Ten years ago it never occurred to Billy Malkovich that he would be working in the fitness industry — he was dead set on becoming a lawyer and politician on Capitol Hill. However, like many things in life, direction changed for Malkovich. He graduated from Arizona State University, worked for Senator John McCain in Washington [...]
Remember back in the day when racquetball was the big reason to start a club? In cities all across the U.S., racquetball courts were springing up and the excitement of the sport proved to give people a fun way to exercise. Like many industry trends, racquetball eventually slowed down and phased out of being a [...]
Karmen Smith didn’t have anything to fall back on. It was September 2006 and Smith’s first Anytime Fitness franchise had just opened near West Bend, Wisc. She had purchased a small, one-bedroom apartment and furnished it with an air mattress. “I was never there,” she said. “I spent all my time in my gyms. There [...]
Ernst & Young LLP has announced the winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award in the Upper Midwest Region. This group of leading entrepreneurs was selected by an independent judging panel made up of regional business, academic and community leaders. The winners were revealed at a gala event on June 10 [...]
Total Woman Gym & Day Spa/Brea’s One Year Anniversary Celebrity Kick Off Event on May 26 was a huge success. Annette Anderson, Total Woman Gym & Day Spa/Brea General Manager stated, “We were so excited to be able to celebrate our anniversary with so many from the Brea community. Brea is such a family centered [...]
Tommy Mansmann, the manager of The Health Club at The Fairmont Pittsburgh, started lifting weights with his father in their basement when he was 6 years old. They exercised with sand-filled weights purchased from the local Sears. As Mansmann aged, weights, exercise and lifting became a way of life. “As I got older, lifting and [...]
In his early 20s Peter Taunton was attempting to turn around a club that was almost $100,000 in debt. Sitting at his home in Willmar, Minn. he pondered how he would make payroll the next day. As the morning sun came shining through the window, a weary-eyed Taunton had stayed up all night with no [...]
Sometimes in the corporate fitness world it can take everything a manager has to get employees working out in the facility. For Heidi Rigsbee, MS, ACSM, overcoming that obstacle simply involved her outstanding personality. “I believe the biggest key of success for a small corporate fitness center is having a health professional on staff to [...]
Founder and CEO Gale Landers grew his Fitness Formula Clubs in Chicago right out of the rich farmland that surrounds the Windy City and spreads across the state of Illinois. While growing up on the family farm, Landers discovered his passion of becoming an entrepreneur. From the farm, he set himself on a path to [...]
Who said the president of a successful company had to be over the age of 30? After speaking with the President of O2 Fitness Clubs, Michael Olander Jr, age was discovered to be an insignificant number that means nothing. The young individual has successfully grown a club he started with his friend Kevin Hedley in [...]
