Last month, Gainesville Health and Fitness was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the best small companies in America. This was truly a humbling experience for all of us at our clubs, however, it comes with great understanding that we did not receive this acknowledgement by chance. Rather, it was through an accumulation of efforts from every single member of our team, starting from the top.
Among the criteria that had to be met to achieve this recognition was the fact the company had to be “human-scale,” meaning frontline employees had to have real interaction with top leaders. This could not be more accurate than what we have in our clubs each day. It’s always a fun question to answer when people ask me, “How often do you see Joe Cirulli at the club?” When I answer that I see Joe every day and talk to him regularly, people are surprised by how involved he is and how dedicated he is not just to the facilities, but to each and every member and employee.
As Joe mentioned in a recent CS blog post regarding the Forbes recognition, he acknowledges the importance of employee and leadership development. It’s a part of our culture and is vital to the success of our clubs. This was most recently exemplified when Shawn Stewart, the former general manager, left the company under amicable terms. What Joe did not mention was that when Shawn left, we were able to make seven different position changes in the leadership roles of our clubs, without having to hire outside for any of the positions needing to be filled.
With this great recognition by Forbes, all of the GHF employees have a clear understanding that success is not a destination, but instead a journey. We know we need to continuously seek for improvement in ourselves individually, and as a whole. Stephen Covey, the author of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” wrote, “Teaching is a more effective way to learn, because you internalize and conceptualize more fully when you know you will be teaching.”
I am thankful for Club Solutions to allow the leadership team at GHF to share their knowledge with the industry on a variety of topics ranging from building a top-level housekeeping team to developing a multi-million dollar personal training program. I’d like to introduce you to the members of our team who will be sharing their knowledge in these upcoming weeks.
Noah Hastay
The operations manager at GHF, focused on developing a “bought-in” team to offer the highest level of service. He is also the founder of a fitness program for individuals with special needs called FIT for ALL, and works heavily with integrating the special needs population into the fitness environment and lifestyle.
Ann Raulerson
Manager for Gainesville Health and Fitness at Tioga, and has been a part of the GHF team for 27 years. Originally starting in the café, she has had experience in every position of the club and continues to wake up every morning doing what she loves: helping members and guests get the most out of life.
Wendy Ackerman
The manager for Gainesville Health and Fitness Women’s Center and has been a part of the team for 12 years. She is passionate about the opportunity to interact with members and encourage them toward their health and fitness goals.
Karen Coley-Cannon
She has been a fitness professional with GHF for over 30 years. She has been instrumental in the early implementation of GHF’s sales training manuals and programs. Karen has been a speaker throughout the world to many different associations such as IHRSA, Club Industry, and Fitness Leisure, as well as several fitness magazines. She has been certified as a nutrition coach and a sales coach, with a passion for helping others.
George Whitehead
He is the current director of personal training at GHF and has been in the industry for over 25 years. He has a passion for optimizing the fitness professional experience for both client and trainer.
Allison Breunig
The hiring and kids club director, but her official title is the director of sparkle. She started her journey 8 years ago with GHF when she was 16 years of age, which has allowed her to gain knowledge and experience in operations, retail, marketing, personal training, group fitness, hiring and leadership. Her goal is to create an environment that all ages will enjoy, reminding them to never let anything dull their sparkle!
Annette Valero
Housekeeping director for GHF, has been with the company for two years. She is passionate about facilities, leadership and her relationships with members and staff.
Kendall Nettles
She is the front desk department head at GHF and has been with the company for 5 years. She is passionate about the personal development of her team and positively impacting the community.
Adrian Antigua
I am the current general manager of GHF. I’ve been with the company for over 9 years and have a passion for fitness, the power of company culture and the customer experience.
We look forward to sharing our knowledge and continuing to grow within our community and in the industry. We know we still have a lot to learn and achieve, and are excited for what the future holds. If there any specific topics you’d like to learn about, let us know.
Joe is an incredible leader who always has a long term plan and involves his entire team to create that high level sense of ownership. I had the great pleasure of spending a couple of days at GHF and witnessed first hand this incredible company culture.
Congrats Joe and GHF on this well deserved recognition!