The incredible story of Craig Pepin-Donat’s climb to success in the fitness industry

Craig Pepin-Donat is one of the most seasoned operators in the fitness industry with a success story second to none. With over a quarter century of experience managing multiple-club companies, Pepin-Donat has operated over 450 clubs in 11 countries. His career started out from the position of a personal trainer in 1981 with Apple Health & Sports Club in New York. Within three months he worked his way into sales and within six months he was the manager of the club.

In 1987 Pepin-Donat was recruited as Sales Director by New York City’s premier multi-location health and fitness organization, the New York Health & Racquet Club. Within two years he was again promoted — this time to the position of Vice President. In 1990, at the age of 30, Pepin-Donat was appointed as the youngest president in the company’s history and was featured in the February, 1991 issue of Crain’s New York Business. He was also featured on the cover of Club Business International in November 1992 for his team building skills. In the December 1992 edition of Club Business International Pepin-Donat was featured in an article as a fitness equipment specialist.

After leaving New York Health & Racquet Club, Pepin-Donat consulted with the largest chain of Fitness Clubs in New York City — New York Sports Clubs — before being recruited by 24 Hour Nautilus. In March of 1995, Pepin-Donat was hired as President of 24 Hour Nautilus, which operated a 32 club chain in Northern California. During his first year, 24 Hour Nautilus acquired 66 Family Fitness centers located in Southern California. Pepin-Donat was one of the key executives who helped consolidate the two companies under the 24 Hour Fitness brand. During the next three years, he led the growth of the Northern California Division to over 96 locations in six states. In 1997, Pepin-Donat was again featured on the cover of Club Business International as one of the industries most experienced multi-club managers.

24 Hour Fitness continued its fast growth pace in the U.S. and also expanded into Europe and Asia. In 1999 Pepin-Donat was promoted to Executive Vice President for 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide. During his three and a half years in this position, he was responsible for $1-billion in annual revenue and a $50-million annual marketing budget along with the sales and marketing integration and brand development for clubs in the United States, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Korea. During this time, Pepin-Donat traveled to over 40 countries while evaluating health and fitness trends worldwide.

While at 24 Hour Fitness, Pepin-Donat was also responsible for negotiating talent contracts and was the point person for communicating with agents and company spokespeople including Cindy Crawford, Magic Johnson, Pamela Anderson, and Brandi Chastain. Pepin-Donat has developed, coordinated and directed numerous press conferences, photo shoots and television commercials in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Joe Weider
Magic Johnson
Body By Jake
Cindy Crawford
Cindy and Magic
Ray Wilson
Pam Anderson
Tom Hopkins
Dennis Rodman
John Gruden
Brandi Chastain
Maurice Green

Experience makes a difference

Craig Pepin-Donat is an established authority in the fitness industry. He has been a speaker at Club Industry and the International Health Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) conventions. He has been featured in a multitude of industry publications including Club Industry, Club Business International, Club Insider and Club Success.

He has been interviewed for numerous feature stories and articles for print, radio and television, including the New York Times, New York Magazine, Crain’s New York Business, Time Magazine, Club Business International, Club Industry, Entertainment News, Good Morning America, the Leeza Gibbons Show and multiple radio and TV stations.

Teaching people to help people

Craig Pepin-Donat has trained literally thousands of team members within the fitness industry all over the world. By extension of his hands on training and development, he has helped hundreds of thousands of people get started on the path to living a healthier and more active lifestyle.

During his tenure with 24 Hour Fitness, he served as Dean of the 24 Hour Fitness University Sales and Marketing College where he developed, produced and co-directed a 13-module video training program starring international sales trainer and best selling Author Tom Hopkins, called Mastering the Art of Membership Sales. He then implemented a worldwide rollout of the new program by developing a facilitators training series. He later redefined the company’s sales training program when he developed, produced and directed an extensive six-module audio based sales training program called STARS.

Craig Pepin-Donat has conducted training seminars and implemented his training programs all over the world including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea and Russia. His extensive experience and desire to help people by promoting the benefits of health and fitness transends cultural and industry barriers.

Building a foundation for the future

In early 2002, Craig Pepin-Donat founded his own fitness company, CPD Fitness (Complete Personal Development) in Jacksonville Florida. In the first year of operation, CPD Fitness was featured in numerous local publications for its unique operations and success in the market place and was also voted “Best in Jacksonville” by Folio Magazine readers. In March and May, 2004 Pepin-Donat was featured in the “Men in Business” section of the Jacksonville Magazine and the Times Union News respectively.

He was also featured on the cover of Club Success Magazine in December, 2003 for the development of his unique Now in Zen Day Spa brand located inside the CPD Fitness center. In 2004, Pepin-Donat sold his club business so he could focus his energy on his book and building Fit Advocate.com to provide health and fitness education to the masses, thus fulfilling a lifelong dream to inform and educate the public about the perils and pitfalls he has experienced firsthand in more than 26 years at the top of his profession.



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