As we come to the close of another year, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on where AFS has been in the past year and where we are going in the coming year.
For those of you who have been clients for some time, you are accustomed to this annual communication, and I want to again thank you for remaining loyal AFS clients. For those of you who are new to the AFS family; I welcome you, and it is my hope that your time at AFS will be productive, enjoyable, and fulfilling. Regardless of whether you’ve been with us for 5 years or 5 days, I truly and sincerely thank you. I know you have choices as to where to work out, and I thank you for choosing AFS. It is our daily pledge to ensure you receive the highest quality experience offered in our industry.
2012 represented a year of tremendous growth and progress for AFS. We expanded our facility again, adding another 3000 square feet. In doing so, we were able to expand our program offerings to include our higher intensity Fitness Solution program, as well as indoor cycling. We are extremely excited to now offer a well-rounded portfolio of exercise solutions to meet a variety of fitness needs and goals. Further, and unbeknownst to many of you, we significantly expanded our college athlete training program to service a wide variety of intercollegiate level athletes.
In addition to our programmatic and facility changes, we have made significant enhancements to our operational infrastructure and business processes. In doing so, we hope to provide you with an even better customer service experience. Although these “behind the scenes” changes aren’t necessarily outwardly evident, they have allowed us to maintain and perhaps even enhance our quality of service as we’ve grown. Of all we’ve done, these system improvements are most critical from my perspective, as our quality of service is of utmost importance. It is my personal mission to ensure that our systems can accommodate our growth as we strive to provide a better exercise experience for our clients each day.
Before I move on to 2013, I must take a brief moment to acknowledge my staff members, who are so critical to AFS’ daily operations and really make the AFS experience what it is. My senior level practitioners, Devin and Jared, continue to develop and evolve as leaders of our team. I truly appreciate their continued willingness to meet the challenges I put forth of continued growth and development. I am equally appreciative of the exponential growth that Bethany, Sharon, Chris and Nate have made in their respective positions. All four of these members of our team have made huge strides this past year in terms of their abilities, skill sets, and performance, largely as a result of their tireless effort and drive to get better every day. Lastly, I cannot understate the role our administrative and cleaning staff has played – Amy, Kacy, and Lauren, in particular, have met the nearly impossible challenge of keeping AFS clean and running smoothly, and for that I thank them. Excellence is the expectation at AFS, every minute of every day. I am pleased to say my staff meets or exceeds that expectation, and for that they should all be commended.
2013 will represent a year of further growth and development from an infrastructure perspective. As you read this, the final touches are being put on a “re-brand” of AFS. In the coming weeks and months you will see a new logo, color scheme, website, and face to the AFS brand. We hope these changes better reflect the science and systems we utilize to get you the results you work so hard for. Further improvements from a software perspective will streamline client management, providing you with faster feedback on food logs, more interaction with your practitioner, and an even more personalized client management experience. Program expansion in the coming year will likely result in rolling out a seniors’ fitness program to better serve this population, which we currently don’t accommodate quite as well as we’d like. These are just a few of the many great changes we’ll be making over the coming months.
Regardless of how much AFS evolves, I personally pledge to all of you as clients that I will stay true to our core values of science, individualization, and the highest level of customer service in the industry. It is this that has gotten us to where we are and will continue to carry us into the future.
I want close by again thanking you. I have said this many times before, but it bears repeating: I am truly living a dream that I never would have thought possible, and all of you have made that dream a reality. It is through your choice to exercise with us, your referrals and kind words, and your attitude and energy that I have been able to fulfill my lifelong dream of helping people lead fuller lives by being more physically fit. To you as clients, to my staff, and to everyone who has said a kind word about AFS, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I’m looking forward to more great things to come in 2013.
Have a healthy and happy holiday season.
Yours in health,
Mike