In about 1999, there was a business for sale out of receivership in Alberta called Club Fit, owned by Edmonton entrepreneur Peter Pocklington and former owner of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.
Blake MacDonald, as Managing Partner of Franvest Capital Partners Inc., bought the brand out of receivership.
“We found ourselves as investors, and we were kind of minority investors originally in the deal, in the fitness business,” said MacDonald, who today is President of Orangetheory Fitness Canada. “And what we figured out about the fitness business, it wasn’t really the fitness business as much as it was the people business and it was the finance business.
“And we loved it. It was about building recurring revenue. It was about allowing people to reach their fitness and wellness goals . . . You were doing something that was going to help people with their lives. We immediately fell in love with it. We ran Club Fit for almost nine years. Doubled the revenue, quadrupled the profitability and eventually sold it to a private equity firm in 2008 which kind of led us to Orangetheory Fitness.”
MacDonald said a consultant of theirs found Orangetheory when it was in its infancy with two or three locations. In about 2009, MacDonald went to Florida to check out the brand. He was told it was the perfect hybrid of science, technology and coaching – nothing like it out there.
At first they were not interested but after about eight months they decided to check it out.
“It blew us away. We immediately invested as a franchisor and we bought the master franchise rights for Canada and off to the races we went,” he said.
MacDonald grew up in Cold Lake, Alberta in the northeast part of the province. He was the second son of a couple of teachers.
“It was a great place to grow up. Curled, golfed, skied, water skied. You get to do everything when you’re up there. It’s just like one of the best places in the whole world. Didn’t come to Edmonton until 1995. I came for university, graduated with a finance degree in 1999 (from the University of Alberta),” said MacDonald.
“The reason I went into finance originally is because I was a curler. I was a professional curler. I felt like that was a career path that was going to allow me to curl. I was so wrong about that. I came to the city and was on a really good curling team and in 1999 I went to the Brier with my brother.
“Eventually curled all the way until about 2010. I was actually on Team Koe when we won the Brier and world championships in 2010. I quit curling after that because I was in the finance business and it was so busy and I had a young family. But I fell in love with the finance business.”
MacDonald has been a Managing Partner of Franvest Capital Partners Inc. a boutique merchant bank for the past 25 years.
Orangetheory is one of the company’s biggest holdings.
In the past MacDonald was President of Fit Fresh Foods, President of World Health Edmonton, Chief Operating Officer of Club Fit and VP Finance of Xs Flooring.
The company also has another business called the Dog Stop out of Pittsburgh, a dog care facility with more than 50 locations in the U.S. The company also has been involved in residential rental real estate. Franvest also has an investment business.
What MacDonald likes about the fitness industry is that you’re helping people “achieve more life.”
“You’re changing people’s lives every day. The more successful a studio or the business, the more lives you’re changing,” he said. “It’s such a noble cause. At the end of the day, that’s why we love the business. That’s why we’re still involved in it.”
MacDonald still curls on Thursday nights and it’s more about the socializing than the curling.
One of the biggest things he learned in his curling career was how to achieve something as a team. You have to put yourself second to that team. The team is what matters. It’s about communication. It’s about goal congruency. It’s about being honest with yourself and your team members. Integrity. Doing what you say you’re going to do. And it’s about accountability.
“All those things from being a part of a professional team is what you take to business. It’s exactly the same things. Those are the exact same things you need to be successful in business. For us at Orangetheory, it’s not just our team here at Orangetheory Fitness Canada, it’s our franchisees, it’s their staff and ultimately it’s even our members making sure they understand. They’re a stakeholder in this business and it’s bringing them up to speed, making sure they understand why we’re doing what we do. Communicating and getting everybody on the same bus so we’re all rolling in the same direction,” explained MacDonald.
Principles MacDonald lives by as a leader
He said there are principles he tries to live by as a leader of the company. Honesty and integrity for one.
“One of the things I talk about is no job is below you. Everything is everyone’s job, including me,” added MacDonald.
“Accountability. I have a propensity for taking meeting minutes for every single meeting I’m in with action items and we follow up on those items and we make sure that people get things done. Accountability is critical.
“The other thing I really live by is goal congruence. That means goal congruency with your franchisees, your corporate staff, your members. Everybody’s got to be rolling in the same direction. If they’re not, it throws a wrench in the tire for sure.”
As busy as he is, what’s important to him is getting into Orangetheory and doing two or three classes a week.
“You’ve got to look after your body if you’re going to have a clean and a workable mind,” he said.
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