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Business News Australia’s 2021 Young Entrepreneurs of the Year Awards has recognised Justin Ashley and Serra Burmin, co-founders of Fitness Playground and Fitness Playground Academy, and KX Pilates founder Aaron Smith in their top 100 list.

Burmin and Ashley have been named as the winners of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Fitness Category), the 2021 Sydney Young Entrepreneurs of the Year Award and 68th on the Top 100 list while Smith was recognised by being placed 69th on the list.

In Ashley and Burmin’s Award citation, Business News Australia acknowledged that “when lockdowns sent gyms into a downward spiral, this duo’s determination to connect with its members did not waver despite their five Fitness Playground locations becoming inaccessible.

“Instead of hibernating, the team shot 200 videos in the span of five days, and the birth of Virtual Playground resulted in an influx of gym junkies joining their online fitness regime.

“This pivot ensured no redundancies and set the foundations for a hybrid approach towards health. When things began to open up, members could still get their gym routine done from anywhere else instead.

“While Justin Ashley describes the business as a gym brand first and foremost, his passion for educating others compelled him to create Fitness Playground Academy in late 2020.”

Commenting on the recognition as the 2021 Sydney Young Entrepreneurs of the Year, Ashley wrote on LinkedIn “I’m extremely grateful we’ve been recognised with this prestigious award, but this win is really about our team.

“Our staff members who execute with excellence every single day, treat the business like it’s theirs and put trust in me - even when my ideas sound (maybe are) crazy!

“I've worked 18 years in the fitness industry, and our Fitness Playground team is by far the most talented, passionate and purpose-driven group of people I have ever worked with. I can’t thank them enough for joining in our mission to 'Inspire Change' for hundreds of staff and thousands of members.”

Ashley continued “what began as a small Bootcamp, today we provide a place to train for thousands of members; a place to learn for hundreds of students; and create an environment that breeds growth and success for our 200 ‘great humans’.”

Looking forward, Ashley added “if I could fast-forward five or 10 years into the future in terms of what I would love - it would be to create a degree that is designed for fitness professionals or personal trainers.

“We want to be able to inspire change at a member level to make sure that there's not so many members who waste their memberships and there aren’t so many members that feel intimidated and uncomfortable in the gym. We believe that starts with staff and education.”

KX Pilates’ founder Aaron Smith’s award recognised his role as an early mover in the Australian high-performance Pilates space since 2010, growing to a network that currently includes 79 studios in Australia, 12 in China, one in Singapore, and a recently signed franchise agreement in New Zealand that should lead to the first studio opening across the Tasman in February or March next year.

He is also looking at growth in China, advising “my partner over in China, he basically wants to open 500 studios in the next three to five years. We would be happy with 50 to 100, but you’re talking to a man who’s been in fitness businesses over there for 20 years, and a 1.4 billion population compared to 26 million here.

“He’s going to grow fast, because of the classic Chinese model that if you don’t grow fast, somebody’s going to overtake you and grow faster.”

Business News Australia stage the Australian #YoungEntrepreneurAwards to find and recognise the best business minds across the country.

Awards were presented at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort, Gold Coast on Saturday 18th December.

Images: Justin Ashley collects the Sydney Young Entrepreneurs of the Year Award last Saturday (top), the Award (middle) and KX Pilates’ Aaron Smith (below).

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