Anne Mahlum has built a career by refusing to blend in with the crowd.
The 43-year-old entrepreneur boasts an unmistakable look – spiky blonde hair, tattoos, and six-pack abs – and established her boutique fitness chain, Solidcore, in 2013. She expanded it nationwide before selling it to a private equity firm in April.
Between the acquisition and two previous investment deals, Mahlum cashed out her Solidcore equity for a total of $88.4 million – and she attributes that success to her refusal to conform.
“I try to find the uniqueness in things, and then I amplify them … it really has been a huge part of my success,” Mahlum tells CNBC Make It. “A lot of times, people try to hide in the herd, and we try to fit in, and I think that’s the worst advice.”
Anne Mahlum started the boutique fitness chain Solidcore in 2013. She sold it for $88.4 million a decade later.
CNBC Make It
In the case of Solidcore, Mahlum transformed a challenging Pilates workout into a national brand focused on physical strength, breaking away from the traditional “cute” and dainty marketing. Participants in her classes push themselves to second-stage muscle failure while being motivated by coaches in blue-lit rooms.
Her mindset was shaped by her difficult childhood, marked by her parents’ divorce when she was 16. Her father’s gambling addiction led to the loss of their family savings. Running became her coping mechanism, and she became fixated on taking control of her own life.
“I didn’t want to be hurt … and I felt like if I can just make an impact, or have a life I’m in control of and empowered [by], that I would escape feeling hurt,” she says. “I think a lot of my drive actually came from fear.”
Her relentless approach has propelled her to build a fitness empire with over 100 locations in the U.S., but it has also led to legal and professional challenges.
Solidcore’s first location in Washington D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood closed after a year due to noise complaints. Mahlum faced lawsuits from a former business partner over machine licensing and an ex-boyfriend who claimed ownership in Solidcore. Both cases were resolved in mediation.
In 2020, during the gym industry downturn, Mahlum laid off multiple employees who helped launch Solidcore. Later that year, she faced allegations of fostering a toxic and abusive workplace in a BuzzFeed News report. This prompted an employee petition for her resignation.
In response, Mahlum instructed her company’s board to conduct an independent investigation of Solidcore’s culture. She remained CEO until April 2021 and executive chairwoman until her recent departure. The experience, she says, didn’t change her “tough, demanding” leadership style, but it did teach her to balance her drive with boundaries and empathy.
“When we had to do some of those layoffs [I didn’t realize] I was taking away [former employees’] social life, their workout life, their friendships, not just their job,” Mahlum says. [As CEO], “I had to create an environment that was necessary … for Solidcore to be successful. But when it ended for people, it was really hard.”
A lifelong athlete, Mahlum says she decided to start Solidcore after being humbled by a L.A.-based Pilates class.
CNBC Make It
Mahlum always planned to sell Solidcore, focusing her strengths on bringing concepts to life and developing communities. She launched her next venture the same month she exited the company, a New York-based fitness studio chain called Ambition.
Whenever people question her about her success, Mahlum dismisses the idea of luck, calling the question sexist.
“I sort of pause and look at them, and I’m like, ‘Who do you think has been driving the bus the entire time?'” Mahlum says. “In reality, I had a really clear vision from the very beginning … and I never wavered from that goal.”
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