The Winning Franchisee | After Success with Ooltewah Location, Fitness-Oriented Couple Open Second Workout Anytime in Jefferson City

With Tara Shepherd’s children growing up in Ooltewah and Scott Shepherd’s children growing up in Jefferson City, these locations were the perfect fit for the Shepherds to expand on their passion for health and fitness and grow the business of Workout Anytime.

By 1851 Staff1851 Staff Contributions

SPONSOREDUpdated 11:11AM • 10/17/22

For the Shepherd family, fitness and health are their passion. With Tara Shepherd’s degree in Healthcare Administration and Scott Shepherd’s background as a college athlete on the D2 soccer team at Mercy College and currently a lacrosse coach, this Tennessee-based couple was the perfect recipe for success when opening a gym.

Based in Ooltewah, without a 24/7 gym nearby, the Shepherds decided Workout Anytime would be a great addition to the community. After opening that location in March of 2019, seeing great results with over 2600 members, and ranking in the top 20 for personal training clubs for 2020 and 2021, they are now opening their second location in Jefferson City.

The Shepherds hope to open their new location in June at 125 West Broadway Blvd Jefferson City, TN 37760. Their goal is to bring the same sense of community to Jefferson City as they did in Ooltewah and continue to grow.

1851 Franchise: What did you do before franchising?

Tara Shepherd: I went to Chattanooga State for dental hygiene and have been a dental hygienist for 28 years. I’m currently working at Welch Dental Center in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, where I have been for 11 years. I also have a degree in healthcare administration from The University of Phoenix, which lends itself to some business acumen as well, so when we started a franchise in a healthcare-related field, this helped a lot.

1851: How did you perform your research/due diligence?

Shepherd: Once you inquire with the corporate team, they assign you to area developers. We got in touch with one who we spoke to for several months because we had questions, especially on the financial side, as we were new business owners and buying a business meant putting everyone we had on the line for it. We talked to him for three months before saying yes. He really took the time and sold us on the Workout Anytime model.

1851: What made you say ‘yes’ to Workout Anytime?

Shepherd: The biggest thing was their communication skills. We got assigned an area developer, and we were in constant communication with him as well as corporate and headquarters. Whenever we had a question, they were always responsive, which told us how much they value their franchisees. We definitely wanted a 24/7 gym because the community that we live in, Ooltewah, does not have one close by. With everyone’s work schedules, it is hard to get into the gym with set hours. The closest 24/7 gym was about 25 minutes away, and research actually shows if you can’t get to the gym within 10-15 minutes, you won’t go. Workout Anytime also had the most growth we could see through our research, and they are still growing. Lastly, they were the most reasonably priced. Altogether, the brand’s performance and the need for our community to have access to the gym any time of the day really drove us on.

What do you hope to achieve with your business? Plans for growth?

Shepherd: We own rights to a territory in North Georgia already. It was somewhat of a competition to which lease could get worked out first. The lease in Jefferson City got worked out first, so our goal is to make this one as successful as possible before focusing on the one in Georgia.