Kyle Retter Leverages Military Experience to Lead His Fitness Premier Franchise

Kyle Retter, a veteran, business owner and franchisee, has developed a breadth of skills that he now leverages to run his Blue Ridge, Georgia Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs location. Before pursuing franchise ownership with Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs, Retter spent six years in the Air Force, retiring as a Senior Airman. After this, he contracted for the United Arab Emirates military and U.S. Air Force, maintaining and troubleshooting items within the mission systems of C-130J gunships. With this background knowledge, he was connected with Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs to support the local gyms in streamlining their processes through software and hardware.

“This was how I met Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs; I was able to aid in their IT, software, access control and video surveillance needs,” said Retter. “As I worked with the corporate team, they really grew on me, and I saw that they had a system in place and made it easy for franchisees to quickly adapt their strategies for successful fitness center establishments.”

After starting his own business, RetterTEK, through which he initially connected with the Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs team, Retter knew very well that starting a business from scratch can be tedious and riddled with hurdles.

“Starting RetterTEK from scratch took a lot of time, and I made a lot of learning mistakes. At this point, I wanted to pursue gym ownership, but without a lot of the hassle,” he added. “I saw all the mistakes and growing pains that my good friends were going through at their locally owned gym, and this is where the Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs team stepped in.”

While the systems provided by Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs certainly supported Retter’s path to opening his own gym, some key skills that he learned in the military have also been applied, and Retter will use these as he continues to grow. A proven system is at the heart of the franchise model, and the franchisor provides the tools and guidance a franchisee needs to execute the plan, something Retter says the military engraves into each person on a daily basis.

Two of the most important skills Retter says he has transferred from his time in the military to his role as a gym owner are management skills and the ability to balance and manage a workload.

“Without these skills, I don’t believe every team I have managed over the last 15 years would have performed so well,” explained Retter. “Each team I’ve had the pleasure of managing has become a family, and each one of us would do anything for each other. We would also become a seamless team where we all knew our roles and duties. We would come into work with a driving force.”

Retter’s management style encourages all team members to understand both their own jobs and other members’, meaning that even if someone is out for the day or there is an unexpected occurrence, there is no question that the team can continue to run smoothly, meet customer needs and have a successful day.

“This was always so enjoyable, and the approach has translated over to our current Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs team at our Blue Ridge location,” he added. “Being able to manage workloads and priorities came from managing three squadrons with 70-plus aircraft, but this practice and skill has led me to be able to handle two business operations while I’m also in the process of starting two more.”

Retter emphasized that finding success requires a great team surrounding you, and he has found just that in Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs and built another supportive team through team members in his club.

Looking to the future, Retter said he looks forward to expanding his presence in the North Georgia Mountains and Tri-State area with the help of the processes and strategies that are already in place. Because the Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs corporate team is consistently thinking outside the box to build and provide new tools and processes to franchisees, local owners can focus on growing their business and providing their own feedback to the corporate team should they have new ideas based on in-club experiences in their own communities.

“I would definitely steer veterans to Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs, as they not only have a proven model but have unique strategies and tools that can guarantee success,” said Retter. “We are all like a family at Fitness Premier 24/7 Clubs. Everyone is heard, and new ideas are always being formed through the relationships we all have with each other. There is consistent communication between employees, franchisees and the whole corporate team.”

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/fitness-premier/info