Geared Up Issue 1 2015 | Page 14

member news BEB Fitness Builds Team Spirit with the Warrior Dash B EB Fitness, Inc.’s northwest Arkansas management team took part in the Warrior Dash located at the Timber Lodge Ranch in Amity, Arkansas, May 2. Warrior Dash is an obstacle course race that is 3.34 miles long and includes 12 world-class obstacles. These obstacles include tests of strength and endurance ranging from wading across wooded lakes to venturing through mud-caked backroads. Upon reaching the finish line, participants are rewarded with a medal that doubles as a bottle opener and magnet, a T-shirt, a fuzzy warrior helmet and an ice cold beverage. As BEB Fitness was opening more clubs, they wanted to find a way to keep company morale up and work on team building. What better way to accomplish both goals than by taking all of your managers through a 5k obstacle course? In the end, everyone had a great time and it will continue to be an event BEB Fitness does with their management staff annually. “Ultimately, as we open more clubs we do not want to lose the team environment and sense of pride we had at just one club so we do events like this to focus on team building,”said vice president of BEB Fitness, Inc., Brandon Sebald.“It brings the managers closer together and creates happy employees as it is not just always work and no play. Our managers bleed purple and yellow and events like this only strengthen our company and prevent manager attrition because they are happy where they are and being a part of what we have become,”he continued. Members of the team who participated in the race got together the night before and made shirts sporting nicknames on the back and PFNWA— Planet Fitness North West Arkansas—on the front; which ended up being great marketing as they were asked who they were numerous times. The team of seven included owners Sebald and Buck Ortega, regional manager Caleb Ortega and club managers Joe Rafferty, Rylie Akins and Kendra Shumate. It took the group roughly 30 minutes to complete the obstacle course through the rocky hills and woods. There were obstacles every fourth of a mile, which included the likes of crawling army-style under barbed wire, climbing a 25-foot wall, navigating a rope ladder maze and jumping over flaming logs to the finish line. All in all, participants enjoyed a lot of fun and a lot of mud! After the event, the BEB Fitness team went out to dinner and reminisced on how much fun the race was and how they will do it again next year and The BEB Fitness team stands in front of the Warrior Dash sign after completing the muddy obstacle course. invite the assistant managers. In an industry with high turnover, this event was not only fitting, but its goal is essential. These types of team-building functions reinforce a driven and positive core culture within the company, which ultimately keeps managers happy and proud to be a part of the team. “At the end of the day, our managers are the face of each club and we want to do everything to keep them with us and happy. We know the type of talented people we look for in management have options out there with other companies and we are going to do everything in our power to create a fun and positive core culture in our company that makes them proud to be with us and not want to go work anywhere else,” concluded Sebald. G A Lunch and Learn for PF Hampton Roads’ Rising St \