Mike Cassidy’s 35-year career with the YMCA started as a weight room attendant in Arizona and continued to develop to his current role as COO at the YMCA of the East Bay. In each step of his journey, Mike felt the importance of staying planted to truly hone an entrepreneurial and creative attitude. For Mike, this has included a deep investigation into vulnerabilities of the Y Movement, and seeking affective solutions. This type of creative thinking served Mike and his branch well throughout the pandemic. Key takeaways in this episode include:
- Vulnerability as Opportunity. Addressing our weak spots can help us blossom. Mike realized some key areas within his Y that could use some scrubbing, like requiring paper forms instead of online registration, and losing members to more expensive facilities. weight machines that don’t address members’ holistic fitness goals.
- Member Results Based Program Strategy. This all began with a shift to functional fitness. Noticing that this type of exercise relies on natural movements of the body, Mike realized that building a functional fitness affiliate within their Y would help them prevent membership loss and better serve a range of fitness levels. Members of all ages are now able to engage in this programming and see improved fitness results from their efforts.
- Redesigned Fitness Centers. In adopting a program strategy rooted in results and data, Mike was able to see benefit in redesigning the space toward these efforts of achieving members’ goals. This was a heavy lift with lots of moving parts and coordination, but ultimately led to major growth in membership joins..
This interview took place on March 19, 2020.
Podcast Transcription
Saranda West: Have you gotten to the point in a project, a decision or in life, where you look back to a time and say “That was pivotal” and it majorly changed the direction you were headed? I have a personal example of this. Several years ago, I made a commitment to focus on my health. Over the course of a year, I lost 40 pounds. Now I’ve gained some of that back. Thanks, COVID.
But, I’m to a point where I now can tell when I’m healthy based on how I feel, my movement, not a scale. That was a pivotal moment for me in my life. It’s so easy to reflect back on a life-changing time like this and forget how much daily work and determination and grit into that process. In this episode with Mike Cassidy, you’re going to hear another example of one of these pivotal moments.
Mike is a pioneer in his field. He’s also super humble in describing his Y shift in their business, but I know many hours, how much consideration and determination went into making this happen. Of course, as we look back to 2020, I know his team was well-prepared to recognize that their mission hadn’t changed and they leaned into serving their community even more because they were prepared.
I hope you leave this episode with some gratitude for these pivotal moments.
Mike Cassidy: We, as an organization, are data rich. We have more information and it’s overwhelming how much information we have, and data rich, yet I think sometimes we’re strategy and execution poor. I think we’ve got all this data and information, and it can be overwhelming, paralyzing and tough to make a decision.
The data was clear. It was also external. We were watching the growth of Orange Theory and all these boutiques and studios. We just said, “We gotta try something.”
SW: Accelerant, a substance used to aid the spread of fire. Accelerating or causing acceleration. This is the Accelerant podcast.
Hi there. Thank you for joining me today on the show. I’m your host, Saranda West. I hope you’re ready for another personal inspiration, because Mike always brings it. We’re going to be talking with Mike Cassidy. Mike has a long career in the YMCA movement, but currently is the Chief Operating Officer of the YMCA of the East Bay.
Mike, thanks for joining us.
MC: Thank you for having me, Saranda. It’s great to be here.
SW: Would you start off and just tell us… “Do you have a Y story?”
Mike’s Y Story
MC: I grew up in Massachusetts, and it was while I was a student at the University of Arizona, I saw a job and it said Weight Room Attendant, and I thought, “Wow, that can be a real job.”
I applied for the job and got the job. It was at a small YMCA in Tucson, Arizona, and I fell in love. I had my little domain of my own weight room and I thought it was amazing. You could eat off of any surface in there. I took great pride in it, but the more I learned about the Y certifications, I saw a real alignment with my personal values.
I always felt comfortable in the fitness setting and I really found an opportunity there to make everyone else feel comfortable in that setting. That started it. That was 30 to 35 years ago. I became a director 32 years ago in Tucson.
Then I was with the YMCA of San Francisco for a number of years. My first exec role was in Phoenix, Arizona. Glendale branch. I stayed a number of years in places. I believe you bloom where you’re planted.
As I went through my career, when I was younger, I would say, “Wow, they really took a chance on me.” Now I realize the leaders I worked for saw something in me.
I’m greatly appreciative, and I’ve tried to pay it forward since. That’s my Y story. 35 years in.
SW: What has kept that love going?
Keeping the Flame
MC: Part of it is the opportunity to be entrepreneurial. I’ve had great bosses that fed that desire and kept that fire lit.
If somebody said to you 15 years ago you’d be doing a podcast working for Daxko, you would have said “No way,” but now look where we are.
Change and Adaptation in the Y
MC: Our mission hasn’t changed at all. Our CEO said, “Our mission hasn’t changed one bit, but the expression of our mission changed.”
We learned our vulnerability—we were very facility-centric. When buildings closed, we had to pivot fast.
We pivoted to food delivery, digital learning hubs, virtual fitness, and community support. We also realized we had to get better digitally. Paper processes had to go.
We redesigned spaces, spaced equipment, expanded functional fitness, and learned a lot through COVID-19.
Functional Fitness at the YMCA of the East Bay
MC: Functional fitness is natural movement—squat, deadlift, push, pull. We do them every day.
CrossFit helped me see this as a scalable methodology. The results were transformative—strength, mobility, community.
We shifted from “value is what you get” to “value is the results you achieve.” That clarity changed everything.
We removed redundant machines, opened space, added functional equipment, and membership growth was phenomenal.
Staying Healthy
MC: I try to move, sleep, eat well, stay curious, read constantly, and model behavior for my kids rather than preach it.
Final Words
MC: Don’t buy a strategy. Build your strategy first, then find vendors to support it.
New goals don’t deliver new results—better behaviors do. Stay nimble.
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