Love Your Career

This week we have podcast royalty as we are joined by Oli Patrick. Oli is known to a number of people across the industry due to his podcast, his work with high performance and generally being a legend! He takes us through his career, his journey to now and his best tips for progression We hope you love it as much as we did!

This week we are delighted to welcome Belinda Steward, MD at Places Leisure onto the Love Your Career Podcast. Belinda joined Places in 2024 after a hugely successful career within hospitality and has brought that acumen over to the company to push it to the next level. Belinda tells us all about her journey and learnings, how she would replicate this going forward and biggest tips for succeeding...

So excited this week to be joined by the amazing Gary Linton-Walls, Commercial Director for Lift Brands EMEA. A friend and former colleague of Lawrence, Gary has risen through the industry over the years and is a hugely respected commercial force of nature - helping to elevate Lift Brands to where it is today. Gary talks to us about his journey, the learnings he has taken on board along the way an...

This week we are joined by Marina Thomas, Head of Training and Development for Alliance Leisure and MD of Marina Solutions. With an illustrious career working for some of the biggest names in the industry such as Holmes place and Precor, Marina is uniquely positioned to tell us all about how to succeed within the fitness industry. She takes us through her career journey, rules for success and how...

This week we are joined by Sean Mitchell, Head of Commercial for Kore (formerly known as Sandwell Leisure Trust). Sean takes us through his career progression, the power of staying consistent and his tips on how to progress in your career. A truly great episode!

This week we are joined by the amazing Minal Hawkins, Workforce Development Manager at CIMSPA. Minal has been a mainstay with CIMSPA since the turn of the decade, having worked with the sporting arena for England Netball prior to this. Minal tells us about her career journey, her top tips when interviewing for candidates and employers and so much more!

This week we are joined by the amazing Hayley Lever, CEO of Get Manchester Moving. For 30 years, Hayley has played a leadership role in physical activity, sport, policy, and community development and since 2020 has sat as CEO of GM Moving, leading the the city-region's whole system approach to addressing inactivity and inequalities. Hayley runs us through her career, her approach to growth and...

This week we are joined by the industry legend that is John Oxley! John has 40 years experience in leisure management having started out as Lifeguard. Senior leadership roles include Commercial Director and Group Operations Director for Everyone Active, Managing Director for mission-led charity Active Nation and Chief Operating Officer for Places Leisure. He is currently CEO at Stockport Active CI...

This week we are joined by Fiona, head of franchise performance for Anytiem Fitness Australia and UK. In this conversation, we discusses the significance of mentorship in career development, the impact of influential books, and effective recruitment strategies. Fiona emphasizes the importance of defining non-negotiables in hiring, crafting effective job descriptions, and attracting talent through...

Cam Bridger is an Account Director at Love Recruitment, leading the Commercial, Boutique Fitness and Suppliers division, where he specialises in placing management and senior leadership talent across the fitness industry. Cam has over 6 years of experience working with industry brands of all sizes and working with hundreds, if not thousands of industry professionals. With first-hand experience as...

This week on the Love Your Career Podcast we are absolutely thrilled to be joined by Nathan D'Rozario, Head of International Business Development for The Fitness Group Education. Nathan joins us after previously hosting Lawrence on his own podcast previously so it was a pleasure to be able to return the favour. With an extensive career within the industry, Nathan joined after leaving professio...

This week we are joined by industry Titan Jay Worthy, CEO at Myzone. Fresh off setting the industry abuzz with the recent Myzone Update show, Jay joins us on the Love Your Career Podcast to tell us all about his career. Jay talks us through navigating leadership challenges, traits of highly successful leaders and something that is often forgotten about in the world of high paced business, the impo...

The reason we started this podcast was really simple, to bring the best advice from absolute experts in our industry, this week we could not have brought you anyone better when it comes to being a people expert as Peta Young - people director at Oxygen Activeplay. Peta started out in the world of retail with a career spanning 23 years with the entertainer, in store management all the way up to Sen...

This week we are joined by Lauren Connis, Head of Health and Wellbeing for Oldham Active. In this episode of the Love For Your Career podcast, we interview Lauren who shares herinspiring career journey in the health and wellbeing sector. The conversation covers the importance of mentorship, navigating career changes, and the significance of self-reflection and personal growth. Lauren emphasises th...

This week we are joined by none other than Giles Denning - head of marketing for PerformX and Fitfest. Giles has worked with a number of well known brands in the hospitality space before joining the fitness and leisure industry, initially freelancing with Bonska consulting before joining up with PerformX where he has helped transform it into one of the industry's leading events with record num...

This episode sees us joined by the amazing Freya Tringham, Head of Padel at Powerleague. A real powerhouse in the industry Freya spent a number of years growing the Hotpod Yoga Brand, starting as a commercial strategist and franchise manager before growing into Head of Franchise management and then MD, growing the business from 15 sites to over 50 and becoming one of the most recognisable in the s...

This week was a really special one, we were joined by fitness industry royalty as Michelle Dand, head of fitness products and programming for David Lloyd was our guest on the show. Michelle is responsible for creating the strategic direction for Studio Programming along with the latest Fitness Products to ensure innovative; engaging and leading-edge experiences are developed for all members within...

This week we are so excited to be joined by Paul Ferris. Normally here is where we would list their job title but with Paul, this feels like a real disservice as he is a man whohas had multiple hugely successful careers from the CEO of Speedflex to heading up the medical department at Newcastle United to Lawyer and even a successful publisher of a number of self written books - this week was a rea...

This week we are joined by Rob Beale of the illustrious Third Space, adding to our list of heavy hitters from the industry. Rob is the Fitness Director at Third Space, leading all aspects of Fitness & Personal Training for the group. Rob has a wealth of experience in several markets having held senior roles at Holmes Place, Virgin Active, David Lloyd, and Next Gen Australia. Rob takes us throu...

This week we are joined by Martin Franklin, CEO of Les Mills UK. A graduate of Birmingham University with a degree in sport and exercise science, Martin is a fitness industry 'lifer' joining the industry in entry level positions and progressing into roles in private club chains at a director level. Martin held the position of Customer Experience Director at Les Mills before progressing int...

This week we are joined by the one, the only - Tara Dillon. Tara is fitness industry royalty andwas appointed as CEO of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity in January 2015. Tara began her career in sport and physical activity as a lifeguard in her local centre back in 1987, whilst studying. Having gained hands-on experience within local authority leisure, vari...

This week is something slightly different as you join us at Elevate, fresh from our panel hosted by myself with 4 incredible leaders in the fitness industry who spoke to our audience about their journey to CEO and imparted some hugely valuable tips on how they can achieve it too.   We were joined by Paul Ferris (CEO of Speedflex), Sophie Lawler (CEO of Total Fitness), Evgenia Korlova (CEO of One L...

Wow what an episode this week! Just in time for Elevate 2025, we bring you the absolute industry legend Jenny Patrickson - MD of Active IQ. Jenny has been responsible for so much of the talent that has come into the industry over the years where she has sat in leadership positions for awarding bodies such as Active IQ and YMCA. Jenny talks to us about her journey to the top and what she thinks wil...

This week on the Love Your Career Podcast we welcome James Allchin, Head of Group Membership for The Club Company. A rising star of the industry, James started in fitness with a spell at L.A Fitness before moving to Virgin Active where he started to push on, managing sales for some of the most prestigious clubs in the estate. James then stepped into the club company in a regional sales role and ne...

This week we are so excited to bring Emma's podcast to everyone. Emma is the COO of Pump Gyms, Business Mentor, Competitive athlete and an all round dream to work with! Having had a successful career in the corporate world working in senior positions for KPMG, Emma started in the fitness world as a member of Pump in their very first club who offered to help with their timetable - fast forward...