Joey Gonzalez
Joey Gonzalez in a tuxedo holding a mirror ball

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Joey Gonzalez

I spent 20 years building Barry's. Now I'm building House 120 and PRODA.

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Miami Beach, Florida Scroll
Barry's✦House 120✦PRODA✦CrossCourt✦Yala✦GoShop✦StartOut✦No Strings✦

The short version

He went from client to instructor to Global CEO, spending two decades building Barry's. Today, he is an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor building what comes next.

2004First Barry's class, West Hollywood
11Years from first class to Global CEO
100+Barry's studios worldwide
19Countries

The Story

From theater
to Barry's.

Joey Gonzalez in a Barry's tank top, seated on a director's chair
Chapter 01

01

Before Barry's

"From the age of 13, I was working in film, television and musical theater as a SAG member. I spent the next decade balancing schoolwork with my performance career, which eventually took me to USC, where I earned a major in theater and a minor in cinema/television."

In 2004, a friend brought him to a workout class in West Hollywood that would change his life. He was hooked from the class and became a regular client taking up to 2 classes a day. When founder Barry Jay asked if he wanted to teach, Gonzalez jumped at the chance.

The performer had found his stage.

Part teacher, part DJ, part entertainer: the ultimate enterTRAINER. He went home after his first class as an instructor and told his now-husband Jonathan: "this is what I'm doing with the rest of my life."

Joey Gonzalez leading a Barry's class in the Red Room
On the mic, where it all started.

02

The Barry's Years

What followed was a two-decade climb through every job the company had: instructor, general manager in 2006, director of operations, then partner and COO. Along the way he put everything he had into the business, investing his savings, leveraging his home, and relocating to New York to open Barry's first location in the city.

In 2015, eleven years after that first class, he was named Global CEO after helping to lead the company through its first private equity transaction. Under his leadership Barry's grew from a handful of studios into a global brand, more than 100 locations across 19 countries.

He still teaches. The Red Room is where it started, and he never really left it.

Client to CEO

Every job
the company had.

  1. 2004

    The first class

    Takes his first Barry's class in West Hollywood and becomes an instructor.

    CNBC
  2. 2006

    Into operations

    General manager, then director of operations.

    Men's Health
  3. 2015

    Global CEO

    Named Global CEO, eleven years after that first class.

    CNBC
  4. 2020

    $120 million to zero

    Barry's went from $120 million in revenue to zero overnight. He guided the company through the pandemic shutdown and back to profitability, an experience documented in a Harvard Business School case study.

    CNBC
  5. 2024

    Co-CEO

    Names JJ Gantt his Global Co-CEO. Together they lead the company through its second private equity transaction in January 2025.

    Men's Health
  6. 2025

    Executive Chairman

    Steps into the role of Executive Chairman, focused on the brand's long-term vision as it doubles its footprint again.

    PR Newswire

"I learnt every facet of the business and because of that was able to visualize its potential and then execute on that vision."

Joey Gonzalez CNBC, 2023
Joey Gonzalez in Miami Beach

03

What's
Next.

The next chapter is already underway. House 120, a longevity and performance club for those who take their healthspan seriously, has opened in the West Village of New York City. PRODA is rethinking what a protein drink can be: a next-generation protein soda built for how people actually live.

Around those, he advises and invests in the next wave of consumer founders, serves on the board of StartOut supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, and meets every Friday with people who cold-email him for career advice, a ritual he has kept for years.

Home is Miami Beach, with Jonathan and their two kids, Francesca and Jake. Most mornings still start the way they have for twenty years: a workout, and then to work.

Ventures and Board Work

What he's
building.

The Through-Line

Every venture sits at the same intersection: wellness, hospitality, and consumer culture. Built on brand, operations, community, and global growth.

New

Ask Joey.

Questions about Barry's, House 120, PRODA, or what he invests in. Answered in his voice, from his own public story.

An AI demo trained on Joey's public content. Not Joey himself.

Speaking

Building
what's next.

Conversations on building brands, leading through change, and the future of wellness.

01

The Art of Seeing What's Next

Spotting shifts in consumer behavior and unmet needs, then building businesses around them.

02

Success Should Make You More Curious, Not More Comfortable

Taking another big swing after Barry's, and what it means to build differently the next time.

03

Why Everyone Is Suddenly Obsessed With Living Better, Longer

The changing conversation around longevity, from diagnostics and recovery to prevention and community.

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"Many days I have to wake up and choose who I'm going to disappoint."

Joey Gonzalez Fortune, 2025

In the Press

Coverage.

Speaking and press inquiries

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