Two ex-athletes turned business partners expanded to 70 Anytime Fitness locations, proving teamwork and shared values fuel long-term growth
Michael Chere and John J. Christopher’s similar backgrounds didn’t just give them something to build a friendship around — it gave them a foundation on which to build a thriving business.
When the pair met on their first day of graduate school in 2017, they quickly realized their shared values. Chere played soccer at West Point and eventually went on to serve as an Army Officer overseas. Christopher wrestled at Washington and Lee, later ascending to team captain. Both intent on building a brand centered around discipline, empathy and entrepreneurial grit, on day one, they laid the groundwork to the kind of successful business all their classmates hoped to eventually own.
In 2022, Chere and Christopher bought their first Anytime Fitness. In the following three years, they multiplied that number over and over again, establishing Baleo Fitness Inc., which now operates over 70 locations. While many things have changed since, their shared ethos continues to lie at the core of their business and power its ongoing advancements.
Skills That Translate
On the soccer field and the wrestling mat, from Afghanistan to Columbia Business School, Chere and Christopher picked up different learnings that helped them in their franchising journey. Athletics demonstrated the power of teamwork, the military instilled organization, discipline and leadership skills, while higher education gave them business expertise needed to run a humming operation.
All three experiences, collectively, helped them grow from two gyms in South Carolina to 70 across 11 states.
“It’s really been sports and the team camaraderie there,” Chere said. “Military is the process and the structure. Business school was the business acumen, consulting and problem-solving. That’s how I think my experience helped play a role.”
Chere’s military experience also helped him establish the skills needed to run the kind of operation he and Christopher always envisioned — one that feels high-end, tidy and hospitable to members.
“When we think about the business, our value prop to members is clean, friendly and well-maintained,” said Christopher. “Of our partnership, Mike is definitely the process guy. He did route clearing when he was in Afghanistan, so for us as an organization, having someone that can dot your i’s and cross your t’s when the stakes are high has been a huge complementary skill.”
A Culture Fit
Christopher and Chere’s values made them an ideal match with Anytime Fitness as well as each other.
“The brand personality really spoke to us; the approachability of it from a fitness concept,” Christopher said. “The community that they built amongst owners was unique before we even got going. The amount of people helping us out along the way was incredibly special.”
Christopher recalled that at one point, when he and Chere met with brand executives to discuss the opportunity, they mentioned “Ted Lasso” as a persona they wanted their gyms to embody. Chere and Christopher shared an appreciation for the Apple TV character — and not just because of Chere’s background in soccer.
“They told us their brand avatar is Ted Lasso — this confident, upbeat and optimistic guy,” Christopher said. “That’s something we really push our teams to internalize. You never know what people are bringing into the gym on a given day and how far a smile or a wave is going to go for them.”
Christopher also noted that unlike high-value, low-price (HVLP) gyms, their average gym membership base circles around 800 members, which allows general managers and trainers to forge real relationships with them. That’s something they take advantage of every day.
“If you’re a general manager, your role is to be a community builder,” said Christopher. “I think that’s the secret sauce. The differentiation between us and some of our peer groups is having that community within the four walls of the club and within the communities that we serve.”
That “sauce” is prioritized to the point where Christopher and Chere look at net promoter scores before profitability when analyzing a location.
That hospitality extends internally as well. Christopher and Chere are proud to run an operation that channels respect from top to bottom. Likely as a result of that, it’s also one with little internal turnover.
“Treating people well is an absolute non-negotiable for everybody,” said Chere. “We have our team values: trust, empowerment, accountability and mutual respect, and we hit on these every week when we bring in a new cohort of employees into the organization. We meet everybody in the organization and brief them on this stuff.”
Doable for First-Timers
While Christopher and Chere each spent a few years in management consulting, Anytime Fitness represented their first fitness franchising experience. Now, as successful multi-unit operators, they strongly endorse their footsteps as something to follow for those in a similar position and hoping to get involved in business ownership.
“For new entrepreneurs, if you’re looking for a great entry point in that franchise world, Anytime Fitness is just that,” Christopher said. “The cost of entry, in a relative sense, is low. The business is complex as you grow, and there are complexities to it, but again, we’ll reiterate, if you focus on people, your team and your members, keep the club clean, friendly and well-maintained, you can thrive.”
Chere and Christopher also nodded to the support they receive from the HQ level in this regard.
“The reason we are where we are today is because of the folks at Purpose Brands (Anytime Fitness parent company),” said Chere. “In so many ways, and we stand on their shoulders and those of other owners to glean best practices.”
Welcoming Adaptations
The Anytime Fitness franchising experience is also one that allows space between the margins so operators can tailor their offerings to their different consumers. Flexibility relays scalability, Christopher and Chere argue.
“The aperture of Anytime Fitness locations and how owners approach the business is fairly wide. We’ve grown largely through acquisition, and as a result of that, your approach to personal training may be different from another’s,” said Christopher. “We’ve widened our guardrails, recognizing that what may work great for one community may be a little bit different than another.”
Chere even argues that a willingness to push boundaries and take action rather than passively oversee an operation can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving today.
“Don’t come in with the perception that this is going to be mailbox money,” he said. “We live in a new world with new competition and a lot of different quality products. I still very much believe in the Anytime Fitness product, but there are more options out there for consumers, so you’re fighting for a share of a wallet, and it takes work.”
