REGYMEN Fitness Director of Sales and Marketing Tatum Crews Trains Instructors To Create Results

From the moment Tatum Crews heard about REGYMEN Fitness**, she knew it was special.

REGYMEN Fitness burst onto the scene in 2017, transforming the boutique fitness space with short, effective workouts backed by heart-rate science. For years before that, Crews was cutting her teeth within the world of marketing and account management. 

“I graduated from the University of South Florida in 2013 with a degree in marketing,” said Crews. “My first real job out of college was at Catalina USA in the St. Petersburg area of Florida as an account manager and media consultant. I led the execution of the marketing campaigns for Target, the company’s largest retail account, and managed a $20 million budget, eventually earning the Highest-Producing Retail Account Manager Award.”

In 2014, the fitness industry came calling and Crews began her career as a regional operations manager with boutique fitness franchise Orangetheory Fitness, monitoring five studios and recruiting, hiring and training sales and operational employees. 

“I absolutely fell in love with the fitness industry and realized how a gym can change a member’s life through building strength and staying healthy,” said Crews. “The position taught me so much about how to succeed in the franchising industry.”

Crews’ work with Orangetheory Fitness brought her all over the U.S. After starting in the Tampa region, Crews relocated to Austin, Texas to help establish Orangetheory in the market as a studio manager. There, Crews managed all aspects of operations,—from performance metrics and facility maintenance to payroll and cost control—for a studio with over 1,200 members and $1 million in annual revenue. Finally, Crews moved back to the Tampa region to work as both a corporate studio manager and as the brand’s director of employee development, overseeing all hiring, training and recruiting for Orangetheory studios in the Tampa Bay region.

“It was during my time at Orangetheory that I met [REGYMEN Fitness co-founder] EK Navan,” Crews said. “We worked together at Orangetheory for a brief time before he left to start his own business.” A few years later in 2017, Navan called Crews one day and told her about a revolutionary new fitness franchise that he was planning to launch and invited her to join the team he was building to get his dream business off the ground. 

“EK needed to bring a trusted source on board who knew the in’s and out’s of the fitness industry and could start up and run the sales operations for the company,” said Crews. “Once I heard about the opportunity, I knew it was an incredible concept and that I was the person for the job.”

The opportunity with REGYMEN Fitness was a self-described turning point for Crews. She knew from talking with her team at Orangetheory that she had climbed as high up as she could within the company, and after discussing the REGYMEN Fitness business model with Navan, Crews decided to go for it. 

She took the job, moved to Pensacola, Florida in June 2017, and as the Director of Sales and Marketing, helped open the flagship REGYMEN Fitness studio there, which opened its doors with more than 500 pre-registered members. After opening that studio with much success, Crews’ next stop was Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she oversaw the development and onboarding of both corporate-owned studios in the market—and all other REGYMEN studios nationwide.

“After being involved in fitness sales for over three years, REGYMEN’s fun, energy-infused workout offerings immediately stood out as a unique and differentiated concept,” Crews said.

According to Crews, REGYMEN offers an experience unlike anything else in the boutique fitness segment, giving members three distinct platforms to partake in—Burn, Build, Box—ensuring they never lose interest or plateau in their quest for a healthier, happier lifestyle. Crews was eager to become involved as a member of the leadership team in order to position studios all across the U.S. for success. 

“EK and I had tons of conversations about points we needed to focus on when developing the business, including customer satisfaction, results-driven methods and white-glove service,” Crews said. And that they did—in the first year alone, 10 REGYMEN studios opened across Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and North Dakota, with the brand even teaming up with the YMCA to make the specialized workouts more accessible to communities through the iconic organization.

As word spread and more and more gyms started opening, the REGYMEN Fitness trend started to pick up. For Crews, her position as Director of Sales and Marketing gives her the opportunity to ensure that each new REGYMEN gym brings both members and franchisees the highest level of success.

“I work as a liaison between all franchisees and the executive team,” said Crews. “Once a franchisee signs on and real estate is secured, they are passed on to me to manage and oversee all onboarding and training.”

The REGYMEN training system for prospective franchisees starts with a week-long discovery process in which candidates are brought out to the corporate office to learn everything from software, equipment and programming to staffing, management and billing. Once a franchisee is signed on, Crews heads out to a specific franchise location to train new franchisees and their team before their grand opening.

“The on-site training is great because it provides franchisees with hands-on methods and role-playing practice to set their studio team up for success,” said Crews. "Because of our heavy emphasis on pre-opening memberships, each studio’s team needs to be ready and equipped to manage a fully operational studio the minute the doors open.”

After an opening, Crews will return to the location to provide open studio training. “The studio training is to check up and make sure everything is running smoothly,” said Crews. “The franchisees and their team provide feedback and we make sure to answer each question and turn every mistake into a learning opportunity.”

“At REGYMEN, we do everything we can to provide a flawless introduction to our system, prescribing each member and prospect with a personalized workout regimen,” said Crews. “We train team leaders to understand the importance and value of this system so that each REGYMEN gym achieves the same level of excellence,” she explained.

Crews’ in-depth experience in both the sales world and the boutique fitness segment brought her to the right place at the right time. 

“By working for a start-up and getting in at the ground floor, REGYMEN Fitness offered me a personalized factor that was lacking in my previous work,” said Crews. “I knew the fitness industry was the right industry for me, I just needed to find the right company.”

Now, as REGYMEN Fitness primes for national growth through franchising and continues to take the industry by storm, Crews is honing in on her detail-oriented skill set to put people above all and train passionate and empowered employees at every level, from owner-operators to gym managers. 

As REGYMEN Fitness continues taking the industry by storm, Crews looks forward to helping the brand’s coaches and employees provide fitness success and life-changing results for members all over the U.S.

“This is often the largest investment in a franchisee's life, and they are counting on me to ensure success,” said Crews. “There is no room for error—I am expected to provide excellence. While it is a lot of pressure, my past experience wearing multiple hats has molded me into who I am today and has provided me with the tools to ensure that the corporation continues to grow and evolve,” she said. “We make sure to give franchisees the best possible support—training is what establishes an infrastructure for success.”

By bringing her knowledge and experience to the position as Director of Sales and Marketing, Crews inspires REGYMEN Fitness franchisees, employees and members alike to achieve their highest potential.

“With a strong infrastructure, anything is possible,” she said. “REGYMEN is a huge success and will continue to be as it branches out further in the Baton Rouge area, the rest of the country and beyond.”

The start-up costs for a REGYMEN Fitness franchise range from $425,000 to $870,500, with a $40,000 franchise fee. To learn more about franchising with REGYMEN, visit https://regymenfitnessfranchise.com/.