About Justin Cates

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Robert Brewster
North for the Future of Fitness
February 2013 - In business, as in life, strategic plans are a good thing to have and to follow. By the end of Day 1, however, that plan will almost certainly need some tweaking. By the end of Day 2, a little bit more tweaking... By Day 200, that plan may now be a completely new and improved shadow of its original self. This is a good thing; this is evolution. Read Article...

Roger Ralph
A Club Industry Pioneer, Veteran and Gentleman
June 2018 - My Dad, Club Insider Publisher, Norm Cates, sometimes writes, "Get a beverage of your choice, sit back, relax and enjoy the following read." Today, you will want to do exactly that for this month's cover story. Our feature this month is someone you may or may not have heard of or met, but I can guarantee you that he has had an effect on your health and fitness club business. His name is Roger Ralph, and he epitomizes the terms Club Industry Pioneer, Veteran and Gentleman. Read Article...

Saco Sport & Fitness
Maine's Most Comfortable Club
January 2018 - What motivates you? What inspires you? For most in the wonderful health and fitness club industry, it is to help others become better. That is such a simple phrase, but there are infinite ways in which to do so. The formula then becomes a combination of experience and market realities. Will you go low-price, boutique, high-end? Will you focus all effort into one location, or is the goal to spread your concepts and philosophies across multiple locations? When all is said and done, will it work? I've asked a lot of questions in this paragraph, but the most important one is this: Why? Read Article...

Sara Kooperman's SCW
Fitness Education for Life
April 2024 - A good idea is a good idea. But, it doesn't mean it will work, at least not right away. The Lightbulb. That's a pretty good idea, right? Well, it took Thomas Edison over 1,000 tries to get it right, and its iterations have endlessly improved over time. A car instead of a horse... A plane instead of a car! Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur) might have a lot to say about that... They did not get it right the first few times, either. Many times, the idea itself is not what is flawed when it first fails. It is the method... or, the timing... or, a combination of factors so minute that it takes a while to untangle each and reiterate. And, that is if there is still time, motivation or funding... Read Article...

Stephen Tharrett
The Consummate Gentleman (1953 - 2020)
February 2021 - Born January 14, 1953, a health and fitness club industry advocate and veteran, a leader, a legend, a mind, and a friend, Stephen Tharrett, passed away on December 22, 2020. Surviving him was his beloved wife, Denise, and their two children, Alyssa and Travis. As kind as he was brilliant, striving to make the industry a better place for us all, Stephen was the consummate gentleman. As an author, I would love to say the words "consummate gentleman" were my idea, but that would not be true. As I read through the comments from Stephen's industry colleagues and friends that appear in this tribute, John McCarthy shared those words, and all of the subsequent comments supported it as more than an anecdotal observation. It became clear it's more of universal fact to all who knew him, worked with him, loved him. Read Article...

Steve and Bonnie Pfiester
The Dynamic Duo Behind Longevity Fitness
June 2009 - Through the immense love for what they do, and the relationships they have spent years building, Steve and Bonnie Pfiester have made their mark on the beautiful community of Vero Beach, located on the East Coast of Florida. In a city of less than 20,000 people, and literally surrounded by various clubs and gyms, they have built a brand that sets them apart from the rest and truly means something to the people who know them and use their facilities. Combining Fun and the power of Relationships, the dynamic duo behind Longevity Fitness are changing lives every day, and that is what our industry is all about. Read Article...

Steve Nash Fitness World & Sports Clubs
An Interview With CEO and President, Chris Smith
March 2020 - In 1959, the late Henry Polessky founded Fitness World in British Columbia, Canada. Over the next 50 years, the chain expanded across British Columbia, serving and bettering the lives of its thousands of members, and Henry cemented his place as an industry legend. What's more important than the business leader Henry became, though, is the example he set in his community, through his charitable works. Today, both of those hallmarks of Henry's mission and life live on. This month, Club Insider shares that story. Read Article...

Stevenson Fitness
Where Everyone Leaves Feeling Better Than When They Arrived
May 2019 - Go, Go Power Rangers! Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers! Growing up in the 1990s, I can still remember the refrain from this classic kid's television show, and at my then young age, this group of world savers was as big as it got. Well, maybe with the exception of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and now, the Avengers. As I prepared for this month's cover story on Stevenson Fitness and my interview with Owner, Chris Stevenson, I learned he was a stunt performer for the internationally touring Power Rangers Live Show, eventually becoming the Red Power Ranger himself. The flood gates of nostalgia opened wide, and later, our talk on the subject was a lot of fun. Don't worry, though, I will spare you from those details to focus on the more important topic at hand: the story of Chris Stevenson and Stevenson Fitness. Read Article...

Stone Creek Club & Spa
"Your Everyday Getaway"
May 2013 - Over the years, regular readers of Club Insider will have noticed several themes that have constantly repeated themselves in our publication. Some of these themes include the constant improvement and modernization of facilities, programs and other member offerings, club cleanliness being crucial to member satisfaction, true staff development and empowerment, outstanding member service that creates results, and possibly the most important, development of TRUST within the community via constant outreach. One of our goals as a publication is to share stories of success in the industry and what these organizations have done to be that way. This month, our study of Stone Creek Club & Spa includes everything mentioned above and more. Read Article...

Team Quest4ALS
Supercharging Augie's Quest
February 2019 - Heroes and Villains. Villains and Heroes. The comic book, television and movie universes have revolved around the classic dichotomy of two relatively simple concepts: Good and Evil. In the aforementioned lore of old and new, with good, evil rises in balance. In turn, good rises to create counter-balance. And, on and on we go into sequel after sequel, each usually worse than the previous. Thankfully, real life can be different... if we try. At the 2015 Bash for Augie's Quest, an artist painted Superman on canvas as John Ondrasik, the incredible singer of Five for Fighting, sang It's Not Easy (Superman). Having only taken five minutes to create, and I am sure a thousand times longer practicing its creation, the painting went on to be the headlining item of the silent auction for the night, raising tens of thousands of dollars for Augie's Quest. Being there for that moment was incredible. And, I have no problem admitting that, for me, as tears ran down my face, it was the moment I knew ALS would be defeated... In my lifetime. In Augie's lifetime. Read Article...

Terry Blachek
His Name is Terry, and He is Your Friend.
February 2023 - What are some of the key attributes of success in business? I'd start out with a vision, a plan, people, timing, and hopefully, some money. The latter (money) can be combatted when all the other elements are really chugging along, whereas the latter cannot usually combat the lack of the former (vision, a plan, people and timing), at least not forever. This month's cover story subject, Terry Blachek, CEO of Austin Fitness Group (Orangetheory Fitness Area Developer), paints this picture to a T, as he discusses his work with Orangetheory Fitness, both at the corporate level during the advent and in the early days of the brand, as well as today, being a successful Area Developer of the company. Read Article...

Terry Dezzutti
Carrying on the Future-Shaping Tradition of Merritt Athletic Clubs
March 2013 - This month, we caught up with Terry Dezzutti, whose experience has been very similar to Robert Brewster. He is now a 30+ year health and fitness club industry veteran and the 16-year-running Chief Operating Officer of Merritt Athletic Clubs. As I have written previously, like any great health and fitness club leader, he has not kept his experience and knowledge exclusive to his company but has shared it with others in hopes of making the industry as a whole a better place to make a living, and in turn, improving the health of our nation's population. Read Article...

The "Insider Speaks"
Are We Remarkable?
April 2009 - Imagine you are driving down a country road on the way to somewhere. You pass a field with a number of cows. Would you stop to take a look? I imagine the answer is no because once you have seen a cow, you have seen every cow. Read Article...

The "Insider Speaks"
Thought Provocation: IHRSA's 2013 Keynote Speakers
April 2013 - As a student of business, both in the theoretical sense and the practical application of principles, one of my favorite features of every IHRSA Convention and Trade Show is the diverse lineup of keynote speakers each year. Over the years, these great speakers have come from a vast array of backgrounds, from business to politics to science. This year was no different, and my hope for this article is to articulate the takeaways I left with and how they can be looked at in relation to our industry and its growth during this pivotal time in our history. Read Article...

The "Insider Speaks"
Halftime
September 2008 - The debate rages on. Are we in Recession? Are we headed to Depression? Is this just a slowdown, a correction? The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession as, "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales". Read Article...

The "Insider Speaks"
The Season of Change
January 2008 - Read Article...

The 2010 IHRSA Awards
March 2010 - Each year, during the annual IHRSA Conference and Trade Show, well-deserved awards are given to individuals and companies exhibiting qualities that are the best our industry, as well as communities, have to offer. This year was no different, and our industry should be proud of those selected to receive these awards. Read Article...

The Amazing Greta Wagner
Leader of the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers
January 2014 - Entering the New Year of 2014, I've now had the privilege of conducting cover story interviews and authoring cover story articles for half a decade. In that time, I have had the honor of speaking and corresponding with many incredible industry leaders, and frankly, some true legends. Throughout that time and experience, I have been most fascinated by a natural phenomenon that occurs with so many of those cover story subjects. That phenomenon is: one's personal background and upbringing carries forward later in life into their careers, and what they accomplish in our industry just makes sense when coupled with who they are, as described by them. Read Article...

The Apple Athletic Club
Always the Place People's Lives are Enhanced
May 2011 - The Mission Statement... What is it, and what's in it? Is it the purpose for a company's existence or a guide for how to operate? Is it overly detailed or broad in scope? Who writes it, and is there accountability for it? Once it's written, how public is it and in what ways? These are all great questions for any company to ask during the formative steps of initial development. These are also great questions for a seasoned company looking for a new way of doing business to ask itself in an effort to improve. Read Article...

The Club Insider Advertising Team
Your Connection to the Best!
October 2013 - This special edition of Club Insider completes our 20th full year of publication (See 21 Years and Counting! on Page #3). Moving forward, we would be remiss if we did not give the proper credit to a group of companies that has made the continued publication of Club Insider possible. That group of companies is The Club Insider Advertising Team: Your Connection to the Best. Read Article...

The Club Insider Advertising Team
Open For Business and Ready to Assist Yours!
June 2020 - In March of this year, the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Coronavirus Crisis, reached the United States of America, and it changed all of our lives. Our booming economy shut down almost overnight. Our sense of freedom was restricted. Our future became uncertain. A few months have now gone by, and the task of reopening is upon us. Life will not be normal for a long time, but we are now playing the hand we have been dealt as best we can. We are innovative and resilient. We will win as best we can until we can win absolutely once a vaccine has been found and distributed worldwide. Through these tough times, Club Insider has tried to do its part with our coverage of the pandemic. For the first time in our history, we dedicated not just one but two complete editions to one topic: COVID-19 and how it is affecting the health and fitness club industry. Read Article...

The Club Insider Advertising Team
Dedicated Leaders in a Great Industry
August 2021 - IHRSA 2021 is on the horizon, and we are beyond excited to soon be reunited with our friends and colleagues from around the industry in Dallas, Texas, October 13 - 15. If you haven't booked your air, hotel and registration, do so today by going to ihrsa.org/convention! This is the event you do not want to miss. To that end, kicking off our IHRSA 2021 coverage, and doing our part in serving the loyal advertisers who have helped Club Insider survive the pandemic thus far, we want to provide a must-meet list while you are attending IHRSA 2021. Read Article...

The Eagle Has Landed
August 2023 - As much as I wanted to be, I was not a child of the Apollo era... the Apollo Missions I mean. Instead, the names I became accustomed to were: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and now, Artemis. Watching the Space Shuttle Missions over the years was incredible, but sadly, on two occasions, they were devastating. However, this did not deter my curiosity of how it all came to be: Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Over the years, I became as much a student viewer of the past as a hopeful observer of the future. Of course, particularly, I gravitated to Apollo 11. Who didn't!? Read Article...

The GENAVIX Wellness Network
A Model for the Future
September 2017 - Last year, in our November 2016 Cover Story, we featured Mike Benton's Executive Health and Sports Center (EHSC), located in Manchester, New Hampshire. In the course of that story, Mike introduced us to the GENAVIX Wellness Network, which at its core, is a new business model for our industry that bridges the gap between health club members, health care practitioners and health insurance carriers. By shifting the health insurance fee paradigm from fee-for-service to fee-for-value, an atmosphere for creating real and measurable results has been created. Now, the facilities that are joining this growing network are experiencing something our industry has been seeking for decades: the integration of health and fitness facilities, health care practitioners and health insurance carriers into a cohesive system that provides results for the end user. In short, GENAVIX is the foothold in helping our industry become a real and recognized part of the health care system. Read Article...

The Newtown Athletic Club
A True Community Within a Community
May 2010 - What do you do best in your health and fitness club business? Is there one thing, two things or many things? Do you try to make your club be everything to everyone? Or, do you capitalize on your strengths? Read Article...

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