Departing Mindbody CEO predicts job growth on Central Coast
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - One of the largest tech companies on the Central Coast is undergoing a major change.
Nearly two decades after co-founding Mindbody in his garage, Rick Stollmeyer is stepping down as CEO.
"This is a big move for me, but it's one I've been planning for some time," Stollmeyer said. "It's an exciting move for Mindbody because this is a company that has a huge future ahead of it."
Mindbody employs about 700 people on the Central Coast with a home base in downtown San Luis Obispo and an office in Santa Maria. In 2019, Vista Equity Partners bought the company for $1.9 billion.
Mindbody provides a technology platform for the fitness, wellness and beauty industries. With those types of businesses forced to close because of COVID-19, Mindbody furloughed and laid off hundreds of workers in April.
Stollmeyer says a significant number of those employees have since been brought back as the fitness industry rebounds.
"The imperative that COVID-19 has shown us, is that this stuff is really important," Stollmeyer said of the wellness industry. "The healthier we are as a population, the more resilient we are to diseases like COVID. When you add all that up, we think there's going to be much more growth in the decade ahead for the wellness industry even from what we've seen in the past two decades."
Stollmeyer adds that Mindbody isn't going anywhere.
"There's no intention to move our headquarters which is based in San Luis Obispo," Stollmeyer said. "The office in Santa Maria is still a very vibrant part of our operation. So yeah, more than 700 people locally are employed by Mindbody and we expect that number to increase in the years ahead."
Effective August 1, Josh McCarter will take over as CEO. He has been the Chief Strategy Officer and President of Mindbody, and previously ran Booker Software before Mindbody acquired it. Stollmeyer said McCarter is imminently qualified for his new role.
Stollmeyer will continue to serve on the Mindbody board of directors and help with strategic planning. His book, "Building a Wellness Business That Lasts" is expected to be published in the fall.
