Every month, Club Solutions sits down with an industry expert to share in their knowledge. This issue, we sat down with Sue Boreskie, the CEO at Reh-Fit Centre.
1. How did you get your start in the fitness industry?
Fitness has always been part of my life. My parents had me involved in sport and dance throughout my childhood. I became a competitive athlete through which I learned about training and its long term as well as short term benefits.
I began my post-secondary education in sciences and then moved over to physical education — now known as kinesiology — in my second year as I wanted to learn more about the body. I continued on in a master’s program and was fortunate to have thesis committee members who encouraged me to do research in the area of fitness and health. From then on, I’ve always been in the fitness industry with an interest in the health benefits of being active.
2. What’s been a key to your organization’s success? What are you most proud of?
The Reh-Fit Centre was created with innovation at its core. We were the first cardiac rehabilitation program in Canada in a community setting outside of a hospital. Reh-Fit is committed to improving and enhancing the health of our community. For over 40 years we’ve been a leader in Canada in bringing new programs and services to Winnipeg and Manitoba more broadly.
We’ve kept our facility well maintained and have continually redeveloped spaces to accommodate new programs and services. This has been critical to keep us competitive and fresh in our market. We’re committed to putting away funds every year through our operating budget and through fund development activities. We’ve also attracted talented people who have helped us build our program offerings and our reputation.
3. What has been one of the biggest accomplishments of your career?
My biggest accomplishments are ones where I was stretched to research and learn something new and then implement my acquired knowledge.
As assistant professor and director of recreation services at the University of Manitoba, I assisted corporations and organizations in the community with fitness and health programming and services. One of those was a hospital that asked me to write a business plan for health promotion activities, making use of their earmarked $5 million fund. The potential scope of activities was very broad since the hospital had never identified specific initiatives. Through my research, I learned about new efforts to create medical fitness centers and concluded this should be the direction the hospital ought to head in. The business plan for a $12 million facility was unanimously accepted by the hospital. They asked me to develop it and set up operations. The knowledge and skills I acquired doing this have been very helpful throughout my career.
4. What has been one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your career? How did you overcome it?
The uncertainty and rapid change of circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was not only difficult to stay financially afloat with the various restrictions, but the aftermath is still affecting us.
I would describe it as needing to get our momentum going again. Many processes we’ve continually built on over the years have been forgotten. We lost many staff through retirement or who made career changes, and we fell behind in our future planning. What was easy before — such as finding qualified staff and getting supplies — has become much more difficult. But many people now recognize the importance of staying active and connected within the community because of the pandemic. We just need to use this experience to propel us forward while it’s fresh in everyone’s mind.
5. What is one lesson you have learned that other fitness professionals can learn from?
I’ve seen a lot of fitness professionals leave the field over the years as they think there aren’t enough opportunities. I feel there is plentiful opportunity if you build your portfolio of skill sets. I’ve always tried to diversify by building my skills to be varied and as comprehensive as practical — e.g. governance skills, creating business plans, facilitation skills, planning, etc.
Also, there’s always more to learn from so many people. I’ve never been embarrassed to ask for help or advice. When I travel and go to conferences or meetings, I try to bring those experiences and learnings back to Manitoba. I’m eternally grateful to so many people I’ve learned from throughout my career. I’m also constantly reading within and outside of our industry. There’s so much to learn.
6. Tell us a fact about yourself others may not know.
I was involved in sport initially and have been able to pursue that interest as well as having a career in fitness. I was a competitive athlete and once I left competing, I became involved in amateur sport administration at the national and international levels as a volunteer. I was a board member for many years with Commonwealth Games Canada, Canada Games Council, Sport Manitoba and the Canadian Olympic Committee as the co-developer of the Olympic Academy of Canada, among other organizations and positions.
