A New Chapter
CrossFit and functional fitness has always played a huge role in the culture and ethos of VideoAmp’s Health and Wellness program. I started doing CrossFit over 3 years ago and loved the competition, measurement and results-oriented nature of it. I found this to be a direct correlation to the foundation of a strong company culture. Shortly after starting CrossFit, I wanted to bring this to our VideoAmp environment to see if other people would find benefit from the sport and have fun with it. It ended up being such a massive hit that over 33% of our employee base started working out multiple times a week, practicing functional fitness. We see this as one of the ways to challenge the traditional workplace experience by introducing a whole new element of health, fitness, well-being and friendly competition to our employees.
Over the past couple of weeks, some unfortunate statements were made by the former CEO of CrossFit regarding the death of George Floyd. These statements were then followed by accounts of a toxic workplace culture. This was a huge blow for us — to have an organization we admired, directly contradict the way we felt about major issues. VideoAmp stands for equality and acceptance, period. We stand with and support the Black community and are actively working on ways to learn, reflect and make real change within our own walls, as well as our wider community.
Upon hearing that Eric Roza, affiliate owner of CrossFit Sanitas and former CEO of Datalogix, would be taking over as owner of CrossFit we were elated. In his own words: “My view is simple: Racism and sexism are abhorrent and will not be tolerated in CrossFit. We open our arms to everyone, and I will be working hard to rebuild bridges with those whose trust we have lost.” Eric has an amazing track record of bringing a winning culture and a lot of heart to his companies. Datalogix was named one of the country’s best mid-sized companies to work for by both Fortune and Outside Magazines, while CrossFit Sanitas is repeatedly recognized as one of the country’s top-five CrossFit gyms. Eric is also a Chairman of TrueCoach, a leading SaaS platform for personal training. He serves on several boards and is an active investor and mentor to high-growth leaders in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.
VideoAmp has had the pleasure of partnering with Eric in the past during his time with Datalogix and Oracle. We’ve also been able to team up on our passion for fitness. Last year, we were able to bring CrossFit to our clients at the Cannes Lions Festival – CannesFit, genius. To say the least, he’s been an absolute legend and inspiration. His transition to owner and CEO of CrossFit restores our faith in the organization as his values of inclusivity and respect fully align with ours.
VideoAmp has committed to workplace culture that puts technology, fitness and respect at the top of the priority list. At VideoAmp we love measurement. We are results driven and so is CrossFit. This belief system is at the core of our wellness program. We not only want to help our employees now, but we want to be a part of their longevity well after they leave our company. This mentality has not only brought us the luxury of having a stand-alone fitness facility at our HQ, but a full-time Director of Health and Wellness, as well. Through this system, we have had some amazing transformations, run four company wide challenges with amazing results and had VideoAmp teams go down to Miami and compete at Wodapalooza together. Fitness, in all forms, has become a major part of our culture, our community and it’s allowed us to create bonds even in the current virtual world.
Through our actions and commitment to fitness as a lifestyle, we hope to inspire other companies as well. We hope that with a leader like Eric at the helm of CrossFit, and with us sharing our successes, that other companies will be motivated to bring health and wellness to the forefront. At VideoAmp, we feel it is our responsibility to create an environment that allows people to opt into programs that help them both mentally and physically. We know that worklife can be demanding and we feel it is our duty to make fitness and overall well being accessible to our people.
We look forward to the opportunity for continued collaboration with Eric and leveraging CrossFit in even more ways to spread positivity — not only within VideoAmp, but beyond. And not only through fitness, but through acceptance and community. To say the least, we’re looking forward to this new chapter for CrossFit and the CrossFit family.
