Rich Nelsen on VASA Fitness' Latest Expansion

Rich Nelsen, the chief executive officer at VASA Fitness, shares how they are able to open three new locations despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

On February 24, VASA Fitness announced plans to open three new clubs in Phoenix, Arizona, Herriman, Utah, and Westminster, Colorado in March.

Additionally, they are using this growth opportunity to pilot a new mind/body program at the Westminster, Colorado, location called Studio Flow — a hot yoga class and studio that uses infrared panels that heat the body from within versus the air in the room. The Studio Flow pilot program is coming later this year.

We sat down with Rich Nelsen, the chief executive officer at VASA Fitness, to learn more about the new expansions, the new programming and what the future holds.

What are you most excited about concerning the three new locations you’ll be adding to your portfolio in March?

We are most excited about the opportunity to improve more lives in these communities. We will be providing not only jobs for new team members, but full-access memberships to a place where people can come to get healthy, build new relationships and feel connected to a fitness community.

What have been keys to your growth success?

We believe our growth has come from always being true to our brand values and guiding principles, doing the right things by our teams and members, and being consistently transparent. Our people have really shown up in a big way over the past year – they have listened to each other, collaborated and remained very nimble through a lot of change and uncertainty. The leadership team is so grateful for each and every one of them. We also believe prioritizing the most important work and ensuring our teams are aligned behind one common goal has helped us continue to grow despite the challenges.

What have been the biggest leadership learning lessons over the past 12 months?

As a leader, it’s very important to listen to the people who will be impacted by your decisions. We’ve become listeners who take the time to ask questions and really understand how people are feeling and what they need. Above all else, doing the right thing matters. It has been a very challenging year business-wise, but we did our very best to maintain strong and trusting relationships with our members and business partners. We were honest and timely in our communications and I believe this approach has and will help us continue to grow.

What is on the horizon for VASA? What are you most excited about for the brand’s future?

We’re excited to continue to evolve and give members the products and programming they need and want. Our new Studio Flow concept will give our teams and members a great recovery option and just demonstrates our ability to listen and innovate. As mental and physical health is so important right now — it makes us excited to think of VASA being a part of helping as many people as we can. We’re excited to see people getting back to the gym as more people get the vaccine and the world becomes a safer place to interact.