Carl Daikeler, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer
There's a business philosophy that has served Carl Daikeler well throughout his 25-year career: if it generates reasonable profit at the same time that it helps the customer succeed, it's a business worth pursuing.
Carl is the creator of Beachbody.com, which includes top brands like P90X®, Power 90®, Slim in 6®, INSANITY®, and Shakeology®. While there was no shortage of workout DVDs prior to Beachbody, the combination of Daikeler's personal pursuit to maintain his own health and fitness and his perception of the health care crisis due to obesity has redefined in-home fitness. What is now referred to as "The Beachbody Approach" to in-home fitness programs has gained the attention of over ten million satisfied customers and generated over $1.3 billion in sales. And he's just getting started.
As co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Product Partners, Carl's sole focus is to help people achieve their goals to lead healthy, fulfilling lives. Through the Team Beachbody Coach Network, Carl's goal is to create the largest community of health and fitness–related peer support in the world, devoted to a three-pronged approach: (1) Stay active, (2) Improve your nutrition, and (3) Share the experience with people around you.
Having worked for every major infomercial marketer, including beauty juggernaut Guthy-Renker, Carl has 23 years of extensive product marketing experience. He has learned during his career that the most successful companies aren't those who just sell products, but those who sell products that truly deliver on their promises.
Carl has worked in every aspect of the direct response business, from creating products to advertising, media buying, operations, international distribution, and general management.
His first foray into fitness product development was as co-founder of TelAmerica Media, where he created 8-Minute Abs®. In 1998, he assembled 20 angel investors to launch Product Partners and the Beachbody brand, which in ten years has legitimized fitness products sold on TV and the Internet, and developed hundreds of thousands of fans.
In 2007 Carl launched Team Beachbody®, the first multi-level marketing (MLM) business focused on a holistic approach to fitness and weight loss. With a database of 7 million people, it leverages $100MM a year in advertising—another industry first. By putting the rewards for living a healthy lifestyle into the hands of the people who have the most to gain by getting healthy, Team Beachbody added the first scalable financial incentive to the obesity problem, which has reached epic proportions. The MLM has already recruited 20,000 distributors and is charting plans for rapid expansion, including the U.S. Hispanic and international markets.
Carl lives in Los Angeles, California, with wife Isabelle and two children.
Read Carl's blog.
Jon Congdon, President, Beachbody, LLC
As co-founder of Beachbody, LLC, Jon Congdon is instrumental in shaping the mission of the company and expanding its vision and growth. He's involved in the management of product marketing, e-commerce, and business operations, and oversees media distribution channels to increase the Beachbody® market worldwide. He oversees Breakthrough in Beauty®, Product Partners' beauty division.
Jon's commitment to creating well-tested, effective products has helped the company build a reputation for quality programs and merchandise that deliver real results. He was even a test group participant for the Power 90® and P90X® fitness programs, and drives the quarterly internal company-wide fitness challenges as well.
After launching his career at Procter & Gamble, Jon traveled the world "on walkabout" before teaching science for more than three years in California. In 1995, he launched his own educational consulting firm, but soon felt the call back to the world of marketing entrepreneurship. In 1996, he joined leading infomercial marketer Guthy-Renker, where he met Carl Daikeler, and the two collaborated on multiple national marketing campaigns before founding Product Partners in 1998.
Jon, along with Carl, was a finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year® award in 2005. He holds seats on two boards, including his second term on the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) Board of Directors. In 2009, he testified in Washington, D.C., in front of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance as a representative of the marketing industry, supporting the right to use inspirational testimonials in advertising.
Jon graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, and holds a degree in political science with an emphasis in American constitutional law and international relations. He can often be found on the beaches of Southern California pursuing his favorite sport, beach volleyball.
Lara Ross, Vice President of Development
As Vice President of Development, Lara's primary responsibility is developing Beachbody® fitness brands and producing infomercials. She identifies new products and develops them from concept to completion.
Lara has spent more than 12 years developing and marketing new fitness products and infomercials. Prior to joining Beachbody, Lara was with GoodTimes Entertainment in New York.
Since joining Beachbody in 2004, Lara has helped expand Beachbody's mission by developing and marketing the highest-quality products and services available to those who want to lose weight, get in shape, and change their lives. She focuses primarily on the Turbo Jam®, Hip Hop Abs®, ChaLEAN Extreme®, Brazil Butt Lift®, 10-Minute Trainer®, Slim in 6®, and INSANITY® brands.
Lara is a native New Yorker and graduated from New York University. She now runs the Beachbody NYC office.
