Lynne Brick Recaps 2018, Looks Ahead

For many people, the holidays are a time for gratitude and reflection. This includes business leaders, who often use the last two months of the year to take a look back and strategize for the year ahead.

This includes Lynne Brick, the president of Planet Fitness Growth Partners (PFGP), the largest privately-owned Planet Fitness franchise in the Planet Fitness system.

In 2018, PFGP hit a number of milestones worth celebrating, including the opening of 15 clubs and the addition of a new member to its leadership team.

“We did five grand openings in three days in Seattle, as well as three grand openings in two days in Maryland,” explained Brick. “We grew our development department and hired Josh Beyer, formerly from Planet Fitness Headquarters, to be our chief development officer.”

PFGP also structured a $150 million recapitalization financing deal, and now boasts around 60 clubs in Maryland, District of Columbia, Tennessee, Florida and Washington State.  

According to Brick, also noteworthy is the news that The John W Brick Mental Health Foundation is funding a $1.2 million, two-year evidence-based study to determine how healthy lifestyle choices such as exercise, meditation and positive stress activities affect depression.

The John W Brick Mental Health Foundation was founded by Lynne and Victor Brick in honor of Victor’s late brother, John, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The foundation’s mission is to use evidence-based research to discover the role exercise can play in the treatment of mental illness.

As a result of this year’s milestones at the foundation and PFGP, Brick explained they learned one key lesson. “Getting the right people on the right seats of the bus is critical in every aspect of the business,” she said.

And more growth for PFGP is on the horizon for the year ahead. “We plan to open 20 to 25 clubs in 2019,” added Brick.

In addition, Brick plans to keep an eye on a number of trends in the industry, including User Interface-User Experience technologies like artificial intelligence, and the enhancement of member experiences both inside and outside the club.

Brick also predicated a shift toward wellness, and encouraged operators to keep looking ahead. “Our industry needs to embrace tomorrow’s future member today,” she said. “Perhaps we should ask an eight year old how to best appeal to them?”

Bonus: Lynne Brick’s New Year’s Resolutions

• Continue my journey to say “no” to non-essential tasks.
• Schedule intermittent fasting on a regular basis.  
• Eat more plants.

Rachel Zabonick is editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.