2016 Issue 2 | GearedUp

At that time, there were only four Planet Fitness ® clubs in existence so the club manager position didn’ t open up very often. I had just taken a week off to celebrate my graduation, and when I returned back to work, I was immediately offered the club manager position at the Rochester, New Hampshire, club. I graciously accepted the promotion, but I was extremely nervous because I had never worked side-by-side with Bill Mulleady and now he was to be my direct supervisor. I didn’ t know what to expect. He was this big powerhouse of a guy with a deep and serious tone, and I was so scared that he wouldn’ t like me. Unbeknownst to me, Bill was my biggest cheerleader. He had really pushed for my promotion and had believed in me before I even started to believe in myself.

On my first day as club manager, Bill told me he was going to turn me into a hard ass. You see, until then I was this nice, innocent girl who didn’ t have a mean bone in her body. That changed almost immediately because we were faced with a major clean-up situation in Rochester. The former club manager had basically stopped doing his job and the staff reflected his poor work ethic. Unfortunately, almost every employee had to be terminated. So my first week on the job consisted of Bill and I having to fire one employee after another. It was awful.

But I learned a valuable lesson because Bill taught me the meaning of hire slow, fire fast. Having to fire a person is just terrible, and it never gets any easier no matter how many times you have to do it. Bill taught me to take my time hiring because you don’ t want to hire the wrong person

“... most importantly Bill believed in me and my success within the club manager role. He taught me how to not only be confident within my role but to exude confidence.”

who you will just end up having to fire. Though at the same time, don’ t delay the inevitable when an employee needs to be fired. A bad employee will spoil the good ones, so letting a situation drag out will only make the situation grow bigger and become more difficult. Instead of having to let one employee go, you could find yourself in a clean-up situation having to let multiple employees go, which was what I was experiencing firsthand in the Rochester club.

Bill taught me to never assume that things were getting done, but to always double check my staff’ s work to make sure that they are consistently following direction. This was especially the case when it came to club inspections. Bill told me it’ s the little things that can get a club manager in trouble. The big things like the equipment being cleaned should never be an issue, but the smaller, less noticeable things like not having a fully stocked and organized supply closet, or not thoroughly

checking the daily paperwork, that’ s what will cause major issues within your club operations.

Though most importantly Bill by Jessie Dricker believed in me and my success within the club manager role. He taught me how to not only be confident within my role but to exude confidence. You see, not only was I a young manager at the age of 22, I also looked really young. In addition, I was a female manager in a male-dominated health and fitness industry. People just expected a male manager, not a 4-foot-11 female who looked no older than 16. So I learned how to properly use my voice, my tone and my words, so even though I looked really young and inexperienced, once I opened my mouth and spoke it was clear to everyone that I knew what I was doing and to not question my role within the club. Bill was, and will always be, my mentor. He taught me how to succeed by believing in myself and my ability to manage people. It was OK to make mistakes as long as you learned from them and didn’ t repeat the same errors and, if I was having a hard time within my manager role, to always reach out and communicate this to him. Asking for help and guidance wasn’ t a sign of weakness; it was a sign of strength and dedication to the job. Bill gave me the confidence to grow within the company, and it’ s because of him that I was eventually able to move on and open up my own Planet Fitness franchise. G

Jessie Dricker is a franchise owner and managing partner of Planet Fitness Vermont. You can reach her at jessie. dricker @ planetfitness. com.

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