The Owners of Anytime Fitness Strive to Inspire Everyone Who Walks Through the Doors
By Hilary Dartt
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Leanne Shearer, who co-owns Anytime Fitness with her husband Jonathan, takes that philosophy one step further.
“I believe it takes a community to live and grow,” she said during a recent interview.
That’s why she and Jonathan strive to run their fitness center—which has locations in Prescott Valley and Chino Valley—like a true community.
“It’s really important to me that we make it as inclusive as we can to everyone,” she said, “so they feel comfortable and cared for.”
“One of the things I love about our gym is that our demographics are all over the place,” she said. “A 14-year-old can join the gym with a parent’s consent. There’s an 83-year-old in my spin classes. We have members who are 16, 20, 30, 40. And when you walk into our weight room, you might see a body builder helping a 70-year-old woman with her weightlifting.”
Anytime Fitness is family-owned and -run (Leanne’s sister Nanci Bosick is the manager and a personal trainer), and the local gyms are unique within the franchise, thanks to generous space and a full lineup of classes (when the gyms first opened—Prescott Valley in 2003 and Chino Valley in 2004, Anytime Fitness didn’t have the same guidelines they do now). Most Anytime Fitness franchises have smaller locations and fewer classes—at the same price point.
That feeling of inclusiveness is another perk.
“There are two types of leaders,” Leanne said in talking about instructors and trainers. “One is a hard-driving, ‘you’ve-got-to-do-this’ leader. And the other is more motivating and inspiring. Our instructors and trainers have to be motivating and inspiring.”
The reason, she said is that often when people develop an exercise routine, they start out feeling a bit insecure. Then, as they experience success, they begin to find themselves and believe they can achieve results, and they don’t appreciate the drill sergeant approach.
“I want us to lead by being inspiring in our own lives and in our motivation tactics,” Leanne said.
That being said, guiding people to better health is about the psychology and a holistic approach, Leanne said: it’s important for people to take a look at all of their habits and how those impact their health.
That’s why Anytime Fitness now offers a variety of programming including several different cardio classes, spin, yoga, cardio machines, and weights, plus personal training and a women’s discussion group, Cultivat-her (women discuss everything from marriage to friendship and more).
Also, Leanne said, trainers and instructors focus on functional fitness, which is more about ensuring people have the strength and flexibility they need in their everyday lives; for example, striving to ensure that people have good balance as they age but that if they do fall, they can get back up.
Overall, Leanne said, “We need each other so much. People need each other.”
And that’s why she and Jonathan work to not only make Anytime Fitness feel like a community, but also to use it as a conduit for helping the community: they have organized more than 30 fundraisers related to crises in the past 16 years, some exceeding $10,000.
Anytime Fitness is at 6715 E. 2nd St., Suite A in Prescott Valley. For more information, visit https://www.anytimefitness.com/gyms/12/prescott-valley-az-86314/ or www.Facebook.com/@pvanytimefitness or call 928.443.5701.
In Chino Valley, it’s at 759 N. State Route 89. For more information, visit https://www.anytimefitness.com/gyms/83/chino-valley-az-86323/ or www.Facebook.com/cvanytimefitness or call 928.636.8348.