Georgie Delanie MBE: From chance meetings to 2000 gyms. The story of The Great Outdoor Gym Company

"If going to a TGO gym can help unlock your potential not only for your life, but for your community, for your planet, that's the end game."

Georgie Delaney MBE isn't short on a big vision.

But critically - she's also not short on taking action.

It was wonderful to talk to her about setting up and growing The Great Outdoor Gym Company (TGO). From a seed of inspiration seeing outdoor gyms in China after the Beijing Olympics, to high level backing in the London 2012 Olympics, to now having more than 2000 outdoor gyms globally. It's been a heck of a journey so far.

Oh, and on the way, invites to exhibit at COP21 and COP22.

And then there was the MBE...

To be fair, a TGO gym is no ordinary gym. It generates power. It charges phones. It supports tree planting. It fosters community.

And all while staying true to its mission and promoting inclusivity, unity and charity.

This is quite a different episode. Of course, we talk about the specifics of the business journey Georgie's been on - the challenges and victories of going from startup to success and international scale.

We talk about the role of luck, and how luck often has 2 bookends which are under your control. The first is continually taking action, which invariably creates more opportunities for luck to find you. And the second is what you do with the luck that's made its way to you.

But we also talk about religion. Georgie is very much a Christian, and guided by Christian values which manifest in how she runs her business.

Most visibly in love, and in community.

Love sits at the heart of how she started and grew the Great Outdoor Gym Company. She founded it with people she loved, to serve a humanity she loves while serving a planet we all should love more.

And that translates to community. The gyms often give opportunities for communities to form. She talks movingly about the interfaith community that's sprung up around one of her gyms in East London.

Georgie's is a business with purpose and values very much at its heart. And it's a business that wears that heart on its sleeve.

A deeper dive. And I think for both of us, a bit of therapy!

Enjoy.

_______________

I host a weekly online workshop with CEOs of SMEs (10 to 100 employees approx) about scaling up, allowing them to step back and do more strategic work, and doing it in line with their values. Max 6 per session so we can have a real conversation.

If you'd like to join me, find a date that works for you here. They aren't charged for - you and I will both get value from the conversation.

Only CEOs / MDs apply - strictly peer-level conversation.

Transcript

00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,003 
Iyas: Welcome to the Karmic Capitalist podcast.

00:00:03,003 --> 00:00:06,006 
Iyas: Stories of companies that are doing capitalism better.

00:00:08,008 --> 00:00:19,019 
Iyas: Love sits at the heart of how Georgie Delaney started and grew the Great Outdoor gym company from its initial projects in line with the 2012 Olympics right through to the global expansion and now over 2000 gyms.

00:00:19,019 --> 00:00:28,028 
Iyas: Georgie, who was awarded an MBE in 2021, founded it with people she loves, server humanity she loves while serving a planet we should all love a little bit more.

00:00:28,028 --> 00:00:34,034 
Iyas: In this episode, of course, we talk about the journey, the challenges and the victories of growing from startup success and international scale.

00:00:34,034 --> 00:00:41,041 
Iyas: But we also dive into religion, community and all the other very human aspects of growing this business with purpose and values at its heart.

00:00:41,041 --> 00:00:44,044 
Iyas: I think for both of us, it was a bit of therapy. Enjoy.

00:00:47,047 --> 00:00:51,051 
Iyas: So hello and welcome to the Karmic Capitalist podcast.

00:00:51,051 --> 00:01:02,062 
Iyas: And not only am I delighted to have George Delaney here because of what she's done and what she's doing, but I'm actually delighted because this is about the 7th time we've tried to get this recording going.

00:01:02,062 --> 00:01:15,075 
Iyas: And between Internet laptops, something has always I'm waiting for the tile to come in from the ceiling and bang me on the head in the middle of this one because it's felt like that, but delighted to have got it together.

00:01:15,075 --> 00:01:16,076 
Iyas: Hi, Georgie.

00:01:16,076 --> 00:01:17,077 
Iyas: Welcome to the comic Capitalist.

00:01:17,077 --> 00:01:20,080 
Georgie: Hi, thank you very much for having me.

00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,082 
Georgie: And better late than never.

00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:25,085 
Iyas: Yeah, absolutely.

00:01:25,085 --> 00:01:26,086 
Iyas: I am.

00:01:26,086 --> 00:01:32,092 
Iyas: Honestly, I'm just waiting for something to fly in through the window or something to disrupt.

00:01:32,092 --> 00:01:35,095 
Iyas: But Georgie perfect.

00:01:35,095 --> 00:01:36,096 
Iyas: Yeah, absolutely.

00:01:36,096 --> 00:01:42,102 
Iyas: Well, listen, before we dive into the story, love to just hear about what, you know, the Great Outdoor Gym Company.

00:01:42,102 --> 00:01:43,103 
Iyas: What what is it?

00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:43,103 
Iyas: What does it do?

00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:47,107 
Iyas: As if as if the title doesn't tell you, but what's the company?

00:01:48,108 --> 00:01:50,110 
Georgie: It's exactly what it says on the tin.

00:01:51,111 --> 00:01:52,112 
Georgie: The great outdoor gym company.

00:01:52,112 --> 00:01:55,115 
Georgie: We put outdoor gyms into parks.

00:01:55,115 --> 00:01:59,119 
Georgie: We were formed in 2000 and 716 years ago.

00:01:59,119 --> 00:02:03,123 
Georgie: And we're a British manufacturer of outdoor gym equipment.

00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:08,128 
Georgie: And we have installed over 2000 outdoor gyms.

00:02:08,128 --> 00:02:22,142 
Georgie: And we export our outdoor gym equipment as far afield as along the Sydney Coastal Walk or Gardens by the Bay as one of the sites we've got, as well as Jamira Beach, so we're exporting as well.

00:02:22,142 --> 00:02:31,151 
Iyas: Wow. Fantastic. And I think I mentioned to you, I bumped into one of your gyms inadvertently when I was walking down the embankment, any of our London

00:02:31,151 --> 00:02:37,157 
Iyas: listeners. If you're by the embankment and you see this glorious gym just opposite the river, then that's one of Georgie's

00:02:37,157 --> 00:02:38,158 
Iyas: too.

00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:48,168 
Georgie: One of the gyms I use because I am a member at the RSA, so it's really convenient for me.

00:02:48,168 --> 00:02:52,172 
Georgie: And I've met up with one of my personal trainer there.

00:02:52,172 --> 00:02:54,174 
Georgie: And it's a really good gym.

00:02:54,174 --> 00:02:56,176 
Georgie: You can do a lot of stuff on that gym.

00:02:57,177 --> 00:03:01,181 
Iyas: I love this concept of an outdoor PT in a gym.

00:03:01,181 --> 00:03:04,184 
Iyas: Rather than an outdoor PT who just has you doing sort of military style things.

00:03:04,184 --> 00:03:07,187 
Iyas: That's great.

00:03:07,187 --> 00:03:09,189 
Iyas: So, Georgia, how did you get there?

00:03:09,189 --> 00:03:10,190 
Iyas: What's the backstory?

00:03:10,190 --> 00:03:12,192 
Iyas: Why did you set this up?

00:03:12,192 --> 00:03:13,193 
Georgie: My background.

00:03:13,193 --> 00:03:18,198 
Georgie: I did industrial design and Italian at university.

00:03:18,198 --> 00:03:38,218 
Georgie: So I did two years in London and two years in Milan, and I was volunteering at a snowboarding competition and I met the chief executive of Sport England and I asked him if he could help me at the Arts Council because I thought I was arty, not sporty.

00:03:40,220 --> 00:03:44,224 
Georgie: And he did try, but he didn't get very far.

00:03:44,224 --> 00:03:58,238 
Georgie: But he did introduce me to his head of Comms, who then had a position for a contractor because they were doing a lot of work on everyday sports, which was the national fitness campaign at the time.

00:03:58,238 --> 00:04:01,241 
Georgie: And it was the agency they were using, Sachi.

00:04:02,242 --> 00:04:18,258 
Georgie: And Sachi were quite expensive to do the odd change to the sort of here and I said there and I was this cheap resource that could change things quite quickly and very affordably compared to agency rates.

00:04:18,258 --> 00:04:21,261 
Georgie: So I got a job there.

00:04:21,261 --> 00:04:39,279 
Georgie: And then as part of that, I just got sort of an amazing insight into everything that was going on in the landscape of sport, but also, more importantly, physical activity and also the Olympics, because Sport England was pitching for London 2012.

00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:40,280 
Georgie: That was back in 2005.

00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:47,287 
Georgie: And so part of Sport England's role for that particular pitch was about the legacy.

00:04:47,287 --> 00:04:57,297 
Georgie: And so they were looking at what other countries had done, and Beijing was about to it was in 2008, so a few years further forward from that.

00:04:57,297 --> 00:05:04,304 
Georgie: And they had put millions of square meters of outdoor gyms into China.

00:05:04,304 --> 00:05:11,311 
Georgie: And it had a good effect in raising participation and physical activity, which was keyword at Sport England at the time.

00:05:11,311 --> 00:05:22,322 
Georgie: How do we get the nation more active because of the obesity crisis and the lifestyle diseases crisis that we still obviously have today.

00:05:22,322 --> 00:05:29,329 
Georgie: But the big sort of push at that time at Sport England was, how do we get people moving, how do we get people more active?

00:05:29,329 --> 00:05:34,334 
Georgie: And it was very successful in Beijing while in China.

00:05:34,334 --> 00:05:41,341 
Georgie: So I put the idea to the CEO and he said it was a brilliant idea, but not for Sport England to deliver.

00:05:41,341 --> 00:05:45,345 
Georgie: It to have to be delivered by a private company type thing.

00:05:45,345 --> 00:05:53,353 
Georgie: And it was just one of those fateful it was a fateful time because I lost my job quite soon after that.

00:05:54,354 --> 00:06:00,360 
Georgie: There was a reorganization and the contractors were asked to leave just to save a bit of money.

00:06:01,361 --> 00:06:20,380 
Georgie: And at the same time, my mum varied the will of my grandmother's estate and said to me, you can have £17,000 to either put down a deposit on a flat or pay off your student loan.

00:06:20,380 --> 00:06:25,385 
Georgie: And I said to her, can I start a business?

00:06:30,390 --> 00:06:41,401 
Georgie: And then I approached my father, who was a lawyer to help me set it up, and my partner Matt, who came on board as well at the same time.

00:06:41,401 --> 00:06:45,405 
Georgie: Kind of evenings and weekends and that sort of thing. Yeah.

00:06:46,406 --> 00:06:54,414 
Georgie: So basically it all started from seeing how positive it had been over in China.

00:06:54,414 --> 00:07:06,426 
Georgie: But then as I started the business, one of the first things we did was pitch to well, it's actually to Nike, and then added us.

00:07:07,427 --> 00:07:18,438 
Georgie: And this was after we knew that we were going to get London 2012, and they were about to announce their sponsorship of London 2012.

00:07:18,438 --> 00:07:29,449 
Georgie: And so for them, it was perfect for them to have some way of an experiential way of activating their sponsorship.

00:07:29,449 --> 00:07:41,461 
Georgie: So we started talking to them about that and then that was the first really big project that we got involved in and that was placing this product on the Olympic rings.

00:07:42,462 --> 00:07:46,466 
Georgie: So big, really big gig.

00:07:47,467 --> 00:07:48,468 
Iyas: Okay.

00:07:48,468 --> 00:07:49,469 
Georgie: Startup.

00:07:49,469 --> 00:07:51,471 
Iyas: It's interesting you mentioned the word fortune in there.

00:07:51,471 --> 00:07:55,475 
Iyas: And it's one of those things you look at and think, well, that wasn't a linear path, right?

00:07:55,475 --> 00:07:57,477 
Iyas: There was a couple of strokes.

00:07:57,477 --> 00:08:01,481 
Iyas: Honest snowboarding.

00:08:01,481 --> 00:08:10,490 
Iyas: For nearly two decades, I have never bumped into anyone vaguely business useful in that sense as you have.

00:08:10,490 --> 00:08:15,495 
Iyas: But you have the good fortune of doing that and where it goes.

00:08:15,495 --> 00:08:16,496 
Iyas: I'm intrigued.

00:08:16,496 --> 00:08:21,501 
Iyas: It's one of the things that I think founders, CEOs, myself included, rarely talk about the role of luck.

00:08:21,501 --> 00:08:30,510 
Iyas: We quite often like to talk about how hardworking we were, how incredibly bright and capable and dedicated and everything else.

00:08:30,510 --> 00:08:45,525 
Iyas: But I think luck plays probably the biggest role in all of that, let alone the starting luck of actually being born where we are living, where we are, when we could have so easily been somewhere where just that opportunity simply would have never been there.

00:08:45,525 --> 00:08:55,535 
Iyas: How much do you think if you're looking at those early days, out to out as far as the Olympics, and I know the story is clearly sort of quite interesting beyond that as well.

00:08:55,535 --> 00:08:57,537 
Iyas: How much of a role do you think luck had to play in that?

00:08:57,537 --> 00:09:02,542 
Iyas: How much of it was being right place at the right intentionally being in the right place?

00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:06,546 
Iyas: There's a thing that says if you show up enough, then the luck will come.

00:09:06,546 --> 00:09:10,550 
Iyas: What do you think the proportion of that was in your case in getting it going?

00:09:11,551 --> 00:09:17,557 
Georgie: I've always said that I do feel I'm very lucky, but I mean that more in.

00:09:17,557 --> 00:09:19,559 
Georgie: I'm very grateful kind of way.

00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,562 
Georgie: And also I feel like I'm very positive.

00:09:22,562 --> 00:09:28,568 
Georgie: So I feel like if you have got that energy, that you attract that same energy back.

00:09:28,568 --> 00:09:32,572 
Georgie: And I think that a lot of people believe in that with the law of attraction.

00:09:32,572 --> 00:09:38,578 
Georgie: So I think there is an element of bringing the right amount of energy and really being an energetic person.

00:09:38,578 --> 00:09:49,589 
Georgie: I feel like my family has got a lot to do with it because my father just had that kind of spirit of even when the chips were down, had a winning spirit.

00:09:49,589 --> 00:09:59,599 
Georgie: So I feel like having a winning spirit is really important as well, and not just when you're winning, it's when you're losing as well, but keeping that warrior winning spirit going.

00:09:59,599 --> 00:10:12,612 
Georgie: But I feel like because I'm from parents that are agnostic or atheists, but they're from the school of my father's favorite film was The Blues Brothers.

00:10:13,613 --> 00:10:13,613 
Iyas: Right.

00:10:14,614 --> 00:10:22,622 
Georgie: So I I do feel like the mission from God comes into this.

00:10:22,622 --> 00:10:34,634 
Georgie: And, yeah, that's where I come from, that side of things where I do believe there's a higher power that I call God.

00:10:35,635 --> 00:10:40,640 
Georgie: And that comes into why we're located where we're located.

00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,643 
Georgie: And obviously we have a part to play.

00:10:43,643 --> 00:10:45,645 
Georgie: We need to put the right energy in.

00:10:45,645 --> 00:10:54,654 
Georgie: But then if we do, then our best life will live our best life and most purposeful life.

00:10:54,654 --> 00:10:56,656 
Iyas: I'm going to come back to that because I find that fascinating.

00:10:56,656 --> 00:11:01,661 
Iyas: I think the whole thing about where people's values and drive and what they're trying to achieve comes from is really interesting.

00:11:01,661 --> 00:11:06,666 
Iyas: But I'm still intrigued by the trajectory in getting it going.

00:11:06,666 --> 00:11:19,679 
Iyas: So it takes some sort of courage, some wherewithal to just say, I'm going to set this thing up and I'm going to set it up and set it up around the Olympics and it's manufacturing. Right?

00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:24,684 
Iyas: It's not one of these easy things where I can just go and consult or I can do a thing where it's just about me, I can be a content writer.

00:11:25,685 --> 00:11:31,691 
Iyas: All this lovely stuff that people talk about now, this is creating actual stuff, getting it manufactured.

00:11:31,691 --> 00:11:32,692 
Iyas: Where did that come from?

00:11:32,692 --> 00:11:46,706 
Iyas: I mean, it was part of that, maybe, because also the degree you had, that's quite a confident move to go and say, I'm going to set this thing up and here we go, and I'm going to talk to people straight away at a very high profile to try and get it going.

00:11:46,706 --> 00:11:47,707 
Iyas: How did that come about for you?

00:11:47,707 --> 00:12:03,723 
Georgie: Definitely my degree was very good for setting me up to do what I did, because I did two years in London and two years in Milan at the design school there, I got to pick as many courses as I wanted to pick.

00:12:03,723 --> 00:12:13,733 
Georgie: And some people chose not to pick much and do it at the minimum they could, but I chose to pick as many courses as I could just because of the opportunity.

00:12:13,733 --> 00:12:24,744 
Georgie: So, for example, I was able to do product design, 3D design, park design, web design, advertising.

00:12:24,744 --> 00:12:28,748 
Georgie: It was called Communicade la Chitao, which is advertising the city.

00:12:29,749 --> 00:12:39,759 
Georgie: So many things that actually, in hindsight, gave me such a good sort of priming and foundation for what I did.

00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:44,764 
Georgie: So, yeah, that was very lucky that I had that.

00:12:44,764 --> 00:12:53,773 
Georgie: But then in terms of setting up, obviously I was only 24 when I set up, so you haven't got so many burdens.

00:12:53,773 --> 00:12:57,777 
Georgie: You haven't got so many responsibilities, so there was less to lose.

00:12:58,778 --> 00:13:13,793 
Georgie: And the other thing is that some of the areas that might put people off setting up business, the administration side, I was able to talk to my father, who was a commercial lawyer, about setting the bits and pieces of setting up the business.

00:13:14,794 --> 00:13:16,796 
Georgie: So it was a good combination.

00:13:17,797 --> 00:13:20,800 
Iyas: It didn't feel daunting, didn't feel daunting at the time.

00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:32,812 
Georgie: Yeah, I mean, it did, but a lot of things felt daunting going into meetings or presenting or unloading containers or finding.

00:13:33,813 --> 00:13:38,818 
Georgie: Initially, we actually went out to China to manufacture, first year or two, and then we moved the manufacturing to the UK.

00:13:38,818 --> 00:13:53,833 
Georgie: So first year I was going out to China, but then a lot of the pain that we went through, through the quality issues that we had with the Chinese version and so then having to sort of then reset.

00:13:53,833 --> 00:13:59,839 
Georgie: Up everything over in the UK and manage orders and manage the flow of orders and stuff like that.

00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:03,843 
Georgie: There's always been a lot of stress.

00:14:06,846 --> 00:14:09,849 
Georgie: I think I was just able to manage stress.

00:14:11,851 --> 00:14:13,853 
Georgie: It doesn't faze me as much.

00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:21,861 
Georgie: So, yeah, obviously had a lot of support, some good foundations, but you got to expect stress, haven't you?

00:14:25,865 --> 00:14:37,877 
Iyas: Well, and in life, I have to say, on a completely separate topic, I do sometimes get concerned that we're almost in a culture that's making stress out to be a bad thing that we should never have any of.

00:14:37,877 --> 00:14:41,881 
Iyas: And the challenge is that set very unrealistic expectation.

00:14:41,881 --> 00:14:47,887 
Iyas: And when people get that stress, it strikes them as something that's inherently wrong rather than what life is.

00:14:47,887 --> 00:14:49,889 
Iyas: But that's a whole separate topic.

00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:54,894 
Iyas: But one of the things that was interesting there in your reply, we talked earlier about sort of the role of luck.

00:14:54,894 --> 00:15:04,904 
Iyas: And I think you went to Italy and you took every course going, right, that's not luck, that's a decision that I'm going to take every course that's available to me and have a go at it.

00:15:04,904 --> 00:15:09,909 
Iyas: And it's interesting because I think that the other side of luck is one, we get it, but two is what we do with it.

00:15:10,910 --> 00:15:16,916 
Iyas: And I think the interesting thing there is two individuals getting the same luck will have two very different outcomes.

00:15:16,916 --> 00:15:23,923 
Iyas: And a lot of that is very much predicated on how they choose what they choose to make with the luck and their attitude about it.

00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:33,933 
Iyas: And it's interesting, as you were explaining, that you turned up in Milan and could have done the minimum possible, but instead did the maximum possible and a bit more than that.

00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:34,934 
Iyas: You kind of get a flavor that okay.

00:15:34,934 --> 00:15:41,941 
Iyas: Well, this is someone that, if the opportunity shows itself, is going to make the absolute most of it because it's there.

00:15:43,943 --> 00:15:44,944 
Iyas: But I think I was out in.

00:15:44,944 --> 00:15:52,952 
Georgie: Milan and I got myself a job, but I also at the same time as a part time job, just to sort of have some pocket money.

00:15:52,952 --> 00:15:56,956 
Georgie: But at the same time, I got all my friends at the job at the same time, at the same place.

00:15:57,957 --> 00:16:01,961 
Georgie: So, yeah, I've never been afraid of hard work.

00:16:01,961 --> 00:16:04,964 
Georgie: That's one of my mantras.

00:16:04,964 --> 00:16:05,965 
Iyas: Yeah, no, absolutely.

00:16:05,965 --> 00:16:08,968 
Iyas: Which same mantras equally.

00:16:09,969 --> 00:16:10,970 
Iyas: It could be a value.

00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:21,981 
Iyas: And we touched on it earlier and I'm intrigued, as I say, I'm always intrigued as to how people come to doing the things that they do, and especially if it's something that seems to have a purpose.

00:16:21,981 --> 00:16:28,988 
Iyas: And some people set up companies that are doing good things just because they've seen a business opportunity and there's nothing wrong with that.

00:16:28,988 --> 00:16:31,991 
Iyas: I'm not saying that in any kind of pejorative way.

00:16:31,991 --> 00:16:32,992 
Iyas: That's great.

00:16:32,992 --> 00:16:37,997 
Iyas: And on the journey, they find out that actually it's serving something that's purposeful.

00:16:37,997 --> 00:16:50,1010 
Iyas: And you almost see a conversion en route of them becoming more purposeful through the process of having delivered something that has some purpose, others dive straight into it with, actually, I want to do some good.

00:16:50,1010 --> 00:16:56,1016 
Iyas: And so I'm intentionally looking for opportunities to create and do something that's good and find it that way.

00:16:56,1016 --> 00:16:59,1019 
Iyas: And I think for many people, it's kind of a combination of the two.

00:16:59,1019 --> 00:17:08,1028 
Iyas: And then there are the others who are the greenwashers or whatever, who just see it as an opportunity and never actually go a purpose path and follow it, just as long as it's making the money.

00:17:08,1028 --> 00:17:14,1034 
Iyas: I'm wondering with you, when you came to this, so obviously the outdoor gym company is doing good things.

00:17:14,1034 --> 00:17:16,1036 
Iyas: It is helping humans.

00:17:17,1037 --> 00:17:20,1040 
Iyas: Was that a key driver for you when you came to set it up?

00:17:20,1040 --> 00:17:26,1046 
Iyas: Or was that just a happy coincidence or how did that feature for you?

00:17:26,1046 --> 00:17:41,1061 
Georgie: Well, when you were talking there, I was actually thinking of my father because he was one of the directors and he was a very inactive person, physically inactive and smoked and drunk and that sort of thing.

00:17:41,1061 --> 00:17:49,1069 
Georgie: But actually, when we started the business, he gave up smoking and drinking because I feel like he felt like he had purpose.

00:17:49,1069 --> 00:18:02,1082 
Georgie: Although previously he was a lawyer, he enjoyed helping people, but working on this business, I think, gave him a sense of purpose around what we were doing, which was helping people create a healthy lifestyle.

00:18:02,1082 --> 00:18:07,1087 
Georgie: And he actually got active in the end, which helped him with his diabetes.

00:18:07,1087 --> 00:18:22,1102 
Georgie: But in terms of the way that we've kind of set the business up, all the directors, myself, Matt and my father and my stepmother at the time, it was always the foundations were always ethics, like doing things ethically.

00:18:22,1102 --> 00:18:32,1112 
Georgie: So one of the first things we looked at was, how do we bring this concept into the UK and how do we make it safe for everybody?

00:18:32,1112 --> 00:18:56,1136 
Georgie: And there were no available standards at the time because we were the pioneers, so we could have just brought in a version that didn't have any standards, because there weren't standards and others did do that subsequently, but what we decided to do is make life difficult for ourselves and research what were the nearest available standards.

00:18:56,1136 --> 00:19:08,1148 
Georgie: So playground standards, indoor training standards and inclusive fitness standards, and then create a range to those standards that we've created and self imposed.

00:19:08,1148 --> 00:19:17,1157 
Georgie: So, although it's not answering the question directly, what I'm trying to say is that we knew it was a positive thing for society.

00:19:17,1157 --> 00:19:22,1162 
Georgie: It had an effect on my father, actually, just in his own lifestyle.

00:19:22,1162 --> 00:19:35,1175 
Georgie: But from the outset we were very much trying to do the right thing, not only with this product, but how we brought this product into the marketplace, which wasn't necessarily the easiest route or the quickest route.

00:19:36,1176 --> 00:19:38,1178 
Georgie: I hope that answers your question.

00:19:38,1178 --> 00:19:49,1189 
Iyas: Yeah, and it's interesting for me, it's that discussion I think quite often have about purpose and values, which are two different things in terms of how and what you do.

00:19:49,1189 --> 00:20:08,1208 
Iyas: So it sounds like in your case, whatever you end up running, if it was going to be a concrete manufacturer, a lawn mowing company, a restaurant, whatever it was, the values of the place were going to be in there because that seemed like it was instilled in you and your father and Matt.

00:20:09,1209 --> 00:20:13,1213 
Iyas: And so whatever it was, the values were going to be solid or on positive grounds.

00:20:13,1213 --> 00:20:22,1222 
Iyas: And the purpose, sounds like was more of a mix of here is an opportunity that we've fallen into, but the opportunity also happens to be doing something that's pretty good.

00:20:22,1222 --> 00:20:32,1232 
Iyas: And so the purpose was, although the purpose is a positive one, the opportunity drove it happening, but then how it happened was very much values and ethics driven.

00:20:32,1232 --> 00:20:33,1233 
Iyas: Is that fair?

00:20:33,1233 --> 00:20:34,1234 
Georgie: Yes, I'd say so.

00:20:34,1234 --> 00:20:39,1239 
Georgie: I think subconsciously, obviously the purpose was important.

00:20:39,1239 --> 00:20:42,1242 
Georgie: I don't think I'd ever have gone into a concrete company.

00:20:44,1244 --> 00:20:56,1256 
Georgie: I wouldn't have been attracted to something that wasn't because I've always been a lover of this planet and health and also design and that sort of thing.

00:20:56,1256 --> 00:21:01,1261 
Georgie: So it kind of just did fit in really well with what I was really passionate about.

00:21:02,1262 --> 00:21:06,1266 
Iyas: I'm interested in looking at sort of those values and ethics.

00:21:06,1266 --> 00:21:24,1284 
Iyas: And again, obviously, as there are many different ways to run a company that has the same output, there are ways that are as you alluded to, you can do things on the cheap and hope you don't get caught out because you've cut an on existent safety standard here or there.

00:21:24,1284 --> 00:21:30,1290 
Iyas: And even if you do get caught out, if there's no regulation, you can probably just about hope to get away with it or you can choose that.

00:21:30,1290 --> 00:21:38,1298 
Iyas: Actually, I'm going to take the harder route, possibly the more expensive route, because it's important to me that the thing that I do is done the right way.

00:21:38,1298 --> 00:21:43,1303 
Iyas: Where do you think those ethics and values came from for you?

00:21:43,1303 --> 00:21:58,1318 
Georgie: My father, definitely, because he was always about doing the right thing and about us due diligence, about doing our due diligence around a product and a service and doing things professionally.

00:21:58,1318 --> 00:22:19,1339 
Georgie: So definitely from him and generally from my background, my family and my schooling, because I went to a Catholic school and being my school's motto was, do what you have to do well, which isn't the most glamorous motto in the world, but it's the same that, isn't it?

00:22:19,1339 --> 00:22:21,1341 
Georgie: Saying do things well.

00:22:21,1341 --> 00:22:42,1362 
Georgie: And having a Christian schooling definitely permeated into me and to having a moral lens about everything I do and being conscious about what I do and wanting to do the right thing, because that's a big, strong core belief of mine, is doing the right thing.

00:22:42,1362 --> 00:22:43,1363 
Iyas: Yeah. And it's

00:22:44,1364 --> 00:22:48,1368 
Iyas: interesting. Again, you mentioned your father was agnostic, but you yourself, you're Christian,

00:22:48,1368 --> 00:22:48,1368 
Iyas: right?

00:22:48,1368 --> 00:23:12,1392 
Georgie: Yeah, I wasn't baptized as a kid because my parents were agnostic or atheist, and I then got myself baptized when I was 13 because I went to this secondary school in Cambridge, catholic girls school called St Mary's, and I was actually quite scared that I was going to go to hell.

00:23:12,1392 --> 00:23:17,1397 
Georgie: And I thought, Right, I need to sort this out, I need to get myself baptized.

00:23:18,1398 --> 00:23:26,1406 
Georgie: So I got myself baptized, I wore a pinstripe suit, I meant business.

00:23:26,1406 --> 00:23:40,1420 
Georgie: And then I didn't really I went occasionally to church, but I obviously did a lot of praying and stuff at school and then I kind of drifted later on in my 20s into looking into Buddhism a little bit more.

00:23:40,1420 --> 00:23:52,1432 
Georgie: And I used to drive to shoreditch to go to Buddhism once a week and I enjoyed the meditation side of that and the mindfulness.

00:23:52,1432 --> 00:24:03,1443 
Georgie: And then it wasn't until about five years ago that I started going to church again, and that was after I'd been to Vienna.

00:24:03,1443 --> 00:24:15,1455 
Georgie: And I'd really sense this, I'd sense the sort of light and darkness in Vienna, and I really felt like I needed to, I really needed to get to church.

00:24:15,1455 --> 00:24:28,1468 
Georgie: And when I went to church, I had a sort of Blues Brothers moment end up back flipping out.

00:24:28,1468 --> 00:24:30,1470 
Georgie: Well, it was a bit like that.

00:24:31,1471 --> 00:24:33,1473 
Iyas: Do you have it on video?

00:24:33,1473 --> 00:24:34,1474 
Iyas: Is it on your insta?

00:24:34,1474 --> 00:24:43,1483 
Georgie: No. And then I kind of had made some really good friends and this was in Whitstable and they were Christian as

00:24:43,1483 --> 00:25:01,1501 
Georgie: well. And it was a bit like in the Bible, the first church, the sort of acts where people would meet at houses, so we would just meet at my house or their house, or ever all girls or women, and just really I just wanted to I just wanted to understand what love

00:25:01,1501 --> 00:25:05,1505 
Georgie: was. So I was looking into the Bible for

00:25:05,1505 --> 00:25:10,1510 
Georgie: that. Corinthians love is patient, love is kind, love doesn't boast and all those

00:25:10,1510 --> 00:25:22,1522 
Georgie: things. So I was very much kind of really just wanting to really question a lot of things, including particularly what was

00:25:22,1522 --> 00:25:29,1529 
Georgie: love? And Christianity has given me s so many great guidelines for that and it's not the

00:25:29,1529 --> 00:25:30,1530 
Georgie: Romcom.

00:25:32,1532 --> 00:25:35,1535 
Iyas: Very little is other than clickbait.

00:25:36,1536 --> 00:25:47,1547 
Iyas: And when you look at it and when you see what it is, clearly there is love in the romantic sense, whether it's Romcom or reality, but still in the romantic partnership sense.

00:25:48,1548 --> 00:25:50,1550 
Iyas: But obviously it's much, much broader than that.

00:25:50,1550 --> 00:25:55,1555 
Iyas: Does it stray as far as the great Outdoor Gym company?

00:25:55,1555 --> 00:26:02,1562 
Iyas: Is it a thing that comes into there this deepening of the understanding of and if so, what does that look like?

00:26:02,1562 --> 00:26:12,1572 
Georgie: Yeah, definitely, because a lot of our values at the Great Outdoor Gym Company, we're about people, about inclusivity, we're about unity.

00:26:12,1572 --> 00:26:24,1584 
Georgie: So we've got a gym in Shadwell, which is in Tower Hamlet, Shadwell Basin, and it was funded pre COVID by St Paul's of Shadwell Church.

00:26:24,1584 --> 00:26:26,1586 
Georgie: So, yeah, by the church.

00:26:26,1586 --> 00:26:37,1597 
Georgie: But the guy that worked with us to design it is a circus trainer, so he's a gymnast, so he knew his stuff about what he wanted.

00:26:38,1598 --> 00:26:53,1613 
Georgie: So he set up with us a really good gym in Chadwell and since then we've had a lot of the lot of Muslim brothers use the gym and since then I've actually the company great.

00:26:53,1613 --> 00:27:14,1634 
Georgie: Well, Tjo Activate, our sister company that works on activation, we've sponsored Calisthenics Athletes during COVID A lot of people went outside, started using outdoor gyms and became really, with all that spare time, became really, really good at Calisthenics, which is a rising sport globally.

00:27:14,1634 --> 00:27:26,1646 
Georgie: It's actually an ancient sport from the Greek times and it's lasted that long because it produces such an amazing physique and such a healthy strength.

00:27:26,1646 --> 00:27:36,1656 
Georgie: So anyway, Jadal was one of the people that used this gym set up by the church, and Jadul is Muslim.

00:27:36,1656 --> 00:27:54,1674 
Georgie: And what's lovely about that gym is that you have Christians and Muslims working out side by side and we've got photos of Judah and Michael side by side and arm in arm and it really does represent unity.

00:27:54,1674 --> 00:28:10,1690 
Georgie: And actually I've connected really well with Dadul and a lot of his friends and we've got so much in common and my faith and his faith, there's so many crossovers and obviously there's real links with Abraham and everything.

00:28:10,1690 --> 00:28:15,1695 
Georgie: So we are really coming from similar places.

00:28:16,1696 --> 00:28:25,1705 
Georgie: We're both talking about love and they work out on the gym as part of their deep, I think it's called, or Dean. Dean.

00:28:25,1705 --> 00:28:26,1706 
Iyas: Dean.

00:28:26,1706 --> 00:28:36,1716 
Georgie: Dean. Sorry. So for them it's like, it's part of that lifestyle, of that good lifestyle, but as well as that, they're very

00:28:36,1716 --> 00:28:45,1725 
Georgie: charitable. He does a lot of charity, a very honorable, inclusive dedul does a lot of work on that gym, helping the

00:28:45,1725 --> 00:28:58,1738 
Georgie: youth. There's been some good testimonies from people he's helped that they've really avoided getting into gang crimes and that type of thing, or helped their mental health because of the work that he does, like the training he does on that

00:28:58,1738 --> 00:29:07,1747 
Georgie: gym. The concept of love does really filter into the great outdoor gym company,

00:29:07,1747 --> 00:29:11,1751 
Georgie: Tgo. And what we do because it's very much about

00:29:11,1751 --> 00:29:12,1752 
Georgie: unity. It's about

00:29:12,1752 --> 00:29:17,1757 
Georgie: inclusivity. It's about everyone in society having the chance to be

00:29:18,1758 --> 00:29:21,1761 
Georgie: healed. Because movement is an incredible

00:29:21,1761 --> 00:29:27,1767 
Georgie: medicine. Movement is not only a brilliant preventative medicine, it's a brilliant curative

00:29:27,1767 --> 00:29:32,1772 
Georgie: medicine. And chief medical officers say that if it was an actual medicine, it'd be a wonder

00:29:33,1773 --> 00:29:46,1786 
Georgie: drug. So in terms of healing and healing ourselves and activating that healing within ourselves, which is very a big thing in the Bible about healing, we actually can do that through

00:29:46,1786 --> 00:29:47,1787 
Georgie: movement.

00:29:47,1787 --> 00:29:51,1791 
Iyas: Yeah. One of the things I love most about that story is actually essentially it boils it down to the

00:29:51,1791 --> 00:30:08,1808 
Iyas: humanity. These are humans in the gym who may have different faiths but probably seem to recognize more the overlap between the faiths than the differences between them and focus far more on that overlap, which is an incredibly human

00:30:08,1808 --> 00:30:13,1813 
Iyas: thing. I'm wondering when you first set it up, you were still

00:30:13,1813 --> 00:30:19,1819 
Iyas: Christian. You then had a period where would you say you were a Buddhist or you were interested in

00:30:19,1819 --> 00:30:20,1820 
Iyas: Buddhism?

00:30:20,1820 --> 00:30:24,1824 
Georgie: I'd say I was interested in Buddhism and attending Buddhist meditation once a week.

00:30:25,1825 --> 00:30:36,1836 
Iyas: Because I'm just wondering in my mind, looking at that and looking at also the fact your father was agnostic but very much bought into the way of the same way of doing things.

00:30:36,1836 --> 00:30:39,1839 
Iyas: And we talked earlier a couple of minutes ago about that commonality.

00:30:39,1839 --> 00:30:51,1851 
Iyas: That actually the reality is, if people were to look at it, there's so much more in common between Islam and Christianity than there is different between all of the Abrahamic faiths and in terms of a moral code, between pretty much all faiths.

00:30:51,1851 --> 00:30:55,1855 
Iyas: Actually, we all say killing is not a good thing.

00:30:56,1856 --> 00:31:05,1865 
Iyas: We all say that stealing stuff from your neighbor is not on that moral lens is relatively consistent in reality.

00:31:05,1865 --> 00:31:18,1878 
Iyas: Of course, if you're a theologian, you'll find that you'll find the differences at the edges and you'll find some slight differences in motivation, but the lenses are very similar, even if you're a person of values but not faith like your father was.

00:31:20,1880 --> 00:31:27,1887 
Iyas: I'm wondering if I look at the company, in many ways it's a moral base, would you say?

00:31:27,1887 --> 00:31:29,1889 
Iyas: Is it a moral base that transcends faith?

00:31:31,1891 --> 00:31:41,1901 
Iyas: It's guided by that moral basis which for you has come through Christianity, but for someone else they may get to the same place, having come from an entirely different basis.

00:31:41,1901 --> 00:31:46,1906 
Georgie: Well, one of the symbols we use in the company is the heart.

00:31:46,1906 --> 00:31:52,1912 
Georgie: So we have a green heart, which we have gym equipment that generates power.

00:31:53,1913 --> 00:32:02,1922 
Georgie: And this is a unique innovation that we've created, which is pretty much the only one on the planet.

00:32:02,1922 --> 00:32:10,1930 
Georgie: And we generate power and we can charge phones and we can put the power back into our own storage system and into the grid.

00:32:10,1930 --> 00:32:14,1934 
Georgie: But within our equipment, we've got electronics.

00:32:14,1934 --> 00:32:17,1937 
Georgie: And the electronics we've called the little green heart.

00:32:17,1937 --> 00:32:19,1939 
Georgie: And the big green heart.

00:32:19,1939 --> 00:32:30,1950 
Georgie: And Teaser Activate has got a green heart as well, that Teaser Activate is the activation side of the business that sponsors athletes and works with public health to deliver movement medicine.

00:32:30,1950 --> 00:32:35,1955 
Georgie: So really, the key sort of theme is the heart.

00:32:35,1955 --> 00:32:47,1967 
Georgie: And it's about not only a healthy heart in terms of not having heart disease like my dad had, but it's also about community, brothers and sisters, friendship.

00:32:47,1967 --> 00:32:54,1974 
Georgie: Friendship, the brethren is a big thing both in Christianity and Islamic faith.

00:32:54,1974 --> 00:32:59,1979 
Georgie: Say friendship, community, inclusivity.

00:33:01,1981 --> 00:33:04,1984 
Georgie: We train up activators, one of them part of teacher activator.

00:33:04,1984 --> 00:33:06,1986 
Georgie: We train up local people to become activators.

00:33:06,1986 --> 00:33:10,1990 
Georgie: It's almost like becoming a kind of encourager.

00:33:10,1990 --> 00:33:18,1998 
Georgie: And one of our activators, this guy called Cool Deep and he's from a completely different place, but he's in a wheelchair.

00:33:18,1998 --> 00:33:22,2002 
Georgie: So he's really helped us ensure that our equipment is inclusive.

00:33:26,2006 --> 00:33:27,2007 
Georgie: It's really about the heart.

00:33:27,2007 --> 00:33:30,2010 
Georgie: The heart is the key sort of theme.

00:33:30,2010 --> 00:33:39,2019 
Georgie: And that good heart that has the heart for the wider community, but also being equal and fair.

00:33:39,2019 --> 00:33:42,2022 
Georgie: And we'd like to do more charity.

00:33:42,2022 --> 00:33:59,2039 
Georgie: We already support tree planting, so we've planted quite a few thousand trees in hospital grounds, in NHS hospital grounds, and now we're working in Kenya to plant trees there, which is helping communities get out of poverty.

00:33:59,2039 --> 00:34:18,2058 
Georgie: So that's an area we'd like this to expand into, because obviously, the Christian heart and the Islamic faith is a lot about charity and agape love being about charitable love and the type of love where you don't expect anything back.

00:34:18,2058 --> 00:34:19,2059 
Georgie: It's not conditional.

00:34:19,2059 --> 00:34:26,2066 
Georgie: So that's really where we'd love it to go, in that you could be maybe downloading a class.

00:34:27,2067 --> 00:34:36,2076 
Georgie: We already have classes on our website, Tgohenactivate.com, and as part of that, you download a class, you'd be planting trees as well.

00:34:36,2076 --> 00:34:38,2078 
Georgie: But this is something we want to develop.

00:34:39,2079 --> 00:34:49,2089 
Iyas: And it's interesting one thing, by the way, you would talk about activators, and it's interesting the Arabic for activator is a facilitator, someone who makes things happen and brings them around.

00:34:49,2089 --> 00:34:53,2093 
Iyas: So I run a charity for Palestinian children and all of the facilitators.

00:34:53,2093 --> 00:34:59,2099 
Iyas: It took me a while to get around why I was constantly being told these are activators, all the facilitators locally.

00:35:00,2100 --> 00:35:03,2103 
Iyas: And then I translated it into the Arabic and I was like, okay, yeah, of course it is.

00:35:03,2103 --> 00:35:04,2104 
Iyas: They're an activator.

00:35:06,2106 --> 00:35:09,2109 
Iyas: Again, there's a parallel concept in there.

00:35:09,2109 --> 00:35:16,2116 
Iyas: But I'm intrigued, Georgia, because one of the things that has happened also is you've attended two cops, you've been invited to two cops.

00:35:16,2116 --> 00:35:24,2124 
Iyas: If one were to look at the company from the outside, you'd look at them and say, this is all about health, and it's a fantastic thing, it's about humanity.

00:35:24,2124 --> 00:35:26,2126 
Iyas: What was the trigger to go to Cop?

00:35:26,2126 --> 00:35:28,2128 
Iyas: Why was that a thing?

00:35:29,2129 --> 00:35:33,2133 
Georgie: We were just as sort of bewildered for a while, I certainly.

00:35:33,2133 --> 00:35:38,2138 
Georgie: But obviously we had created this gym equipment that generates power.

00:35:38,2138 --> 00:35:47,2147 
Georgie: And so Cop 21 in Paris, the pivotal global climate change conference where governments signed up to Target.

00:35:47,2147 --> 00:36:03,2163 
Georgie: We were actually invited there by an NGO called Shamingo, run by a lady called Katherine Battilia to showcase our democrat that generates power because she's got a lot of pioneers all over the world that have got amazing innovations.

00:36:03,2163 --> 00:36:08,2168 
Georgie: She's got a vision about a new world and we're part of her vision.

00:36:08,2168 --> 00:36:09,2169 
Georgie: That's brilliant.

00:36:09,2169 --> 00:36:28,2188 
Georgie: And then the follow up event was in Marrakesh Cop 22 and we were commissioned by the UN for an energy generating outdoor gym and it was really there and that was when Trump had just come into power and he was pulling out and of the agreement and everything like that.

00:36:28,2188 --> 00:36:48,2208 
Georgie: And I was just reflecting out in Marrakesh which was an amazing place to reflect and I just felt like people power not just what we can generate on our equipment but people power generally and what we can do is the key ingredient in the way that we're going to meet government halfway.

00:36:48,2208 --> 00:36:53,2213 
Georgie: So we're living in the anthropocene, the era of time.

00:36:53,2213 --> 00:36:59,2219 
Georgie: That means that we're the most powerful force on the planet.

00:36:59,2219 --> 00:37:01,2221 
Georgie: People are the most powerful force on the planet.

00:37:01,2221 --> 00:37:06,2226 
Georgie: So the idea of people power isn't such a crazy idea.

00:37:07,2227 --> 00:37:21,2241 
Georgie: And as I said, it's not just generating power equipment, it's also the lifestyle, what we eat, it's how we fuel our houses, our cars and generally what we consume.

00:37:22,2242 --> 00:37:30,2250 
Georgie: On the back of that it sort of gave me the epiphany that that was the reason why we were there.

00:37:30,2250 --> 00:37:32,2252 
Georgie: It's a symbol.

00:37:32,2252 --> 00:37:36,2256 
Georgie: It's a symbol of people power and turning our energy to good.

00:37:36,2256 --> 00:37:43,2263 
Iyas: Was that a backflip epiphany as well or was that like the church when you do.

00:37:47,2267 --> 00:37:58,2278 
Georgie: Well, I was going to say actually then after that event we got asked if we wanted to sponsor the United Nations 50th birthday in Vienna.

00:37:59,2279 --> 00:38:03,2283 
Georgie: So that was before that I had that touch epiphany.

00:38:04,2284 --> 00:38:05,2285 
Georgie: We were a sponsor.

00:38:05,2285 --> 00:38:14,2294 
Georgie: So I went out there and listened to lots of director generals about what their vision was for the future and a lot of it was about smart cities and the internet of things.

00:38:14,2294 --> 00:38:22,2302 
Georgie: And then I went then after that I felt like I needed to get back, go to church after that.

00:38:22,2302 --> 00:38:33,2313 
Georgie: And then that time where I was in church, at the end of the service somebody came up to me and said and spoke to me in Arabic in a Christian church.

00:38:33,2313 --> 00:38:35,2315 
Georgie: And I said what does that mean?

00:38:35,2315 --> 00:38:37,2317 
Georgie: And she said, God's love.

00:38:37,2317 --> 00:38:49,2329 
Georgie: So that was quite interesting that my return to Christianity was sort of kind of like top and tailed with kind of Arabic.

00:38:50,2330 --> 00:38:52,2332 
Georgie: It just to me just shows there's.

00:38:52,2332 --> 00:38:54,2334 
Iyas: A big picture and love again.

00:38:54,2334 --> 00:38:56,2336 
Iyas: It's back to back to love.

00:38:57,2337 --> 00:39:00,2340 
Iyas: Georgie, it's been a heck of a journey for you along the way, right?

00:39:00,2340 --> 00:39:03,2343 
Iyas: You're running a company now that is much bigger, as you say.

00:39:03,2343 --> 00:39:07,2347 
Iyas: It's rolled out these over 2000 gyms globally.

00:39:07,2347 --> 00:39:09,2349 
Iyas: You've got a couple of different parts of it.

00:39:09,2349 --> 00:39:20,2360 
Iyas: How is your own journey as an MD or CEO running it from the early days of taking the opportunity when it presented itself through to where it is now?

00:39:20,2360 --> 00:39:23,2363 
Iyas: How do you think you as an individual have grown through that?

00:39:23,2363 --> 00:39:26,2366 
Iyas: What have been the key things for you along the way?

00:39:26,2366 --> 00:39:40,2380 
Georgie: I think I had to be very feisty and sometimes that wasn't always great for everyone else because they might think, oh, she's just stubborn, or whatever.

00:39:40,2380 --> 00:39:49,2389 
Georgie: And then as I've evolved, I've learned to collaborate and work with people and delegate.

00:39:49,2389 --> 00:40:05,2405 
Georgie: Because at the beginning, I think a good strength was that I was able to sort of roll up my sleeves and sort of be the receptionist, unload the container, go and do a sales pitch, design the equipment, then do the website and then create the brochure myself.

00:40:05,2405 --> 00:40:08,2408 
Georgie: I could do it all, obviously.

00:40:08,2408 --> 00:40:28,2428 
Georgie: I had massive help from input from Matt and my father and my stepmother as well, and then subsequently employees that have been the backbone of the company, like, for example, Cassie, who's our operations manager, and Esther, who's marketing manager.

00:40:28,2428 --> 00:40:43,2443 
Georgie: And it's women like them who have been absolutely brilliant to be able to then progress, because what that's meant is that then I can focus on the innovation and development and moving it forward.

00:40:43,2443 --> 00:40:47,2447 
Georgie: But the trouble with that is that you're always like a disruptor as well.

00:40:47,2447 --> 00:41:01,2461 
Georgie: And so we get things embedded, we get things settled, and then another innovation will come in, but without that would fall behind and we need to keep up.

00:41:01,2461 --> 00:41:05,2465 
Georgie: And that's what makes us different and that's what makes us stand out.

00:41:06,2466 --> 00:41:08,2468 
Georgie: There's often been tension.

00:41:08,2468 --> 00:41:12,2472 
Georgie: There's often been kind of tension, I think is a good word.

00:41:14,2474 --> 00:41:41,2501 
Georgie: But we have worked together as a team to keep going, keep delivering work through the challenges of bringing in innovative products, and we have generating power and then creating gyms that are smart and having dashboards and having all sorts of features to our product just adds to the workload that we've got to set up a gym.

00:41:41,2501 --> 00:41:45,2505 
Georgie: And we do have some more simple range.

00:41:45,2505 --> 00:41:56,2516 
Georgie: I've just recently designed a range with the Calisthenics community and that's much more simple, which is really great because it really complements some of our more sort of like, complicated stuff.

00:41:56,2516 --> 00:42:03,2523 
Georgie: So it just creates a really good balance, but it's also really brilliant for your fitness.

00:42:03,2523 --> 00:42:12,2532 
Georgie: And we've kind of got the perfect spec because we work with people that know exactly what the right spec should be.

00:42:12,2532 --> 00:42:20,2540 
Georgie: Their event organizers, they're the top athletes, but whilst keeping our standards, our inclusivity and the eye on the beginner as well.

00:42:20,2540 --> 00:42:39,2559 
Georgie: So, yeah, I'd say my journey has gone from very much having to do a lot of it myself, although with help from people around me as a team grew, to then having some really good people and going more on the development side.

00:42:39,2559 --> 00:43:04,2584 
Georgie: But then having to not run too far ahead because then it would affect everybody and it would put too much stress and strain on the business and very much like the way that we run the business now, it's very much power of partnership collaborations, collaborations with athletes, partnerships with our overseas partners.

00:43:05,2585 --> 00:43:08,2588 
Georgie: We have two main factories we work with in the UK.

00:43:08,2588 --> 00:43:11,2591 
Georgie: We don't own the factories but we have a really close relationship.

00:43:12,2592 --> 00:43:14,2594 
Georgie: So it's partnership really.

00:43:14,2594 --> 00:43:25,2605 
Georgie: It's a power partnership and it's as much having confidence and humility as well because obviously we need each other.

00:43:25,2605 --> 00:43:39,2619 
Iyas: It's a very common journey for a founder MD to go from the phase obviously of we do everything to actually that is no longer the right answer because it stops us from scaling and achieving the power of the vision that we have in our minds.

00:43:39,2619 --> 00:43:43,2623 
Iyas: But then some things are very easy to let go of because we never like doing them anyway.

00:43:43,2623 --> 00:43:51,2631 
Iyas: And some things frankly are quite hard because we really enjoy them but we probably shouldn't be doing them anymore and finding that sweet spot.

00:43:51,2631 --> 00:44:06,2646 
Iyas: But the other aspect I think which is interesting that you touched on there is by definition most entrepreneurial minds are forever innovating and I shudder to think of how that must get multiplied when you've actually also been trained in product design and innovation.

00:44:06,2646 --> 00:44:11,2651 
Iyas: It's like the natural mentality and you've been trained to do it too.

00:44:11,2651 --> 00:44:14,2654 
Iyas: And the nuclear fission that happens when those get together.

00:44:15,2655 --> 00:44:19,2659 
Iyas: But that on the one hand is great because it keeps us moving things forward.

00:44:19,2659 --> 00:44:33,2673 
Iyas: The flip side of it is, and I've seen this a lot and have been guilty of it, is the amount of things that we start and because where we lead the company, people kind of follow us because we carry megaphones by definition and actually I've changed my mind.

00:44:33,2673 --> 00:44:34,2674 
Iyas: Next week I'm going to do something else.

00:44:34,2674 --> 00:44:39,2679 
Iyas: Oh actually this looks like a really better thing than the one thing that I started a fortnight ago.

00:44:39,2679 --> 00:44:51,2691 
Iyas: How do you control that tendency in terms of finding the balance between this is a real innovation we need to get ahead of and actually this is a great idea that I've had and next week I might think that was a really crappy idea.

00:44:52,2692 --> 00:44:54,2694 
Iyas: How do you manage that?

00:44:54,2694 --> 00:44:56,2696 
Iyas: Or indeed does that happen for you?

00:44:56,2696 --> 00:45:01,2701 
Georgie: Most of the time we sort of follow through with ideas so they do happen.

00:45:02,2702 --> 00:45:22,2722 
Georgie: Like the equipment does get created and goes in the ground and we created during COVID new screens for our gyms that have free classes and all the content for those screens we've had three versions of our app, we've had four different versions of our Energy gym equipment and Power.

00:45:22,2722 --> 00:45:23,2723 
Georgie: Now we call power.

00:45:23,2723 --> 00:45:24,2724 
Georgie: Smart range.

00:45:24,2724 --> 00:45:31,2731 
Georgie: So what happens is we do do them, we just have to keep iterating to get it, to improve it.

00:45:31,2731 --> 00:45:55,2755 
Georgie: And sometimes it's like how many times we spent a lot of money on development and R and D, but I think ultimately people then appreciate that because we never stop trying to improve the product and make it better.

00:45:55,2755 --> 00:46:02,2762 
Georgie: But I don't know why, but I do have this tendency to want to keep adding value to the product.

00:46:04,2764 --> 00:46:07,2767 
Iyas: Which is not a bad thing for me.

00:46:07,2767 --> 00:46:08,2768 
Iyas: That's the center of it.

00:46:08,2768 --> 00:46:20,2780 
Iyas: Because if we're if we're constantly if the mindset comes from a place of how am I creating more value for the people who are using this, then that's clearly going to be the right journey to be on.

00:46:20,2780 --> 00:46:31,2791 
Iyas: I'm glad that I'm not saying it as some ogre, I'm just saying that's my perspective, I've been wrong about a thousand things, but that's certainly a feeling I have.

00:46:31,2791 --> 00:46:33,2793 
Iyas: Georgia, where does it go over the next little while?

00:46:33,2793 --> 00:46:34,2794 
Georgie: Yeah. So where does it

00:46:34,2794 --> 00:46:39,2799 
Georgie: go? Ideally by 2030, where would you like

00:46:39,2799 --> 00:46:58,2818 
Georgie: go? Yeah, the ideal situation by 2030 we have a huge community that we're really engaging with and they represent our ethos, our brands, they're people of

00:46:58,2818 --> 00:47:00,2820 
Georgie: power. And I'm not talking about rich

00:47:00,2820 --> 00:47:29,2849 
Georgie: people. I'm talking about people who of every background and different ages and different ethnicities and men and women that are taking responsibility for their lives, getting healthy, using the power of movement to get healthy, connecting with one another, ideally through one of our gyms and beyond and the parks and connecting with nature and are a real sort of force for

00:47:29,2849 --> 00:47:37,2857 
Georgie: good. So we're really looking at our activation side and how we grow that and how we

00:47:37,2857 --> 00:47:49,2869 
Georgie: create. We're creating bigger and better gyms now, so we're putting gyms that have your whole sort of cycle from inactive to intermediate to active to then elite

00:47:50,2870 --> 00:47:55,2875 
Georgie: athlete. So we're putting in bigger, better

00:47:55,2875 --> 00:47:59,2879 
Georgie: gyms. A lot of them have the energy features

00:47:59,2879 --> 00:48:01,2881 
Georgie: on. We find that there's a real appetite for

00:48:01,2881 --> 00:48:17,2897 
Georgie: that. And we've actually at Formula E recently, last year we put in a gym and we had our energy gyms that generate power and we were converting the energy to

00:48:17,2897 --> 00:48:30,2910 
Georgie: trees. So we hopefully develop more of that where we're putting some of the power back into the grid, selling it to the grid and planting trees because for the same price as Kilowatts, we can probably plant two

00:48:30,2910 --> 00:49:00,2940 
Georgie: trees. So that'd be really positive, but also probably work with more brands, more sponsors to hopefully raise more money for charity using our screens and just create a really good, really good hub for people to join for free, but there'll be paid for elements, downloads and that sort of thing that then helped go towards

00:49:00,2940 --> 00:49:08,2948 
Georgie: charity. That's ideally what we want to create and really get people excited about their

00:49:08,2948 --> 00:49:22,2962 
Georgie: potential. Because ultimately, if going to a TGO gym can help unlock your potential not only for your life, but for your community, for your planet, that's the end

00:49:22,2962 --> 00:49:31,2971 
Georgie: game. That we have millions of people living their best life and being an amazing force for good on planet

00:49:31,2971 --> 00:49:32,2972 
Georgie: Earth.

00:49:32,2972 --> 00:49:33,2973 
Iyas: Yeah, no, and I love that.

00:49:33,2973 --> 00:49:37,2977 
Iyas: I mean, the two core concepts that come out of it are the community.

00:49:38,2978 --> 00:49:41,2981 
Iyas: And so much of what you're talking about revolves around that community.

00:49:41,2981 --> 00:49:48,2988 
Iyas: And again, that's a magnificently proper Christian concept of community, and Muslim one for that matter.

00:49:48,2988 --> 00:49:52,2992 
Iyas: The community, the Oman Islam, and that creating the potential for good.

00:49:53,2993 --> 00:50:03,3003 
Iyas: And that's fascinating because you answered the question very much looking at those rather than anything that was saying, oh, and we want to be 4 billion by X and we want to be listed on the stock.

00:50:04,3004 --> 00:50:15,3015 
Iyas: I'm sure a lot of that may happen along the way, but I love the fact that the core of what it's got to be is this massive community that is a power for good and rate beating out from what it does.

00:50:15,3015 --> 00:50:17,3017 
Iyas: Georgia, I could go on forever on this.

00:50:18,3018 --> 00:50:19,3019 
Iyas: It's a fascinating conversation.

00:50:20,3020 --> 00:50:32,3032 
Iyas: Thank you so much for making the time to have it with me and share so much of it, including sort of the personal bits around your own motivations and drivers unsurprisingly.

00:50:32,3032 --> 00:50:38,3038 
Iyas: It's a company that clearly has heart at the center of it and you can see that in so many ways, metaphorical and literal.

00:50:38,3038 --> 00:50:41,3041 
Iyas: So good luck with it, good luck with the journey.

00:50:41,3041 --> 00:50:42,3042 
Iyas: Really enjoyed the conversation.

00:50:43,3043 --> 00:50:45,3045 
Iyas: Where can people find you if they want to find you?

00:50:45,3045 --> 00:50:46,3046 
Georgie: Thank you very much as well.

00:50:46,3046 --> 00:50:47,3047 
Georgie: I've really enjoyed it.

00:50:47,3047 --> 00:50:53,3053 
Georgie: It's always really great to going to be asked these questions because then it makes you realize a lot more about yourself.

00:50:53,3053 --> 00:50:54,3054 
Georgie: So thank you for that.

00:50:54,3054 --> 00:51:03,3063 
Georgie: And yeah, if people want to find us, it's www.tgog.com.

00:51:03,3063 --> 00:51:06,3066 
Georgie: That's the acronym for the Great Outdoor Gym Company.

00:51:07,3067 --> 00:51:11,3071 
Georgie: Or you can just put the Great Outdoor Gym Company in Google and it will come up.

00:51:11,3071 --> 00:51:18,3078 
Georgie: But yeah, thank you very much and now it's been a pleasure and a lovely thing to do as well to talk to you.

00:51:18,3078 --> 00:51:22,3082 
Iyas: Likewise. Fantastic. And I'll send you the fee for the therapist chair on

00:51:23,3083 --> 00:51:24,3084 
Iyas: Provoking. Some thinking, some internal

00:51:24,3084 --> 00:51:25,3085 
Iyas: thinking.

00:51:28,3088 --> 00:51:30,3090 
Georgie: You never have enough therapy, never.

00:51:32,3092 --> 00:51:34,3094 
Iyas: Even in the UK.

00:51:34,3094 --> 00:51:35,3095 
Iyas: Thank you very much, Georgie.

00:51:35,3095 --> 00:51:36,3096 
Iyas: Really enjoyed it.

00:51:36,3096 --> 00:51:37,3097 
Georgie: Brilliant. Thank

00:51:37,3097 --> 00:51:37,3097 
Georgie: you. I take

00:51:38,3098 --> 00:51:38,3098 
Georgie: care.