Paul Lockington is a business development adviser to a select group of growing companies in the Sporting Goods and Fitness Industries. From over 35 years of experience, Paul has extensive hands-on technical knowledge of human locomotion and its effects on the human condition.
With an academic background in Exercise Physiology and coaching qualifications with the NSCA, Paul understands the complexity of connectivity as well as the business philosophies and customer needs in both the fitness and wellness worlds. His broad network of contacts provides him with a unique perspective into the problems of his clients and how to solve them.
"Many product suppliers for health clubs are waiting for technology to stabilize, but the truth is, it's not going to stabilize. The technology and innovation curve is growing steeply and it's not going to slow down." - Paul Lockington on the Fitness + Technology Podcast
"New sensor technologies for group fitness mirrors the serious understanding that group fitness is a moneymaker for clubs. If you don't have group fitness, cycling, TRX, or Orange Theory typed programs, you're missing out on what's making people money." - Paul Lockington on the Fitness + Technology Podcast
Josh Leve is responsible for the strategic development and growth of the Association of Fitness Studios. Josh brings more than 10 years of sales, consulting, advertising, marketing, operations, and retail experience to AFS. Josh has spent more than a decade in the fitness industry. Most recently managing large scale health clubs and successfully turning around the financial performance of three different facilities, while also providing consultative services for the boutique studio market.
The idea of AFS stemmed from combining Josh’s health and fitness background, with his father Chuck's 40-year expertise in developing fitness associations. Time and time again, Josh had seen first hand, trainer after trainer leave the health club environment to start their own business, yet only to return due to the inability to find the proper resources focused on the business of owning and operating a fitness studio. In 2013, the Association of Fitness Studios (AFS) was born.
You can say running an association and being in the fitness industry was inevitable for Josh. His grandfather Mort (a member of the Handball Hall of Fame) was founder of the National Court Clubs Association (NCCA) – one of the International, Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association’s (IHRSA) predecessors – and executive director of the US Handball Association (USHA).
His father, Chuck Leve (a member of the Racquetball Hall of Fame) and 40-year industry veteran, was executive director of the US Racquetball Association, a founding employee of IHRSA, and developer and builder of four fitness start-ups including IHRSA.
Prior to his health club experience Josh worked with Corbett Accel – the largest healthcare communications/advertising company in the US where he launched products for major pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis. Josh holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Kansas.
"In top fitness studios, it's about taking a high-touch, results driven approach and creating an experience that could never be emulated in a traditional big box facility." - Josh Leve on the Fitness + Technology Podcast
"As technology improves and more data is gathered from the human body, trainers (and thus studio owners) will need to be educated in how to make sense of this data." - Josh Leve on the Fitness + Technology Podcast
Daniel Waide has been a Fitness Operator and entrepreneur for 15 years. His fitness career began as a mobile Personal Trainer while completing a Bachelors degree in Applied Science (Human Movement) in Melbourne, Australia.
He first worked technology into his fitness career when pre-apps, he created a web based text messaging tool to help his Personal Training clients train between sessions. His implementation of technology was key to the growth and success in his roles as National Fitness Manager with Genesis Fitness in Australia and as a Fitness Director for Town Sports International in Manhattan & Brooklyn.
Now working with Wexer, Daniel is helping fitness chains in the Americas and across the globe execute successful digital strategies. With a deep understanding of fitness and technology, Daniel aims to help more people get active, one digital fitness experience at a time. Wexer Virtual started with installations in Denmark and Norway, and has now expanded to more than 40 countries.
"More recently we are seeing an increasing amount of club groups combining virtual with live instruction. Either to make the live class even more engaging or to free up the instructor to enhance participant interaction." - Daniel Waide on the Fitness + Technology Podcast
"People want personalized programs. It's something that the fitness industry went away from as we started to direct people more towards personal training. New technology can help build these personalized programs, at scale." - Daniel Waide on the Fitness + Technology Podcast
Greg Skloot is an entrepreneur building technology for the fitness industry. As VP of Growth at Netpulse, Greg leads sales, customer success, marketing and operations for the #1 provider of mobile apps for health clubs. He splits time between San Francisco and visiting club operators all over the world, helping them leverage mobile to grow their businesses. Prior to joining Netpulse, Greg was Co-founder and CEO of Attend.com, where he raised $3M in VC funding and led a team of 30 employees. Greg is a frequent author and speaker about marketing and digital strategy. He is the author of several ebooks, including StartupsHeartCustomers.com, a popular online guide to sales and marketing. He holds a B.S. from Northeastern University, where he sits on the Alumni Board.
"We are in the midst of an incredible revolution in business models. Industries that have operated the same way for decades are being wildly disrupted by new startups that are thinking differently." - Greg Skloot on the Fitness + Technology Podcast
"The savvy operator is going to understand how to use technology as a powerful accelerant to their marketing programs, to their referral strategy, and to their member retention and engagement." - Greg Skloot on the Fitness + Technology Podcast