TrainerTainment Turns Twenty!
Beth Standlee’s Biz Expanding in 2025 with New CEO, Branding
From humble beginnings to being the FEC and amusement industry’s go-to for training, coaching and sales services, TrainerTainment founder Beth Standlee is celebrating 20 years of success stories this month.
Recently, the company expanded their brand under an umbrella organization that’s called The GrowthGrow Group, which includes TrainerTainment with its focus on training and coaching, ExecPro Services and its executive consulting and leadership development core, and SalesPro Services, whose central purpose is to offer advanced sales training and strategies. Candi Kelley, who worked with Standlee for years as a client and with TrainerTainment since 2019, is the new CEO.
Now, Standlee – “Chairwoman of the Board and Founder” – will focus more of her time on her upcoming book, speaking engagements and AAMA presidential duties.
Her desire to enrich the business of fun began well over 20 years ago. “I always tease that I got into the industry because I got addicted to the game of bowling,” she said.
Standlee began working to help reopen the iconic Bronco Bowl in Dallas, which also doubled as a live music venue. Then she went to work for Neil Hupfauer (of Main Event fame) at his Fun Fest. She also spent time as a sales coach for Schumaker & Company across the South and Southeast. Finally, she was in sales with Intercard and Ideal Software for a period.
“I had about a 10-year run of working in the industry, in one shape or another, usually in a sales role,” Standlee explained. “And then I say I had an entrepreneurial seizure and decided one day that people were buying capital equipment from me because I was going on site and helping them figure out how to book more groups and parties. And so, I decided why not make a coaching and training company to help people improve their group and party sales, and that’s what I did.”
TrainerTainment had its official public launch at Fun Expo 2005. Beth got a booth together and came with her frontline training guide, ready to introduce TrainerTainment to the industry.
“But because I’d been in the business for 10 years, people knew me,” she said. “They may not have known TrainerTainment, but they knew me and assumed TrainerTainment was already a thing.”
Things started rolling fairly quickly. The company’s first big client was Mr. Gatti’s Pizza and their franchisees. An article in this magazine turned into a monthly column that still runs today.
“The big thing we did for the first nine or 10 years was sales coaching, guest service training, birthday training, group and party plan development, and helped teams grow beyond their wildest dreams,” Standlee said. “I mean, people just didn’t have any idea that they ought to have a salesperson at the center. We really helped in that development along the way.”
TrainerTainment has helped open more than 180 locations over the years. Among their clients: the fan favorite Alley Cats Entertainment. “They were one of our first grand opening projects back in ’07 or ’08 with their Arlington location and they are our biggest client today,” she noted.
The small chain, owned by Brian and Connie Smith, won AAMA’s FEC of the Year this year for their Burleson, Texas, location, which opened in 2024. “If I had a signature training place, that would be someplace I want to bring folks,” Standlee added.
Other key clients over the years include Melanie Coleman’s Holiday Lanes in Bossier City, La., Shenaniganz in Dallas-Fort Worth, Palasad Social Bowl in London, Ontario, and Palmayra Bowling Center. Saying of the latter, Standlee touted, “They said investing in TrainerTainment sales coaching was their single best investment. They more than doubled their group sales.”
That’s exactly why TrainerTainment was created in the first place – to help people. “When I was working as a sales rep, selling hardware and software, I had very little control of what happened after the sale.
“If I was going to suffer the wrath of a client, it would be better if I did so because I could do something about it,” Standlee quipped. “While I didn’t know how to fix readers and software, I did know how to sell, run businesses and coach – and I know how to do it a lot better today than I did 20 years ago.
At TrainerTainment, sales, service and leadership in the FEC market are the core focuses. Standlee said she and her team learn what the gaps in someone’s business are and try to fill those with their three-tiered sales coaching program – Educate, Engage and Evolve.
Regarding the “Educate” theme, TrainerTainment provides a wealth of online resources, books and other materials. With “Engage,” centers are involved in monthly coaching sessions with other people, “so there’s more accountability.” TrainerTainment coaches also work one-on-one with clients.
With “Evolve,” the go-to services for many FECs, the center’s leadership also gets a two-day on-site visit to elevate their group and birthday party business. Over a 12 to 18-month period, TrainerTainment says their clients usually report a 25-50% increase in those sales – and sometimes 100% or more.
TrainerTainment has grown alongside their customers. The brand expansion under the new The GrowthPro Group umbrella highlights the focus on what they already do so well but also on how the team continues to boost sales and training services outside the FEC industry.
On the company’s success, Standlee said: “I think we have a very good sales pro strategy, and it works well and it helps people grow their own businesses.” The goal, she added, is to do that for as many folks as possible.
TrainerTainment itself continued thriving year after year until 2020, when they lost about 50-60% of revenue because of the pandemic. They stayed afloat but recovery was tough and made more difficult due to Standlee’s personal loss.
“It really felt like five years ago we literally had to start over,” she said. “And then my husband passed away in 2021. I count myself so fortunate that I had the experience, the connections and the friends I had so I could just keep moving forward. I was a zombie probably for a whole year and the team just kept us lifted up.
“2024 was really good though – almost pre-Covid numbers – and we expect to have the best year we’ve ever had. This is going to be a really good Happy Birthday celebration this year.”
As Standlee transitions away from the day-to-day, she’s authoring a follow up to her People Buy From People that’s due out this fall. Also, as a part of the 20th anniversary celebration, the company will have a $5,000 giveaway at IAAPA Expo.
“TrainerTainment is about people,” she said. “The reason we’ve had this wonderful 20-year run is that we’ve had really good people invested in working with us – whether they were working on my team or with us. This company is about connection and doing good things.”
Meet the New CEO
Candi Kelley has been in the amusement industry since 2008. Prior to joining TrainerTainment in 2019, she was the director of training and operations for a children’s entertainment center.
She was that company’s champion for their successful 2-hour party model and also was the liaison between Monkey Joe’s and TrainerTainment when it came to on-site training over the years.
“When I was ready for a change, I put out a call to a couple of people in the industry and Beth was one of them,” she said.
Like Standlee, Kelley’s heart is in helping people succeed with their dreams. She was able to do that with Monkey Joe’s and TrainerTainment, citing clients like Santa’s Village, The Workz on the Riverfront and High Caliber Karting among the most memorable.
“All those clients have really special places,” she said. “People buy from people and also grow with other people.”
Now CEO of TrainerTainment and the expanded GrowthGrow Group, Kelley continues to lead in a positive direction with Standlee now chair of the board.
“Beth is such a collaborative leader,” Kelley said. “Not much has changed. I just took over more of a leadership role with the sales department of our company. We’re already so collaborative and transparent as an organization.”