The reason we started this podcast was really simple, to bring the best advice from absolute experts in our industry, this week we could not have brought you anyone better when it comes to being a people expert as Peta Young - people director at Oxygen Activeplay.
Peta started out in the world of retail with a career spanning 23 years with the entertainer, in store management all the way up to Senior L&D Manager before moving across into the leisure industry with Oxygen, where she became head of people in 2022 and now resides as people director.
Peta talks to us about her journey, her learnings throughout her career and how she would advise people to implement this into the future.
We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.
This week we are joined by Lauren Connis, Head of Health and Wellbeing for Oldham Active.
In this episode of the Love For Your Career podcast, we interview Lauren who shares herinspiring career journey in the health and wellbeing sector. The conversation covers the importance of mentorship, navigating career changes, and the significance of self-reflection and personal growth.
Lauren emphasises the need for a supportive work environment, effective CV and interview strategies, and the value of being proactive in creating opportunities. We also discuss lessons learned throughout their career and her aspirations for the future.
Lauren began her career in the entertainment industry, working aboard P&O cruise ships, before moving into health and fitness as a personal trainer. She went on to management roles with Pure Gym, GLL, David Lloyd and Blackburn Borough Council, gaining wide-ranging experience across the sector.
This week we are joined by none other than Giles Denning - head of marketing for PerformX and Fitfest.
Giles has worked with a number of well known brands in the hospitality space before joining the fitness and leisure industry, initially freelancing with Bonska consulting before joining up with PerformX where he has helped transform it into one of the industry's leading events with record numbers year on year.
Giles talks to us about his journey, navigating multiple industries and developing yourself into a market leader.
This episode sees us joined by the amazing Freya Tringham, Head of Padel at Powerleague.
A real powerhouse in the industry Freya spent a number of years growing the Hotpod Yoga Brand, starting as a commercial strategist and franchise manager before growing into Head of Franchise management and then MD, growing the business from 15 sites to over 50 and becoming one of the most recognisable in the space.
Freya talks to us about a multitude of different factors that have helped her develop to where she is now, from lessons learnt from previous roles, exploring diverse career paths and investing in personal development.
One of our favourite episodes to date, we hope you get as much out of it as we did!
This week was a really special one, we were joined by fitness industry royalty as Michelle Dand, head of fitness products and programming for David Lloyd was our guest on the show.
Michelle is responsible for creating the strategic direction for Studio Programming along with the latest Fitness Products to ensure innovative; engaging and leading-edge experiences are developed for all members within the Group Exercise arena and as many of our listeners can attest, helped revolutionise product within the business - co creating the much loved Blaze product which has launched in over 100 clubs.
Starting life as a fitness instructor and growing to become a senior leader in one of the world's most recognisable brands is no mean feat and Michelle tells us her story but more importantly, gives so many amazing bits of advice which can help tomorrow's senior leaders with our amazing industry.
We hope you love the episode as much as we did!
This week we are so excited to be joined by Paul Ferris. Normally here is where we would list their job title but with Paul, this feels like a real disservice as he is a man whohas had multiple hugely successful careers from the CEO of Speedflex to heading up the medical department at Newcastle United to Lawyer and even a successful publisher of a number of self written books - this week was a real honour tohave him on.
Having shared the stage with Paul at Elevate this year we were well aware of Paul's inspirational story but we took a deeper dive into his background and his beginnings as a professional footballer and how he bounced back from a career ending injury to become such a success across a number of different positions.
Paul talks to us about his drivers, what it was like to work in the professional game and what he feels his big task is as a CEO now. Truly one of our favourite episodes sofar, we cant wait for you to hear it!
This week we are joined by Rob Beale of the illustrious Third Space, adding to our list of heavy hitters from the industry.
Rob is the Fitness Director at Third Space, leading all aspects of Fitness & Personal Training for the group. Rob has a wealth of experience in several markets having held senior roles at Holmes Place, Virgin Active, David Lloyd, and Next Gen Australia.
Rob takes us through his journey, talks the importance of mentors and imparts so many amazing tips that can really add to your career at whatever level you are at.
It really is an amazing episode and we hope you enjoy!
This week we are joined by Martin Franklin, CEO of Les Mills UK.
A graduate of Birmingham University with a degree in sport and exercise science, Martin is a fitness industry 'lifer' joining the industry in entry level positions and progressing into roles in private club chains at a director level. Martin held the position of Customer Experience Director at Les Mills before progressing into his role as CEO and has delivered some truly excellent results.
As a Club Manager earlier in his career, Martin was given a piece of business advice that has stuck with him. “If in doubt, make a decision”. This simple peice of advice helped lay the foundations that have allowed him to become a leader in the industry and he leaves us with many more nuggets of information that will support in your career.
This week we are joined by the one, the only - Tara Dillon.
Tara is fitness industry royalty andwas appointed as CEO of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity in January 2015. Tara began her career in sport and physical activity as a lifeguard in her local centre back in 1987, whilst studying. Having gained hands-on experience within local authority leisure, various management positions followed until in March 2001, she was appointed as Contracts Manager at DC Leisure Management.
This week is something slightly different as you join us at Elevate, fresh from our panel hosted by myself with 4 incredible leaders in the fitness industry who spoke to our audience about their journey to CEO and imparted some hugely valuable tips on how they can achieve it too.
We were joined by Paul Ferris (CEO of Speedflex), Sophie Lawler (CEO of Total Fitness), Evgenia Korlova (CEO of One London) and Neil Randall (CEO of Urban Gym group). With so much combined wisdom and knowledge with our panel, there was never going to be enough time to hear everyone's answers to all our questions - so because of this we have put together this podcast with all 4 of our guests answering these key questions.
Wow what an episode this week! Just in time for Elevate 2025, we bring you the absolute industry legend Jenny Patrickson - MD of Active IQ.
Jenny has been responsible for so much of the talent that has come into the industry over the years where she has sat in leadership positions for awarding bodies such as Active IQ and YMCA.
Jenny talks to us about her journey to the top and what she thinks will help you. We hope you enjoy!
This week on the Love Your Career Podcast we welcome James Allchin, Head of Group Membership for The Club Company.
A rising star of the industry, James started in fitness with a spell at L.A Fitness before moving to Virgin Active where he started to push on, managing sales for some of the most prestigious clubs in the estate. James then stepped into the club company in a regional sales role and nearly 7 years later oversees the growth of the entire companies memberships.
Not only does James run the sales function for the club company but he is also heavily involved in charity work, founding the beautiful aim that raises money for numerous charities through sport and is also an ambassador for Movember. On top of this James is a big Chelsea fan which elevates him even more in my opinion.
James takes us through his rise through the ranks and plans for the future, imparting wisdom along the way on how to replicate his journey.
A brilliant listen, we hope you love this episode as much as we do.
This week we are so excited to bring Emma's podcast to everyone. Emma is the COO of Pump Gyms, Business Mentor, Competitive athlete and an all round dream to work with!
Having had a successful career in the corporate world working in senior positions for KPMG, Emma started in the fitness world as a member of Pump in their very first club who offered to help with their timetable - fast forward over a decade later she sits as COO for Pump and resides over their entire estate. Emma also runs a successful coaching and mentoring business for businesses and PTs where she takes the wealth of experience she has built up and helps the stars of the future to grow.
In today's podcast Emma talks of the importance of keeping things simple when it comes to recruitment, how to grow a business from the ground up and so many more amazing tips.
We cant wait to share this one with you from a truly inspirational leader!
This week we are joined by an absolute legend in Becky Prifti, Central People Director for PureGym.
Having joined in September 2019 Becky began in the company as People Partner and has seen the huge growth that PureGym has gone through in the last 5 years to not only grow themselves to the UK's largest operator but also one of the largest operators in Europe, growing from people partner to head of central HR, group head of people to her role now as Central People Director.
Becky takes us through her journey and passes on so many useful nuggets of information that can help and progress your career.
This weeks guest is the mecurial Steve Shaw! Steve is the Co-Founder and Director For Stronger Wellness who specialise in creating smarter fitness spaces, improved workouts and training recovery, accessible to everyone.
Having worked across the industry from clubland in Sales and GM positions to sales director and senior leadership positions, Steve is the perfect man to pass on his tips on how to develop and elevate your career!
As always we hope you like the episode and look forward to you listening!
This episode is a really special one as we are joined by Steve Ward, Chief Transformation Officer with Go Fit.
Perhaps unknowingly, Steve once imparted the most valuable advice that has helped shape the Love Group and over the course of our chat, I'm sure that he will have a huge impact on you too!
As former CEO of UKActive, Steve is one of the most well known and recognisable people within fitness and we cannot wait for you to hear what he had to say!
We are super excited about this one - the man needs no introduction but Carl is an industry legend, fitness extraordinaire and one of the most generous people in the sector in terms of helping others and giving his time.
With years of amazing industry experience, Carl gives us so many pearls of wisdom and imparts vital knowledge on how you can elevate your career and take it to the next level!
We hope you enjoy this masterclass as much as we did!
This week we are joined by Rowland Omamor, managing director for Lampton Leisure. Lampton offers a suite of fitness and wellbeing facilities for local people. Rowland set up the company in October 2020 having been in the private sector for a long time, and has made real waves in the public sector.
Rowland has been in the sector now for 24 years with his first job in leisure being a food and beverage manager for a large leisure chain, and I worked my way through from there. With such a varied and storied career - he really know what good looks like and how he can help you!
Wow, what a treat this week we have! We are joined in the studio by Justin Tamsett, chair person and podcast host!
Justin is recognized Internationally as a thought leader who delivers in a unique style and with quality content. He began his career in 1989 as a gym instructor before opening clubs from 1993 to 2008. He began chairing REX Roundtables in Australia in 2005 and joined the US team in 2020. he chairs REX Roundtables for owners, suppliers and franchisees. He has trained in over 500 fitness facilities since 2015 as a casual visitor to get the true consumer experience and now receives hundreds of gym emails every month, allowing a global overview of gyms, studios, and trainers
What a guest we have this week! In our latest episode we are joined by Duncan Anderson, the founder of South Downs Leisure.
Duncan is the founder CEO and Managing Director of South Downs Leisure, running leisure centres and swimming pools across Sussex, including Splashpoint in Worthing and Sea Lanes in Brighton. The company won The Sustainable Business Award 2022 and has been shortlisted for the national Seriously Social Award for the Environment.
Duncan talks us through how he founded the company, obstacles he's had to overcome on the way and networking in the workplace. A truly great episode, we're looking forward to hearing your feedback!