Every month, Club Solutions sits down with an industry expert to share in their wealth of knowledge. In the August issue, we sat down with Nicholas Barshick, the COO of Chuze Fitness.
1. How did you get started in the fitness industry?
Our ownership team originally planned to start a restaurant. We pivoted to the fitness industry after coming across the HVLP model in 2008. We wanted to bring hospitality to health clubs and make the environment more inclusive and welcoming.
2. What’s been the key to your organization’s success? What are you most proud of?
No question about it, the remarkable Chuze employees who are taking care of each other, our members, their children, the facility, leading fitness, making smoothies and all who work to support those efforts on the front lines. Our people are hands down the key to our success and they are who and what we are most proud of — the amazing culture of kindness.
3. What has been one of the biggest accomplishments of your career?
Co-founding Chuze Fitness and building the team. We have employees who were hired for entry-level positions and have now taken on director-level roles and beyond. That motivates us to keep growing.
4. What has been one of the biggest challenges you have faced in your career? And how did you overcome it?
The last two-plus years have presented us all with challenges like never before. Many challenges also persist and make our efforts to return to growing the business difficult. That said, everyone is dealing with these same headwinds and therefore there are opportunities to figure out new best practices, technologies, strategies and disciplines to adapt and overcome.
5. What is one lesson you have learned that other fitness professionals can learn from?
It’s an overwhelming time for a lot of us right now in the fitness industry returning to growth. It can become hard to prioritize. It’s very important to surround yourself with a diverse group of thinkers and to take your time making big decisions.
6. Tell us one fact about yourself others may not know.
I enlisted in the Marine Corps out of high school and served as a radar technician and Marine Corps martial arts instructor. The military taught me that motivation is wonderful for setting goals, but the ability to impose discipline is what will accomplish them.
Connect with Nicholas Barshick on LinkedIn.
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