Shraddha Sheth: Breaking the Barriers of the Fitness and Wellness Industry 

In recent years, the landscape of the gym and fitness industry has undergone a remarkable transformation, with an increasing number of women stepping into leadership roles and making significant contributions. This shift marks a departure from the traditionally male-dominated domain, as female leaders bring unique perspectives, innovative approaches, and invaluable insights to the table. Shraddha Sheth (Head of Business & Operations, Gold’s Gym India) stands as one of the outstanding leaders in the fitness industry. From pioneering fitness programs to revolutionizing business strategies in the gym she is shaping the future of health and wellness in India. 

From Nutritionist to Trailblazer

The journey to becoming a leader is shaped by various experiences, challenges, and achievements. Key experiences that shaped Shraddha Sheth’s career include:

• Mentorship & Role Models: Shraddha Sheth was mentored by a woman CEO who encouraged her to explore new areas and master them. Initially, she worked as a clinical nutritionist at Reliance Hospital before joining Gold’s Gym. Despite having a strong knowledge of preventive healthcare, she was unfamiliar with sales, which intimidated her. She leveraged her expertise to start a weight loss mission, successfully leading 100 customers to collectively lose 750 kilograms in 8 weeks. This pilot program evolved into a paid weight loss program, generating significant revenue and boosting her confidence as a professional. Her mentors taught her the value of monetizing knowledge and gaining customers’ trust.

• Challenges & Adversity: The path to success was challenging for Shraddha. She treated setbacks as learning opportunities, and her achievements reinforced her resolve. At Gold’s Gym, she learned to sell and deliver excellent customer experiences, eventually managing 16 micro markets. Despite the varying performance of these markets, she remained resilient and re-strategized to revive profitability. Her team’s relentless effort led to achieving the highest profitability in Gold’s Gym India’s history.

• Empathy & Emotional Intelligence: Shraddha Sheth believes effective leadership involves building motivated teams. In the fitness industry, personal trainers are crucial. Although knowledgeable, they needed support in developing soft skills and confidence. She learned their language to communicate effectively, enhancing their experience and boosting their confidence. Today, many personal trainers have been with the brand for 12-18 years, achieving personal and professional stability, which translates into a successful business.

Overall, Shraddha Sheth’s journey to leadership is complex, requiring mentorship, resilience in adversity, and the ability to motivate and support a team.

Leading the Way 

Shraddha Sheth joined Gold’s Gym in India as an employee with a mission to make the brand synonymous with fitness in the country. The first five years focused on learning and operating company-owned clubs, followed by a strategic market expansion. Today, Gold’s Gym operates in 90 cities across 24 states in India, as well as in Bangladesh and Nepal, using a Hub & Spoke model to expand from Tier 1 to Tier 4 cities. The brand emphasizes luxurious facilities, top-notch trainers, and continuous customer engagement, supported by a strong franchise partner network of 135 happy franchisees. As a founding team member and leader in Business and Operations, Shraddha has dedicated 22 years to growing the brand in India.

Gold’s Gym aims to be the foremost fitness brand in India, ensuring that whenever any Indian thinks of a gym, they think of Gold’s Gym.

Mission: To make India fit by providing luxurious, state-of-the-art facilities, and empowering a strong, knowledgeable, and experienced corporate team. Gold’s Gym aims to deliver the best fitness results through exceptional floor and personal trainers while maintaining continuous customer connections and unwavering support for franchise partners.

Gold’s Gym constantly explores new avenues to grow the business, aiming to increase penetration in the country, encourage partners to open multiple gyms as sub-franchisees, and produce skilled, certified trainers to deliver the best results to customers.

Company Pillars:

1. People: Employees and Partners
   • Employees: Encouraged to build sustainable careers, breaking the taboo of gym careers from two decades ago.
   • Partners: Supported by an SOP framework to increase the customer base.
2. Products: Top-end Equipment and Programming
   • Equipment: Installation of top-of-the-line international equipment brands.
   • Programming: Robust, continuous education certification to upgrade skills.
3. Geographies: Explore Territories
   • Gold’s Gym expands its brand presence in diverse markets, from areas with the lowest to the highest populations.

Company strategies revolve around these pillars to ensure sustained growth and success.

Boosting Fitness Engagement in India

The fitness industry in India faces major challenges, primarily combating mindsets and lack of motivation among customers. With less than 1% fitness penetration in the country, both the brand and the industry struggle to change customers’ attitudes towards fitness and encourage healthy habits. 

Key challenges include:

• Engaging in Fitness Regimes: Customers often prefer leisure activities over fitness. For example, given the choice between a free gym workout and a free spa session, most opt for the spa.

• Consequence-Driven Behavior: The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily increased fitness awareness, with more people participating in step, cycling, and home workout challenges. However, this urgency has faded post-2023, leading to complacency.

• Gym Regularity: To achieve transformative results, customers should ideally visit the gym five times a week. In reality, the average customer attends only three times a week, and 30% of those with 12-month memberships use the gym only about 30 times a year.

To overcome these challenges, continuous efforts are made to raise health awareness across various segments. Fun, engaging activities that recognize and reward regular gym-goers are conducted, and more micro markets are added to make it easier for customers to take their first steps towards well-being.

Navigating Gender Bias

As a woman leader in the Indian fitness industry, Shraddha Sheth has encountered several unique challenges:

• Breaking Gender Stereotypes: Shraddha Sheth faces the challenge of breaking through the male-dominated culture of the fitness industry. There is a prevailing perception that leadership roles, particularly in operations and business development, are more suited for men. Overcoming these stereotypes and proving that women can excel in these positions has been a significant hurdle. Shraddha acknowledges the few male mentors have played a pivotal role in shaping her into a dynamic leader by empowering her.

• Balancing Professional and Personal Life: Like many women in leadership roles, Shraddha Sheth grapples with the challenge of balancing the demands of her high-responsibility job with personal and family commitments. The fitness industry demands long hours and unwavering dedication, making it challenging to strike a balance. Shraddha credits her family for their unconditional support and belief in her abilities. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.“

• Earning Respect and Authority: In a male-dominated industry, Shraddha Sheth faces the task of earning respect and authority as a leader. This requires consistently demonstrating competence, resilience, and strong leadership skills to garner the trust and respect of colleagues,  and stakeholders. She believes High EQ builds respect and responsible authority through emotional intelligence and strong relationships.

Despite these challenges, Shraddha Sheth’s 2-year journey with Gold’s Gym has been remarkably rewarding. Through perseverance, continuous learning, and the support of a dedicated team, she has made significant contributions to the growth and success of the brand in India. Gold’s Gym India is the fastest-growing master franchise outside of the United States of America. 

The Gold Standard

Gold’s Gym has solidified its position as a premier fitness brand in India by building a strong reputation and loyal customer base. Its global recognition and credibility reflect its commitment to delivering high-quality services and adhering to international standards. With state-of-the-art facilities and skilled trainers, Gold’s Gym offers a premium fitness experience, attracting customers seeking top-notch amenities and safety. The brand fosters loyalty by recognizing and rewarding customers and benefits from an influential sub-franchise partner network, further enhancing its visibility and market reach.

Gold’s Gym in India has achieved remarkable achievements and milestones:

• Fastest Growing Master Franchisee in the Gold’s Gym Network Worldwide: Gold’s Gym India contributes to 25% of the global Gold’s Gym network, solidifying its position as the fastest-growing master franchisee globally.

• Most Successful International Gym Chain in India: Through franchising, Gold’s Gym has achieved consistent growth in India, establishing itself as the most successful international gym chain in the country.

• Mastering the Art of Pre-sales: Gold’s Gym has mastered the pre-sales process under the leadership of its team. By implementing robust strategies, they cover 20-25% of the total investment in new projects before launch. The first few pilot pre-sales projects achieved an impressive 40% coverage of the total projected investment, demonstrating their commitment to success.

• Creating a Second Home for Customers: Gold’s Gym clubs have evolved into more than just fitness centres; they have become social hubs for members. By prioritizing superior customer experiences and fostering strong connections, Gold’s Gym has achieved higher loyalty and retention rates among its customer base.

• Incredible Expansion Across India: The Gold’s Gym brand has expanded its presence to over 90 cities across India, showcasing its remarkable growth and strong market presence nationwide. Also touched milestone of operating clubs in Nepal -Kathmandu, Bangladesh

The Path to Success

As a woman leader in the fitness industry, Shraddha Sheth has gained valuable insights from her journey. Embracing her unique perspective in a male-dominated field, she and her team have cultivated strong connections between customers and gym employees, resulting in the largest loyal member base serving as brand ambassadors. Building confidence within her team has been crucial in realizing the brand’s vision of making India fit. Prioritizing collaboration and networking, Shraddha Sheth has established relationships with industry peers and utilized partnerships with sports leagues to position the brand as a global leader in health and wellness. 

Understanding the significance of self-care, she leads by example by integrating fitness into her routine. Shraddha Sheth’s empathetic leadership extends support to customers struggling with self-esteem, fostering a belief in transformation. Continuous learning and growth are central to her approach, as she seeks insights from international leaders to implement best practices. Celebrating achievements, regardless of size, is fundamental to her leadership style, recognizing the contagious nature of success. Through these lessons, Shraddha Sheth effectively navigates challenges and positively influences her organization as a woman leader in the fitness industry.

The Next Chapter

Gold’s Gym aims to adapt to changing consumer needs and leverage emerging opportunities for innovation and expansion. The company has introduced digital fitness learning solutions and virtual certification programs to encourage youth participation in fitness careers. More gyms mean more members, requiring more staff to handle everything from front desk operations to personal training. This will be done through Gold’s Gym Fitness Institute.

Expansion into micro markets is a key strategy for future growth, alongside efforts to promote health awareness among Indian consumers. Gold’s Gym targets 200 clubs in the next 3 years which will create more job opportunities and aims to increase monthly employment earnings up to many folds These plans reflect the company’s commitment to evolving with consumer preferences, taking charge to produce skilled experts to operate gyms to the next level and driving growth in the fitness industry.

Purpose-Driven Leadership

Shraddha Sheth emphasizes the importance of effective time management and giving undivided attention to all roles, along with mastering the art of delegating responsibilities. She advocates for spending time on activities that rejuvenate rather than drain one’s energy.

What drives Shraddha Sheth, both in prosperous and challenging times, is the profound purpose behind her business: transforming the lives of customers, nurturing the careers of employees, and generating job opportunities for newcomers, all contributing to the progress, growth, and development of India. This inspiring thought serves as a constant motivation for her.

A Vision for Tomorrow

Every leader reaches a point where they must consider the future of their business and the impact of their leadership on its growth. Initially, building the company may be a solo endeavor, but eventually, hiring employees becomes necessary to accomplish tasks. Understanding how one’s leadership style influences others, including employees and customers, is crucial. One piece of advice is to embrace uniqueness without hesitation.

Shraddha Sheth reflects on the mission initiated just 22 years ago, aspiring for future leaders to discover numerous avenues to enhance accessibility and ease of fitness, making it the primary choice for customers. She advocates for utilizing technology to increase penetration and awareness of fitness. The legacy of a customer-centric approach and instilling confidence in the youth to believe in their potential remains paramount. Shraddha Sheth envisions the brand’s continued growth, with the goal of reaching 200 clubs in the next 3 years, providing employment opportunities to at least 3000 aspiring youth, and initiating two million individuals on their fitness journey. The commitment to the mission remains unwavering.