Anne Mahlum, solidcore: Strategies for Building and Selling a $100M Brand

“Write down how you're spending your time, then I want you to think back to a year ago and write down how you're spending your time. If those things are the same and you're wondering why your business hasn't grown at the level you want, you have your answer"

Some founders build businesses by following a blueprint. Others build by questioning everything they see, and deciding there has to be a better way.

Anne Mahlum falls firmly into the second category. Long before launching solidcore, she was already paying attention to patterns: how people lived, how they worked, and what felt misaligned. That instinct to challenge the default shaped every chapter of her career, from nonprofit leadership to building one of the most recognizable boutique fitness brands in the country.

Her path into entrepreneurship wasn’t linear. It started with experimentation, mistakes, and moments where the execution didn’t match the ambition. But those early experiences gave her something more valuable than a perfect start, they taught her how to build, iterate, and move quickly.

What makes Anne’s story stand out isn’t just the scale of what she built, but how she approached it. From negotiating creatively to grow without debt, to being intentional about control when bringing in private equity, to building a company that could operate without her, every decision was tied to a clear vision of the end goal.

In this episode of the Entreprenista Podcast, Anne shares what it actually takes to scale a business, the mindset required to go all in, and how to think about growth, leadership, and exit strategy from the very beginning.

You can listen to the podcast here on Spotify and Apple Podcast.

Here are a few moments from the podcast:

Her earliest instinct wasn’t about business, it was about rejecting a life that didn’t feel right:
“I grew up in North Dakota, so I just remember being very curious about why everybody lived their life the way that I saw them living and that there had to be another way to do this. I saw a lot of homogeneous behavior.

It felt like everyone was tired all the time, and I just thought there had to be another way to live.

That curiosity pulled me away from North Dakota and into trying new things and putting myself in different environments to see what actually felt aligned.”

Her first entrepreneurial experience came with a painful but defining lesson:
“And I had this idea to put on a 5K around election time, called the Dash for Democracy with the tagline, give your voice legs. I loved every second of the idea of like I created this thing from nothing. But I completely messed up the financial side. I was $50,000 over budget and almost got fired.

That was my first real lesson. I realized I could be a great entrepreneur, but I had to figure out the financial piece..”

Her approach to leadership shifted when she realized where real change comes from:
“It’s up to me to be the kind of leader that helps people realize they are capable of excellence. I’m going to create an environment that brings that out of them.

A lot of people say they can’t find good talent, but I push back on that. What kind of leader are you? Are you creating a place where people can succeed?

That responsibility sits with you.”

She built her mindset by refusing to default to fear, even when it would have been easier:
“I refuse to talk to myself in a disempowering way. That doesn’t mean I know all the answers or don’t make mistakes, but I don’t let myself go there.

I trust myself to be resourceful enough to figure things out. If I don’t have the answer, it’s my job to find it or find the person who does.

I had way more to lose by choosing not to believe in myself than by choosing to be confident.”

One decision captured what it really means to go all in:
“I had an offer for $75,000 for 30% of Solidcore before I even opened my first studio. I thought about taking it because it felt like the safe, smart move.

And it was like, wait a minute. Now I'm already talking about this thing not working. I'm already saying out loud if this doesn't work. I can't have any of that as I'm ready to go all in and open this studio. 

If I took that money, I was reinforcing that I didn’t trust myself. So I said no. I had to go all in and be forced to figure it out when things got hard.”

Her biggest scaling advantage came from focusing on constraints, not just growth:
“When I thought about scaling, I asked myself what’s actually standing in the way. For us, it was landlords and cash flow.

I didn’t have the money to open multiple locations the traditional way, so I had to get creative. I negotiated terms, delayed payments, structured deals differently so I could keep growing without taking on debt.

As a founder, your job is to look at where the biggest financial impact is and spend your time there. That’s what actually moves the business forward.”

Her most direct advice to founders comes down to how they use their time:
“If you write down how you’re spending your time today and compare it to a year ago, and it’s the same, that’s why your business hasn’t grown.

As the CEO, your time should be tied to the highest financial impact in the business.

If you’re doing things someone else could do, you’re playing small. And if you’re playing small, your business will stay small too.”

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You may also like:

• How to Build a Personal Brand That Drives Revenue (Without Burning Out)
• Main Character Energy: 4 Steps to Own Your Brand Story
• Building a Business to Sell and Pitching to Investors with Jaclyn Johnson of Create & Cultivate 

Connect with Anne:

• ⁠Website⁠
• ⁠@annemahlum⁠ on Instagram
• ⁠Linkedin⁠

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Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Entreprenista Podcast - the most fun business meeting for women founders and leaders. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

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Updated on: May 1, 2026