It’s not uncommon for a CEO to eulogize about their sunny team culture – after all, no boss who wants to keep their seat will ever admit to gloom in the ranks.
Karl Sanft, however, has cold, hard proof that the day-to-day staff lifestyle at 24 Hour Fitness, the behemoth gym-center chain he presides over, is positively buoyant. ‘Infectious’ is the word he uses.
“At the highest level in retail, you can see a customer two to three times a year. In fitness, you see a member two to three times a week. So the level of relationship, the engagement, is entirely different.”
“A lot of our young trainers are like, ‘Hey, Karl, do you want to get a workout?’ And I’m like, ‘No. Maybe I’ll do a little cardio with you, but the last thing I want to do is lift weights with you,’” he quips. “They look like they’re built out of Greek mythology.”
One detects a strong whiff of humility in that statement. A peruse through Sanft’s Instagram posts reveals a youthful 54-year-old who, in terms of physicality, is clearly no stranger to exercise; beyond gym training, American football and Kenpo Karate remain lifelong passions.
Building relationships
Indeed, rewind three decades and you’ll find Sanft’s younger self ensconced among the whirling treadmills and stacked dumbbell racks of the brand he now guides.
He’s been a regular, paying member of 24 Hour Fitness since 1993 and estimates that during his countrywide work travels he’s visited all 275 clubs – a factor that has not only benefited his biceps but afforded him a priceless window into the intricacies of a nationwide fitness empire.
“It provided me with credibility in my point of view,” says Arizona-raised Sanft, who joined the brand in 2019 after a two-decade incumbency at electronics retail giant Best Buy.
“At the highest level in retail, you can see a customer two to three times a year. In fitness, you see a member two to three times a week. So the level of relationship, the engagement, is entirely different.
“And then you are in an environment where people are exerting themselves, lifting heavy weights, strenuously working out on cardio; they’re in pools and steam machines. It’s a much more involved, intimate experience than retail.”
“With the pandemic, it was probably the worst timing you could ever dream of for entering into a new industry.”
Those customer relationships – as well as those with thousands of staff – were put to the ultimate test in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Sanft had barely had time to make his mark.
“With the pandemic, it was probably the worst timing you could ever dream of for entering into a new industry,” he admits.
“The entire industry shut down. We went through bankruptcy. We culled the portfolio by about 30 percent from a club-count perspective. We had to reimagine the entire gym experience and how we could continue to engage and inspire team members and members alike when we were shut down.”
The evolution
What happened next is testimony to Sanft’s resolve as a businessman and a human – and to his ingenuity.
Faced with strict government mandates, 24 Hour Fitness team members – and who better to do this – began the herculean task of moving exercise equipment from inside gyms to outdoor settings under large convention tents, which allowed members to travel to their nearest setup and still train.
While attesting to the nightmarish scenario, Sanft says the experience ‘fast-forwarded a lot of innovation’, kickstarting, somewhat ironically, the brand’s rehabilitation to full health once restrictions softened.
First, and most pertinently, 24 Hour Fitness set its prices more competitively. Then a wider tech-focused strategy with digital research and data analysis, supported by agency partnerships with ROR and Muuv Labs, kicked on from there.
“We’re finding ways to be a part of the areas where our team members and our members live and work.”
Critical to a renewed member experience was a full-scale, three-to-five year aesthetic and equipment ‘refresh scheme’ for clubs across the United States. As of 2024, 14 of the 20 clubs have been remodeled and revamped for members, increasing access to the latest strength training machines, cardio equipment and workout zones, in modern facilities that help members hit their goals.
Programs such as Modus Mobility (based on flexibility, stability and longevity) were launched, and the brand’s app 24GO transformed from a simple, one-dimensional tool into a sophisticated instrument members can use for a multitude of tasks, such as scheduling group classes or identifying clear fitness goals.
In his characteristically candid and transparent style, Sanft confesses that despite seeding the brand’s digital rebirth, he’s not necessarily reinventing any wheels at 24 Hour Fitness.
To that end, he acknowledges company founder Mark Mastrov, whose community-based ideology has been revived and is now a model for the brand’s modern-day engagement.
An authentic approach
This approach has seen partnerships flourish with basketball’s LA Clippers, San Diego Wave Football Club, Angel City Football Club in women’s soccer, LA Galaxy in the men’s game and ice hockey’s Anaheim Ducks.
Valuable collaborations with youth groups keep the brand stitched into the local fabric.
“The way I like to think about my tenure is that we are once again engaging in the community,” Sanft says. “We’re finding ways to be a part of the areas where our team members and our members live and work.”
“Everyone loves a new club; that’s the easy win. It’s new equipment, it’s new jobs, etc. But when you’re bringing a company back to health from the inside out, that takes a lot of partnership – a 360-view of all your vendors to help you get that done.”
From a grassroots level right up to the company’s vendors, Sanft believes that partnerships are about what you put into them, tipping his hat to supply-side partners, such as corporate wellness platform Wellhub and sports nutrition and supplement specialists Nutrishop.
“If you give people access to your brand and tell them the story of what you’re trying to achieve and you’re authentic, then they’re very much willing to engage with you,” he explains.
“Everyone loves a new club; that’s the easy win. It’s new equipment, it’s new jobs and so on. But when you’re bringing a company back to health from the inside out, that takes a lot of partnership – a 360-view of all your vendors to help you get that done.”
With 24 Hour Fitness now back in positive cash flow and not needing to borrow, Sanft is in high spirits about the future – and beyond, to a time when he’s no longer around to politely decline staff fitness face-offs.
“When my tenure is over, what I’ll be remembered for, I think, is being authentic through and through,” he says. “They’ll picture more magnanimous leaders, they’ll picture tougher leaders, but hopefully they’ll remember the authenticity and care that I offer the brand.”
