Alberto Perlman (Zumba Co-Founder) on Building a 200,000-Location Global Fitness Empire
About this episode
Alberto Perlman shares the journey of building Zumba into a global fitness empire and discusses the challenges and evolution of the brand.
Alberto Perlman has been trying to get on this podcast for years — turns out all it took was bumping shoulders at an industry event. As co-founder of Zumba, he's built the world's largest branded fitness program: over 15 million weekly participants, 200,000+ locations, and a presence in 185+ countries, all while surviving 25 years of hype cycles, fads, a pandemic, and everything in between. In this episode, Eric Malzone sits down with Alberto to trace the entire Zumba story from the beginning — a packed gym class in Aventura, Florida with a literal padlocked door, a co-founder who couldn't speak a word of English pitching investors, VHS tapes selling in the millions, and a brand that's somehow ended up teaching classes in the jungles of Thailand and mandated in schools across India. They get into brand protection at global scale, why Zumba refuses to chase the algorithm on social media, and Alberto's honest, still-evolving read on where AI fits into the next chapter of the fitness industry. Key Takeaways: 🔒 The wild true story of how Zumba started — including a padlocked gym door and a line out the building 30 minutes before class 🗣️ How Beto (Zumba's creator) pitched investors…
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