Power Players 2025 Announced: See Who Took Home This Year’s Awards
From “CEO of the Year” to “Marketer of the Year” and everything in between, these executives are leading the fitness and wellness industry to new heights
After months of deliberation, Athletech News is proud to announce the winners of Power Players 2025 presented by HALO Academy, our annual award recognizing the top executives in the fitness and wellness industry.
This year, we decided to recognize winners across 12 distinct categories to spotlight the many important achievements fitness and wellness executives are making within all levels of their organizations. Whether it’s a CMO crafting a viral campaign, a CEO leading a successful turnaround or a founder redefining a category with an innovative product, these Power Players are driving the industry forward with new ideas and a fearless commitment to execution (to learn more about this year’s finalists in each category, visit the Power Players 2025 website).
This year, we also unveiled our first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, given to an executive who’s made an outsized impact on the industry over the course of their career.
The 2025 Power Players and Lifetime Achievement Award winner were honored during a special ceremony live in NYC as part of the ATN Innovation Summit 2025, with Pete Moore’s HALO Academy serving as the ceremony’s presenting sponsor. To learn more about this year’s Power Players, we invite you to continue reading below.
Power Players 2025
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Nerio Alessandri, Technogym
Few executives have played a bigger role in shaping the look and feel of fitness and wellness across the world than Nerio Alessandri, who founded Technogym back in 1983. Over the last four-plus decades, the Italian fitness equipment and tech giant has established itself as a mainstay in gyms, health clubs and hotel wellness centers everywhere, pushing the limits of what fitness can be – both aesthetically and functionally.
Under the still-energetic Alessandri, Technogym isn’t resting on its laurels. The company is investing in AI-powered equipment and software to create personalized fitness routines with an eye toward longevity and preventive health. Earlier this year, Technogym unveiled “Healthness,” a bold new vision for the convergence of fitness, health and lifestyle that aims to make fitness a bigger part of the global healthcare conversation.
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Tom Hale, Oura
As the CEO of Oura, Tom Hale has transformed the company’s flagship Oura Ring from a niche sleep tracker into a globally recognized personalized health coach. Over the last year, Oura launched the Oura Ring 4, its fourth-generation smart ring, and secured $200 million in Series D funding at a staggering $5.2 billion valuation.
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Chris Walker, The Picklr
Pickleball is growing fast, and The Picklr is growing with it. Chris Walker has been instrumental to that growth, helping the indoor pickleball franchise sell over 500 locations to date and overseeing the development of three million square feet of space in the last 12 months alone. Already a force in the U.S., The Picklr has inked deals to expand into Canada and Japan, bringing the sport of pickleball to an even wider audience.
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Tony Scrimale, CR Fitness
Tony Scrimale’s career is proof that hard work does indeed pay off. Initially hired as a cleaner at a small club chain back in the ‘90s, Scrimale has ascended to become the CEO of CR Fitness, the top franchise operator in the entire Crunch Fitness system. Under Scrimale’s leadership, CR Fitness has grown from 35 clubs in 2022 to 85 today, with gyms in five states and over 800,000 active members.
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Dom Iacovone, Raw Nutrition
A serial entrepreneur who has founded and co-founded brands including Raw Nutrition, Relive Health and Revive MD, Dom Iacovone’s companies provide athletes and fitness enthusiasts with top-quality supplements and wellness treatments. Raw Nutrition has become one of the supplement industry’s fastest-growing companies, having earned Brand of the Year honors from GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe. It also opened its first physical training facility a little over a year ago.
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Dan Gallagher, Crunch Fitness
As Crunch Fitness’ CFO, Dan Gallagher was critical to the HVLP gym brand’s recent strategic acquisition by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners, one of the fitness industry’s biggest-ever deals. Gallagher led the selection of investment banks, development of the comprehensive offering memorandum and valuation considerations as well as due diligence and post-sale transition planning. As fitness fights for more respect from other industries, deals like LGP’s acquisition of Crunch will go a long way.
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Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer, EGYM
Under Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer’s leadership, EGYM has become a global leader in fitness technology, equipment and, increasingly, corporate health. With a vision of shifting healthcare from repair to prevention, EGYM has built its Wellpass platform into a European juggernaut with plans to scale significantly in the U.S. In 2024, the company raised $200 million in a Series G funding round at a valuation of over $1 billion.
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Carolina Moraes, Zumba
Under the guidance of CMO Carolina Moraes, Zumba achieved something most fitness brands can only dream of: a truly viral ad campaign. Moraes led Zumba’s popular “Say It. Believe It.” New Year’s campaign, which was headlined by LMFAO frontman Redfoo and featured the group’s hit song, “Sexy and I Know It.” The lighthearted, uplifting campaign has garnered over 20 million views and counting, 400 million+ media impressions and led to a 400% increase in searches for live Zumba classes, a highly impressive return on investment.
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Erwin Korst, Sport Alliance
Erwin Korst is a touted sales expert and management consultant veteran. Now at Germany-based fitness tech solutions provider Sport Alliance, he’s added to his already sizable resume by helping the brand expand globally and secure a $100 million investment from PSG Equity to enhance its flagship product, PerfectGym Next.
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Eric Litman, Aescape
Having established the world’s first fully automated, AI-powered massage platform, Eric Litman and Aescape continue to push the boundaries of an already expanding wellness sector. He brought the massage innovation to select Equinox locations last year, since expanding to more clubs. Litman and Aescape continue to redefine how recovery is delivered in fitness, hospitality and beyond.
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Joy Prouty, Zumba
An internationally renowned fitness instructor, trainer and educator, Joy Prouty has been in the fitness industry for an incredible 60 years. Two decades ago, Prouty created Zumba Gold, and she’s been with the iconic dance-fitness brand ever since, recently spearheading content for the new Zumba consumer app, the Zumba + Lift class, CIRCL Mobility (a yoga-inspired program), Zumba House Music training and more.
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Jonathan Swerdlin, Function Health
Jonathan Swerdlin leads the charge for Function Health, a platform offering access to over 160 advanced lab tests that analyze heart health, hormones, toxins, autoimmunity, nutrients and more while also facilitating full-body scans. Under Swerdlin’s leadership, Function Health recently acquired Ezra, a body-scanning tech brand, and secured a $53 million Series A funding round.
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Rachel Lea Fishman, Arketa
Rachel Lea Fishman has transformed how modern fitness businesses run by co-founding Arketa, an all-in-one platform that simplifies operations with scheduling, payment and marketing solutions. This year, Arketa raised $16 million in a Series A funding round, validating the platform’s ability to ease rather than complicate a fitness entrepreneur’s journey. Under Fishman’s watch, Arketa now serves thousands of businesses, from individual instructors to 10+ location studios.
