This week, I checked in with Julie Carwright, president of Pvolve, and Julie Rice, chief experience officer of Weight Watchers and founder of SoulCycle, to learn more about the role of digital fitness programming in the GLP-1-fueled weight-loss era. The partnership is part of Weight Watchers’ new holistic care strategy that includes body composition monitoring and telehealth offerings like GLP-1 prescriptions.
Additionally, Peter Attia, MD, steps down as CSO from David Protein after appearing in Epstein emails, supermodel Naomi Campbell is the new face of Visby medical diagnostics, and Midi Health reaches unicorn status.
Weight Watchers taps fast-growing fitness concept Pvolve in its quest for holistic weight management
Less than a year since its bankruptcy and restructuring, Weight Watchers is betting on a reinvisioned holistic wellness model that puts partnerships in the forefront.
“With the invention of these GLPs, it’s a whole new world,” Julie Rice, chief experience officer of Weight Watchers, told Glossy. “It’s definitely a time where people really need support, and they need education. The science is coming out faster than we can read it, so to have a place like Weight Watchers that’s really offering holistic care with these drugs is, for me, definitely the reason that I found this to be such an interesting and compelling time to join the company.”
Rice founded SoulCycle in 2006 and exited in 2015. In 2019, she launched a GLP-focused support company called Peoplehood, which she sold to Weight Watchers in August. Rice’s experience came as part of the deal, and as chief experience officer, she’s leading the team rethinking how consumers experience and use Weight Watchers.
Obviously, fitness is part of this. “[Weight Watchers] has always had content within our app that allows people to get some fitness, [as well as] ‘walking meetings’ allowing people to listen while they’re doing their walking club,” Rice said. “But part of what I’ve come to do is to bring fitness to the forefront.”
It’s part of Weight Watchers’ larger strategy shift toward more holistic weight management services. This includes telehealth services with GLP prescriptions and care; in-app and in-person health coaching from real people, not chatbots; AI-powered full-body scans, which measure muscle, fat and bone density instead of just weight; and the addition of a “weight health score,” which syncs with a user’s wearable to track things like sleep and activity.
Announced on Wednesday, it also includes a partnership with Pvolve, a functional, low-impact fitness modality that uses stretchy bands and weights. Now, Weight Watchers members can access a variety of at-home workout classes, as well as health coaching videos from Pvolve’s team.
“We are definitely trying to build brand awareness,” said Pvolve president Julie Carwright. “We’re at the intersection of fitness and healthcare, and so we’re always looking for partnerships that share mission and values, but also that really care about clinical efficacy.”
Pvolve was launched in 2017 and is clinically-proven to improve strength, mobility and overall health. The company offers 1,700 digital classes to app subscribers and franchises its studio concept. It currently has around 30 open studios and more than 50 sold franchises opening soon.
According to the company, its latest annual revenue growth rate sits around 37%, fueled by 41% year-over-year membership growth and 115% growth of its franchise network.
The vast majority of Pvolve’s business comes from equipment sales, which range from $200-$700 in bundles and come with a free digital class subscription. In-person fitness studios account for about 20% of revenue.
“Starting today, [Weight Watchers members] are going to have exposure to workouts [on the WW app] from the gate, [plus] specialized content around perimenopause, menopause and GLP-1s,” Cartwright said. “Then there’s an option to upgrade to a bundled app — so you would have the Weight Watchers experience [with] a special Weight Watchers member price, and that would allow her access to 1,700 workouts and then all of our specialized content.”
Both Weight Watchers’ Rice and Pvolve’s Carwright are planning for more partnerships through the coming months, with opportunities across the health, wellness and fitness spaces.
Executive moves:
- Peter Attia, MD, the Canadian biohacker, physician and wellness investor, has stepped down from his role as chief science officer of David Protein. He is also an investor in the buzzy protein bar company. According to Reuters, Attia’s name appears more than 1,700 times in Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30.
- Jesse McBain is the new COO of studio development for fitness company Pvolve. He joins the company from Pause wellness studio, where he was svp of franchise operations and development.
News to know:
- Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, filed a federal lawsuit against Hims & Hers last week after the telehealth provider announced it would sell a compounded version of the Wegovy Pill for $49. The FDA also reportedly intervened, and Hims & Hers walked back its plans soon after. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy Pill is currently the only FDA-approved GLP-1 pill.
- Speaking of Novo Nordisk, the drugmaker is also in the news for the FDA’s response to its Super Bowl commercial, which promoted the Wegovy pill and starred celebs like Kenan Thompson, DJ Khaled, Danielle Brooks and John C. Reilly. In a letter, the FDA wrote: “[Novo Nordisk] misleadingly implies benefits beyond physical weight loss, such as emotional relief, reduced psychological burden, hope, or direction for patients’ lives, positioning the drug as a solution to broader life challenges rather than a treatment for a specific condition, when this has also not been demonstrated.”
- British supermodel Naomi Campbell is the new global ambassador for Visby Medical, a California-based medical diagnostic company and maker of STI testing devices. According to the company, Campbell will lend her voice, advocacy and global platform to destigmatize sexual health testing and champion a new standard of care for women. Visby Medical offers an at-home rapid test for common STIs for $249.
- Ulta Beauty announced a new initiative around female athletes last week called Ulta Beauty Roster. The new program seeks to amplify female athletes using a mix of omnichannel marketing and engaging digital content, according to the company, including playing cards and an annual scholarship grant. The first cohort includes six athletes, like Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby and 19-year-old pickleball star Anna Leigh Waters.
Stat of the week:
Midi Health, the 5-year-old telehealth platform geared toward mature women, is now valued at $1 billion. The company took on a Series D investment of $100 million with the new valuation earlier this month. The round was led by Goodwater Capital. “This funding represents a milestone in women’s health — in addition to Midi Health becoming the first ‘menopausal unicorn,’ we are showing that when women get access to funding, they create great things that add value to the world,” Midi Health founder Joanna Strober stated on LinkedIn. “We are no longer proving a concept, we are scaling a healthcare organization that women rely on every day.”
In the headlines:
Blind boxes are here to stay, and brands are leaning into the mystery product format [Modern Retail]. Trubar sells for $173M amid protein bar moom [ATN]. From Uncrustables to beauty dupes, Trader Joe’s strategy is not without risk [The Fashion Law]. Meet the doctors fighting health misinformation online [WSJ].
Listen in:
Changes are afoot at TikTok. In this episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, hosted by Pop editor Sara Spruch-Feiner, Glossy reporter Zofia Zwieglinska unpacks her recent story exploring what’s currently driving sales on TikTok Shop — from replicable video formats to product bundles to AI — and how those shifts are redefining influencer marketing.
Need a Glossy recap?
Why L’Oréal Groupe is investing in P2 Science, the ingredient company quietly working with Rare Beauty and Living Proof. How Foodology is accelerating its US growth through TikTok Super Brand Day. Wolf & Badger is positioning itself as an anti-Saks to brands seeking new sales channels. Why are so many skin-care brands hitting the slopes? A year into turnaround plan, the Estée Lauder Companies finds steady growth. E.l.f. Beauty CEO outlines Rhode’s international expansion plan, holiday sales wins on earnings call.
