Fitness Business Podcast: Leadership, Innovation, and Profit

Justin Tamsett is the Managing Director of Active Management. He has managed and owned fitness clubs since 1990, and now travels the globe speaking on topics from business skills to work-life balance. During this episode he shares updates from the Industry Leader roundtables, valuable insights from a Harvard Business Review study and he explores the consumer trend called, Tinderisation!

During this episode, JT talks about:

• The importance of accurately tracking leads in order to understand the effectiveness of your marketing dollars
• Why your business vision and mission must become a part of your team DNA
• And what exactly Tinder has to do with your gym members!

This episode also features our podcast marketing expert, Sharon, who shares tips on identifying your podcast and the importance of truly understanding your target market.

We hear an update from Pam O’Donnell of The IHRSA Institute, plus get a taste of one of our new show sponsors, Visual Fitness Planner, a must for PTs and gym owners to check out!

Justin Tamsett is the Managing Director of Active Management. He has managed and owned fitness clubs since 1990, and now travels the globe speaking on topics from business skills to work-life balance.  During this episode he shares updates from the Industry Leader roundtables, valuable insights from a Harvard Business Review study and he explores the consumer trend called, Tinderisation!

During this episode, JT talks about: 

This episode also features our podcast marketing expert, Sharon, who shares tips on identifying your podcast and the importance of truly understanding your target market.  

We hear an update from Pam O’Donnell of The IHRSA Institute, plus get a taste of one of our new show sponsors, Visual Fitness Planner, a must for PTs and gym owners to check out!

In this show we hear from Amanda Vogel, the owner of Active Voice, a writing, editing and consulting service for the fitness industry. She’s a Hootsuite-certified social media consultant for fitness brands and public figures and a Fitness Technology Spokesperson for IDEA.

During this interview Amanda shares her tips on why its essential to truly understand your customer, the importance of strategy and planning for Social Media success, and having the right person working for your business or brand.

In this interview we ask her 3 questions:

• What are the 3 biggest errors fitness businesses make around Social Media?
• Who should run the Social Media department?
• What are your top 3 tips to becoming more efficient at managing your social media strategy?

In this show we hear from Amanda Vogel, the owner of Active Voice, a writing, editing and consulting service for the fitness industry. She’s a Hootsuite-certified social media consultant for fitness brands and public figures and a Fitness Technology Spokesperson for IDEA.

During this interview Amanda shares her tips on why its essential to truly understand your customer, the importance of strategy and planning for Social Media success, and having the right person working for your business or brand.  

In this interview we ask her 3 questions:

In this show, we interview The Retention Guru, Dr Paul Bedford. With over 20 years experience working in the fitness industry, Paul is one of the global fitness industry’s leading authorities on retention, attrition and member experience management.

In 2015 Paul will be publishing a 1 million member study of the North American fitness market, the worlds largest fitness market study. He has just finished a 340,000 member research over a four year period on the UK Fitness Industry and a study of the New Zealand fitness market. Paul is the author of the book ‘Why people join, leave and stay with health and fitness clubs’.

In his interview we ask him 3 questions:

• After all your research, what is the MOST surprising revelation?
• Have you seen any correlation between GX & retention; PT & retention?
• If you were a club owner, what 3 strategies would you explore to build retention based on what you know?

In this show, we interview The Retention Guru, Dr Paul Bedford.  With over 20 years experience working in the fitness industry, Paul is one of the global fitness industry’s leading authorities on retention, attrition and member experience management. 

In 2015 Paul will be publishing a 1 million member study of the North American fitness market, the worlds largest fitness market study. He has just finished a 340,000 member research over a four year period on the UK Fitness Industry and a study of the New Zealand fitness market. Paul is the author of the book ‘Why people join, leave and stay with health and fitness clubs’. 

In his interview we ask him 3 questions:

A regional health club owner and industry consultant, MJ shares his experiences from owning his club. Taking over a tired run down club 3 years ago in Warwick Queensland, Michael and his Team have grown the membership base to over 1100 members and helped increase exercisers in the town.

MJ shares how to differentiate your club in a crowded market place. He talks about the importance of group fitness. He says you need to be super creative in your marketing and gives us two awesome promotional ideas that you can use in your club. And, finally, he suggests how to engage your team. This podcast is packed with ideas that you can implement in your fitness business quickly.

In his interview we ask him 4 questions:

• How do you stand out in a crowded marketing place?
• What's the best marketing campaign or promotion that you’ve done in the past 12 months?
• What would be the number one strategy for keeping members in your club?
• What are your 3 top tips for professional improvement for people new to the fitness industry?

A regional health club owner and industry consultant, MJ shares his experiences from owning his club. Taking over a tired run down club 3 years ago in Warwick Queensland, Michael and his Team have grown the membership base to over 1100 members and helped increase exercisers in the town. 

MJ shares how to differentiate your club in a crowded market place.  He talks about the importance of group fitness.  He says you need to be super creative in your marketing and gives us two awesome promotional ideas that you can use in your club. And, finally, he suggests how to engage your team. This podcast is packed with ideas that you can implement in your fitness business quickly.

In his interview we ask him 4 questions:

In this show we hear from Lauretta Stace, CEO of Fitness Australia. For the past 20 years, Lauretta has held leadership roles in both the not-for-profit and private sectors within health-related organisations.

Since starting in her role in 2006, Lauretta has embarked upon a journey to raise the profile of the fitness industry, to help integrate the industry within the health sector and to ensure that the industry is recognised for its important role in helping millions of people to improve their health and wellbeing through regular exercise and other lifestyle changes.

During this show, Lauretta answers some key questions about the business of fitness, but also reminds us about making the time to undertake self reflection, the benefits of having a business coach, and why you should try and push yourself outside your comfort zone!

In his interview we ask her 3 questions:

• What is the number one Challenge Fitness business owners face?
• What Is the Key to Retention?
• What Are Your Top Three Tips for Success?

In this weeks show we hear from Justin Tamsett, Brent Darden, Nardia Norman and Sharon Tousley.

JT the Managing Director of Active Management shares what ‘local love’ means to the 2015 consumer. With this information you will know where to concentrate your energy.

Brent Darden is the President of Brent Darden Consulting, a Chair of REX Roundtables and the former Chairman of IHRSA. In his interview we ask him 3 questions:

• How did he select his Team at his own club Telos Fitness Centre?
• He shared many of the business KPI’s and financial performance, so we ask what is the advantage to sharing this information with his Team
• What are 3 attributes he believes can make a fitness business better.

Nardia Norman, needs no introduction to our Aussie listeners bit for the rest of the world, Nardia is one of Australia’s premier personal trainers. She was awarded the Australian Fitness Network Personal Trainer of the Year, author of the book Body IQ and now an International Speaker to Personal Trainers. In her interview we quiz her on

• How do you get more clients? ie what is / was your number lead source and why do you think?
• How do you convert a sale? Describe your sales process from enquiry to then paying customer.
• What are 3 tips you would give a PT business owner (or a club owner or manager) for running an amazing business?