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anniversary we were supposed to travel to Europe for a river cruise and that was canceled. We make our own hand
sanitizer and elderberry elixir and take vitamins to boost our immune system. We have changed to make ourselves
healthier.”
How has this community of people been handling this unique experience?
Our residents were under lockdown in March. They were fine the first and
second months. Their stress levels however continued to increase. We found
that they also became physically weaker because of less physical activity.
They couldn’t do things like get their hair done. But the biggest complaint of
course was not seeing their family, so they were complaining more that they
were missing out on so much.”
Andrea concluded our conversation by expressing hope that the medical community has learned from their mistakes
although they continue to learn more every day about how this virus affects everyone differently. “We are all
susceptible to this virus no matter age, color, or financial status. I hope and pray we will be better prepared and could
come together as one united!”
Fitness Center Owners
Orangetheory Fitness (OTF) is a boutique fitness franchise boasting more than 1,200 studios domestically with
locations in over 23 countries. Both Malia Spranger and her husband Kurt, (a former Air Force colonel and lieutenant
colonel respectively), retired from the military in September 2015. They just celebrated their 5th anniversary owning
their Largo, Florida OTF studio.
In the “off-season” OTF provided out-of-studio workouts via social media platforms; some were even hosted by your
coaches. How do you feel about the way your team came together to keep things as normal as possible for their
members?
It was amazing. We had to close with little notice. We had actually spent the weekend prior working on the reduced
capacity plan, and then that Monday, corporate recommended everyone close. However, in about a week, corporate
came out with those in-home workouts and they suggested that coaches lead them.
So, we paid everyone through end of March. We applied for and received the PPP loan by the end of April. By mid-
April, the head coach made the schedule, and we livestreamed the classes on Instagram. To use a term, it was kind of
like a lifeline. Not the perfect workout but definitely a lifeline. It was helpful to so many of our members who could at
least see and communicate with the coach and feel like they were still part of it while feeling some accountability and
community. We also made periodic member care calls to see how everyone was doing.
We were truly fortunate. We brought back the coaches as well as the sales
associates and of course the studio manager and the head coach. Although
corporate had to lay off about a quarter of their employees, we didn’t lay
anybody off.”
OTF is known for its integrity. What was the process like to jumpstart the
re-opening after being shut down for so many months?
We closed from March 18th to May 23rd. OTF Corporate came up with all
the cleaning protocols, reduced the class sizes, and changed the workout
templates to conform to specific social distancing standards.
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