Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod to speak about time on The Amazing Race Canada
By Tyler Kula
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod
In the thick of The Amazing Race Canada’s second leg in Vancouver, Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod were getting ready to memorize and recreate Chinese calligraphy symbols.
“We never said a word to one another,” said Johnson, one half of the iconic Canadian fitness duo behind the healthy living show BodyBreak.
“All Joanne said to me was, ‘Let me know when you’re ready,’” he said. “When I was ready … we turned around, ran a kilometre and a half, did the calligraphy, handed it in, and not until I handed it in did I even think, ‘Oh gee, I wonder how Joanne did.’
“Because I had my job to do.”
That teamwork and trust, which Johnson says separated he and McLeod from the other eight teams competing in the televised race across Canada, can make all the difference, he said, when it comes to business.
“If everybody trusts one another, you’re going to do your own specific job and not worry about what somebody else has to do,” Johnson said. “And the company will be a lot better for it.”
That’s been the core of the duo’s message at dozens of speaking engagements they’ve booked since the CTV show began airing this summer.
The Oakville couple are keynote speakers at next month’s Sarnia-Lambton Business Week, also including Oliberte Footwear’s Tal Dehtiar, and singer-songwriter Emm Gryner.
The event has drawn several high-profile entrepreneurs in recent years, including Dragon’s Den co-star Arlene Dickinson, who last year spoke to an audience of more than 400 people.
Johnson and McLeod didn’t win the race, but the exposure they’ve had as a result could be the bigger victory.
“This has opened up BodyBreak to another generation,” said Johnson.
It’s been more than 25 years since he and McLeod first hit the airwaves with fitness tips and their signature, “keep fit and have fun” sign-off, but they’re as popular as ever. Endorsement deals, hundreds of interviews, and mounting opportunities to talk about their brand are the spoils.
BodyBreak’s longevity is owed to consistency and a happy, upbeat message, Johnson said.
“You have to know what your brand stands for, what you stand for as an individual, and be consistent with that,” he said.
Tickets to Johnson and McLeod’s keynote luncheon presentation about The Amazing Race as a metaphor for life, Oct. 24 at the Dante Club, are $35. Tickets and more information are available through the Sarnia-Lambton Business Development Corporation at 519-383-1371.
Source: theobserver.ca