In this 6‑questions‑in‑7‑minutes interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Batista Gremaud, CEO and President of Dr. Fitness International. Gremaud explains his company’s focus on strength‑training programs for anti‑aging, injury prevention, rehabilitation, and weight loss, and critiques the common reliance on treadmill cardio for weight loss. He advises business leaders to always read the table of contents of any book to quickly grasp its relevance. The core leadership insight he shares is that executives must prioritize their own health first, as neglecting physical well‑being leads to reduced performance, decision‑making ability, and ultimately sick time. Gremaud recounts his personal journey from a professional dancer teaching at his mother’s academy to a fitness entrepreneur, noting his own recovery from dance injuries, his current age (61), and his ability to leg‑press 650 lb. He recommends his husband, Stephen Hursey (Dr. Fitness USA), as a future podcast guest. The episode closes with a promotional invitation: listeners can visit drfitnessusa.com and mention the podcast for a free consultation.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Well, hi, my name is Batista Grimal, and I'm the CEO and president at Dr. Fitness International. And I provide corporate and wellness, fitness wellness programs with a specialty in strength training for anti-aging, injury prevention and rehabilitation, and anti-aging and weight loss, of course.
Well, Bautista, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. Question number 2, what is something that makes you smile and/or laugh about working in your industry?
Yes, so I smile kind of with a little bit of sadness is when I see people that want to lose weight, spend a lot of time on the treadmill are doing a lot of aerobics and it's difficult and they have to huff and puff. And, you know, because really with a little bit of education, knowing that this is not really the best way to lose weight, a lot of people are just doing a lot of things that are just not necessary. So it's a little bit of a sad smile, but it's like, ah, you know, what you gonna do?
Absolutely, I totally get that. Question number 3, I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Well, I think most companies and myself, I would definitely not miss the table of contents. The table of contents is very revealing because it gives you a gist of what the whole book is about, if you even want to read the book. But in the table of contents, you can kind of read behind the lines and sometimes get a lot of answers just about what you're looking for. So I would never read a book without reading the table of contents first, and I think everybody should.
I agree with you. Yeah, for any book that you're interested in, you need to know what's included in that book, obviously.
Right.
Question number 4. Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
Well, I love this question. Love, love, love. Take care of yourself first. Okay? Because the number one reason that people don't want to work out or take care of their bodies or whatever, do whatever exercise, is because they have no time, they're busy, especially entrepreneur. But you know what? Those who do not have time to take care of their physical health eventually will have time to be sick. And to, you know, so you cannot be a powerful leader if you're not healthy, if you're brain fogged, if you, you know, so take care of yourself first. You'll save time, you'll increase your leadership skills, skills. You'll make more, you'll make better decisions, clarity of mind, focus, and your life will be better all around.
I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, people don't take— they take their health for granted so often. And without your health, nothing else matters, in my opinion. And obviously with you too. I mean, it's that insight, because if you're lying in bed, you can't, you know, you're too sick to do anything other than try and recover. What good are you to your business, your family, etc.? Am I right?
Absolutely. And it's even more than that because a lot of times it's not necessarily about being sick in bed and trying to recover, but it's just not functioning at peak performance. So you get by but not realizing how much time you're wasting and and just because you're just not at your peak.
Absolutely.
So yeah, definitely.
And that's very insightful because in addition to our health, our, you know, time is such a valuable asset for us. So you hit the nail on the head. Thank you for that. Question number 5, what other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Well, you know what? A great guest on your show would be my husband, Dr. Fitness USA. Because he's amazing and he's the founder of this program that we teach that is changing life worldwide and is just amazing. And he's Stephen Hursey, also known as Dr. Fitness USA.
Perfect. And our final question, question number 6: please tell me about your first job.
So my first job was as a dance teacher, and, uh, you know, I was a a professional dancer my whole life before I made this career transition into the fitness world. And I think I was about 12 years old and my mother has a dance— had a dance academy. And my first job was teaching dance in her dance academy.
Well, that's really neat. And I mean, it's obviously, you know, that's something that you have to, to, to maintain a good health to be a good dancer. Am I right?
Well, you know, I was pretty healthy my whole life and pretty fit, but I had a lot of injuries over time dancing for my whole life. And that's when I met Dr. Fitness USA. And when I started on this program, I healed all my injuries really quickly. So I married him and made a career transition. And here I am now, the fitness guru, helping people get stronger. And, and by the way, I'm 61 years old and I leg press 650 pounds.
So Wow, that is amazing. And you look fantastic. So obviously that, that career transition really did you wonders.
Yeah, it did. It did do me wonders. And I love helping people, you know, achieve the same thing. People think that you have to be in pain. When you are in pain, they don't think that there is a way out. But I found the fountain of youth and I love to share it.
I love that. And that's a great way to look at it, the fountain of youth. So, Bautista, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
Oh, and go to drfitnessusa.com. Dr. is D-R, fitnessusa.com. And if you tell me that you came from this show, I will offer you a complimentary consultation, no charge.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Find hundreds of previous episodes on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for listening.
