Innovation

Lifetime has taken an innovative approach to the health and wellness industry by integrating luxury athletic clubs to meet all the needs for the consumer to live a happy and healthy lifestyle. Lifetime has catered itself to a holistic lifestyle approach by expanding itself into a fitness ecosystem where you have various business lines including Lifetime Athletic Country Club, a stand-alone gym center; Life Time Fitness communities, luxury residences, and athletic clubs to various locations in Connecticut and New York; Fitness Athletic; and Life Time work, which houses spaces for companies to rent, or for members to reserve to work remotely. All these offerings align with their clients’ changing lifestyles and trends and emphasize a healthy way of life.

This innovation came from the idea that they wanted to provide exceptional quality and various services for their clients. They provide an expansive workout floor, sauna, steam room, whirlpool, various spa treatments, an eatery, Kids Academy, basketball, pickleball, swimming, personal training, and education certifications. All of these offerings seek not only fitness activists but encompasses anyone who is seeking to improve their health and wellness. This innovation and expansion have allowed them to expand their target market and create a unique community of professional athletes, trainers, and hobbyists.

The introduction of their kid’s academy is unlike any other fitness competitor. Instead of providing a daycare service with a room for free play, they have developed a curriculum that includes various classes in martial arts, languages, sports, and more. These structured learning environments are provided for all members in 30-minute to 1-hour sessions daily and can be reserved on their app.

The many different adaptive innovations that Lifetime applies to its business model starts with an idea from a single club and that idea is eventually pitched to corporate who will then decide who, what, how, when, and where that innovation will be applied. Corporate oversees the strategic planning initiatives for the company and opening of new locations. One of which will open in the Brooklyn Tower, a new high-rise luxury residence which will include many of the innovative spaces we spoke about in the interview including co-working spaces.

Their approach came from the ever-changing lifestyles of individuals and the age of technology. It allowed them to adapt and continually provide their mission statement “educational, entertaining, friendly, and inviting, functional, and innovative experiences for a healthy and happy life.” Providing facilities for people anywhere along their health and wellness journey under one roof allows for a system of unity and a feeling of community and belonging.

Inspiration

Bahram Akradi's, who is the founder of Lifetime, has been instrumental in shaping Lifetime into a trailblazer within the health and wellness sector. By placing members' needs at the forefront, the company has crafted a unique approach to promoting healthy living, aging, and entertainment. Akradi's unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional services and cutting-edge experiences has not only ensured the company's prosperity but has also set a new benchmark in the industry. Lifetime's dedication to fostering a Healthy Way of Life mirrors Akradi's steadfast belief in the holistic well-being of individuals.

The motivation for the innovation was to assist people in living a happier and healthier lifestyle by bringing the individuals everything that they would need to do so into one building. Lifetime has a café for healthy food, a Kids Academy to look out for, educate, and keep your kids active while the adult wants to go workout, a pool where patrons can exercise and learn how to swim, a massage and stretch studio where members can recover, and so much more.

Over the past few years, Lifetime has seen a significant increase in member traffic. So much so that within the next few years, Lifetime will be forced to implement a membership cap for their Garden City location and place new members on a waiting list before they can become members. Lifetime Garden City has had so much success in the past few years that even before putting a cap on the number of memberships available, they have had to raise their membership fees significantly to slow down their traffic. Kenneth claimed that although Lifetime would like to help everyone, the more people that they help at once, the quality of that help becomes worse due to not being able to keep up with standards.

Due to the rapid increase in memberships, the company must constantly reinvest more funding into equipment and staff to maintain the quality of the service offered. Likewise, as new clubs continue to open around the US, Lifetime Garden City must constantly be adapting their club to meet the standards of the newer clubs to keep their members happy. By the end of the year, they plan to add two major renovations to the club including a cold plunge pool, and workspaces in the building which members will have access to make reservations to use.

Overall impact

As Lifetime’s community continues to grow, the impact on society has been profound. Promoting a culture of health and wellness has gravitated society towards prioritizing their mental and physical needs. Additionally, Lifetime has provided solutions catered to a vast majority of people. For example, the children’s enrollment allows parents to visit and engage in a productive healthy lifestyle without worry of keeping the child entertained or safe. Lifetime has built trust between the team and individuals who come in on a regular basis. Kenneth stated, “One of my best memories over the ten years working at Lifetime was helping a woman who was unhappy with their weight and discouraged.” Over one year, Kenneth helped her lose one hundred pounds and keep it off. As Lifetime impacts individuals, a ripple effect is created spreading productivity, wellness, and positivity throughout society.

During the interview Kenneth said that back when he was the personal trainer manager before he was the general manager, he and his team generated over 4 million dollars in revenue just from their personal training sessions. Although this might sound like a financial brag at first, Kenny expressed that these numbers are simply concrete evidence on how many people Lifetime has inspired to better their health and wellness. Overall, Lifetimes growing revenue is proof that members value their memberships, and that the membership has a positive impact on their lifestyle. As stated previously, the membership is so valuable that within the next few years, the memberships will become limited and exclusive to those who get them first.

Business benefit

Lifetime’s innovation provides extreme benefits to the overall business. By bringing all the needs of a healthy and productive lifestyle into one location, Lifetime can charge a monthly premium from its members. Alongside, Lifetime’s demand has grown, and so has their communities. In the future, there will be a waitlist, and individuals who want to participate will have to wait and most likely pay a higher price than if they were to join now. Lifetime makes quality and cleanliness top priority, and it becomes difficult to upkeep an entire facility when it becomes crowded. Therefore, the only way to avoid this is creating, waitlisting and keeping prices at a premium. As Kenneth stated, “If Disney tickets were fifty dollars, lines at rides would grow from an hour to over three or four hours.” The same scenario works for Lifetime. If it becomes too overpopulated, it will ruin the experience and atmosphere for everyone.

Overall, Lifetime’s innovation allows the business to stay ahead of the curve while also accumulating profits from its membership system.

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Social and environmental benefit

As Lifetime’s community continues to grow, the impact on society has been profound. Promoting a culture of health and wellness has gravitated society towards prioritizing their mental and physical needs. Additionally, Lifetime has provided solutions catered to a vast majority of people. For example, the children’s enrollment allows parents to visit and engage in a productive healthy lifestyle without worry of keeping the child entertained or safe. Lifetime has built trust between the team and individuals who come in on a regular basis. Kenneth stated, “One of my best memories over the ten years working at Lifetime was helping a woman who was unhappy with their weight and discouraged.” Over one year, Kenneth helped her lose one hundred pounds and keep it off. As Lifetime impacts individuals, a ripple effect is created spreading productivity, wellness, and positivity throughout society.

Interview

Kenneth Lippe, General Manager Lifetime Garden City

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