The IFBB Pro League and NPC are about the athletes, but they aren’t the only component of putting on a bodybuilding show. Promoters are vital to the success of the sport of bodybuilding. IFBB Figure Pro Bojana Vasiljevic and owner of Center Podium Productions Chris Minnes understand that a bad experience can lead to a negative outlook on their industry. They explained how they came to that conclusion on Femme Flex Friday.
“I had a huge, just bad experience after bad experience as an athlete,” Minnes said. “I was like, ‘we can do this better.’”
Chris Minnes did just that. Even though he was still competing in 2011, he dove head first into starting his own show. After he secured a sanction, he put on his first show in Tahoe, California, and it was well-received by the athletes and people that attended.
“It just kept growing, and we used the same business model that basically I started in Tahoe in 2011,” he told co-hosts Whitney Jones and Alina Popa. His portfolio of shows has grown since then, with his most famous show being the Legion Sports Fest, which was most recently held in 2021.
“It’s about great production, it’s about being competitor and athlete focused the whole way, much like the Wings of Strength concept,” he explained. He also works as a coach, and Vasiljevic is a Figure competitor herself, and she has been to the Olympia on seven different occasions. That connection allows Chris Minnes to stay up to date on what athletes need when it comes to putting on the best show possible. While Vasiljevic is active as a competitor, she is also heavily involved in the promoting as well. She describes how that dynamic worked and what keeps her performing at a high level on both fronts. She uses the time she invests in promotion as a break from the stage when it’s needed.
“I’m going to be busy, and I’m not going to be that worked. So, I should use that time to recover (from competing),” she said. Find out more about how they make the relationship and business partnership work by watching this episode. All episodes of FFF are available every week over at Wings of Strength.
