Holding a photo of my family at our reunion

Why am I bringing up my family?  There are couple of reasons, but the main reason it came to mind is that we are currently running our hugely popular Family Add On campaign at Geelong’s Gym.  We run this campaign once a year as a way of giving back to our members.  The half price 12 Month Membership is a great way for them to share health and fitness with their immediate family.   One of the reasons I love doing this campaign is because I value my family above all else and I would do anything for them, so it makes me feel good to be able to help my members do something special for their family too.

That's me!

The picture shows me holding a recent family photo that was taken in Canada and it’s my proof that I really do have a massive family.  You see my Dad was the youngest of 13 and my Mum is in the middle of 11.  Not all of those siblings were married,  but I believe 20 of them were and between them they had a lot of kids.  I’m the youngest of 11 myself!

There's Germain!

Of my 23 direct Aunts and Uncles there are  only four who moved to Canada and in this photo are the representatives of those four families.  They would be 330 people in total, but we had around 290 show at our family reunion (including myself and my son, Germain) and there are about 250 of us in these photos.  85 of those are my immediate family with 10 brothers and sisters, counting my Mum and Dad and not counting my grandparents… that’s a big family!

And there's my Mum!

I share all this because it will give you an insight into why Geelong’s Gym is the way it is.  I’m the only member of my family in Australia, aside from my Australian born sons, and because I love being a part of a big family, I’ve made the Geelong’s Gym team and members my family!  Often I hear members say that there’s something unique about Geelong’s Gym and I’d agree with them – it’s the relationships and the equal levels of respect that we offer each other, the greater levels of care and concern we exhibit…  we don’t look at people as numbers but as part of our extended family.

I honestly believe that one of our greatest strengths of Geelong’s Gym is we treat people like we’d like to be treated ourselves and that we’re really just one big, happy family!

So, if you think you’ve got a bigger family than me… I’d love to hear about you and your family.

Soar like an eagle...

This will cause our members to look for all the good things that happen in the Gym and will also encourage our team to continue going out of their way to create positive experiences and continue developing our culture of helping people.

Because I like my team leaders to lead by example, I asked them all to write some great things about all the members of the team they oversee.  I’ve been blown away by what they’ve written and I thought I’d share what Adam Ryan, the Centre Manager, wrote about each of his team (the team leaders)… and also about me!

Nathan: “Everybody’s Friend” – will go out of his way to help others, genuinely cares for everyone and is accountable for any mistake that me makes, learns very well from criticism, shows excessive interest in continuously learning and growing within the company.

Tom: “The Nice Guy” – never says a bad thing about anyone, very passionate about his work and cares about everything he does for the company and his clients, enthusiastic about his work and shows great interest in learning as much as he can.

Nick: “The Striving Businessman” – very committed and driven in his work, strives for results and a great revenue maker for the company, cares for the people around him and shows passion for his work.

Kirsten: “The Quiet Achiever” – the most valuable team member on the list, cares for everyone and knows more than anyone else in the company, excellent listener and would never say a bad word about anyone.

Annie: “The Lovable Entrepreneur” – a very loyal team member, extremely caring and would always help anyone in need, thinks about others before herself, amazing knowledge, queen of the projects and the place wouldn’t be the same without her.

Paula: “The Energetic Role Model” – extremely passionate about her position, would always help out where needed and has brought the Group Fitness team together in an amazing way, always striving to be the best and continuously improve the timetable and the team.

Terry: “The Systems Successor” – will help out in times of need, knows the systems inside out and genuinely cares for the company and its improvement.

Gerard: “The Generous Tycoon” – a great role model to his selected team members, passionate about helping people and will always go out of his way to help someone else before himself.

Pretty awesome words, huh?!  Well, I can’t let the opportunity slide by without also sharing a few words about Adam in reply!

Adam: “The Inspirational Leader” – a true humanitarian, caring about his team, his clients and the organisation in which he leads.  Always performing his job above and beyond the regular standard and no matter what the workload, Adam is always moving to take on more responsibility and handle additional loads when required.  Where would we be without him?  I’m grateful to have him on the bus and in the seat he’s in!

Quite often we don’t take the time to reflect on the positives of people or maybe we do, but we never actually tell them.  Is there someone who has done something great who you could share it with… maybe a work colleague, a family member or even a friend?  And if you feel uncomfortable vocalising it, just write them a note or send them a text.  I can guarantee it will make them feel fantastic!!

Take a few minutes out of your day to give blood and help save lives!

He doesn’t want to be named because he’s a humble guy, but here are the charities he’s supported in November:

• Walking Home – a 37 kilometre walk from Queenscliff to Geelong to raise awareness of homelessness in our region.
• Movember – he’s growing a moustache to raise funds for men’s health issues.
• Run Geelong – running to raise funds for the Geelong Hospital Children’s Ward.
• Prevention of Violence Against Women – he has bought and is wearing a white ribbon in support of this important charity.
• Giving blood at the blood bank – blood levels are currently low, so it’s a great time to roll up your sleeve and donate blood.  We’ve got a drive going at the Gym at the moment to get as many people as possible to donate blood in November.

What a fantastic selection of charities to support and an inspiration to us all to get involved when and where we can, because every person’s small effort makes a big difference!

Joe Tutone with some Kenyan youngsters

It always makes me feel good to share stories from people who are really trying to make a positive change in the world in whatever way they can.

He then moved on to Nairobi, where he worked in the slums of Kawengwari, before heading off to Jinja in Uganda.

The slums of Kawengwari

Adam Ryan, Geelong's Gym Manager and Stair Climbing Guru, conquered the Empire State Building Run Up in January 2011.

Yes, that’s right.  Our very own Geelong’s Gym Manager, Adam Ryan, has made the Channel 7 National News… we have a celebrity in the house people!  Well okay, maybe we’re getting a little carried away but we’re just that proud of him we want to shout it from the roof top!

So I guess you’re wondering what attracted the reporter’s attention… aside from his stunning good looks of course!

On Friday, Adam competed in the Westpac Stair Climb in Adelaide not once, but twice, winning both races.  To run 30 storeys and over 600 steps twice over is a huge test of fitness, strength and endurance, but a challenge which Adam loves to take on.  We know… he’s a little crazy in the head!

The news report about Adam is really quite funny and worth a watch – you can check it out here.  And a huge congratulations to Adam on his outstanding result.  Next up, the Eureka Stair Climb in Melbourne.

This month we were delighted to feature in the On Pako magazine as an example of how Gyms can continue to grow and be innovative in the health and fitness industry.  We thought we’d share the editorial with you, so you can see what we’re up to at the moment…

Tom Trezise in the early days of the Gym.

“When you’ve been around fitness for nearly half a century it can be easy to become complacent.  Not so for Geelong’s Gym, who continue to relish the opportunity to not only provide a great product with fantastic service, but also help the next generation do the same.

Geelong’s Gym has been the leader in providing exercise advice and innovative, creative programming, to the local Geelong community for 47 years.  Originally founded by Tom Trezise in 1964, it was the first Gym of its kind in Geelong.

Percy Cerutty with Tom Trezise

The £30,000 state-of-the-art facilities were described as “surely unique in Australia” by Percy Cerutty, the famous Australian athletics coach.

The Gym has been owned and operated by Gerard Spriet since 1995 and continues to pride itself on its unique approach to health and fitness.  With high levels of customer service, their core values and integrity stand out significantly as a key principle in the business’ method of operations.

So how do they ensure the on-going standard of what they deliver to the community and pass on their passion for the fitness industry?  How do they continue their heritage, whilst looking to the future?

Geelong "Cats" Footballer, John Scarlett, running with Tom Trezise

They educate the next generation of trainers, handing down the values, knowledge and enthusiasm which set Geelong’s Gym apart from other gyms.

That’s why Geelongs Gym was delighted to recently open its new training school, in conjunction with Training Sense.  This in-house school provides the exceptional opportunity to complete Certificate III and IV in Fitness in a fully functional, open to the public gym whose strength is in its personal training program.

So the iconic facility that is Geelong’s Gym is now the place for learning and thinking, as well as fun, friendly fitness.”

Winter and Taylor in conjunction with Geelong’s Gym and Claridge Naturopathics recently participated in an 8 week Biggest Improver challenge.

Winter and Taylor participants hard at work!

Participants were split into three teams of mixed ability and from different work areas at Winter and Taylor.  Interestingly, some of the participants had not even met some of their fellow work mates!  So it was a great opportunity to get to know each other and build closer relationship within the wider team.

Through weekly individual challenges, weekly group challenges, and improvements made over the eight weeks, participants were scored and given rankings.  We’re delighted to announce the winners are as follows;

THE BIGGEST IMPROVER – Graeme Ruby

Most Consistent Male – Anthony Hopkins

Most Consistent Female – Meagan Anderton

Highest Point Scoring Team – THE A-TEAM (Trainer – Annie)

All of these winners came from the same team.  All of the winners exercised closely together and their enthusiasm fueled their efforts.

So grab some friends, get excited, and get exercising.

Myself and the Team Leaders at the Business Excellence Awards Dinner

Being the first year we’d entered, we didn’t know what to expect but we had a tremendous time.  It was inspiring to be around so many exemplary business people, soaking in their experience and the different things they’ve done with their businesses to make them truly excellent!

The whole process of entering the awards was a great learning curve for us, allowing us to really get a look at how our business stands out and areas we can still learn and grow in.  Plus, it was a fantastic opportunity to have the judges come and have a look around the Gym and hear what feedback they had from an outsider’s perspective.

Being our first year we didn’t take out any awards, but look out next year!

I’m delighted to announce that Geelong’s Gym is now offering and delivering educational programs.  In partnership with Training Sense, we are now providing Certificate III and IV in Fitness!

We’re so excited to be in a position to make this happen.  We’ve always excelled in being an industry leader in services and programs and we continually look out for new and innovative ways to improve our Gym in any way possible.  Why?  Because adding value to our product, and ultimately to our member’s experience, is both a smart way of operating a business and is also very rewarding on a personal level when we see how we improve and change lives.

There are few training organisations that come from the position of owning a Gym and who are located within a Gym.  So it fits nicely into who we are… because we have those things plus we’re progressive and place a lot of energy and importance on continual education.

Our Personal Trainers are regularly attending workshops and educational sessions to continue learning and growing.  We’ve run our own TRX, Kettlebell and Boxing workshops; we’ve had a physio come and talk to the trainers and not long ago, we had Mike Martin, Carlton Football Club’s Sport Psychologist, come and educate us on  people’s mindsets and behaviours around exercise.

Think we’re just lucky to have the right connections?  We know what luck is – hard work and perseverance!  You see this is all possible because I have the right people on the right seats, a key learning from the book, “Good to Great“.

I have an outstanding team below me… I have always known that when I find a great person, do whatever it takes to keep them.

The more capable, skilled and ownership type attitude my team have, the more I’m fired up to look for new and innovative things.  Not to mention, the culture is then created which supports and encourages other members of the team to look for and be proactive with ideas and possible improvements.

So I’m grateful for my team and that is my lesson for today… look for great people and then do everything to hold onto them!

There’s no point trying to guess, because you never will… my bank actually wants to help promote Geelong’s Gym in their local branches as part of their community outreach and support for their clients… how good is that?

So I guess this blog is a little bit of a plug for The Westpac Bank.

As you can see in the photo, they allowed us to deck out their community board for the whole month of March and because we extended the campaign, they carried it through until mid-April!

Not only that, the bank tellers wore our Gym T-shirts for a day and they’re now wearing them again as I write this.

They have climbed up the rank of banks for me, just by being real and helping the little guy, instead of just being a big corporate without heart.

Thank you Westpac!