Franchisee Spotlight: Orangetheory Fitness, Aspyr Holdings in California

Marc Thomas’ Orangetheory venture proves that listening to local communities, hiring the right people and tapping franchisor support fuel long-term success

Marc Thomas’ wife looked at him like he was crazy when he told her he wanted to quit his job and open an Orangetheory Fitness — the first one in California. Newly pregnant and with Thomas having no prior franchising experience, it seemed like quite the gamble at first glance. 

But as anyone in fitness and wellness will tell you, what’s visible on the surface doesn’t paint a complete picture. 

Fortunately for all parties, Thomas chose to look within. After liking much of what he saw, he opted to jump on board. It took some homework and convincing, but from that point on, he, his family and co-CEO Pete Selner have only gone forward, now standing with 45 Orangetheory locations stretching from the Bay Area to San Diego. 

An Intriguing Concept

Thomas wasn’t without his doubts early on. It took a handful of friends who attended and enjoyed Orangetheory to initially put the brand on his radar. After one of them brought up the opportunity to launch one in his home state, he initially expressed reluctance. 

“I felt like bringing fitness from somewhere else to California was like bringing sand to the beach,” Thomas said. 

However, still trying to be open-minded, he took a call with co-founder Jerome Kern to hear about the opportunity. It only took 45 minutes to get Thomas to change his mind. 

“I was really intrigued by the concept, the brand and the business model,” he said. “I had never been involved in franchising before, but I was interested after Jerome explained their model.” 

Two weeks later, Thomas was on a plane to Florida, where he met the Orangetheory team, other franchisees and toured their facilities. That only further sold him on the business. 

“I came home and said, ‘Honey, I’d like to quit my job and start this Orangetheory thing.’ She looked at me like I was crazy,” Thomas recalled. “But she asked me if I believed in this and I told her I did. So, she supported me, we made that change and never looked back.”

A Proven & Robust Model 

Like Thomas conducted his due diligence on Orangetheory, the brand brings a similar level of care in how it supports its franchisees. That was pivotal to spurring Thomas’ success, given his inexperience in fitness at the time. 

“They had a vision, the skills, the experience and were able to cultivate the right kind of franchisee relationships all over the country,” Thomas said. “To their credit, they continued to lean in and invest in the model over the years. They’re not a ‘set it and forget it’ franchisor. They’re always engaged. They listen and take feedback. They’re constantly learning and applying. I had an exceptionally good experience, and I know not every concept has that.”

That support includes early set-up assets, which cover all the basics that come with running a franchise operation. 

“They give you a playbook,” Thomas said. “They tell you how to build your facility, what your logo will look like, your staff training and all that stuff.”

It also includes hands-on training and education. 

“The way they taught me the things I didn’t know about when I first got involved was super valuable,” Thomas said. “That included things like sales and marketing. They were processes that we learned to perfect fairly quickly, but I 100% learned them from Orangetheory.” 

It’s also a collaborative network, where franchisees assist. Thomas even mentioned being humble, or a “sponge” willing to absorb information from other members in the system, as his primary advice for any new franchisee. 

“We learned a lot from the training they provided, the ongoing support, both at the franchisor level and from other franchisees who had more experience than I did,” he said. “The franchisor did a good job of facilitating that franchisee community, where we could learn, share ideas and best practices with each other.”

Hiring Is Pivotal

But for everything Orangetheory provides, it still leaves franchisees with some optionality while running their operations. Thomas argues that such flexibility is best exercised when it comes to hiring managers and other staff. 

“You take that playbook, but how you apply it in terms of day-to-day execution is left up to you as the operator,” Thomas said. “Most importantly, or at least very importantly, are the decisions you make in terms of hiring. I learned pretty quickly that I needed certain types of personalities and certain types of skill sets in certain areas of my business.

Community Driven

Leeway is also given so different locations can address the specific communities around them. Thomas argues that’s vital to success given the people-first nature of the Orangetheory business.

“The success of our model is heavily reliant on our community engagement and building it in our studios,” said Thomas. “We’re not selling widgets, we’re not selling burgers — we’re selling relationships.”

Every new site brought with it new potential relationships, and Thomas had to learn to foster each individually.

“I quickly realized that every community has its own personality and flavor, and you have to adapt to them,” he said.

For example, Thomas began in Newport Beach in 2013 and quickly noticed that the demographic carried a certain attitude toward fitness. Differences grew even more so as the operation expanded to encapsulate communities like Orange County, California, and the city of San Francisco. 

While franchisors might attempt to duplicate the same formula when opening another location, the results rarely match.

“When you get there, you realize these communities have wildly different attitudes toward fitness and community,” Thomas said. “So, we have to learn about them. We have to listen. We’ve certainly embraced the idea that we have to adapt to each market…I think that’s the secret sauce, at least for Orangetheory, being hyper locally activated.” 

Here To Stay

The selling points that first brought Thomas into Orangetheory haven’t grown stale over time, either. Instead, they’ve encouraged him to invest further and build out a dream career.  

“When I first got involved with this franchise model, I figured I’d aim to own one, maybe two or three locations,” said Thomas. “But after being with the brand for a couple of years, I saw a much bigger opportunity. I kept leaning in further and further until I ended up partnering with Pete. We’ve helped each other along the way, and I think both of us would say this is the most rewarding job we’ve ever had in our careers.” 

Aside from the monetary advantages of owning and operating a humming batch of studios, Thomas argues the benefits that come from helping people day in and day out also make Orangetheory well worth his while. 

“It’s very fulfilling to be in a company with a product or service that really helps people, that makes the world a better place,” he said. “I think helping people with both their physical and mental health is very rewarding…Multiple times over the years, we’ve had opportunities to exit the business or go do something else, and both of us have said that there’s nothing else we’d rather be doing, so let’s keep doing this.”