NEWS RELEASE Nash, Macgowan Join AFS Advisory Council (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, August 7, 2015) — The Association of Fitness Studios (AFS) today proudly announced the addition of fitness industry leaders Frank Nash and John Macgowan to the AFS Advisory Council.
John Macgowan is a consultant and owner of Deep Breath In, LLC – publisher of ICI/PRO, the online Indoor Cycling educational resource for Cycling Studio owners, managers and Instructors around the world. He has been leading Indoor Cycling classes since 1997 – with certifications from Schwinn, Stages, Heart Zones, ICG, Life Time Fitness and Cycling Fusion.
“We welcome John Macgowan to our Advisory Council with open arms,” said Leve. “He’s a true indoor cycling guru, with a dedicated following. He will be a tremendous AFS resource for this segment of the studio market.”
ICI/PRO has been at the forefront of the explosion of boutique Indoor Cycling studios. Many successful studio owners can point to one of multiple interviews John has conducted, as being the “spark of inspiration” they needed to launch their new fitness business. “I love what I see AFS doing to help connect, educate and encourage independent fitness studio business owners,” said Macgowan. “There's power in numbers and all modalities of fitness will benefit from being a part of this well managed organization. As a member of the Advisory Council, I'm excited to help AFS develop the Indoor Cycling vertical within the umbrella of the greater association.”
History of AFS
Toward the end of 2011 two life long friends, one a fitness industry veteran and the other an attorney and business consultant, got together to fill a void they observed while working with colleagues and clients alike. Despite the major industry trend towards the development of freestanding fitness studios, there was a lack of support for the owners. The reality was these businesses — opened by great fitness professionals — could benefit greatly from the sharing of business ideas and best practices.
The Association of Fitness Studios (AFS) is the only membership community dedicated to the business of fitness studios. We provide studio owners and developers a wide array of business-specific products, services, and benefits that will enable them to more effectively manage and grow their businesses, building on the passion, compassion and courage they’ve already shown. Previously, there was no such business-centric, trade association dedicated solely for fitness studios.
We created AFS to do for our members what studio trainers and instructors do for their clients — help them achieve their objectives.
Most of the challenges of studio ownership are universal. Through sharing of information, best practices and delivery of the tools necessary to enhance management efficiency, marketability, and profitability AFS is the direct link between studio owners, suppliers, fitness professionals, and consumers – connecting all segments of this vibrant industry. Welcome to the AFS community!
Mission Statement
The mission of the Association of Fitness Studios is to create a community of studio owners by equipping them with the tools necessary to enhance management efficiency, marketability, and profitability while promoting the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle through education, information, and technology.
My goal is to help AFS develop a strong & vibrant membership of all types of Cycling Studios. I'm planning an interview with AFS founder and CEO Josh Leve in the near future to help you learn more about this vital organization.
AFS – The Association of Fitness Studios – is the organization for small/boutique studios and it's my recommendation that Indoor Cycling Studio owners become members.
It's free to join as a basic member – register here.
In this episode of the Podcast, AFS founder Josh Leve and I discuss the many benefits of AFS membership. Learn why I feel joining the Association of Fitness Studios (AFS) is an important step for all Indoor cycling studio owners.
Here's Josh giving a short pitch on the benefits of membership.
Shannon Fable, 2013 IDEA and 2006 ACE Instructor of the Year, will show you the three key components to distinguishing your studio/gym in a noisy fitness world. Walk away with several activities to further clarify your brand and boost your bottom line with minimal effort.
What you'll learn:
What is a brand & why you need to more sharply define yours!
How clearly identifying your ideal client and target market can enhance your promotion efforts
Why defining the #1 result you provide is important (and harder than it looks)
Strategies for standing out in a noisy fitness landscape.
Simple steps for creating a compelling brand that leads people to your door
It's today at 3:00 est
Signup here even if you can't attend the live event – you'll get access to the recording you can view when it convenient.
Here's an excellent chance for you to help shape the future of Indoor Cycling – as a member of the new Studio Owner's Advisory Group we're forming as a part of AFS – the Association of Fitness Studios.
After receiving some favorable responses from our Studio Owner's Facebook Group to this question, Josh Leve (founder of AFS) and I came up with a basic criteria for inclusion to this advisory group:
You have over two years experience in the business of fitness – as an owner or manager of a studio.
You own a cycling studio that has solid, demonstrable growth
You excel in a variety of areas including: business ethics, community involvement, and making an impact on your members/clients
You will commit to participating in the group for one year.
You're an AFS member – advisory group members will receive a free one year premium subscription.
You may have business related education and/or experience in; accounting, legal, HR, finance, real estate, construction, etc… any would be helpful, but not mandatory.
I feel it's important for you to understand that this will be a group made up exclusively of 6 – 10 Cycling Studio Owners – we're not including anyone else.
My role will be to act as the liaison between the group's leadership and AFS, where I have an advisory position.
What are you committing to?
We're anticipating that group members will meet via Skype or Google Hangouts 3-4 times a year and communicate via Facebook and email as needed. The group might decide to form a private group on Facebook… or possibly hold meetup at a fitness conference like IDEA 🙂
Group Leadership
Every group needs a leader, in this case we feel there should be two to share the load + someone who can act as Secretary to take minutes of the meetings.
For the first year we're looking for volunteers for these three roles. Once the group is firmly established, it would probably make sense for there to be elections to select the leaders.
You're a bunch of really smart, passionate people. AFS would like to tap your collective knowledge on important issues and solicit your help and direction; in the types of educational content they (AFS) develop and distribute to benefit others, forms of advocacy they should pursue and other ideas/needs as they arise.
Beyond that we're thinking it's your group and hopefully the group's mission/scope will develop organically over time.
