The Candid Manager - Julie Twynham, WaterART Fitness
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| Julie Twynham | |
| WaterART Fitness International | |
| Etobicoke, Ontario | |
| www.waterart.org | |
How did you become a business owner?
In 1985, I graduated with a degree in human kinetics and dance and started full-time work as a fitness club manager consultant. At about the same time, I received a government student loan and started a personal training and fitness consulting business that I worked at on a part-time basis. At that time, personal training was called “consulting” and group exercise training was in its infancy. Eventually the group exercise workshop aspect of my business grew enough that I knew I could make a go of it full-time. I ran the Speedo Aquatic Fitness System certification program for several years. Then Speedo and I made a corporate decision that they would sponsor my own program, and I started WaterART in 2000.
WaterART is an education company that specializes in water fitness and offers home-study and on-site education and certification. Today, I spearhead the education aspect of the entire business and specifically oversee the North American portion of the business. I travel about 10 days per month training water fitness instructors and trainers around the world. We have distributors who offer our programs in Asia, South America, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East.
What’s the smartest thing you’ve done?
I created the world’s largest correspondence library specific to water exercise. Many instructors and personal trainers don’t seem to have time to attend training whether they work part-time or full-time in the industry. The library makes it very viable for people to upgrade their skills and better understand water exercise design. It also makes our programs accessible to people all over the world who can’t get to our live training. About 50% of the company’s revenues come from this library of products.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made?
Giving other people too much control and decision-making power. I’ve learned a lot from the various fitness, business and computer consultants I’ve hired over the years. But generally speaking, I’ve found them overpriced and not always on-task. They have all wanted us to raise our prices. But I know that prices need to be reasonable because teaching exercise classes isn’t a highly-paid profession.
Fitness people don’t always have the best business sense (me included), so I encourage other business owners to get educated on management, business accounting, etc. You need to know if the suggestions that consultants make are valid. You need to be savvy with real-world business practices.
What’s been your biggest challenge as a business owner?
My biggest challenge is helping the industry realize that aquatic personal training is different from land-based personal training and that aquatic personal trainers require different skills than land-based trainers. Most facilities still don’t capitalize on aquatic personal training. They offer only water fitness classes or use their lifeguards (who usually have no water fitness certification) to teach their water fitness classes.
What have you discovered to be the key to effective leadership?
Planning and goal setting are really important for me and my team. Writing things out – whether it’s an agreement or a to-do list – helps to actualize the plans and get things done.
I’ve also realized that people don’t always want to work standard hours and that most people in the fitness field are involved in other things that are key to their financial, mental and physical health. I like to know about my staff members’ goals and other responsibilities. Then, I work around their schedules rather than trying to get them to fit into my plan.
What do you like most about this business?
I love that there are so many facets of the fitness business. There’s never a dull moment or a lack of opportunities. Education and training is very dynamic and stimulating. I have met so many amazing people and learned so much about fitness, computers, accounting, marketing and personalities. It just never stops.
What’s the best advice you have for new fitness business owners?
Create a business plan. Be flexible yet creative to allow it to work. Things never work out perfectly, so just do the best possible job you can and be proud of what you accomplish.
What plans do you have for the future?
The future of water fitness is exciting. I’m working on more educational and workout DVDs (we currently have 54 in our library) and we’re growing our international business via our website, distributors and more master trainers. As a modality, water fitness has huge growth potential because it’s ideal for people with multiple medical conditions and the aging population. I also think it’s a secret ingredient for sports conditioning and cross training.
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