Go Furness

A Healthy Business!

Diane has been a key figure in Barrow for about 18 years now. She has been passionately enthusing local men and women to exercise long before there were any other health clubs in the area.

She started out running classes in a church hall and these proved to be very successful and were always packed and often to capacity. Although she operated from rented space, she had the best equipment possible and was highly professional. With a fun and motivational approach, she maintained a clear focus on safety throughout the classes. It was not unusual for women to connect with one another and the classes became a place to socialise as well as exercise. She outgrew her premises and she and her growing staff moved to her current location in 1998. ??In addition to being a charismatic trainer, she is also an astute business woman. She chose the new premises with expansion in mind, but she was careful not to grow too quickly, a common mistake that often destroys businesses. She worked on one area of the building at a time, and has gradually developed the complex that now houses a reception area, a very well stocked gym, a therapy room, a play area and meeting room, and a huge hall for classes. She is currently designing her own office and has lots of plans to expand her services into new areas.?

She loves what she is doing and loves seeing her customers get both the physical and emotional benefits of exercise. She also understands the complexities of motivation and works with each individual to help them achieve balance and health in their lives by selecting the right exercise regime. She makes exercise exciting for people who need a bit of motivation and discourages people from doing too much too soon or getting obsessed with it. She offers aerobics, step, marshal arts, pilates, spin and gym sessions at various times in the day. People have the choice of working on their own or in a class.

Soon she will be running her own weight management club too, called Smart Shape. This is not a typical diet club because it is not about strict dieting rules or dropping lots of weight quickly, but learning to develop a healthy relationship with food and good self acceptance. Research shows that this is the most effective approach to long term weight management, and Diane has certainly done her research.

She is also growing a second allied business from the centre called The Elixer Clinic. She aims to work with all of the groups in the community who are supporting people with lifestyle and wellness challenges. This will cut across the public and private sectors and she will become more involved in tackling obesity within education. She recognises that in order to tackle childhood obesity, she needs to work with both parents and children. Not an easy task, but if anyone can do it, Diane will.

Diane has been so successful in a competitive industry for lots of reasons:

• She takes a personal interest in the health and well-being of every customer, offering a very individual service
• She makes exercise fun, enjoyable and exciting
• She runs a tight ship and ensures safety and professionalism in every area of the business
• She is passionate about what she is doing and loves making a difference to so many people in Barrow
• She has been very careful to take advice and support from Furness Enterprise as she has made decisions about growing her business
• She has taken considered risks
• She has worked incredibly hard for a long time
• She never stops thinking about new avenues and growth areas
• She has made it affordable and accessible to everyone with no year long tie-ins

I hadn’t seen Diane for about 15 years since I used to attend her classes in the church hall. It was great to catch up and see how her passion and determination has grown and grown and enabled her to realise such a fantastic facility for Barrow. And, I had the feeling that we ain’t seen nothing yet! Go girl!

Posted by Kay Hebbourn on 18th March.