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CIRCLE TEAM
At The Circle Gym Club we can help you to achieve your fitness goals
OUR STAFF & STORY
A message from the owner …
Over the years I’ve worked my way up in various establishments from being a Circuit Coach, Fitness Advisor, Team Leader, Club Manager, Sales Manager, Gym Marketing Manager & also Area Manager overseeing four top clubs in Europe. I knew pretty early on that working closely with women in ‘female only gyms’ was completely different to conventional gyms & that’s where my passion lies.
Women require so many different aspects when it comes to training & nutrition but above all they need to feel comfortable & understood. Walking into a gym for the very first time is one of the scariest thing a woman will ever do on her own.
The idea for ‘The Circle’ was formed after years of working for well known gyms but not agreeing with many aspects of their business models & I felt so many things were just morally wrong & they did not have their client’s best interests at heart. After 10 years of commuting daily from East Kilbride to Ayrshire & also Inverclyde I wanted my own club to be closer to home.
From teaching Powerhoop classes in various halls over the years I knew I needed a large spacious studio. Powerhoop is way more than a class, it’s a community of like-minded women who all support each other on their journeys & I know from trying many different venues over the years that these classes required a large studio to move around & have the most fun in.
And then there was Bungee Super Fly! As soon as I seen it online I was desperate to find a course & launch the classes in Scotland. I regularly searched for courses in the UK & after 18 months eventually decided to travel to the Netherlands to go to an intensive 5 day teacher training course in July 2019.
I’d tried the Milon circuit before & knew instantly it was the best choice of exercise for women of all fitness levels & that the results in a short space of time can be phenomenal when combined with eating healthy.
With Powerhoop, Bungee Super Fly & Milon, I put together my Business Plan & had my dream secured in my heart & mind. After qualifying as a Bungee Super Fly Instructor the hunt was on for a premises that had strong beams to attach the bungees onto but that was also big enough for the Milon gym & seperate fitness studio for my Powerhoop classes.
Finding the right venue was difficult. It had to be in the right location & it had to be safe for my members to travel to on dark, winter nights. After searching for 6 months I was losing hope when I finally stumbled across Morris Park on Rosyth Road. It was just a construction site at the time but after meeting the owner, Robert Morris in November 2019 he assured me the unit I was interested in would be finished in plenty of time for opening in the New Year of 2020 & so the lease was signed & the fun began.
It was a huge & very scary step to say goodbye to friends & clients I’d built up over the years & to start afresh in a new area but I knew I had to do it before I turned 40, it was now or never!! We worked tirelessly day & night for weeks to be able to open to the public on 13th January. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired or terrified in my life!
Things were going great from when we opened in January 2020 until March. We had only been open for 9 weeks when the country was forced into a lockdown when Covid hit the UK. Gutted was an under-statement.
Moving to online Zoom classes & exercising in our homes took us all out of our comfort zones but I’m so glad it was an option to still connect with our members.
The future of the fitness industry was worrying for a while especially with what seemed like no support at all from the Government but I know I have the right business model & the right team to bring to Glasgow exactly what women need.
If you have read to the end, thank you & if you are interested to find out more without any hard sales pressure simply get in touch with us. I look forward to meeting you soon!
Charlene xc