Inspired Mag

7/31/2019 Inspired Mag

1/24

Gainesville

Health & FitnessJourney!

Te

inspiredA LOOK INTO THE VISION BEHIND GAINESVILLE HEALTH & FITNESS

Turning a dream into areality,on a wing

and a prayer

JOE CIRULLITHINK RICH AND

NEVER GIVE UP

Findin

gYo

ur

P

urpo

se

pg.

5


2/24

2 | inspir ed | Gainesvi l le Health & F i tness | g h c .com

When it comes to building a company, I dont know i

Gainesville Health & Fitness went by the standard route. I do

know that most companies started by entrepreneurs begin on a

wing and a prayer, and GHF is no exception.Who knows when a plan actually starts or when a thought

unolds and takes on a physical orm? I know watching Jack

LaLanne exercise on TV when I was 7 years old aected me.

Maybe it was his enthusiasm that got me ollowing his workouts.

I knew I didnt want to have a double chin, or that at he kept

talking about that grows under your arms. I was positive no 7-year

-old wanted that to happen.

Or maybe it was my mother always saying that as long as you

have your health, you have everything. And being a nurse, I guess

she knew. Could it have been watching a group o 16-year-old

high school ootball players weight liting when I was 8 and being

mesmerized by how they pushed each other? Or my riends older

brother when I saw him liting weights wearing jeans and no shirt

Maybe it was Mighty MouseJoe Cirulli discusses the reasons he started GHFmore than 30 years ago.

Why We Do What We DoTake an inside look at our vision, mission,core purpose, culture and core values at GHF, andthe process we went through to define them.

How We Do ItCustomer service is an important part of the GHFcompany culture. Take a look at the steps wetaketomakesureourmembershavepositiveexperiences.

Who We AreFind out more about what definesGHF as a company.

Think Rich and Never Give UpIn this story, reprinted from Inc. magazine,writer Bo Burlingham traces the journey Joe Cirullitook to make GHF what it is today.

The GHF CommitmentAt GHF we have a commitment to the Gainesvillecommunity.Checkoutthewaysweputthatcommitmentinto practice every day.

Maybe it was

Mighty MouseBy Joe Cirulli

Welcome to inspired

and thinking he looked like Hercules? Then running home and

telling my parents that all I wanted or Christmas was a set o

weights. I still remember my ninth Christmas and seeing my 110

pound set o Mighty Mouse weights under the tree.Maybe the stage was being set when I started bringing all my

riends down to my cellar to see my gym and teaching them to

lit as I encouraged them to work harder. Nine-year-olds needed

some pushing.

Maybe it was my rst trip to a real gym when I was 13 and

the ear I elt walking into it. How would I t in a place ull o

older guys who trained like Spartans? Could the course have

been set when I was a junior in high school and I brought all

the ootball players to the gym and taught them how to lit? Or

maybe it was being named captain o the team though I was the

youngest guy in my class. Why did the coach do that? He told me

it was something about leadership.

I believe as I look over the course o my lie, many things were

inspired

24

8

111623


3/24

inspir ed | Gainesvi l le Health & F i tness | g h c .com | 3

inspired is a special edition magazineor Gainesville Health and Fitness.

MAIN CENTER 4820 Newberry Road, Gainesville, FL 32607P: 352-377-4955FOR WOMEN 2441 NW 43rd Street, Gainesville, FL 32606P: 352-374-4634

TIOGA TOWN CENTER 12830 SW 1st Lane Suite 100, Tioga, FL 32669P: 352-692-2180www.ghc.com

GHF ContactsJoe Cirulli, OwnerJan Matkozich, General ManagerShawn Stewart, Operations ManagerAnn Raulerson, Operations Manager, Womens CenterDebbie Lee, Director o MarketingSheila Gardner, Director o Group ExerciseChristie Matkozich, Director o Personal TrainingBrian Russell, Communications SpecialistRyan Beacher, Tioga General ManagerMelissa Lynn Forgione, Director o Kids ClubErica Smith, Facilities DirectorKyle Miller, Fitness DirectorAdrian Antigua, Front Desk Manager

being put in place or GHF to become a reality. Why Gainesville,

Florida? Im not sure why I ell in love with Gainesville ater a visit

rom my home in upstate New York. All I know is, I did.

So, how did things all into place? I cant say there was a directcourse. But somehow a plan was being put in place. (Read more

about Joes journey in the article rom Inc. magazine on page 16.)

I knew the heath club business was where I belonged and I

knew Gainesville was the place where I would do it someday, but

I still had a ew more challenges to go through. A bunch actually.

There was only one time I wanted to call it quits, but that only

lasted about 10 minutes beore I came to my senses. I was once

seriously depressed or quite a while, three hours to be exact.

Then I realized you cant get anywhere being depressed so I put a

plan together instead.

GHF ocially began in 1978 and started with $1,700. People

say weve come a long way. As Ive told them, we had a long way

to go, and we believe we still do.

Over the course o my lie, many things were beingput in place or GHF to become a reality.

PUBLISHED BY:Naylor, LLC 5950 NW First Place, Gainesville, FL 32607P: 352-332-1252 or Toll-free: 800-369-6220 F: 352-331-3525www.naylor.com

Publisher: Tracy Tompkins

Editor: Elsbeth Russell

Layout & Design: Julie Weaver

2011 NAYLOR, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.The contents o this publication may not be reproduced, in wholeor in part, without the prior consent o the publisher.

Over the years the sta has grown rom the original three to

almost 500; rom one center to three; and rom a tiny orthopedic

rehab center in 1988 to three today.

Ive always known why I do what I do. I have always had aninternal drive in me to become better, and or some reason Ive

always had something inside o me making me want to help others

become better too.

When I think o all the things that have impacted merom

being bullied as a kid (always the youngest in my class), to the

challenging years between 19 and 24, to the building o a passion, to

surviving multiple injuriesI want to help where I can.

In the pages o this magazine, Ill talk about how a small group o

people took my passion and made it their own. Ill share with you

how we dened who we are and what is behind GHF. My goal is

to give our members an understanding o the company that theyve

elected to be a part o, and hopeully help some other businesses

understand how to move their own company orward.


4/24

From 1978 on, GHF grew at a airly strong pace. Our original 1,500

square oot acility eventually expanded to three clubs and over

106,000 square eet o acilities.

I believe having a true understanding o why we do what we do

is our biggest competitive advantage and its what has allowed us to

continually grow.

In the ollowing pages Im going to cover many o the things behind the

growth o our company. Ill not only explain what our vision, mission, corepurpose, culture and core values are, but the process we went through to dene

them. Hopeully Ill make it clear that a business does not become successul i

its purpose is to make money. As a matter o act, I believe thats why so many

go out o business. The purpose has to be something much greater.

Building a FoundationAs Ive told people all over the world, we cant build a strong company

without a sound oundation.

When I started in business, I didnt have anyone to go to or advice. I worked

or six health clubs that went bankrupt. I learned a lot by watching what not

to do. The true answers to moving a business and a lie orward, I ound in

Our vision,mission, corepurpose, cultureand core values

are important tothe identity oGHF. Heres theprocess we wentthrough to denethem.


Why we

do what we do


5/24


books and tapes, and I built my business rom the

knowledge I gained.

In one o those books, I read the quote, I you

help enough people get what they want out o lie,

youll get everything you want out o lie.

It was written by Napoleon Hill and because

I believed so much in what he wrote, I accepted

it as truth and decided I would always do my

best to help other people get what they needed.Whether that is to help people get in better

shape and improve their health, or gain a better

understanding o how to improve a business, i

GHF can help, well help. It s that simple.

Finding Your PurposeMost people look at a gym as a collection o

rooms ull o equipment, but to my sta and me

GHF is much more than that. One easy way to nd

out the value o a company is to pose the ollowing

question to the employees: What would the impact

be on our customers and the community i nextweek you ound out we would no longer exist?

Then look at the reaction rom the sta.

Whenever I have posed this question, the

initial reaction has always been sadness. But the

question you may ask is, Is it because they will no

longer have a job? Ask them. I have never heard

anyone reer to concerns about him or hersel. I

have always heard them reer to peoples lives that

have been changed due their relationship with us.

Their concerns were with those members. It has

always made me eel good when I see this happen.

It tells me its more than a jobits a passion.

Years ago when I rst asked this questiono my management team, I ollowed it up with

another question, Why does GHF exist?

The rst answer was airly straightorward:

To provide a acility or people to get in shape.

Then I asked the ollow-up question, Why is that

important? The second response was, To help

people lead healthier lives. I asked them Why

ve times until we nally gured it out.

And this is how we developed our reason or existing, or more aptly

put, our Core Purpose: To create an experience that helps people get the

most out o lie, while inspiring them to become their best.

I believe that to become a great company we have to have a larger

purpose. For us, tness is the tool we use to help our members, but wewant to create something much larger than a workout. We want you to

want to be with us, to be part o a great experience; a place that makes

you eel better simply because youre here. We want you to become the

best you can be as we work to make ourselves the best we can be.

When I rst started the process o dening who we were, I came

across an article in the Harvard Business Review. It was called Creating

Your Companys Vision and written by the well-known author, Jim Collins.

When I read his article, I realized a lot o things may be clear in my mind,

but may not be clear in everybody elses minds. I decided we needed to

get together and start discussing things so that everyone would be part o

dening our vision, mission, core values, core purpose and culture.

Once I nished the article I remember thinking it would take aroundeight hours to complete.

How wrong could I be? Working on it diligently, it took us six

months. Eventually we involved the entire company. At that time we had

approximately 200 employees.

In Their Own Words

This place truly is

a leadership actory.

Each day, my colleagues

do something that

impresses the hell out

o me. Thats a antastic

eeling, knowing that

everyone on your team is giving it everything

they have each day. Plus, seeing that we have

the trust placed in us to do what we think is

right makes it easier to perorm our tasks in a

high-unctioning way.

-Brian Russell,

GHF Communications Specialist

CORE VALUE

We dene INTEGRITY as always doing the

right thing even when no one is lookingwe

do not lie, steal or cheat. As Mark Twain said,

When in doubt, tell the truth.

CORE VALUE

We actively search or ways to anticipate and

accommodate the needs and wants o our ellow

employees, customers, and community. WE WANT TO BE

EXTRAORDINARY.

The GHF Book Club

Check out some o the books that have

inspired GHFs business practices.

Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

The Law of Success - Napoleon Hill

The Strangest Secret - Earl Nightengale

Start with Why - Simon Sinek

Good to Great - Jim Collins

How the Mighty Fall - Jim Collins

The Great Game of Business - Jack Stack


6/24


Cultivating Your CultureWe knew it was easy to dene culture: Its the way we do

things around here. While we believed we knew what our

culture was, we had never spelled it out. We realized that it

would be important to write it out to give us even greater

clarity.

To uncover our culture, we assembled a key group rom

our sta. Individually, we wrote down key words that we

believed described our company. We then took turns readingone idea at a time as we went around the room. We wrote

each word on a board.

We came up with 53 dierent ideas o what dened our

culture. We had to narrow it down to less than 10. That was a

challenge, but eventually we got it down to six:

1. A learning and challenging environment that develops

leaders.

2. An environment o teamwork.

CORE VALUE

HARDWORKING means we give 100 percent eort to

everything we do and we work until the job gets done. The

mental ortitude required in the high intensity workout

interview sets the tone or this value.

CORE VALUE

Our greatest power is the reedom to CREATE OUR

OWN FUTURE: we decide what we do, what we

think and where we go. No one can take this power

away rom usit is ours alone.

In Their Own Words

Culture is dened as the way we do

things around here. Its not something

that you create, but rather something that

you discover within your organization. To

gure out what your culture is, observe the

behavior and attitude o your sta when

doing business as usual and when handling

the exceptions. Your business will be dened by how you

handle the exceptions.

- Debbie Lee, GHF Marketing Director

Charting Your CourseWere much more powerul as a company i everyone

is pushing in the same direction.

So, how did we do it? The rst step was setting up a

meeting with eight company leaders who didnt all think

alike but respected one anothers opinion. Then we went

through a detailed process:

First, we had to dene the terms. This is what we

decided: VISION denes who we are at our highest level;

MISSION determines what we need to do to get there;

CORE PURPOSE denes why we exist; CULTURE is howwe do things; and CORE VALUES are the guidelines that

orever determine the rules we play by.

All together we wanted to describe the impact we

wanted our company to make on our world. We were

willing to make the emotional commitment it would take

to get us there.

So we asked the questions, What is the highest level

o perormance we can imagine attaining? What is the

value o our work to our community? What will the story

o our company be 10 years rom now?

One way to determine the uture is to write it. So I

asked everyone to imagine it s 10 years rom today and

a national magazine is writing a major story about ourcompany. I asked them to write the lead paragraph

or the article, and that it had to capture the readers

attention about the special things that have taken place.

We went through our stories and wrote down major

themes. The vision started coming through.

Vision: To become known as one o the best

companies or the world

Once the vision was in place we moved toward

dening everything else.

Mission: To inspire an entire community.

Core Purpose: To create an experience that helps

people get the most out o lie and inspire them tobecome their best.

(I you do this with your company its important to

understand that i theres a small gap between where

you are and where your sta wants to go, it shows very

low energy. I theres a large gap between the two, it

shows your company really does have some energy.)


7/24


3. A business that shows appreciation and reward or

exceptional perormance.

4. A place o continuous improvement.

5. A business that shares knowledge.

6. An uncommon level o commitment to our physical

environment.

Core values are dened as intrinsic values o a business

that wont change, no matter what. Even i they cost usmoney, we still wouldnt change them. For example, we

would never lower the quality o our company to oer a

cheaper product even i we could make more money by

changing. Why? Because thats not how we want to impact

the world.

We ollowed the same process in dening our core values

as we did with our culture. We started with 23 and worked

on it until we ound our our: integrity, hardworking, creators

o our own uture, and an extraordinary commitment to

helping others.

Then we moved to the last step o the process: We

had the courage to describe all the great things that wouldhappen at GHF over time as we accomplished our goals. Its a

un experience determining your own uture.

The Envisioned Future included:

We will be recognized worldwide as a model

company or improving the health o an entire

community by making Gainesville the healthiest city in

America.

We will be recognized as the industry leader in

customer service.

We will gain a reputation for developing leaders.

People from all over the world will visit us to learn

about best practices.

We will develop a center for professional management

training where businesses rom all over the world send

their sta to learn about our systems.

We will form strategic alliances with local and national

organizations.

A best-selling book will be written about our business.

We will win a national business award.

We will be on the cover of a leading business magazine

as one o the best companies in the world.

Now all we had to do was accomplish the list!

In Their OwnWords

A while back, a question

was posed to me, Why

do we do what we do? I

immediately thought back

to a time that Christie and I

were having lunch when, as

we were leaving the restaurant, an older woman

tripped and went ace rst into the pavement.

Instantly, without thinking, Christie and I ran over

to help the woman and to make sure she was

okay, while others just stood there watching. As

I thought about that experience, I realized that

what Christie and I did that day to help this random

stranger is the same thing that every sta member

at GHF would have done in the same situation.

So, the reason we do what we do is because

every employee at GHF has an extraordinary

commitment to helping others. That is just one o

the many qualities that make Gainesville Health

& Fitness an incredible place to be a part o. We

genuinely want to help each and every person that

crosses our paths.

-Scott Larkin, GHF Personal Trainer

In Their Own Words

Culture is the ever everybody catches when they

join our organization. One o my

biggest roles as a manager is to

protect the culture. You have to

quickly attack when something

is not part o the culture and

consistently reward when it is.

The number one aspect o the

GHF culture is A learning and

challenging environment that develops leaders who

are responsible, proessional, dedicated, energetic,

passionate, earless, and knowledgeable. We onlypromote rom within the organization in order to keep

leaders who are ingrained in the GHF way. We are a

leadership actory. Every leader has the responsibility

to develop the uture leaders o GHF.

-Shawn Stewart, GHF Operations Manager


8/24


Go back to high school. There are certain people who, i you saw them

todayand I dont care i high school was 30 years agowill make you eel

like you dont really want to spend much time with them.

Every day, adjustments are made to our emotional bank accounts. At GHF we

strive to make sure were making deposits into those accounts.

I you should go back to a high school reunionno matter how long its

beenyoull nd those riends who made deposits into those accounts. Theyll

still be your riends. Not the same with those who drained your account.

At GHF, we strive to be like those best riends. Following the theory o Dr.Michael LeBoeu, who says that every individual stores the eects o each

moment o truth, we eel that having a sta that can turn every interaction into a

positive experience is critical.

According to LeBoeus theory, a deposit is made when we help an individual

eel good about themselves. A withdrawal is made when we ail to ulll the needs

or desires o that same individual. Emotional bank accounts require continual

deposits to keep a positive balance.

Ater every interaction a member has with any aspect o our organization,

whether in person, by telephone, through literature, or even contact with the

physical acility, the individual will either eel better, the same or worse.

Our goal is to make every eort to make each moment o truth a deposit in

the account o each customer. Are we perect? No! But our goal is to be perect.

The People FactorWe work to make our employees aware that when certain situations arise,

they have an opportunity to make something really good out o something that

may not be so good. It gives them a great opportunity during those moments o

truththose challenging times when someone has a problemto nd a way to

solve the problem.

To make sure were hiring sta members who recognize these moments,

weve incorporated questions into our hiring process. We have applicants review

moments o truth and ask them to tell us how they would respond in each

situation.

One example o a situation we might present is to ask the applicant to imagine

they are working in a busy pizzeria and the oven suddenly breaks down. Acustomer who has ordered six pizzas or a party arrives and is ready or her six

pizzas. We then have the applicant role play the conversation as the employee at

the pizza place.

In many cases, there may not be a policy or procedure or certain issues that

arise. We need people who think quickly and react quickly when responding to

problems. These are the people we search or to be part o our sta.

The major thing we have learned over the years is that the purest orm

o customer service does not start with how an employee treats a customer;

it begins with how the company treats its employees.

How we

do itBy Joe Cirulli with intro by Shawn Stewart


9/24


The Company TreatmentTheres only one o me, and there are hundreds and hundreds

o people on our sta who come in contact with the members

every day. Ive always thought it was important to try and create

an atmosphere where everyone knew they were on equal standing.

There are no greater or lesser employees inside our organization.Ive always elt that i we take proper care o our employees

and i they know we care about them, they will show that same

type o care or the members. I we dont take care o them, why

would they think its worthwhile to take care o our members?

We know there are other actors involved in someone wanting

to become part o our organization. One thing is making it as easy

as possible or a person to become a member. Another is creating

the programs and acilities that make an individual want to remain

a member.

We know that i our acilities are not centrally located, our

members wont make it in. We know that the distance o travel

to our locations needs to be a relatively short drive rom homeor work or the majority o our members to get the most out o

their experience here. Thats why we have three centers, and one

membership gives men access to two acilities and women three.

We also know that people preer dierent types o

environments, with our three centers we can give them a choice

as to what makes them eel most comortable, and we can

oer dierent experiences. We know many women do not eel

comortable in a coed environment, which is why we developed a

women only acility at Thornebrook Village.

In addition, our main center is open 24 hours a day, allowing or

members with dierent schedules to utilize the acilities when its

best or them.

In Their Own Words

I had been working as a foor

instructor at GHF, and because I worked

all the hours that were available to me I

knew basically everyone.

A ew minutes beore closing, Hiro, a

very dedicated member who I had pushed

hard or the last year, asked to speak with

me. He had nished his degree at UF and wanted to say good-bye

and introduce his ather to me, as he was heading back home to

Japan.

He reminded me that when he rst started with us, his goal was

to get as muscular as he could, to transorm his body. Ater wishing

each other well he said, I really want to thank you or this, and he

proceeded to roll up his sleeve and fex his arm, showing me a bicep

with just the slightest rise.

He said, My amily and riends back home will hardly recognizeme. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the peak o his career could not

have been more proud. At that moment, I knew I was working in the

right business or me.

As Hiro said good-bye to others, his ather told me, I want to

leave you with my thanks or beriending my son and leave you with

this quote, I there is more o the world we will nd it.

-Jan Matkozich, GHF General Manager


10/24


Creating the Right Programs

Our programming is also part o creating the experience. Wedeveloped the programs to help provide solutions or both our

current and uture members. Here are a ew o the programs

weve started at GHF over the years.

Supervised Circuit Training - A long time ago we had to

make a decision as to how our equipment would be placed on the

exercise foor.

I asked mysel this question, What would my parents do i they

came into a gym? The answer: Theyd be lost.

So we decided to align them in a way that

would make it possible or people whove

never strength trained beore to learn quickly,

correctly and saely.

The solution was to set up the equipmentin a logical order to most eectively work the

muscular system. We would need instructors

available to motivate the members to get the

best results, and teach them how to do it saely.

For 30 years weve successully implemented

the circuits in all our clubs. Its possible or a

complete novice to join our centers and start

receiving the benets immediately. They never have to worry

about not knowing how to exercise.

Core Spinal Fitness Program - Most people will suer back

pain at some point in their lives. Our goal was to come up with

a solution that would help people reduce or eliminate back painorever. We know its hard to live your lie ully when back pain

keeps you down.

Cancer Recovery - We have programs designed to help a

person keep their endurance up, because we know thats a huge

challenge when youre ghting or recovering rom cancer. We have

programs through the health club and medically reerred programs

through our rehab centers. The health club programs are ree or

members o your amily or weeks i you need us.

Arthritis Aquatic Classes - Though our pool can be used

or swimming, the entire area was designed or our members

suering rom arthritis. Many years ago we saw an issue o Time

magazine talking about the coming epidemic o arthritis and madethe decision to nd a solution. We remodeled the entire area

adding in a warm therapy pool as well as a 50-degree cold plunge

to go along with our steam, sauna and whirlpool. We put these

elements together, along with the therapy classes, and ound we

can help a lot o people live their lives on their own terms.

Group Exercise Classes - Weve learned over the years

what kind o classes keeps our members motivated and we review

them every quarter. Our Group Exercise Director has been with

us over 20 years and keeps all the classes up to

date.

Theyre un, challenging and rewarding.

Its one experience that keeps our members

coming back regularly. They include: CyclingClasses, Zumba, Aqua Classes, Pre and Post

Natal Classes, Yoga, Body Pump, Body Flow

and on and on. Why so many? We know that

we have to give you the variety and challenges

necessary to help you become your best.

Custom Fit - We know that some people

like the one-on-one experience o personal

training while others like the idea o training in small groups.

Custom Fit allows our members to choose rom a variety o

classes including Boot Camp, Wedding Ready, Body Ultimate

metabolic training, Pilates and others. A member can choose their

own time while mixing and matching all the classes.ReQuest Physical Therapy - Ater I suered a serious knee

injury requiring surgery, I was sent to rehab. It didnt take me too

long to realize what was missing. I elt a truly eective rehab had to

be modernized, both in the environment and equipment. Within

a short period o time GHF became involved in a major medical

research study with the University o Floridas College o Medicine.

The purpose was to analyze the newest equipment. The results

were astonishing, and plans or our center were put into place.

Staed with an inspired team o therapists, the purpose o ReQuest

is to move people beyond therapy and into total wellness.

In Their Own Words

One Sunday morning a lady came looking to

get set up on the line. She used to be a person who

would work out every day. She said she had been a

cycling competitor, but was unable to walk due to a

car accident. Ater going through intensive therapy

and almost learning to walk again, she decided to

work out again. She told me she couldnt believe

that she was doing this again. I then asked her why she didnt try a cycling

class. She said there was no way or her to be able to keep up. I got her o

the line, took her into the aerobics room and set her up on one o the old

spin bikes there. I checked back 5 minutes later, and she was crying with

happiness.

Oscar Koeneke

To take away one o the biggest challenges or growing

amilies, GHF oers ree babysitting with a great sta and

availability all day long.

We oer an array o amenities because we know

people like variety.

But we work on being much more.

We work to be the place where our members actually

enjoy spending their time; a place where people eel they

belong. To help us achieve this, we designed areas where

people can meet with riends, eat lunch inside or outside,

and have access to ree Wi-Fi. We even have computers

available i you dont have your own.

Our

programmingis also part ocreating theexperience.


11/24


Who We AreIts important to dene who we are as acompany i we want to make the biggest impact.

A

ew years ago I received an e-mail rom

a riend apologizing or an incident that

happened 10 years earlier.

We were walking across a street in

New York City when a homeless womanell and hit her head. I had some people

get some wet towels rom a restaurant close by. I cleaned

the blood rom her head and helped her up. That was it. No

problem. I never thought o it again until I got his e-mail.

He told me he was always sorry that he just stood there

and didnt help. When I mentioned this to another riend o

mine, he posed this question: Why does one person help

another person? My response was airly simple, Because you

care about people. He took it a little deeper. No, he said,

people help people because they see themselves in others.

He made me realize the importance o having people on

our sta that looked at others this way. We need individuals

who have an inherent desire to help other people become

better. People who have an intense desire to become better

themselves.Its important or us to know who we are i we want to

make the biggest impact, and I think everyone who is part

o an organization has to buy into it. Better yet, i we are

crystal clear about it, we can attract people who already

believe what we believe.

As I heard marketing consultant, Simon Sinek, say, I a

person comes to work or you or what you do, they will

work or your money. I a person comes to work or you

because they believe in why you do what you do, they will

work or you with their blood, sweat and tears.


12/24


Ive been ortunate to nd the why people, which is one

o the reasons that many o GHF employees have been with

company or 15, 20, 25, 30 years and more.

Meet Your StarsIn every organization, there are dierent types oemployees. There are those workhorse employees who

just work and work. There are people who are trainees and

learning to become the best they can be. Then there are the

stars, the leaders o your company.

One o the things I learned a long time ago is that the

most dangerous people in an organization are the stars. What

makes them dangerous? Inside an organization, a star can lead

a department in the opposite direction rom where everyone

else is going. In a dierent direction rom where the owner

wants it to go. Why? Simply because, stars are leaders.

The most important thing is to keep a company aligned

and everyone ocused. We do this by having regular meetingswhere goals are discussed.

We have what we call Monday Morning Focus and Energy

Meetings. These meetings are designed or everyone to

be aware o and to discuss the department projects were

working on. But the larger reason is to make sure were all

moving in the same direction.

Over the years the goal o these meetings has stayed

the same, but the issues have grown bigger as the sta and

projects have grown larger. These meetings last two hours and

we can ll that entire time with no problem. We always have

plenty to talk about.In addition to the Focus and Energy Meetings we also hold

two other types o regularly scheduled meetings; the rst

meeting is our Get Better Team Meeting, where we discuss the

uture o GHF. We put together a strategic agenda designed

around how we can make our company better. They usually

last two days and are held osite. Why? Because its impossible

to talk about the uture or strategic issues o a company at a

meeting where youre dealing with day-to-day issues. Short-

term thinking will always eat up long-term thinking. Thats why

its so important to have an entirely dierent agenda and style

o meeting.

In Their Own Words

I am most passionate about

the hiring o our employees!

I took over as the hiring

coordinator about ve years ago.

I think we have (Ive been told

this) the most precise way o nding people

who really t our culture.

Ann Raulerson,

GHF Operations Manager, Womens Center

Meetings Matter

Monday Morning Focus and Energy

Meetings are operational, short-term meetings

held to:

Follow up on all projects

Review all numbers to goals

Discuss variations

Regularly gain the power of the team

See who needs help from whom Review the competition (monthly)

Hold sta accountable for Get Better Team

(GBT) action items

Move issues to the GBT

Keep the Stars Aligned

GBT Meetings are scheduled with a dedicated

team that is formed to think strategically

and create better teamwork throughout the

organization. The GBT meets to:

Develop new programs

Plan out marketing strategies

Corporate/medical markets

Discuss new services/expansions/equipment

Read and review books

Analyze the sales process

Think innovation

Review new competition entering the market

and plan the response


13/24


The third meeting, our Strategic Objectives Meeting, is where

we set up our plans and goals or the coming year. Its designed

to help us determine our most important strategic objectives.

These are the plans to help us become successul in the coming

year. Once the goals are in place, we can then create our budget.

I believe its more important to have a powerul team than to

have powerul individuals. Im not downplaying the importance

o a strong leader running an organization or department, but

i you have a powerul team, you have combined wisdom andknowledge. Its vital to a company that when someone is having

an issue in their department, everybody can work together to

help solve the problem.

A powerul team doesnt just talk about ideas, they

implement them.

Honor Your Eagles; Rock StarsAt the same time, a team is made up o individuals who

according to author Ken Blanchard who wrote the book,

One Minute Managercan all into two categories: eagles and

ducks.

Blanchard said eagles are the people in your company wholook or ways to solve problems. Ducks are the people who just

quack all the time, saying things like That s not my problem or

Thats not my job.

In 1996, when the rst main center opened, there were many

problems: The air conditioner kept breaking down, the parking

was limited, and every day was just one complaint ater the next.

It was so bad I would go to bed at midnight, and wake up

at 2:30 a.m. to come back to work. I just couldnt sleepI

was trying to gure out how to solve the problems. I would

come into the club, it was hot as could be, and members just

complaining let and right. I knew I was slowly starting to lose

my patience.

One day, a lady said to me, Do you know how hot it is

in here?

I said, Yes maam, I do. Youre in here or about an hour and

Im here or 20 o them; I know exactly how hot it is.

Thats when I knew I was starting to lose my patience.

The breaking point was when a member came to the ront

door complaining about something and I actually pictured myselstrangling him. I knew that wasnt something I wanted to teach

about customer service, so I decided to leave and go to the

beach. I actually slept all night long. I stayed there or three days.

On the third day I came up with an idea. I knew we had to

come up with a way that our members could nd us doing things

right, not just everything that was going wrong.

Remembering Ken Blanchards analogy, I knew we had a

bunch o eagles within the company. The plan was to ask our

members to help us nd the eagles and tell us about moments

when our sta went above and beyond.

I was asking the members to be the managements eyes and

ears. The members would control the Eagle Program and itwould allow us to reward our employees or doing exceptional

things based on our members eedback.

Studies have shown that Employee o the Month programs

dont create better employees or enhance overall employee

morale. Most companies have dozens o employees, but there

can be only one Employee o the Month. Usually the same

employees continually receive the recognition. This is because the

supervisor/management team does the voting.

The Eagle o the Month program solved these problems.

First, every employee that receives an eagle comment rom a

member will be rewarded. This eliminates the notion that only

one employee deserves recognition. Second, our members

will do the votingnot our supervisors. This assures that allemployees will have the opportunity to be noticed. It allows us

to recognize exceptional employees. Altogether, I believe the

program keeps everyone engaged and hopeully the net eect is

Eagle Examples

Here are some o the comments members have madeabout employees through our Eagle Program. We average

600-700 Eagles per month.

At the ront desk, Lindsay is tops! When the issue o Inc.

magazine came out with the article on Joe Cirulli, I couldnt

nd one to buy. I asked Lindsay i GHF had extra copies

no, she said, but shed try to nd one or me. No luck. She

asked her mom in South Florida to look no luck. But she

kept on looking. Then, one week, she gave me one that

her mom had nally located. What thoughtulness! What

perseverance! What helpulness!

Ann Bryan

There was a mix-up between a childs parents as to

who was picking him up, and due to that, the child was in

the Kids Club or three hours while the attendants were

trying to reach his parents. Rather than have the child be

hungry and stressed while waiting or his parents, Shannon

took him into the lobby and bought him lunch with her own

money. She took initiative to make the child eel sae and

comorted in a potentially stressul situation.

Melissa Lynn


14/24


that every members visit will be a more

positive experience.

Every month I have the opportunity to

take these employees to dinner (usually

15 to 30 at a time) and hear what our

members have said about the sta. How

responsive have the members been? On

average we receive 600 to 700 comments

per month.Another story that allows GHF to

personiy our employees who go above

and beyond, is The Rock.

Heres the story: Someone is climbing

a hill one Sunday aternoon, and ater

climbing or a while nds himsel in a

mountainous area, and eventually, on a

path. As the day goes on, more people

start hiking and get to the mountainous

area and onto that same path.

Five or six people are walking this

path, and they reach a point where theycant go any arther because there is a huge boulder in the way.

They cant go on because theres a great drop o to one side, and a

mountain on the other.

The group starts working together to gure out how to move

the boulder, and as they start working, more people come

onto the path.

Now there arent just ve or six, but 20, 40, 60, 120 and 240

people on the path, but no ones moving. Further back in the line,

people brought supplies and start sharing their ood and drinks.

Finally, one o the people at the ront o the line goes to the

back o the line and asks the people eating and drinking, Do you

know why were here?

They say, Yes, were having a picnic. Theyre now brought tothe ront o the line to understand why theyre really there.

Thats what can happen in any company as the company gets

bigger. We need to bring people up to the ront o the line, show

them the boulder and say, No, thats why were here. Thats the

rock. We have to move that rock.

But what does the rock represent to your company? At GHF

we knew that to be successul we had to gain members and keep

members. We had to do all the things that would make people

become a member, and then do all the things that would make them

want to stay.

Each department has developed a strategic statement and

identied the specic objectives they have to meet in orderto help the entire company work toward its goals and move

our Rock.

Then we take it a step urther and reward people who according

to their supervisors were true Rock All-Stars. Honoring around

75 employees each time, department supervisors give employees

the recognition they deserve at a large company dinner. (The word,

company, comes rom the Italian phrase to break bread together.

We denitely do a lot o that.)

Interviews DecodedThese sample questions help us determine i applicants share

GHFs core values.

Creating Your Own Future What have you changed about yourself as a result of

criticism?

What have you been criticized for that you have heard

rom more than one source? What have you done to

improve that area?

How will this job help you to reach your long-term goals?

What accomplishments have you made that you are most

proud o?

What was the last goal you set for yourself? What was

your action plan to achieve it?

Where do you see yourself ve years from now?

Time Management How do you plan a typical day? Week?

When was the last time you had to rearrange yourschedule or something unexpected?

Dealing with Challenges Explain a recent challenge or obstacle that you faced.

How did you deal with it?

Have you ever worked toward a goal and not achieved it?

How did this aect you?

Extraordinary Commitment to Helping People What skills do you think are necessary to work with

people?

What is the most important? Why?

What is the customer looking for in a business? All in all, when you come to work each day, what is the

one ingredient o your job that gives you the greatest

satisaction?

What most inspires you to do a good job?

Describe your ideal job.

Handling o Angry Customers Tell me about a time you had an interaction with an angry

customer? Looking back on it now, would you have done

anything dierently?

If you were going to train me on handling angry

customers, what three things would you want me toremember?

Eagle Potential Give an example of a time you went above and beyond to

meet the needs o a customer?

Tell me a time when someone you know went above and

beyond his or her call o duty?

Do you believe it is necessary to go above and beyond for

your job?


15/24


Hire or ValuesSo how do you develop a team o Eagles and Rock All-Stars? It

all starts with hiring the right people. The question is, how do you

know who the right people are?

Determining the companys vision, mission and core values will

show you who you need. Now the goal is to go nd those people.

Why is this so important? A long time ago I realized you cannot

teach someone your companys core values. The goal is to nd

people who have them already.

At GHF we have developed a ve-step interview based on ourcore values, which includes:

Application

Group Interview

One-on-One interview

Workout Interview

Selection

The rst step, the application, starts out with the rst

impression our ront desk sta gets. Did they have an engaging

personality? Were they smiling? Did they introduce themselves?

Were they proessional? What was their attitude?

The next step, a group interview, allows us to put applicants in an

unrehearsed situation where you can watch how they interact withother people. We ask applicants to tell us about themselves as we

watch to see how attentive the other applicants are. Then we may

ask a question like Where did Sally say she was rom? Simple things

like this can give you a good idea o that applicants listening skills.

The one-on-one interview can help us determine whether or

not the applicant shares our companys core values. (The sidebar

Interviews Decoded provides some sample questions we ask to

nd out i applicants would be a good t or GHF.)

The workout interview is not about the applicants tness level, its

about their ability to endure a challenging time. During the workout

interview, other sta members are watching and evaluating, and give

us their impressions on the applicants perseverance.

Selecting applicants who share our values means nding peoplewho believe in the same things we do. The process o incorporating

these new sta members into the company and teaching them the

things we do is a lot simpler when we share these intrinsic attitudes

and belies.

In Their Own Words

Each Monday morning at GHF the work week begins with a

two-hour meeting where the department heads and leaders o

the organization sit around a table and review, revise and alter,

i necessary, the strategic objectives o the company. Where are

we today? What trends do we see? What opportunities exist in

the marketplace? Where do we t in? I we are alling short in our

goals, why? What changes do we make to accomplish that which

we eel is important?

Its here where a group that totals more than 150 years o

experience can oer input, hear all sides o an issue. What

better work environment could you ask or?

Marty Huegel, ReQuest

Physical Therapist / Director

In Their Own Words

The Eagle Program is a big job, but its

probably the most rewarding because I get

to read all 500+ nice things that are written

about our sta every month. Talk about

positive reinorcement!

Some o the eagles what youd expect,

but others have literally moved me to tears, like the eagle a

member wrote about how he can now run a mile ater doctors to

him hed never walk again.

At our bimonthly Eagle Dinners, it lls me with pride to be ab

to stand up and read all o the wonderul things we have helpe

members accomplish that month. This, more than anything els

shows me how dierent we are as a companywe care deeply

about each o our members, as i they were amily.

- Allison Burke, GHF Marketing Coordinat

GHFs Envisioned FutureA large part o reaching our goals at GHF involved describing our

Envisioned Future. Id like to give you an update on what has happene

over the years.

We will be recognized worldwide as a model company or improving th

health o an entire community by making Gainesville the healthiest city i

America. In 2003 Gainesville became the healthiest community in Americ

reaching the Gold standard. This task took three years to accomplish. Th

rating has never been met or exceeded by any other city in America.

We will be recognized as the industry leader in customer service. Weve

been voted the best health club in the world by the European Conerenc

and in the top our in the world rom a major consulting organization out o

England.

We will gain a reputation or developing leaders. Employees rom ourcompany have gone on to become business owners and integral parts o

Fortune 500 companies, and can be ound in important positions around th

world.

People rom all over the world will visit us to learn about best practices.

Weve been visited by people rom all over the world and presented at

conerences all over America as well as Canada, England, Italy, Germany,

Russia, New Zealand, Australia, China and Brazil.

We will develop a center or proessional management training where

businesses rom all over the world send their sta to learn about our

systems. Weve had people rom all over the world do internships with u

and continue to develop the training programs.

We will orm strategic alliances with local and national organizations.

Weve built a strong local alliance with many businesses and continue towork toward the national organizations.

A best-selling book will be written about our business. Someday.

We will win a national business award. 2001, GHF named World Fitness

Center o the Year by the European Conerence; 2003, Platinum Workplac

Award rom the Wellness Council o America; 2004, John McCarthy Industr

Visionary o the Year Award, IHRSA; and many more!

We will be on the cover o a leading business magazine as one o the bes

companies in the world. I could tell you more about this one but well let B

Burlingham rom Inc. magazine tell you the story rom his perspective in th

next ew pages.


17/24


Editors note: This article is reprinted rom the August 2008 issue oInc. magazine.

By Bo Burlingham

Its a warm Thursday evening in Gainesville, Florida, and the Gainesville

Health & Fitness Center on Newberry Road is ablaze with activity. Downstairs,

about 70 members stare at television screens as they run, walk, climb, andpedal uriously in the cardio area. Over at the indoor basketball court, a group

o sweat-drenched players is leaving, and another group is taking its place. In

the pool area, an instructor is counseling hal a dozen arthritis suerers who

have shown up or aquatics exercise therapy, while a guy with a military haircut

endures the 50-degree water o the cold plunge pool and some o the older

members hang out around the whirlpool and sauna.

At 66,000 square eet, this is the largest o the three health clubs and our

rehabilitation centers that compose Joe Cirullis local tness empire. An intense,

compact, clean-cut ellow, Cirulli has been liting weights ever since he got

his rst set at the age o 9. For 46 years, he has worked out ve or six days

a week, every week, usually at 5 in the morning. Nevertheless, you probably

wouldnt mistake him or Charles Atlas, dressed as he is in the uniorm o GHFmanagersa cobalt-blue shirt, tie, dress pants, and spit-polished shoes. We all

dress up, he says. When I started working in health clubs, the girls were all in

leotards, and the guys in tank tops, and I could see that some o the customers

were intimidated by that. So we dress up and take them o guard.

Just then, he happens to catch the eye o a man who could, in act, be

mistaken or Charles Atlas. Hes blond, middle-aged, and muscular, wearing

a tank top over his ripped torso. He gives Cirulli a big hug. They chat or a

minute, and then Cirulli moves on.

Thats Michael, Cirulli says. He died here. He died here?

Yeah, I was at Starbucks one evening and decided to come back to the

&Never Give

Flat broke at theage o 21, Joe Cirullimade a list o 10things he wantedto accomplish inlie. One by one, hepulled them o and built a healthand tness empire.(Maybe theressomething to thepower o positivethinking, ater all)

ThinkRich


18/24


club. When I walked in, he was lying there with two doctors,

club members, standing over him. He was blue, and he didnt

have a pulse. The doctors were trying to do mouth-to-mouth

resuscitation. They didnt know Id bought an AED [automated

external debrillator] or each o the clubs. I went and got it, and

they put it on his chest and gave him a jolt. Nothing happened.

They increased the voltage and tried again. Nothing happened.

They increased it again. Nothing happened. They tried one more

time, and he sucked in air. I mean, you literally could see himcome back to lie. He started burping. One o the doctors asked

him, Do you know where we are? He said, Yes. At church. The

doctor said, No, you were working out. You werent breathing.

Im standing there thinking, Oh, man, what a great investment

that was!

Turned out hed done a big workout ater not working out

or a while. When he stood up too quickly, he got dizzy, passed

out, hit his head, and swallowed his tongue. He suocated. Four

years ago. He was 46. He has a wie and two girls. So he always

gives me a big hug when he sees me.

Cirulli may have one o the our best tness businesses in the

world (according to a British industry expert) and the best in theUnited States (according to an American one), but his company has

as much to do with saving lives as with pumping iron and going to

spin class. Indeed, he and his colleagues at GHF decided in 1999

that their mission should be to make Gainesville the healthiest

community in America. Four years later, it became the rst and

only city ever to receive the Gold Well City award rom the

Wellness Councils o America. Previously, the best that any city

had done was bronze. The accomplishment led GHF to modiy its

mission. Now the goal is to keep Gainesville the healthiest city in

Americaone person, one business, one child at a time.

Those arent just words. The company oers programs aimed

not just at promoting tness but also at alleviating a variety o

chronic ailments and helping to solve long-term medical problems.

It has pioneered the use o specially designed exercise machines

to relieve neck and lower back pain. It has been a leader in using

hydrotherapy to treat arthritis. It has tackled childhood obesity,

and thus the prospect o a diabetes epidemic, by holding events at

schools, developing weight-loss programs or overweight teens, and

oering high school students ree use o its acilities in the summerrom 6 in the morning until 4 in the aternoon, as long as their

parents approve. Twice a year, it holds a Family Fun Fitness Day to

encourage everyone in the community to be more active.

Granted, some people might say that all that is simply eective

marketing. Cirulli, or his part, makes no bones about his desire to

attract and retain as many members as possible. Indeed, GHF signs

up around 10,000 new members a year and has a retention rate o

77 percent, well above the industry average o about 60 percent.

That ability to attract and retain members translates into sales o

$16.7 million a year, with one o the healthiest pretax margins in

the industry. Perhaps even more remarkable than GHFs nancial

perormance is its commitment to serving people who have neverbeenand probably never will beclub members. The campaign to

win the Gold Well City award grew out o that commitment. We

believe we can have an impact on our community, and in our minds

we have an obligation to do it, says Debbie Lee, GHFs marketing

director and the point person in the campaign.

The impact has been huge. The Well City campaign alone

brought together people rom throughout the community, including

people rom hospitals, businesses, government organizations, The

Gainesville Sun, the University o Florida, and the local community

college. Obviously, many actors are driving the burgeoning trend


19/24


and loathing. Real estate owners elt pretty much the same way.

Cirulli thus had the worst o both worlds, since his club occupied

1,500 square eet above his landlords business, which just happened

to be a bank. On top o that, he had no money, no riends or amily

with money, and no experience running his own business.

Yet Cirulli believed he could pull it o. I you ask him why, he

might tell you about an experience he had had our years earlier,

at the age o 20, when he was working as an instructor at his

second health club in Gainesville and was given an opportunity totry his hand at sales. He signed up eight members on his rst day.

Normally it takes months to do that, the vice president o the

tness company told him over dinner that evening. You dont seem

too excited.

It wasnt that hard, Cirulli replied.

Or he might tell you about reading a book shortly thereater and

nding it a lie-changing experience. It was one o the classics o

the sel-help canon, The Power o Positive Thinking, by Norman Vincent

Peale. The book persuaded him to set a goal: to become the top

salesperson o the tness companys 10 clubs. He achieved it in

three months.

Then again, he might tell you about coming back to Gainesvillerom his hometown o Elmira, New York, ater Christmas to

discover that the tness company had olded, his last paycheck had

bounced, and he could make the payment due on his new maroon

MGB only by getting back the $95 deposit on his apartment,

which let him homeless and broke. He spent the next ew months

sleeping in health clubs and his MGB. At one point, he went to buy

a Diet Coke at McDonalds and discovered he had just 12 cents

to his name. Finally, he landed a job at a new Gainesville health

cluband read another book, Think and Grow Rich, by

Napoleon Hill.

From Hill, Cirulli learned that the secret o success lies in

knowing what you want. He proceeded to take out a legal pad and

write down 10 goals, which he was supposed to read aloud everynight beore going to bed and every morning when he awoke. He

did so or the next ew years. The goals were: 1. Own a health

club in Gainesville; 2. Make it respected in the community; 3. Earn

$100,000 by the age o 25; 4. Own a Mercedes-Benz like the

one driven by the Six Million Dollar Man; 5. Own a home in the

mountains and one by the ocean and build another or his parents;

6. Become a black belt; 7. Become a pilot and own a plane; 8. Travel

all over the United States; 9. Travel all over the world; and 10. Save

$1 million.

So he believed it was destiny, not calamity, that beckoned

when the owner o the Executive Health Spa conessed that he

was an alcoholic, in the middle o a divorce, and about to declarebankruptcy. The ollowing day, the bank announced that the club

would be evicted in 30 days. To achieve his rst goal, Cirulli would

have to raise money, nd a new place, persuade the landlord to

lease it to him, get the necessary permits, build the space out, move

the equipment, and somehow keep the club running and the

members happythe entire time. How he did it reads like The

Perils o Pauline.

First, he persuades the banker to give him 60 days rather than

30. Its not enough. He nds a location, but banks wont lend to a

health club. He nally wangles a personal loan, only to learn that the

toward workplace wellness, not least the explosion o health care

costs and the demonstrable eectiveness o wellness programs

in holding them down. And yet what has happened in Gainesville

is also part o another storya story about how one mans

obsession with sel-improvement can imbue a company and then

spread rom that company to an entire community, and rom that

community to other communities ar and wide.

The employee handbook o Gainesville Health & Fitness is a

53-page document, prosaically entitled Customer Service Manualthat spells out in minute detail things such as the rules or

interacting with customers and a description o what Cirulli and

his team want to see happen in the next 10 years. A particularly

revealing passage can be ound on page seven, under Core Values,

one o which is Creating Our Own Future. It reads, in part,

Our greatest power is the reedom to choose; we decide what

we do, what we think, and where we go....We can do what we

want to do; we can be who we want to be. We develop our

own uture by applying persistence to the possibilities. Our uture

is all around us. I we seek, we will nd it. I the door is closed,

we must knock and keep knocking until it opens. We never

give up....Anyone amiliar with the companys origins can understand

where such convictions come rom. By all rights, Gainesville

Health & Fitness should not exist today. In January 1978, when

Cirulli assumed the debts o the Gainesville Executive Health Spa

and changed its name, neither he nor anyone else had any reason

to believe the club would survive. He was barely 24 years old,

and the ve tness businesses he had previously worked or had

all gone bankrupt, leaving their creditorsincluding their paid-up

membersin the lurch. Bankers had been burned so oten that

the mere mention o the words health club lled them with ear


20/24


location has allen through. The banker who is the landlord o

the old club demands he return the keys. Cirulli begs. The banker

relents but demands a signed lease and a rent check by 9 a.m.

Monday. Cirulli miraculously nds space in a brand-new mall. He

has $1,700 and three weeks to get the place readyplumbing,

electricity, new walls, showers, lockers, the whole bit. The club is

still under construction when he moves in the equipment in June,

whereupon a building inspector threatens to shut Cirulli down

i he sees anyone using it. The club opens anyway. The buildinginspector never returns. Gainesville Health & Fitness gets its

certicate o occupancy six months later, and Joe Cirulli achieves

goal No. 1.

The other nine goals took a little more time, but he achieved

all o them within 12 yearsbeore his 33rd birthday. He drew

two lessons rom the experience. First, you can accomplish

just about anything i you put your mind to it, are willing to

work hard, and reuse to give up no matter what adversity you

encounter. Second, books can change your lie. There is no limit

to what you can learn or how much better you can become, as

long as you keep reading, listening, and searching or wisdom.

By then, moreover, he was well on his way to building acompany molded around those belies and lled with people who

shared them.

I owning a business was, in act, Cirullis destiny, it had kept

itsel well hidden prior to his arrival in Gainesville. As a child,

he seemed destined only or a rough time. Linda Cirulli-Burton

remembers her younger brother getting beaten up by the older

boys at school. That spurred Joe to start liting weightsrst in

his cellar, then at the local YMCA. Soon, he was so strong that

no one dared pick on him.

The Cirulli amily lived on the hard-knocks side o Elmira. Joe

was the third o seven children and the oldest boy. His ather,

Armand, was a 22-year Navy man who became a postman ater

his discharge. His mother, Frances, was a nurse. Making endsmeet was a struggle. Cirulli remembers his parents bringing him a

ancy chicken sandwich rom Morettis restaurant once when he

was in the hospital ater breaking his leg. Enjoy it, his mother

said, because youll never have one again.

In 1971, Cirulli graduated rom high school and entered

Corning Community College. Ater two years there, he still

wasnt sure what he wanted to do with his lie. He decided to

take a year o rom school and travel around the country with

a riend. When the riend backed out, he changed his itinerary

and went to Gainesville, where his girlriend was attending a

community college. I arrived at 3 a.m. on October 27, 1973,

he recalls. Later that morning, he worked out at a local healthclub. Beore leaving, he asked the manager i he could work as an

instructor without pay or the next month in exchange or use

o the acilities. The manager agreed. Cirulli extended his stay or

another 30 days and began earning $1.90 an hour.

By the time Cirulli nally headed home or Christmas,

Gainesville was in his blood. Ater the holiday, he intended

to work with masons he knew in Elmira and save money or

college, but the rozen ground gave him a good reason to revise

his plans. He returned to Gainesville, thinking he would stay

or three months and then go back to his job with the masons

in the spring. He didnt make it. His success selling health club

memberships obviated any need to earn money through masonry.

Maybe that was when destiny took over. In any case, he had his

own tness center within our years.

Cirulli immediately went to work expanding it. He began with

2,500 square eet in a wing o the mall that had 11,000 square eet

o space altogether. The rest was occupied by retailers o one sort

or another. One by one, they moved out, and Gainesville Health &

Fitness moved in, eventually taking over the whole wing. At the sametime, he was proving that a health club could actually be protable i

you behaved as i you really cared about your members, as opposed

to treating them like a necessary inconvenience. He invited members

o the ailed clubs he had worked or to join Gainesville Health &

Fitness and agreed to honor whatever terms were in their original

contracts. Beyond that, he promised that he wouldnt raise ees as

long as they remained members. Still, Cirulli aced an uphill battle

persuading the citizens o Gainesville to join, given the industrys

reputation in town. So he turned his attention to the students o the

University o Florida, which at the time did not have a tness center.

The majority o them, he realized, could not aord the initial

payments that new members were traditionally required to makewhen they signed up. But Cirulli gured that most students were

honest and would pay monthly even i there was no up-ront ee.

He set up a ee structure or students and began marketing to

them. Within a ew years, students made up 98 percent o

GHFs membership.

By then, Cirulli was beginning to develop a reputation in the

industry. Joe was already a legend in Florida when I started my

business in 1982, says Georey Dyer, ounder o Liestyle Family

Fitness, a 57-club chain based in St. Petersburg, Florida. I didnt

sleep or two nights when I heard he might be coming to Lakeland,

where I was located. I called him up, and he said, Dont worry.

Were not coming. Were just talking.

Cirulli was indeed staying in Gainesville, but he had by no meansstopped expanding. He opened a club or women in 1984. Two

years later, ater learning that a Wisconsin health club chain was

coming to town and taking aim at his membership, he moved the

original center to a new location and doubled its size. A couple

o years later, ater the University o Florida announced plans to

build its own tness center, he got into physical therapy and began

marketing aggressively to the Gainesville public. In 1996, ater the

university built a second, even larger tness center, he opened his

giant fagship center. This time, he bought the building, because he

realized he could control the market only i he owned, rather

than leased, his acility.

As the business grew, so did Cirullis renown. Articlesabout Gainesville Health & Fitness started appearing in industry

publications, and people rom other clubs began making the trek

to Gainesville to see what Cirulli was up to. He welcomed them

all. He was willing to let anyone come down, recalls Frank

Napolitano, ormerly an executive with industry giant Town Sports

International and now the CEO o GlobalFit, a provider o health

club benets to employees o large corporations. Hed give you his

training manual, share his best practices. Even i he wasnt there,

visitors couldnt help being impressed by how cheery and helpul the

sta was and by the cleanliness o the club.


21/24


What impressed people most, however, were Cirullis results.

Year in, year out, hed turn in these incredible sales numbers,

says Napolitano. And here you were, spending tens o millions o

dollars on marketing and getting nowhere near those results.

Naturally, people wondered how Cirulli did it, and he was

happy to tell them. As speaking invitations rolled in, he began

traveling all over the country and around the world, oten taking

members o his sta with him. Wherever they went, they talked

about the companys distinctive culture and way o operating,shaped largely by the ideas that Cirulli picked up on his never-

ending quest or sel-improvement.

Wherever you turn at GHF, you nd examples o Cirullis

application o something he has heard about or read. Every

month, or example, he meets or two days with what he calls

his Get Better Team to think o ways to improve the business.

On Monday mornings, theres a Focus and Energy meeting o

managers rom 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. New employees receive One

Minute Praising or One Minute Reprimands, lited straight out o

The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer

Johnson. Blanchards characterization o employees as either

ducks or eagles helped inspire a GHF program called Eagles othe Moment, wherein club members nominate employees who

have gone above and beyond the call o duty. Its all about sel-

improvement. Were a actory or producing uture leaders, says

Shawn Stewart, the companys 32-year-old operations manager.

Production begins with the hiring process, which is the

oundation or everything else GHF does. The company, which

now has 375 employees, typically gets about 1,000 applications

a year or 70 to 100 jobs, almost all o which start at minimum

wage. We compete on work environment, says Stewart, who

oversees the selection o more than 75 percent o the companys

new employees.

There are ve steps to getting hired at GHF, beginning with a

our-page application orm consisting mainly o puzzles and games.We eliminate most o the lazy people with that, Stewart says.

Next, reerences are checked by phone, which urther reduces

the pool. The third step is a group interview, with at least eight

candidates and a hiring team including supervisors and department

heads, ollowed by a one-on-one with the department head. Stewart

challenges his people to come up with creative ways to determine

whether candidates really share the companys our core values:

integrity, willingness to work hard, extraordinary commitment to

helping people, and desire to create the uture.

One technique, or example, is the chair test, wherein extra

chairs are let in the interview room. Stewart used it once with a

candidate who had come through the group interview with ravenotices. The candidate was sitting in the room when Stewart

entered. They need some chairs next door, Stewart said and

began picking up the extra ones and carrying them out o the

room. He kept doing this until only two were let. The candidate

didnt move, except to take his eet o a chair when Stewart asked

him to. Well, said Stewart, thanks or coming, but this place is

really not or you.

The guy was taken aback. But you havent interviewed me yet,

he said.

Yes, I just did, Stewart said and ushered him out o the room.

Finally, candidates are taken through a high-intensity workout

on the MedX machines developed by the late Arthur Jones, the

ounder o Nautilus. The idea is to work a particular muscle or

group o muscles to exhaustion. We want to see how people reactto adversity, says Stewart. Thats when the true sel comes out.

We tell them up ront were not looking to see what kind o shape

theyre in. We just want to know two things: Are they hard working,

and can they listen and ollow directions? Despite all the screening

to that point, 25 percent o the candidates ail the test.

The ones who pass become the raw material o the leadership

actory. Most recruits seem only too happy to get with the program.

That includes being shadowed by a veteran employee who serves as

an on-the-job trainer and administers weekly quizzes in preparation

or quarterly tests, on which they must score at least 90 percent.

They are urther expected to take advantage o the opportunities or

continuing education oered by the companys large library o sel-

help books and tapes. And they have to ollow the rules.Recruits receive points or things like tardiness, no tie or nametag,

improper shoes, complaining, and cursing. Seven points in a quarter

results in probation.

Its not or everybody, which is intentional. The whole selection

process is designed to weed out the wrong people, notes Will

Phillips, a management consultant who runs roundtables, including

one Cirulli belongs to, or tness-industry CEOs. Joe takes very

seriously the idea that you should hire or attitude and train or skill.

When you hire people and try to convert them to your way o doing

things, you create a horrible tension that training is supposed to

x employees. That may be more insidious than having a selective,

somewhat authoritarian goal-driven business like Joes.O all the goals that Cirulli and his colleagues set or themselves,

none seemed more daunting than making Gainesville the healthiest

city in America, though the choice o that mission was hardly a

surprise in itsel. For years, Cirulli had been saying that the ultimate

measure o a tness business should be the health o the community

in which it is located.

But it was one thing to have such a mission and quite another to

measure your success in achieving it. Debbie Lee was the one who

came up with the mechanism. She remembered a project she had

overseen when she was a coordinator o undergraduate programs


22/24

at the University o Florida. One student had interned at

Johnson & Johnson in Jacksonville, where she worked on the

companys application or certication as a Well Workplaceby the Wellness Councils o America. It turned out that

WELCOA also had a program or certiying cities, based on

the percentage o the work orce in Well Workplaces, which

the group denes as companies, organizations, and institutions

with comprehensive wellness programs. Cities with 20 percent

o their work orce in such a program won the bronze, 30

percent took silver, and 50 percent earned the gold. One could

argue whether a WELCOA certication actually constitutes the

best measure o a communitys health. But the program did lay

out a plan o action that could be used to rally the community,

and other cities had already participated, making it possible to

compare results. And because no city had ever done better

than a bronze, why not go or the gold?But GHF could do only so much by itsel. I Gainesville was

going to become the rst Gold Well City, the communitys

movers and shakers had to get behind the eort. With that in

mind, Cirulli and Lee approached Marilyn Tubb, who was then

vice president or community aairs at Shands HealthCare, a

University o Florida aliate and operator o several hospitals

around the state, and had just become president o the

Gainesville Chamber o Commerce. In short order, Tubb and

Lee put together a steering committee o 16 people, including

representatives o media outlets, health care programs, and

local government. The committee immediately went to work

building support or the campaign.To win the award, at least 20 organizations had to

participate in the eort and obtain their Well Workplace

certications within three years leading up to the submission

o the Well City application. That called or a lot o work in

a relatively short period o time. The organizations had to

select coordinators, organize health airs, get people screened

or health risks, hold meetings, launch exercise programs, and

so on. Shands HealthCare donated the health screenings. The

Gainesville Sun contributed advertising. GHF provided consulting,

speakers, meeting space, exercise programs, whatever. And

government ocials rom across the political spectrum put aside

their dierences to get behind the campaign. When word nally

came in the spring o 2003 that Gainesville had won the award,

hundreds o residents turned out to celebrate.

The rest o the tness industry took note o the achievement

and GHFs role in it. Many clubs contacted Debbie Lee to learn

more. Only a relative handul, however, launched Well City

campaigns o their own. People admire Joe or the way hesintegrated himsel into the community, but I dont think many o

them try to emulate him, Napolitano says. They eel as though

they have a lot more pressing issues to take care o.

And maybe they do, or maybe they have overlooked what

Gainesville Health & Fitness got out o the campaign rom a

business standpoint. Beyond signing up a lot o new members, the

company rmly established itsel as the wellness resource o the

community. I know that i I need help with anything, I can call

GHF, and they will always either provide it themselves or point

me in the right direction, says Tracy Tompkins, who served as

campaign coordinator at Naylor LLC, a custom-publishing and

event-management company. We wanted to become betterorganized around wellness, but we lacked direction and know-

how, says Tompkins. Naylor now uses the program in recruiting.

By positioning itsel as the citys wellness resource, GHF has

gained an enormous competitive advantage that its salespeople

have been able to make good use o in selling to the corporate

market. That advantage is certain to grow as health care costs

continue to rise and more companies discover that a serious

wellness program is one o the only responses they can oer. By

the time the rest o the tness industry catches on, however, Joe

Cirulli will no doubt be on to the next big thing.

Whatever that next thing turns out to be, it will happen

in Gainesville. Cirulli insists he has no desire to have a tness

center anywhere else. He loves his city, and the eeling is mutual.Three times GHF has been named Business o the Year by the

Gainesville Chamber o Commerce. Cirulli has received the

Distinguished Entrepreneur or Lietime Achievement Award

rom the University o Floridas Warrington College o Business

Administration, in addition to being named Industry Visionary o

the Year by the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub

Association in 2005.

Along the way, Cirulli has become a walking advertisement or

the power o positive thinking. He still owns the little Mercedes,

but he mostly drives a Lexus these days. His parents live in a

house he built or them in Gainesville. Cirulli has his own home

there, as well as a beachront place on Anna Marie Island. Oncea week, he fies his A36 Bonanza, oten to Sarasota, where he

has a condo. Although he never made another list o goals or

himsel, he did get together in 1999 with his managers to drat

one or GHF. We will be recognized worldwide as a model

company or improving the health o an entire community, the

document began. It then listed 10 goals or the next 10 years.

The ourth was, We will be on the cover o a leading

business magazine.

Guess they can check that one o.

Bo Burlingham is an Inc. editor-at-large.



23/24


TheGHFCommitment


24/24

Whyinspire?

I know that with this kind o support I can only succeed at

my itness goals.

- John M., Gainesville, FL

I love that gym so much. Ive traveled all over the world and

that is the best gym I have ever been to.

- Brittany Daniel, Hollywood, CA

You have provided us with so many wonderul ideas which

are spreading now rom Gainesville into the whole world.

Everybody admires you in the industry. I wish you and your

people everlasting success, luck, happiness and o course the

most important thing HEALTH.

- Jasmin K., Mnchen, Germany

Thanks or all the things you do to make us a better

community to live and work. You are a true leader! Thanks or

your riendship. Good health and many more successes.

- Perry McGri, Gainesville, FL

Just wanted to thank you or providing Gainesville with the

greatest gym Ive ever been to (Ive been to a ew).

- Stephen T., Gainesville, FL

Your gym is amazing and it is incredible to see what you

were able to accomplish! I truly admire your ability to creategreat relationships with your clients. You can see their

excitement when they are in the gym.

- Ray C., Lexington Park, MD

No wonder you guys have a winning business.

- Giang B., Fontana, CA

Im writing this to thank you or the

Date post:	04-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	mindymiller5630
View:	215 times
Download:	0 times

Inspired Mag

Documents