I'm excited to be able to write this long overdue message to all of you.
My goal from the time I opened AFS in 2007 has always been to make AFS a safe, inclusive, and welcoming community. I fully realize the foundation of safety is trust and that trust is based on clear and honest communication.
I want to be upfront in acknowledging that we should have done a much better job of communicating to you over the past few years as we emerged from COVID. As the founder and CEO of AFS, I take full responsibility and ownership of that. Any communication or lack thereof from our team happened at my direction, and I own that fully.
This email and other subsequent communications in the future are the first steps in repairing whatever trust was lost in limiting communication. Simply put, we now know our future path with enough certainty that we can be fully transparent with all of you — and that is a breath of fresh air for me, our team, and I hope all of you as well.
With the help of Kemper and the rest of the team, we've tried to source questions from many members. In this email I'll attempt to answer those common questions to the best of my ability. I may fall short. You may have follow-up questions.
Don't hesitate to reach out. I'd be excited to chat and learn more about your questions and perspective.
Based on the feedback we've received, three common themes have emerged:
I'll get to all of those in a moment, but first I have to address an even more fundamental question — what changed that allows us to send this communication now?
The COVID period was the first time since I opened the business in 2007 that I really had a chance to slow down and reflect on AFS — what we had become and where we were going.
Our circuit training workouts, while fun, were becoming misaligned with the population we now served. When we launched our programs back in 2007 the average age of an AFS member was 35–40. By 2020, that average age had risen to 50+.
Our members needed a more specific exercise prescription that was individualized to each of their unique needs. This was the reason we decided to refocus our efforts more on strength training, and that became the prominent focus of the business. It could be more individualized and more precise.
With strength training solidified as the core of our business, this left two outstanding questions: (1) is this facility the best space to do it in, and (2) what should happen with Fitness Solutions? Those questions are also very much interrelated, as the physical footprint of the facility dictates the dedicated space we have for both circuit and strength training.
Answering those questions turned out to be more difficult than I expected, because question one involves the complexities of commercial real estate, and that was the lynchpin to what our future plans would be.
I'll spare you all the twists and turns of the last few years, but I'll say that we've looked at many locations and considered many options. After completing extensive due diligence (that ended in January) we decided to stay put, remodel, and make this space our permanent home. Knowing this, I could finally answer the second question of what we'd do with Fitness Solutions. More on that in a moment, but first let's talk about…
Starting sometime in April we'll begin our remodel and we hope it will be complete in September. More specifics will come later as we finalize all the moving parts, but here are some important things for you to know:
In an effort not to overwhelm you with details in this email, I'll stop there for now. Be on the lookout for more specific communications about the remodel in the coming months and reach out with any questions you have.
For those of you who don't engage with this class, you can probably skip ahead to the next section. For those who engage with FS, before I explain what is happening, I want to acknowledge two important things.
First, we have done an absolutely terrible job communicating regarding Fitness Solutions, full stop. No excuses. I completely own this and I wholeheartedly apologize.
Second, we are fully committed to having Fitness Solutions at AFS. We understand that many of our members not only enjoy that type of workout, but they also value the community aspect of that class. It is not going away, and knowing that we're not moving locations solidifies what we'll be doing with the class.
For starters, we'll be adding class times back onto the schedule in early March (be on the lookout for that announcement with specific times). We'll also be paying careful attention to attendance trends to determine where and when additional classes may need to be added. We're in the process of staffing up right now to ensure we have the bandwidth to do so.
Secondly, that class needs to evolve. It is the same format it was 15 years ago, and there are so many ways to make the class more effective and safer while maintaining the atmosphere, energy, and community feel. We'll be working on that evolution in the coming months and we'll be looking for your feedback to guide our decisions.
We've always been very lucky to hire amazing human beings at AFS. We all develop strong relationships with them, and seeing them go is sad. It's also the reality of people (and our organization) evolving. Right now, this is happening with Adam, Piper, and Eric as they transition out of AFS.
If this is the first you're hearing about these transitions, I'm sorry to share it this way. All three have been working hard to tell as many of you as possible. Fortunately, Piper and Adam will be here for another week, so you still have a chance to say your goodbyes. Eric has already left, and if you didn't have a chance to say goodbye and want to, just email or text me and I'll pass it along.
I truly value Piper, Eric, and Adam, as I'm sure all of you do. This begs the question: why are they leaving?
The answer (like when many relationships end) is we're going in different directions. In order to serve all of you at the level you deserve, we need team members who want a career as an exercise professional. As amazing as these team members are, they're not interested in making this their career. Not only do I respect that, but I immensely appreciate their honesty. Doing so allows them to explore other career paths that are more fulfilling. It also allows us to bring on board only career exercise professionals, while investing more into the rest of our team — who aren't going anywhere — and who want to make this their career as well.
New team investments: We've recently invested in career development for Will, who started as a full-time Exercise Physiologist (EP) in January after his graduation in December. We've also just promoted Karon into the EP role. In addition, we're adding two new EPs to the team starting on 2/23/26 — both are highly qualified (Master's Degrees in Exercise Physiology) and, more importantly, are amazing, welcoming, and fun human beings. We'll be sending out formal communication about them shortly.
Adding these two new team members, as well as promoting Karon, gives us a significant amount of additional bandwidth. We only needed to hire one additional person right now, but we opted to hire two because they were both amazing and we want to have as much bandwidth as possible to serve you.
The quick and simple answer is no, we are not transitioning into a physical therapy clinic or medical facility. That said, we've always played an important role in our members' healthcare (through exercise and nutrition) and we are always looking for ways to improve the health of all of our members through exercise, nutrition, and other positive health behavior changes.
We've leveled up our exercise professionals by requiring Bachelor's Degrees in Exercise Physiology and professional credentialing as Registered Exercise Physiologists. We've hired a full-time Registered Dietitian. We've invested in Ann and Chris' education, having them become certified as Health and Wellness Coaches by the National Board of Medical Examiners. We've done all of this because we want to support your journey toward greater health and wellbeing.
With healthcare costs rising, access to doctors becoming more scarce, and all of us living longer, the investment you're making in your health now is going to save you significantly on your healthcare in the future as well as help you lead a long, healthy, and vibrant life. We simply want to ensure we're in the best position to support you on your health and wellness journey.
Are we becoming a PT clinic or medical facility?
No.
Are we an organization that is going to continue to support your health in any way we can?
Absolutely, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
I'm sure by this point in my email you're wondering if we're increasing our prices. The answer is no, our pricing model is staying the same. Over time, we will certainly have to adjust our prices to keep up with inflation, but that time is not now. We have no price increases planned.
Thank you for staying with me. I realize that was a lot of info! I tried to be succinct to limit the length of this email. In an effort to ensure complete transparency related to everything above, there will be additional communications coming out in the future.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Your questions and perspective matter. Reach out anytime.
Thank you for being such an amazingly supportive and loyal community.
With Gratitude,
Mike
Founder & CEO, Applied Fitness Solutions
