Working Out: Entry-Level Employee Becomes Largest Female-Led Anytime Fitness Franchisee

Name: Tracy Savasta
Title: Franchise Owner
Company: AF Midwest Holdings DBA Anytime Fitness
No. of units: 13 Anytime Fitness
Age: 50
Family: Husband Ryon, and daughters, Alyssa, 28, and Aria, 22
Years in franchising: 8
Years in current position: 8

Tracy Savasta lives by the saying, “Find something you love to do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” She started as a fitness enthusiast and then became an entry-level employee at Anytime Fitness. Now, she owns 13 Anytime Fitness locations, and she’s driven to help others build meaningful careers in the fitness industry.

That passion wasn’t always there. In the first half of her career, Savasta cycled through sales and management roles that felt like little more than paychecks. Then one day, she stretched on the gym floor after a workout, looked around, and wondered: What if I made this my career?

When she floated the idea at home, her husband, Ryon, told her she was crazy and insisted there were no real opportunities in the fitness business. But fate intervened. Ryon, who worked in commercial real estate, had a connection with Anytime Fitness franchisee Andy Gundlach and introduced them. Soon after, Tracy accepted an $11-an-hour sales job at one of Gundlach’s clubs. It was a humble starting point that launched her career in fitness.

Over the next seven years, she climbed through five different roles, eventually serving as area manager and VP of operations. In 2017, she took the leap that would define her career by becoming an Anytime Fitness franchisee.

“The experience I learned under Andy about how to scale a business was absolutely huge,” Savasta says. “I loved it and would have worked inside a gym seven days a week for free. I didn’t come into this thinking of becoming an owner. Each new position was a microstep in my development. Becoming a franchise owner just felt like the next logical step. My personality is always looking to grow.”

The fitness industry has been a perfect fit for Savasta, who has run several half and full marathons. She works out daily and views exercise as the foundation for being her best self. She also focuses on helping clients reach their health goals and helping staff members achieve their career goals in the fitness industry. While many competitors pay based primarily on commission, Savasta’s group offers guaranteed compensation, 401(k) plans, PTO, and medical benefits.

“That is personal to me,” she says. “I think back to the conversation with my husband and how we would pay the bills by having a job in fitness. I was fortunate to find a career with Andy, starting at $11 an hour and moving up to a VP position. I want to be able to give a stable career path like that to others who are passionate like I am.”

Savasta is in growth mode. She runs 13 Anytime Fitness clubs today and is pushing toward 20–25 by opening two to four new locations each year. Many of her acquisitions have been underperforming gyms, which she sees not as setbacks but as opportunities to revive the brand and deliver a strong fitness experience to the community.

As she scales, Savasta keeps her business close-knit. All her clubs are clustered within an hour of each other in Minnesota’s Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. The strategy builds a strong culture and family feel. Her own family is also deeply involved. Her husband traded real estate for the role of CFO, their older daughter manages HR and administration, and their younger daughter leads marketing and social media. Together, they’ve turned Anytime Fitness into a family business and community force.

PERSONAL

First job: I worked on my family’s dairy farm from a young age until I went to college. That experience taught me discipline and responsibility.

Formative influences/events: Joining the fitness industry 15 years ago changed my career path, ultimately leading me to franchise ownership. For the first time in my career, I had a job I was truly passionate about.

Key accomplishments: I’ve completed several half-marathons and three full marathons. I’m also humbled and proud to be the largest female-owned franchise group in the Anytime Fitness system.

Biggest current challenge: Trying to slow down and enjoy life. I’m the type of person who usually goes all-out, and I have a major commitment to growing the company. I have to make sure I find a balance in life.

Next big goal: Getting to 20 units in the next five to seven years.

First turning point in your career: Being given the opportunity to step into a multi-unit leadership position working for an Anytime Fitness franchise owner. This paved the way for my leap into ownership. I started as an assistant manager and progressed to a vice president of operations role. Before that, I had been in management in sales in various industries, but nothing ignited my passion like the fitness industry.

Best business decision: Doubling down on business growth following the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, the future of the fitness industry was uncertain. We opted for aggressive growth by doubling our number of gyms from three to six in 2021 and adding two more locations again in 2022. Those moves really helped accelerate our growth coming out of the pandemic.

Hardest lesson learned: Having to change our business model and staffing to adapt to the change in market conditions. There’s a lot of noise in the Twin Cities with all types of gyms from boutique to large gym brands. Initially, we had a more robust staffing plan, but to increase our revenue, we quickly learned that we didn’t need as many staff members but rather staff who could wear multiple hats.

Work week: My weeks are a blend of strategic oversight, hands-on support, and team development. I spend time connecting with our club leaders, reviewing performance metrics, and helping solve problems in real time, whether that’s through site visits, Zoom calls, or coaching sessions. There’s also a big focus on collaboration with our leadership team to make sure we align on goals, stay true to our mission, and improve how we operate. Each week looks a little different, but at the core, it’s about building strong teams, maintaining high standards, and creating a culture that delivers both results and a great member experience.

Exercise/workout: I work out six to seven days a week. I love an outdoor walk every day and incorporate weights two to three times a week.

Best advice you ever got: You always need to take imperfect action or fail forward. If you stop for too long, you’ll become a dinosaur. You have to continue innovating and trying new things.

What’s your passion in business? My passion is twofold. First, I’m deeply driven by helping our members and clients become stronger, healthier, and more confident through fitness. Seeing lives change because of consistent, supportive training environments is incredibly fulfilling. Second, I’m equally passionate about creating career paths in the fitness industry. I’ve been fortunate to build a career here, and I want to open that door for others. That means offering stable income, growth opportunities, and meaningful benefits, things that aren’t always common in this field. For me, success is building a business that supports the transformations of clients and employees. We believe in employee development at a high level.

How do you balance life and work? I work when I am inspired to work, and I take breaks and time off when I feel I need it. I am energized by my work, not the opposite.

Guilty pleasure: Sitting down with a good book.

Favorite book: Multi-Unit Leadership by Jim Sullivan. It is the best book for multi-unit leaders.

Favorite movie: “Pretty Woman.”

What do most people not know about you? That I grew up on a farm and that I know how to milk cows.

Pet peeve: Slow movers or indecisiveness.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I don’t think I ever knew. My family is second-generation farmers, and I just knew I didn’t want to stay on the farm.

Last vacation: Stayed at a Vrbo on Castle Rock Lake in Wisconsin with my family in June.

Person you’d most like to have lunch with: With entrepreneur Leila Hormozi. I really look up to her as a strong female role model who’s built a successful business from scratch.

MANAGEMENT

Business philosophy: Our business philosophy centers around three pillars: people, process, and product. From building strong teams, investing in their growth, and creating meaningful connections with our members, we believe everything starts with people. From there, it’s about refining our processes so that operations run smoothly and consistently, ensuring the experience we deliver is reliable and scalable. Finally, the product ties it all together by providing a high-quality fitness experience that truly delivers results. When people, process, and product are aligned, growth and member satisfaction naturally follow.

Management method or style: Direct and hands-on.

Greatest challenge: Letting go. When you start as an owner-operator of one or two units, you do everything. By the time you grow to three units, you realize it’s too much for one person to handle. It can be challenging to let go. It’s been a progression of making myself let go and giving responsibilities over to other people.

How do others describe you? Driven, motivated, and goal oriented.

Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? Andy Gundlach, the Anytime Fitness franchisee under whom I started. I was with him for seven years, and when I started, he had just six units. I was able to run every level of business growth with him, and in those seven years, he expanded to 29 units. It was through that mentorship that I was able to step into ownership and scale the way we had done together.

One thing you’re looking to do better: Have more patience and let go of the little things.

How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: I encourage my team to approach problem-solving through a simple but powerful framework: if it is right for the member or customer and if it is right for the business. That also applies if it is right for the staff. When a solution checks all three boxes, we know we’re making a decision that supports long-term success not just for one person or department, but for the organization as a whole. It helps create clarity, alignment, and accountability across the team.

How close are you to operations? I am very hands-on with my director of operations to ensure that we have the best systems and processes for our team
to ensure that they can be successful in their positions.

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Big-picture market trends, ops, and SOP playbooks or best practices.

What you need from vendors: I appreciate quality options at reasonable prices and having extended warranties.

Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? We have changed our marketing strategy based more on the pressure from the competition in the market as opposed to the economy.

How is social media affecting your business? It allows us to connect with our members and community. I think it was a bigger factor three to five years ago, but it is still a great way to educate our community about who we are.

In what ways are you using technology (like AI) to manage your business? I’m starting to incorporate AI in some of our processes. Ideally, I would like to use AI to streamline operations and make smarter, faster business decisions.

How do you hire and fire? We focus on finding the right cultural fit and then provide them with every opportunity to succeed before letting them go. It only happens after we’ve exhausted all other options.

How do you train and retain? We focus on first finding the right culture fit and then have really honed in on our onboarding process for the first 30–90 days. We adopted this process about two years ago and have seen great results with our retention.

How do you deal with problems with employees? It starts with overcommunicating our expectations and what they need to do to meet or exceed those expectations. We give them a chance with a 90-day track to show us, and then we’ll reevaluate.

Fastest way into your doghouse: Not following through on a promise.

BOTTOM LINE

Annual revenue: $5.8 million.

Goals over the next year: Growth through acquisition of two to four locations over the next year and to increase same-store sales by 12%.

Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Our costs are pretty fixed, so we measure growth through increased revenue.

Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? Owning 20–25 units. Our goal is to open two to four units per year with a total of 20 to 25 units in operation. We want to keep within an hour of each other.

Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? No. We believe in staying focused on one brand.

How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? Everyone is more price conscious, so we’re doubling down on offering high-value benefits, such as additional perks for our employees or members.

Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? While the Twin Cities market overall is experiencing slower economic growth, we’ve continued to see strong momentum within our clubs. Fitness is one of those areas where people still prioritize their health and well-being even when they’re more cautious with spending. We’ve been able to grow by focusing on value and community.

How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? We have to adjust in order to meet the demands of our members. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, we transitioned to operating as a remote company and offered virtual personal training sessions. We continued to offer those up until just a few months ago. We want to make sure our members get the most out of their gym membership.

How do you forecast for your business? Annual projections at the end of the year are used to forecast through the upcoming year.

What are the best sources for capital expansion? Local lenders.

Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? We do not use private equity or national banks. We prefer local lenders.

What are you doing to take care of your employees? We provide a 401(k) with employer match and both paid and unpaid PTO to be as flexible as we can be to provide work-life balance. We also offer premium health, dental, and vision coverage. One of the biggest things that we have found in the fitness industry is that there are few options for a career track with stable pay. One of the biggest gaps we’ve seen in the fitness industry is the lack of career paths with stability, benefits, and long-term growth, and we’re committed to changing that.

How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? We are absorbing it and providing benefits packages.

What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? One key regulation currently affecting our business is Minnesota’s new law prohibiting employers from holding employees to noncompete agreements. While we understand the intent of the law, it presents a unique challenge for us. We invest significant time and resources into onboarding and developing our staff, ensuring they are equipped to deliver a high-quality member experience. Without the ability to utilize noncompete agreements, there is an increased risk of employees taking this training and moving to competing fitness clubs, especially given the high level of competition in the Twin Cities metro area. To adapt, we are focusing on strengthening employee engagement, fostering a positive company culture, and continuing to create growth opportunities within our organization to retain talent and make our team feel invested in long-term success with us.

How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? We offer performance-based bonuses and promotions to higher-level leadership positions. Every year, we have a holiday party where we honor top performers.

What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? We don’t have a specific exit plan in place right now. We enjoy what we are doing, and when the time is right, we have a few options that we are considering.