Podcasts
Jim Worthington, Owner and President of Newtown Athletic Club
Few people in the fitness industry are as self-effacing as Jim Worthington, but it becomes hard to believe when you hear what this former gym manager, professional racquetball player and hometown kid has turned the Newtown Athletic Club into over the past 30 years. In this episode, Jim joins Leigh and Hossein to discuss creating a Lifestyle Club, his lessons learned in life and the best place to get a cheesesteak in Philly.
LISTEN to Jim Worthington's episode on iTunes
"The key to who is going to be successful or not, lies in this one reality: Successful people do what unsuccessful people could do, but don't do... I've kind of made that my thought to live by. You have to put tremendous effort in and if you do, you'll probably do alright."
- Jim Worthington on his life motto
Chapters
2:35 — Creating a full-family lifestyle club — the next wave in high-end facilities.
7:25 — Playing sports, working out, managing a club and working on Wall Street
9:36 — Fires maintenance crew, cleans facility himself, starts a janitorial business he sells
14:02 — Teacher tells him he won’t get a job and his life mantra is learned
18:39 — Being a mentor, finding a mentor, and listening to people
22:37 — Advice for young entrepreneurs
27:26 — The value of networking at IHRSA and other events
29:27 — A little bit spoiled and a tough student makes his success tough to predict
38:16 — How to figure out where the industry is going to go? Babyboomers
42:16 — How small clubs can apply large club practices to their businesses
44:36 — Worst decisions you made
45:59 — The benefits of Open Books and creating partners out of your employees
52:11 — What trends did you not see coming in fitness?
54:28 — Hiring a personal relationship person for the floor
56:48 — The reason they don’t have five clubs
58:43 — One workout for the rest of your life.
1:01:30 — Best Philly cheesesteak
1:02:49 — Third grade dodgeball
1:05:08 — Word association
