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Patchell-Evans says that the GoodLife vision is to enable all Canadians to experience a fi t and healthy life


“I UNDERSTOOD HOW HARD IT IS FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON. I CHANGED THE CLUBS AND ATTITUDES, SO CARING BECAME THE FOREMOST THING”


eight months of rehabilitation. Watching elite athletes going through rehab around him, he was inspired to follow suit and push his own body to train harder, becoming inspired by the healing properties of exercise and subsequently switching the focus of his studies from business studies to physical education. He also took up rowing to strengthen


his shoulder after the accident and quickly took to the sport, going on to join Canada’s national rowing team. As part of this, he trained at the fi rst fi tness club in London, Ontario – while at the same time studying for his Masters in Exercise Physiology – and an interest in the health club industry was born. “I looked at how that club was being


run and it was obvious they were just going through the motions: they didn’t really understand their members. The fact that I was an academic in the fi eld of exercise, as well as an athlete, meant people used to ask me a lot of questions, and one day the club owners approached me and asked if I wanted to buy the club.


July 2013 © Cybertrek 2013 “I had a successful snow ploughing


business while I was studying. It allowed me to put myself through university, but it also meant I had some money to invest, so I bought the club in 1979. It was a small facility – 200sq m – and it went on to become the fi rst ever GoodLife Fitness Club. “At fi rst I was driven to train everyone


as if they were athletes, but after a while I realised that didn’t suit everyone. I started to adjust the training, treating members as normal people. But it wasn’t until I developed arthritis seven years later – for a long time I couldn’t function, couldn’t even open the door – that I felt an empathy for the majority of the population who aren’t athletes, and who just want to look and feel good. “I fi nally understood how hard it is


for the average person. As a result, I changed the clubs and the attitudes: caring became the foremost thing.”


Caring comes first That culture of caring now lies at the heart of the GoodLife philosophy.


“Culture in my company is everything,” says Patchell-Evans. “That’s why it’s hard for other companies to compete against us: I know how to create culture and how to keep it, which is something most people can’t do. Most people focus on creating a business – something they’ll ultimately sell; I focus on creating a culture for staff and for members. “My arthritis led me to develop a slogan


for myself: focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do. Then, about 14 years ago, I discovered my daughter was autistic, and I found the same approach was needed there: to help an autistic child to develop, you have to focus on the positive and look for what’s working. “The culture of my company is the


same: we always look at what’s working. You’ll fi nd the culture in most companies is about how to fi x problems. We focus on how to grow our strengths.” High quality staffi ng is one of those


strengths. Patchell-Evans continues: “I actually view my staff as my members, and the company is built around giving them the best opportunities, with a


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 33


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