The inception of Anytime Fitness didn’t come from CEO and Co-founder Chuck Runyon’s deep passion for health and exercise. “Still, to this day, I probably couldn’t pass a personal trainer test,” he says in this episode of Off the Record, a new podcast about the personal and professional lives of business leaders in the Twin Cities, brought to you by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal in partnership with Platinum Bank.

Instead, Runyon reveals it was his knack for sales and marketing — and his ideas for streamlining club operations and expanding member access — that led to the start of the Anytime Fitness model in 2002. 

In this episode, Runyon speaks to MSPBJ Market President and Publisher Kathy Robideau and Platinum Bank President Dave Faust about the early days of Anytime Fitness and his career journey. Listen in to learn more about: 

• Helping entrepreneurs (franchise owners) achieve business acumen.
• A courageous move made by Runyon and his partner David Mortensen in 2009. 
• The toughest decision Runyon had to make in the past 20 years. 
• How Runyon has changed as a leader over the course of his career — and what he wishes he would have done differently.
• One Anytime Fitness member’s incredible transformation story.

Leaders like Runyon understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank.