Ross Franklin

CEO | FOUNDER

Ross Franklin has consistently built on the notable success he has achieved in the field of Fitness Club Management over the past decade. Mr. Franklin is the CEO and Founder of RF Health Club Consulting, a consulting firm dedicated to building brand equity and delivering results for high-end health clubs.

Mr. Franklin has developed RF Health Club Consulting from his years working for the top brands in the New York and New Jersey fitness markets. With RF Health Club Consulting, Mr. Franklin has launched new and mature health brands including The Club at Morristown, a 40,000 square foot fitness facility in the heart of Morristown connected with the Hyatt Hotel.

As Director of Operations for the Gold’s Gym at the Jersey Shore, Mr. Franklin opened a new location in Old Bridge, New Jersey in addition to managing operations at other Gold’s Gym locations. Mr. Franklin’s experience has grown directly from leading operations for four of the top players in the highly competitive New York health club market: Club H Fitness, Equinox Fitness, New York Sports Clubs, and Chelsea Piers.

Mr. Franklin has served as General Manager and Director of New Club Openings with Club H, where he already successfully opened two locations with record-breaking presale revenue, overseeing operations from construction through organizing and hosting the grand opening celebration event. His excellent management skills allowed him to direct his sales staff to accomplish impressive results, attracting over 1700 new members in midtown Manhattan and 3000 in Jersey City, where break-even was reached within 3 months of opening.

Prior to that, at Equinox Fitness where he served as General Manager of the trendy Union Square and Upper East Side locations, he was lauded for his extraordinary club management ability, creating a positive atmosphere for people to work or to workout! Staff, trainers, vendors, members and guests all responded to his upbeat management style, and he fostered tremendous goodwill between the various departments including Fitness, Personal Training, Group Fitness classes, Spa, and Pro-shop. Mr. Franklin was responsible for all club operations, overseeing 150+ employees and managing annual revenue over $13 million. He created and standardized a club action plan and sales strategy that was implemented company-wide at all 40 Equinox locations. His impressive operating statistics include increasing membership sales to exceed budget by 115% and increasing the club contribution percentage of Operating Revenue to 50%, setting the highest profit margin across all clubs in the Equinox portfolio.

As General Manager for New York Sports Clubs at their Union Square location, Mr. Franklin supervised all departments and operations. He collaborated with the Marketing and Fitness VP to create a company-wide massage placement integration program with the legendary Swedish Institute of Massage. His sales record was during his short tenure was nothing short of astonishing, as he increased membership sales by 20% and fitness revenue by 25 percent over the previous year – and increased massage revenue by an astronomical 750 percent!

At the renowned Chelsea Piers Sports Center, Mr. Franklin’s extraordinary business acumen was recognized early on, and he was promoted quickly from Personal Trainer to Fitness Manager to Executive Assistant to the First Vice President. His superior management performance, overseeing all aspects of the fitness department for this 150,000 sq. ft. facility, led to an operating budget increase of 40%. He managed, hired and trained a staff of 70, reporting on the fitness department at monthly meetings with the President, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, as well as at weekly meetings with the General Manager and Department Directors. Mr. Franklin was noted for his contributions to the annual Business Strategy Plan, and acted as primary liaison for public relations, marketing, operations, sales and fitness departments.

In addition to his expertise in fitness club management and personal training, Mr. Franklin has extensive experience in the Information Technology field. In his management position with Club H, he has assisted the Owners in launching CRM enhancements and a new outsourced billing program. During his time with Equinox fitness, he assisted the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Vice President of Sales in selecting and integrating a new CRM operating system, including management and marketing software. He also worked directly with the CTO, IT Director and integration software programmers to redesign various technological components of the company’s website, including digital tools. With Chelsea Piers, he researched and designed a proposal for a new company website; created electronic tools including a member newsletter and personal trainer profile book; and directed and produced a fitness department commercial video. Mr. Franklin is proficient in Web programming and Internet development (HTML, DHTML and Java), and he has solid competency and experience in graphic and multimedia design, as well as in the full line of Adobe and Microsoft packages.

Mr. Franklin graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Wheaton College, serving as a Senator to Student Government. On a junior year exchange, he was a Sports Therapy Center Intern at Wellesley College, where he was featured in local media as the only resident male student on campus at that exclusive and academically demanding women’s college.