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edited by tom walker. email:
tomwalker@leisuremedia.com
Experience IT.
PEO
PLE P
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FILE
greg lappin
Lappin is the co-founder and general manager
of the Rochester Athletic Club (RAC) in
Minnesota. He is the most recent recipient of
the Karl Shurson Award for quality in leadership
how many years have you worked Club. This revolutionised club design
in the health and fi tness sector? with a very open concept, built family
Almost 40 years. My fi rst job in the sector locker rooms, added a water park, and
was while I was at college: I worked part- established a serious commitment to
time at the service desk for a club that family facilities and programming.
consisted of four indoor tennis courts. I did a stint on the IHRSA board – from
2002 until 2006 – which was a wonderful
what was your motivation experience. Contributing back to the
to work in fi tness? industry that gives us our livelihood
I played competitive tennis in college is a great honour and obligation.
and got to travel the world for a few
years afterwards, through tennis. I had how would you describe yourself?
no real plans in my 20s, but my fi rst I do not consider myself that smart or
full-time job was as a tennis teaching that creative. What I do is work very
professional. It was huge fun and truly hard and observe what my customers
satisfying to help someone else improve. are telling me. Most people think R&D
means research and development.
how did your career take you from I have come to understand R&D
there to the ihrsa board? means Ripoff and Duplicate!
After progressing through tennis teaching
ClarityLive
jobs and being given more responsibilities, what drives you?
I realised I wanted to open my own club. I think there’s a drive or need inside
Next Generation
I risked everything I had and successfully every one of us to feel our life has some
Leisure Management
secured investors for what was the worth. This is nothing to apologise for:
fl agship Athletic Club located in Eden it’s normal human behaviour and a lack of
Software
Prairie in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It such a feeling can lead to despondency. I
ClarityLive is the new, fully integrated
opened in 1985 and was one of the fi rst also have Christian beliefs. The message
software that takes customer
clubs in the US that had multi-purpose of Jesus was the love to “feed my sheep”,
experience to a new level. It enables
amenities and a four-season emphasis. which means to care for each other.
you to connect and deliver the most
In 1992, investors approached me This drives me more than anything.
rewarding interactions possible,
to take the lead in developing our encouraging customers to do more,
current club: the Rochester Athletic what’s the number one weakness buy more and remain loyal. From core
in the fi tness industry? leisure management tasks to bar and
I think it’s that we’re in an artifi cial
food service, ClarityLive excels.
business. People were never created
to sit on a bike and do steady state
Experience ClarityLive now
cardiovascular exercise, or sit on a
+44 (0) 1732 525870
bench and lift a plate of metal over
their heads. We must understand we’re
leisure@claritycommerce.com
not in the athletic club business but
www.claritycommerce.com
in the lifestyle change business. Most
people fi nd exercising to be ‘discipline
and drudgery’ instead of ‘reward and
rejuvenation’. Our job is to get people
who lead totally sedentary lives, due
RAC won the Better Business Bureau to the advancements of automation,
Integrity award for ethical values to change and lead active lifestyles.
march 2010 © cybertrek 2010
clarity_vert_triple_160210.indd 3 16/2/10 16:32:28
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