3 Ways to Build Your Brand like TB12 Sports

Build your brand
Listen

John Burns MBA’05 knew his prognosis wasn’t great.

Two days after pulling his groin muscle in a recreational hockey game, Burns, in his mid-40s at the time, paid a visit to the TB12 Sports Therapy Center in Foxborough with the hope of rehabbing his injury.​

Though he struggled to walk at the time, it wasn’t long before he was back to being an athlete.

“They got me better in two, three weeks,” Burns said. “Being an entrepreneur, I said, ‘There’s something here.’”

For Burns, the treatment sessions marked the beginning of a journey where he would invest, and later be named CEO of TB12 Sports. He currently leads of team of 75 employees who strive to work with athletes to achieve peak performance while channeling fitness habits of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

“It was an opportunity I felt I couldn’t pass up,” Burns said. “It’s a very unique experience, I’ve been fortunate to be involved with a lot of great people in different situations over my career.”

Burns joined brand architect and strategist Larry Gulko MBA’76 at the Schlesinger Innovation Center last week to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, and optimal ways innovators can build your brand.

Find What Makes You Unique

TB12 Sports services and offerings are based off Brady’s lifestyle and fitness beliefs of muscle pliability, functional strength and conditioning, nutrition, hydration, and cognitive fitness.

It’s this that makes the brand stand out from other sports therapy businesses.

“When you build your brand, you’ve got to find your unique place,” Burns said. “We’re in the business of longevity, what we’re selling is the opportunity to do what you love longer, and better.”

TB12 Sports hasn’t been Burns’ only unique venture. He also has invested in Grillo’s Pickles, a business which originally sold its products out of a wooden cart on Boston Common, Spartan Race, and Oath Pizza, a small-format pizza concept which made a name for itself by using an avocado oil crust.

Larry Gulko MBA'76
Larry Gulko MBA’76

Identify a Target Demographic

Being in the business of longevity may not have the same appeal to athletes in their 20s as compared to athletes in their 40s.

That’s why TB12 Sports targets athletes between 35 and 40 years old, who are seeking to continue to compete and train like they did in their late teens and 20s.

“All of us suffer from one common problem; that’s the march of time,” Burns said. “How many people have missed something because their shoulder hurt, their knee hurt? That is our market.”

Retain Your Customer to Successfully Build Your Brand

TB12 Sports has developed its customer base by fixating on those who interact with them the most: their employees.

“The best thing we can do to keep you coming back is having great advocates for our brand,” Burns said.

At TB12 Sports, 50 percent of customers who visit for a one-on-one session with a body coach return for a second session, Burns said. Of that 50 percent, 90 percent return for a third session.

“We’re in such a special place to change people’s lives,” Burns said. “You always have to look at things through the customers’ eyes. I use and experience everything we do, I don’t think you can be the CEO of a company in the consumer space without doing that.”

“I walked out of there when I couldn’t walk in,” Burns added.” I know what we do works.”

Posted in Community, Insights

More from  »

Latest Stories

Three photos in a side-by-side collage depict Michael Kopelman coaching, Brady Anderson in action, and the doubles team celebrating
Courting Success: How Babson Tennis Teams Transformed into National Powerhouses With championships and top-tier recruiting classes, Babson Director of Tennis Michael Kopelman has overseen the transformation of the men’s and women’s programs into national powerhouses.
By
Scott Dietz
Writer
Scott Dietz
Scott Dietz is Babson College's Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications. Dietz is responsible for the department's internal and external communications, including branding, campus engagement, marketing, social media, sponsorships and website management. Additional duties consist of event coverage, facilitation of interview requests, media pitching, video content, writing and editing. Before Babson, Dietz spent 13-plus years at fellow NEWMAC institution Wheaton College, worked for the NFL, New England Patriots, and in the media relations department with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. A native of South Park, PA, Dietz began his sports information career at Westminster College.
September 2, 2025

Posted in Community

Babson Build students from HBCUs participate in an exercise in the Weissman Foundry
An Entrepreneurial Summer: How Babson Impacts Communities Year-Round The school year may be over, but Babson’s work of educating entrepreneurial leaders doesn’t stop. In the summer, many entrepreneurs, educators, and leaders descend on campus. They come from around the globe to connect and to learn. What they take away from the College can impact their companies, their classrooms, and their communities.
By
John Crawford
Senior Journalist
John Crawford
A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.
August 29, 2025

Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership

Juan “JC” Grullon ’27 and Ty Bradford ’29 shake hands outside Publishers Hall
Publishers Hall Welcomes First-Year Students to Its Cozy Confines During move-in day, a new crop of first-year students made Publishers Hall their home. The small residence hall, built over a century ago, is known for the tight-knit communities that form there.
By
John Crawford
Senior Journalist
John Crawford
A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.
August 28, 2025

Posted in Community