It’s Personal and It’s Business: Why Great Fitness Leaders Stop Pretending Otherwise

There’s a common belief in the fitness industry that being professional means being emotionally detached. If you care too much, lead with heart or allow your work to feel personal, you’re crossing some invisible line. This episode pushes back on that idea.

No one ends up owning a club, running a studio or leading a team in this industry by accident. There’s always a reason... a moment, passion, personal experience that pulled you in and kept you here. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make you more professional; It usually just makes leadership feel colder than it needs to be.

In this solo episode of Well Run, Annie explores why allowing your “why” to be personal is not only normal, but often the difference between leaders who build strong, loyal teams and those who struggle with disengagement and turnover.

She shares how, earlier in her career, she believed she had to show up a certain way to be taken seriously. More guarded. More neutral. Less human. That approach may have looked polished on the surface, but it created distance and misunderstanding she never intended.

This conversation is about the middle ground many leaders miss. The space where you can lead with who you really are while still holding high standards, clear expectations, and professional boundaries.

You’ll hear reflections on:

• Why “it’s just business” often disconnects leaders from the very reason they started
• How overcorrecting toward professionalism can flatten culture and trust
• What personal leadership actually looks like when it’s done with maturity and discipline
• How to integrate care, accountability, and boundaries without blurring lines
• Why the most successful fitness leaders allow their work to matter to them

This episode is an invitation to stop forcing yourself into leadership molds that don’t fit and start leading in a way that feels aligned, grounded, and sustainable.

In this industry, it’s personal and business

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Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.

Well Run Podcast

In this episode of the Well Run Podcast, Annie Adragna sits down with Victor "V-Man" Verhage, a leading strategist in the recovery, wellness, and longevity space, to explore where member experience is truly headed and why personalization is no longer optional for gyms, studios, and boutique fitness brands.

This conversation looks beyond trends and technology to address a growing reality in the industry: members are overwhelmed, operators are guessing, and retention suffers when experiences are not intentional. Victor shares how integrating DNA data, recovery, wellness, and training into a cohesive ecosystem helps clubs move from reactive programming to personalized journeys members can trust.

Rather than adding more services or chasing the latest modality, this episode focuses on how personalization improves confidence, consistency, and results for members while helping operators create solutions they may not even realize their business needs yet.

Together, Annie and Victor unpack how recovery, sleep, emotional connection, and data-informed decisions are shaping the next era of fitness and wellness, and why brands that fail to address this shift will struggle to keep members long-term.

This episode is a must-listen for owners and operators who care about retention, differentiation, and building environments members never want to leave.

Key Takeaways

• Why personalization has become a retention necessity in fitness and boutique studios
• How DNA and data can guide safer, more effective training and recovery decisions
• The difference between adding recovery services and building a true wellness ecosystem
• Why emotional connection and trust are central to modern member experience
• How personalization helps solve problems members struggle to articulate

About the Guest

Victor “V-Man” Verhage is a leading strategist in the next evolution of member experience, helping fitness clubs and boutique studios integrate DNA, data, and high-ROI recovery, wellness, and longevity solutions. He champions a future where personalization drives deeper results, stronger retention, and true differentiation in a crowded market. His work empowers operators to transform their spaces into performance-driven wellness ecosystems members never want to leave.

🔗 Learn more: https://www.roiinwellness.com

🔗 Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-verhage-77175014/

Send us a text

Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.

If your staff feels like members can walk all over them and leadership never steps in, this is not a staffing issue. It’s a culture issue.

In this solo episode, Annie breaks down how entitlement gets baked into gym and wellness cultures, why leadership avoidance quietly erodes trust, and what actually needs to happen before staff will feel empowered to hold boundaries with confidence.

This conversation is for owners and operators who want strong member experiences and teams who feel supported, respected, and safe doing their jobs.

What We Cover in This Episode

• Why “the customer is always right” has damaged team culture in service-based businesses
• The critical difference between a member’s perception being real and their behavior being acceptable
• How leadership avoidance turns into a cultural norm, not just a leadership flaw
• Why staff stop enforcing standards when they don’t feel protected
• How long-standing entitlement impacts trust, confidence, and retention
• Why leadership has to go first before expecting staff to handle tough situations
• Real-world examples from the front desk and the fitness floor
• What effective education and training around tough conversations actually looks like
• How to reset expectations without alienating members
• Creating a true win-win-win for members, staff, and leadership

Key Takeaways

• Entitlement is not a personality trait. It’s a learned behavior.
• Staff will not care about new expectations until they know leadership cares about them.
• Culture is shaped by what leadership tolerates and what leadership models.
• Training only sticks when it’s reinforced by visible leadership behavior.
• Boundaries can be firm, respectful, and human at the same time.

Referenced in This Episode

• The New Gold Standard by Joseph A. Michelli
  A look at how the Ritz-Carlton empowers staff to uphold standards while treating everyone with dignity and respect.

Want Support With This?

Tough conversations do not have to feel combative or awkward. Annie offers training for leadership teams and staff, both in-person and virtual, designed to build confidence, consistency, and trust across the entire organization.

If this episode hit close to home, send a message or reach out to start the conversation.

About the Podcast

Well Run is a podcast for gym owners, operators, and wellness leaders who want to build profitable businesses without sacrificing their people or their values. Short, direct conversations about leadership, culture, retention, and what it really takes to run a healthy operation.

Send us a text

Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.

In this episode of Well Run Podcast, Annie sits down with Erin Schirack, founder of HIGH SOCIETY, for a grounded and honest conversation about leadership, talent, and the future of luxury fitness and wellness.

Erin brings more than two decades of experience across movement education, hospitality, and brand strategy, offering a sharp perspective on why so many fitness and wellness companies struggle to grow and retain both talent and clients. At the heart of the conversation is a simple but often avoided truth: most organizations are not putting people in roles where they can genuinely thrive.

Together, Annie and Erin explore what happens when leaders stop forcing talent into rigid boxes and start designing teams and experiences around real strengths. They talk about the operational and cultural cost of misaligned roles, why leaders hesitate to make changes even when they know something is off, and what shifts when organizations finally allow people to contribute at their highest level.

The conversation also touches on the evolution of wellness within hospitality and corporate environments, the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, and why community and connection are no longer optional in high-touch fitness spaces.

This episode is a must-listen for owners, operators, and leaders who care about people-first leadership, strong culture, and building businesses that perform without burning everyone out in the process.

Key takeaways from this episode:
• Why strengths-based talent placement is a strategic advantage, not a risk
• The early signs that roles and teams are misaligned
• How emotional intelligence shows up in real leadership decisions
• What elevated wellness experiences require beyond programming
• Where the fitness and wellness industry is headed next

Listen in, then take a moment to reflect on this question:
Are you designing your team around job titles, or around what your people actually do best?

If this episode resonated, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, share it with a colleague, or follow along for more conversations that help leaders build businesses that are both human and profitable.

___________________________________________________________________

Erin Schirack is a fitness and wellness executive, consultant, and educator with more than 20 years of experience spanning movement, hospitality, and brand strategy. She is the founder of HIGH SOCIETY, a consulting and staffing firm that partners with hotels, corporations, and luxury lifestyle brands to design wellness programs and talent ecosystems that drive performance, retention, and guest experience. Her work has shaped premium wellness experiences across the country and continues to influence how wellness integrates into modern luxury

Send us a text

Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.

The holidays have a way of revealing everything your team already feels. When leaders get intentional about appreciation during this season performance rises stress levels stabilize and the member experience gets stronger.

In this short episode I break down five ways to appreciate your team that go beyond the usual card and cookie tray. These approaches work because they speak to different appreciation styles on your team and they take less time than you think.

You will hear
• How to give recognition that actually lands
• Why removing a burden can be more impactful than giving a gift
• The difference between thoughtful gifting and performative gifting
• How presence changes the emotional climate of your club
• The role of future focused appreciation in retention

If gifting stresses you out or you end up buying the same thing every year I created a gift guide to make this simple. It is curated for leaders in fitness wellness and hospitality who want to give something elevated without wasting hours searching.

Get the Gift Guide:
THE HIGH EQ LEADERSHIP GIFT LIST

Listen connect and share
If this episode helped you lead with more confidence pass it on to another owner or operator who could use it. You can also follow along and send me your questions or episode requests anytime.

Send us a text

Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.

Building a strong team is not a guessing game. It is one of the most important responsibilities of any owner or operator who wants a people-first and financially healthy business. In this solo episode, Annie pulls from two decades of leadership inside luxury fitness and wellness spaces to break down what it really takes to hire well.

You’ll hear why most hiring problems start long before the interview even happens, and why speed and convenience are the enemies of a strong culture. Annie shares how to get clear on the values that actually matter for your business, what a precise job description should look like today, and how to design interview conversations that reveal who someone really is instead of who they think you want them to be.

She also speaks candidly about the shifting talent pool, the rise of AI-written job descriptions, and why clarity, communication, and a high EQ approach are now non negotiable if you want to attract great people and avoid constant performance management issues.

Key Takeaways

• Clarity is a leadership responsibility
• Values should drive hiring decisions, not convenience
• Job descriptions must act as filters
• Interviews should be thoughtful, human, and revealing
• Strong candidates want to interview you too
• When you take care in the hiring process, you take care of your culture

Call to Action
If you’re building or rebuilding a team in your club, studio, or wellness space and want support with job descriptions, interview design, or hiring strategy, Annie can help. Connect on LinkedIn or visit the website to start the conversation.

Send us a text

Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.

In this episode on Well Run, I break down what really happens inside fitness and wellness clubs during the holiday rush and why leaders cannot treat this season like business as usual. The volume changes. The energy changes. The expectations change. Your team feels every bit of that.

I talk about how to lead with clarity and emotional intelligence when things get busy. We get into scheduling that actually supports your people, preparing your team for an influx of guests who may not understand your space, and why your presence on the floor matters more than any polished plan.

I share a story from a Christmas Eve emergency that reminded me how important safety refreshers are this time of year. We look at how to prepare your members, how to celebrate your team without adding pressure, and how to guide your operation with steadiness, not strain.

This episode is about leading through humanity, staying grounded and giving your people what they need to serve at a high level without burning out.

Key Takeaways

Your team needs clarity more than intensity
The holidays bring unpredictable traffic and stressed guests. Leadership is about stabilizing the energy, not pushing harder.

Scheduling is a leadership skill
If the schedule is off, your people feel it immediately. Build it with intention, not hope.

Your presence sets the tone
When leaders are visible and steady, teams stay calm and confident.

Safety training matters more than you think
Emergencies do not wait for convenient moments. A prepared team can change the outcome of someone’s life.

Members follow your cues
Reminding your community that your team is carrying more than usual supports a healthier culture for everyone.

Celebration should never add stress
Ask your team what feels good instead of assuming they want more events on their already full calendar.

Humanity is the heart of leadership
When you take care of the humans who run your club, everything else improves.

Send us a text

Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.

Maximizing Wellness: Integrating Recovery and Longevity Strategies in Fitness Clubs

In this episode of WELL RUN. Podcast, Annie Adragna sits down with Jason Stella, a longtime leader in the health, fitness, and recovery space with nearly three decades of experience guiding people and organizations toward better performance and longevity.

Now serving as Chief Innovation and Growth Officer for Forward-Thinking Advisory Group, Jason shares what true recovery looks like and why it’s becoming the cornerstone of modern fitness and wellness. Together, they unpack the three dimensions of recovery—physical, psychological, and physiological—and how clubs can move beyond buzzwords to create systems that actually improve outcomes.

The conversation covers practical ways to integrate cold plunges, red light therapy, and other advanced wellness technologies into health clubs, while avoiding the industry’s biggest trap: buying gear without strategy or education. Jason and Annie explore what separates successful integration from wasted investment, and why healthspan—not just lifespan—is the new goal for members and operators alike.

Key Topics Covered:

• Defining recovery and what it isn’t
• Physical, psychological, and physiological dimensions of recovery
• How to design a recovery culture, not just a recovery room
• Common mistakes clubs make when investing in wellness tech
• Real-world results from tools like ArcLED and cold plunge systems
• Why focusing on healthspan is the future of fitness

Connect with Jason:
Instagram

LinkedIn

Email: jasonstella@purlifemedical.com

Send us a text

Oasis Consulting Firm
People-first consulting for luxury health clubs, boutique studios, spas and recovery centers. We help you grow revenue, improve retention, and build teams that last. Founded by Annie Adragna, 20+ years in leadership and executive recruiting across top brands like Life Time, Equinox and Midtown Athletic Clubs.

Work with us: oasisconsultingfirm.co (find ways to work together, schedule a 30-minute call with Annie and grab some free resources there)

Connect:

• Email: annie@oasisconsultingfirm.co
• Instagram: @oasis_consulting_firm
• LinkedIn: Annie Adragna

About Annie:
Founder of Oasis Consulting Firm and host of Well Run Podcast. Consultant, strategist and executive recruiter focused on people-first operations and profitable growth.