthis is what Iâm supposed to be doing with my life.â
In that single moment working with Bob, I discovered that helping someone overcome a problem they were facing, achieve a personal goal, and improve their life was the most rewarding and personally fulfilling work I could possibly do with my life.
As I finished up my wakeboarding career, my parents suggested I go back to graduate school and get an MBA⌠because âcoachingâ wasnât considered a professional career. So I enrolled in an MBA program.
Went to my first day of class, listened to the professor (who was making $50,000/year and had never run a business), and looked around at the kids in the room who didnât want to work and were in the program to âextend their college party experienceâ and then go climb a corporate ladder someplace. I knew it wasnât for me. So, I got up and walked out.
Wasnât sure how I would make it all work, but I knew Iâd find a way by following my passion in coaching, sports, and fitness.
Third, I’m an entrepreneur.
While coaching, I became very good at one thing quickly: ensuring the clients I worked with got AMAZING results and reached their goals.
Within 3 years I evolved from just myself working part-time, to having 2 locations and a staff of 8 coaches working for me.
We served over 653 clients during that time period and became known for both outstanding service and delivering results-based fitness programs to our clients.
I learned A LOT about business during those 3 years. From sales, to marketing, to management, to finance⌠I devoured every book, CD, course, newsletter, workshop, and more I could get my hands on. I also found some great mentors that helped me along the way.
I kept learning, and learning, and learning.
But something was missing.
I wasnât feeling challenged anymore.
I knew how to build a fitness business, and doing it a 3rd or 4th time just wasnât very exciting to me. I needed a new challenge.
Thatâs when I got the wake up callâŚ
During a visit home to see my family for the holidays, my Mum noticed I had a freckle turning dark on my forehead (Iâm Irish⌠we get freckles). I agreed to see a dermatologist and get it looked at, but thought nothing of it.
Saw the doctor and got the call a week later saying that I had Stage IV Melanoma Cancer.
I was rushed into a nuclear imaging center and found myself surrounded by patients that were clearly dying. They took out a chunk of my scalp (have a good scar right on my hairline) along with 8 lymph nodes to see how things were spreading. Suffice to say, it was a nerve-wracking, scary and uncertain time in my life.
But working with my oncology team, I was able to avoid chemotherapy by a very slim margin. I made it out a very lucky man and have fortunately been cancer-free since.
Needless to say, the near death experience changed my life in a profound way.
I was fortunate enough to sell my successful businesses and took some time to regroup, focus on my health, and figure out what I wanted to really do with my life.
Thatâs when I started doing a little consulting for some friends of mine who owned gyms and were actively coaching clients.
That led to the birth of NPE in 2006.
We were just a small consulting firm, not sure of how to grow.
That all changed when we attended a Dan Kennedy/GKIC INFO-SUMMIT⢠event in November of 2006.
Sitting in the audience, I remember listening to the inspiring and transformational stories of business (and life) success from the top Information Marketers. I suddenly realized what was possible, what we could actually achieve. Right then I made the decision: to come back and win the coveted âInformation Marketing Company of the Year Awardâ.
The concepts and strategies we learned there changed the game for NPE.
Just 2 years later we were back on that stage, winning that award, after growing NPE from $60,000 worth of revenue in 2006 (read no profits) to $2.4 Million in Revenue (finally some profits!) just 24 months later.
In 2007, NPE went international. The Fit For Profit group in Australia reached out about licensing NPE products and services to Australia. We supported them in growing the region from 2007 to 2012, and launched the first Australia #MEGATRAINING event in Melbourne in 2007. Then in 2013 we merged and launched NPE Asia-Pacific to expand NPEâs offerings under the global brand to further support growing beyond Australia into the Asia-Pacific region.Â
In 2012 NPE expanded into the U.K., opening the first office in Haywards Heath and eventually in London at Tower Bridge serving the UK and European markets.
And back in North America, NPE went fully remote with a new hub in Santa Monica, CA in 2018.Â
Since 2006, weâve helped over 45,000+ fitness entrepreneurs in 96+ countries grow from zero to powerful 6, 7, and 8+ figure business owners.
Weâve been listed 8x on the Inc 500/5000 list of fastest growing companies, and recognized as the #1 Management and Training education company in the UK.Â
Today weâre a global team with offices in Los Angeles, London, and Sydney.
In addition to international growth, during the last several years, NPE has established great partnerships with leading fitness organizations around the world, such as National Academy of Sports Medicine, canfitpro, Fitness Australia, the Association of Fitness Studios, and others to help transform the industry.
Our mission is to empower fitness professionals and business owners around the world with the business systems, tools, and coaching they need to grow their business, create the life they want, and make a bigger impact in their communities.
Iâve continued to focus on leading and growing NPE, both in the USA and internationally.Â
The work we do allows me to give back and help more people than I ever dreamed possible.
Fourth, Iâm a husband and a father.
While growing NPE, Iâve spent a fair amount of time living overseas in the UK and Australia.
I met my wife Myka while living in Sydney, Australia. Sheâs a former world-champion jump rope competitor and PR manager.
We have an 18-month-old son named Bo Jackson Greeley (yes, #BoKnows).
Regardless of my professional accomplishments, becoming a husband and father have been the two BEST things that have ever happened to me in my life.
If youâre a parent, you know what Iâm talking about.
Doing meaningful work, making a difference in the lives of others, while also being there to support those you care about and love⌠thatâs the incredible freedom and power that building a successful business gives you.
My story (and the NPE story!) continues. Â
I hope you will be intrigued to learn more about NPE and join us to grow your business and create the life you want!
Sean Greeley
Founder & CEO of NPE