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Randall Hunt Offers Guidance on Promoting Diversity in Fitness Spaces

Randall Hunt

· Fitness Spaces
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Randall Hunt founded Athletic Apex in 2006 and led the popular multi-state health club as president and CEO through 2019. The club has earned recognition from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association for its focus on continuous innovation. Additionally, Randall Hunt supports a growing nationwide focus on promoting racial equity throughout the fitness industry and has spoken on the topic in a variety of public forums. In June 2020, he was featured in a webinar hosted by Discover Strength designed to help fitness industry professionals and the public openly discuss the issues of race and racial bias in their sector.

Discover Strength is a boutique fitness studio network that offers expert, personalized training for customers in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. Discover Strength’s CEO expressed concern that his company might not be doing all it could to attract employees and customers from communities of color, and committed to engaging in a serious search to uncover unconscious biases and implement solutions.

This very concern was echoed by Mr. Hunt who noted that health club CEOs and other leaders do need to step up their game when it comes to attracting and retaining a truly diverse workforce. For one thing, hiring staff of color tends to make potential customers of color feel more comfortable joining a health club and staying over the long term.
Mr. Hunt also pointed out that, if health and fitness business owners simply assume that their core customer demographic is white, they are cutting themselves off from opportunities to cultivate a more diverse - and therefore stronger and more innovative - workforce, and a more resilient commercial presence.