An Exercise in Discipleship

I’ve been called a lot of things in my career: entrepreneur, leader, coach. But first & foremost, I’m called tojbllow Christ.

I seek His plan for my life each day. I allow his will to unfold. That’s why I’m so proud to be associated with Baylor, which was founded as a Christ-centered university.

In many ways, my involvement with fitness and sharing fitness with millions of women, is my destiny. My mother died tragically at age 40 when I was only 13. She was a committed mother of five, who had wrestled-with emotional and physical problems most of her life. Her doctors had placed her on an array of medications with little benefit.

My mother’s premature death was unnecessary. The high blood pressure that contributed to the blood clot that took her life was unnecessary. Rather than medicate the symptoms, she could have dealt with the cause of her high blood pressure. We now know that exercise and proper nutrition will almost always alleviate the causes of hypertension and most other chronic diseases.

But several years ago, while addressing a group of women, I found myself scanning the crowd looking for my mother. Suddenly, I realized what had driven me all my life. I understood that God was going to use me in a grand way and turn tragedy into a triumph. He gave me a vision to restore the health of women, so more children wouldn’t have to suffer the heartbreak of losing their mothers.

I feel that much of my success is attributable to my life as a Christian. It is most certainly what has helped Curves become the largest fitness franchise in the world. Because with the honor of living a Christcentered life comes a set of values. These biblical principles by which I live also turn out to be phenomenal business practices. It’s my duty to put these principles into action in the ways I deal with our suppliers, our franchisees, and customers.

The first principle is honesty, speaking the truth. I shoot straight with people. And I don’t believe truth is relative, that it’s ok to tell half the truth, or to “spin” the truth. To me, truth is truth, period.

The second principle is integrity, doing what you say. That’s how people learn they can depend on you, and learn to trust you. When you follow these first two principles, you end up building strong relationships. People learn they can rely on you to deliver on your promises.

Once these two principles are in place, you’re able to develop the third principle: unity. Because when two or more people agree, they can go much farther together than separately. It works in marriage, and it works in business. That’s a message I share with our franchisees. Right now, about four and a half million women trust me and my franchisees. I believe it’s because these values of honesty, integrity and unity are at the heart of our business model. We’re unified in our resolve to share health and fitness.

Being founded in Christ is also very liberating. It makes it easier to take chances along the way, because I know that – no matter what – Christ will be there for me. And not being afraid of the unknown is part of being an entrepreneur.

My faith frees me to be evermore innovative, evermore confident in my innovations and willing to learn. Ultimately, my faith frees me to be more effective. It gives me courage to be bold.

In my mind, the single word that best defines an entrepreneur is innovation – being able to look at an industry and imagine it in a totally new way. That’s what I did when I started Curves. You see, there’s a big difference between a business person and an entrepreneur. A businessman may do a good job and be a good provider. He or she may be astute at reading numbers and following systems. But being an entrepreneur is something different. It’s having the vision to step back and imagine something a whole new way.

Back when I started in the fitness industry, it was filled with glitzy workout clubs targeted to singles. Women were the second- class citizens in the fitness center. The equipment didn’t always fit them. It wasn’t set up for them. The clubs were filled with men looking at women as aerobics bunnies. They weren’t taken very seriously. These clubs were fine for fitness buffs and strong young bodybuilders, for people who just wanted to look good and to be seen. But there were many, many women who didn’t feel welcome there.

I knew and believed fitness could become something more. I envisioned an atmosphere less intimidating for women, a place where our mothers, wives and sisters could reclaim their health, find community and build strength to fully enjoy life. Then I set out to make that vision a reality.

I did everything I could to understand my audience and the marketplace when developing the Curves concept. I tried to keep in mind that women have so many responsibilities. They’re caregivers for their children. Oftentimes they work outside the home. In most families, they’re responsible for the shopping, the cleaning, the errands, getting the kids to all their activities. It’s unrealistic to think they’ll give up two or three hours to go do a traditional workout. They just don’t have that kind of time.

I think the role of education is to help us learn from others’ mistakes. When we find out what has worked for others, and what has failed, we can save ourselves a lot of heartaches. We can keep from repeating the same mistakes. Still, these days far too many people are earning a degree simply for what they think it can mean to their careers. But it takes much more than a degree to succeed; it takes passion. You have to dedicate yourself to your cause.

Early on, I considered myself to be a self-made man. I owned a chain of successful fitness clubs before I was 25. But I took credit for my achievements. I had a fragile foundation, because although I was saved at 13, I wasn’t giving Christ control of my life. After I lost everything, at age 30, I finally got on my knees and gave the rest of my life to God.

In terms of formal education, I was really self-educated. I’ve always been a prolific reader, getting through about a book a week. But back in 1976, having completed three years toward a pre-med degree, I recognized an opportunity to help prevent deteriorating health and potential illness by caring for people through proper fitness. So I left school and got into the fitness business. I was too eager to get out there and get started.

That decision has weighed on me ever since. In my heart, I figured that if I was going to ask people to stand on my shoulders, if I was going to be an authority, I really needed to be credentialed myself. So I went back and finished my degree in Health and Nutrition Counseling at age 47. That formalized education has allowed me to write a best seller and to conduct research. It’s made things possible that would have stayed out of my grasp. So I’m very glad and grateful that I stuck it out and got the degree. It’s enriched my understanding of fitness.

Truth is, about 60 percent of college graduates end up doing something different than what they study in school. Maybe that’s because a lot of people want to turn that piece of paper, that degree, into a hammock. They’re content to lay back and accept everything at face value.

In many ways, I learned the most from failures early in my career. Because after I lost it all, is when I became committed to Christ and realized that wherever He leads me, I am going to go. I began to rebuild, but this time on a faith-based foundation. God was able to be the source of my confidence. I was a child of the King. What a glorious thing to have as basis for all my actions!

Slowly, over time, He began to entrust me again with responsibility and privilege. I didn’t always act in line with his character, but I was teachable. I obeyed. I listened. And as I began to move forward, He raised me up to do some amazing things. If you’re a child of the King, that’s where you get your confidence. And that confidence becomes a foundation for judgment and vision. It affects everything from how you treat your employees and customers to how you deal with debt.

One of the biggest challenges is to keep a humble perspective, to keep thinking of yourself as a servant, as you become successful. As Drayton McLane advised me recently: “Don’t start believing your own stuff. And don’t believe your critics either.”

You have to be careful as an entrepreneur. You can’t really do it all alone. And you can’t take credit. You have to give God the credit. Success has to be subservient to the greatest name of all.

My wife Diane and I have built Curves as a partnership. My role is to be the visionary; I see the future and take us there. Diane’s role is the image-maker, because she comes from an advertising background. She oversaw the launching of our national advertising program two years ago, a program that resulted in a 59 percent increase in monthly revenue per unit! That advertising has won all sorts of awards: including a gold Effie from the American Marketing Association and being named among Ad Age magazine’s top 50 ad campaigns. In our ads we feature women who look real. The average sizemodel is 14. So women can relate to them, and know that Curves is a place for women like them. That’s some of the honesty I mentioned earlier.

This is a thrilling time for our company. We’re still growing, still exploring new innovative ways to serve our customers. We’ve got some exciting new initiatives in the works. Last year we \launched diane, our new magazine for members, with a circulation of 1.3 million. And we’ve funded a five-year, $5 million study at Baylor to explore the effectiveness of the Curves weight management program. We’re developing new equipment for Curves gyms. If all goes well, when that new equipment is ready the old equipment will be donated to 10,000 middle schools.

I can’t say for sure what the future holds. But I know if we keep focused on our values, it’s going to be beautiful.

About Curves International

Curves offers a 30minute workout that combines strength training and sustained cardiovascular activity through safe and effective hydraulic resistance. Curves also offers a weight management program featuring a breakthrough, scientifically proven method to raise metabolic rate and end the need for perpetual dieting. Gary Heavin, Curves’ Founder and CEO, is the author of several books, including The New York Times Best-Sellers Curves: Permanent Results Without Permanent Dieting and Curves On the Go.

Together, Gary and Diane Heavin created the proven systems and extraordinary innovations that comprise the Curves program today, providing Curves franchisees with the best systems in the industry. Curves is the fastest growing franchise in history and was cited in January 2005 by Entrepreneur magazine as the number-one fitness franchise, the number-two overall franchise of any kind, the number- one fastest growing franchise and the number-one low cost franchise.

I understood that God was going to use me in a grand way Saturn tragedy into a triumph. He gave me a vision to restore the health of worn en so more children wouldn’t have to suffer the heartbreak of losing their mothers.

Gary Heavin, Curves International Founder & CEO

Copyright Baylor University, Hankamer School of Business Spring 2005