On June 13, 2013, Anytime Fitness was featured on “Be the Boss Canada,” a show which places two employees head-to-head for an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Dave Mortensen and Chuck Runyon, the co-founders of Anytime Fitness, interviewed two Canadian Anytime Fitness employees, Blaire Bouwman and Sunny Pannu, for the position of Director of Canadian Support. However, what Blaire and Sunny didn’t know, was that the opportunity to own their very-own Anytime Fitness franchise was also up for grabs.
After facing a series of challenges, including shooting their own member experience video and hosting a marketing event, Pannu was chosen by Mortensen and Runyon as Anytime Fitness’ new Director of Canadian Support. There are currently 70 Anytime Fitness clubs operating in Canada.
Bouwman, although initially disappointed, was happily shocked to discover that at the age of 22, she was the winner of her own Anytime Fitness franchise.
“To some degree, the show was like a bucket-list experience,” said Chuck Runyon, the co-founder and CEO of Anytime Fitness. “We took two people and gave one person a promotion that doubled their pay, and gave another person their own franchise. The ability to do that was exceptional and a raw, emotional experience.”
Anytime Fitness was approached by Corus Entertainment’s W Network and the production team responsible for ‘Undercover Boss Canada’ to appear on the show. Anytime Fitness was asked to submit a pool of candidates it felt were ideal for ‘Be the Boss Canada,’ and the production team chose Bouwman and Pannu. “We had to give up editorial control as to who was chosen,” said Runyon.
According to Runyon, Pannu will begin training as the Director of Canadian Support at the end of this month, and Bouwman’s Anytime Fitness franchise is set to open its doors within the next 60 days.
By Rachel Zabonick
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
