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Fellow franchisees,
Before I begin, I wanted to take a moment to once again thank two amazing people who are friends and mentors to many of us: outgoing GGFA President Blair McHaney and outgoing GGFA Board of Director Gordon Johnson. These incredible people have voluntarily served this organization, their fellow franchisees and our brand at the highest level and with the utmost integrity, professionalism and level of caring that any businessperson would aspire to. We can’t thank them enough and are very lucky to have them as part of the Gold’s Gym family.
A President is only as good as the people around him and I am very lucky to have a Board of Directors and Advisory Board that are in the same mold as Blair and Gordon. Working with volunteers who devote their time, passion, energy, brainpower and resources towards the common good is inspiring, motivating and exciting as it sets the table for everything the GGFA can and will do.
I am also extremely lucky to have a partner and best friend who is one of the best gym operators I know and supports all of my volunteer and my charity work, no matter where it takes me. Thanks Art.
Please join me in taking a moment to welcome the new President of GGI, Jim Snow, to the Gold’s Gym family. I have already had the pleasure of working with Jim on several projects as we only gave him a day or so to get acclimated before we went right to work. I encourage all of you to say hello and meet Jim at our upcoming convention as he supports the mission of the GGFA, wants to help us take our businesses and our brand to the next level and is working with us in the spirit of partnership that we have always set as our standard for the GGFA. We have already made a lot of progress on some key objectives as a direct result of Jim’s willingness to partner with the GGFA and these will be announced at the convention. I encourage all of you to attend to learn more about the many opportunities and programs that will be available for all of us.
As I started to put together my goals for the GGFA for the coming year, I realized that the very name of this publication, The Voice, is a big part of what I would like to accomplish. I would like to hear YOUR VOICE. There are many of us who get to connect and network on a regular basis, but there are a lot of you that we don’t get to talk to very often, if at all. I would like to change that. This is your Franchisee Association and we are here for you in many ways. From our incredible staff at the GGFA, led by Ginger Collins, the finest Executive Director I have ever seen, to your Board of Directors and your Advisory Board, this is really about all of us working together to help make our businesses and our brand the best it can be. We really can only do this by connecting with as many of you as we can and it needs to work both ways. We need to hear from you, so please make sure you reach out to us and let us know what we can do to help and what is on your mind.
Another part of my vision for the coming year is that in addition to all of us as franchisees working closely together, that the GGFA and GGI work more closely together than ever before towards our common goals. It is in all of our best interests for our brand, our franchisees and for GGI to be as successful as possible. This will help us all increase the value and profitability of our businesses, help us better compete in our marketplaces and help us realize economies of scale that we have always talked about, but have never been able to execute as a family. The time is now to execute as we need to leverage our brand and our strengths, especially in this economic and ultra competitive environment. We talk about being the Gold’s Gym family and now it’s time to act like one on as many levels as possible.
I look forward to shaping the future, while we tackle the present together. I’ll see you in Vegas for our convention and in NYC for your GGFA Owner’s Conference.
It’s time.
Mike Epstein
Gold’s Gym Paramus, NJ
President, GGFA