THE “NOT SO SECRET” MILLIONAIRES F
or years now, so-called “reality shows” on prime-time TV have been engaged in an epic battle for viewers, and, surprisingly, a fair number of individuals associated with IHRSA-member clubs have been part of this heady, ongoing competition for viewers’ hearts and minds.
One reason for the popularity of these shows is the personal transformation that con-
testants often undergo. The experiences, which are often quite intense, make them different people, reshaping them psychologically in many cases, and physically in some.
For the participants, “reality,” as they experience it, will never be the same again. For the audience, the process can be fascinating and, often, touching to watch.
In 2010 and 2011, for example, Marci Crozier, who’s worked for two Franciscan Omni Health and Fitness centers in Chesterton and Schereville, Indiana, since 1982, and is now the company’s regional director of marketing and sales, spent six months as a contestant on Season 11 of NBC’s The Biggest Loser. She lost 171 pounds in the process. Her daughter, Courtney, her partner on the show, trained alongside her, while the two were sequestered for six months at a luxury ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. She lost 76 pounds. (See “The Biggest Winners,” March CBI, pg. 52.) Ken Coleman, a personal trainer at the Cascade Athletic Clubs, in Portland, Oregon, and a motivational speaker, was one of the top three contestants on Season 3 of the show in 2006, weighing in at 358 pounds and leaving at 197.
Gary and Diane Heavin, the cofounders of Curves International, Inc., the world’s largest fitness franchise with nearly 10,000 clubs in more than 85 countries, left their comfortable home in a gated community to spend a week undercover in the crime- and drug-riddled Third Ward of Houston, Texas, for an episode of ABC’s Secret Millionaire. (See “Curves Cofounders Go Under Cover on Secret Million- aire,” June CBI, pg. 17.)
There, they lived in a typical home and survived on food stamps, the equivalent of $6.50 per day per
person, and appeared on the show in April of 2010. In the end, just like the other accomplished and affluent individuals who appear on the show, the Heavins made a substantial donation—$410,000 of their own money—to deserving individuals in the neighborhood, where the median income is $5,500 a year. The experience was life-changing in a number of ways. Says Gary: “It was incredible … It was both the best and the worst week of our lives. Through it all, our appreciation of our own lives grew, but so did our sense of duty to help others less fortunate.”
Last August, it was Chuck Runyon’s and Dave Mortensen’s turn to experience life on welfare for a week. As the cofounders of Anytime Fitness, they’ll appear on a future—still unscheduled—episode of Secret Millionaire. While they’re not free to discuss the details until after the show has aired, they’re eager, now, to tell the story of how it all came about, and how this journey has changed their lives and the way they do business. >
ihrsa.org |
APRIL 2012 |
Club Business Internat ional 39
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