Franchisee Spotlight: Brandon Tanzola of WORKOUT ANYTIME

Brandon Tanzola took a unique route to franchising. In the summers between his junior and senior years in high school, Tanzola began working with his hands in the tree service business and never really looked back.

After running a tree service business of his own for 20 years, Tanzola decided it was time to good into a different line of work but one he was passionate about. Family friends with founder John Quattrocchi, Tanzola was familiar with WORKOUT ANYTIME and felt he could thrive as a franchisee in the system, too. So, he sold his business and has taken on franchising WORKOUT ANYTIME gyms. He's preparing to open his second location this month in Levittown, Pennsylvania, with the aspirations of creating more to follow.

I was born and raised in Bristol, Penn., and spent most of my life living and growing up in Pennsylvania. I moved to Westchester where I attended high school but didn’t finish school. I just didn’t think it was for me at the time. I had every intention of going back to school but the summer before my junior year I worked for a family friend in the tree service business and never looked back – I wanted to find work with my hands.

I bounced around after that, spent some time as a bartender and was always exercising – I was actually an amateur bodybuilder. At 22-years old, I decided to start my own business, a tree service business, which I operated for the next 20 years. I was good at it, so I decided to make something of my own.

So, I came back to the Philly area to invest in my own service. I bought a truck and chipper for $60,000 and the rest is history. I sold the business two years ago; I did real well with it, but it was time to move on. That's when I landed on WORKOUT ANYTIME.

What appealed to you about opening your own WORKOUT ANYTIME gym and becoming a franchisee?

I had always been familiar with WORKOUT ANYTIME because my family is also friends with John Quattrocchi, the founder, so I had some familiarity with the business already and trusted it and John. I explored WORKOUT ANYTIME and learned that it was real easy to start a club. Rather than hiring employees with tree service experience – or worse, without any – it's much easier to find good people, locally, that can help sell gym memberships.

I believe in health and fitness. It isn’t the money, it’s the achievement. I get to accomplish something here. I was proud of my tree service, having something of my own.

We're getting ready to open our second gym now. Our first gym opened in Ben Salem and now our second gym will open in Levittown this May. Levittown is actually where my parents grew up and where John is originally from so I think the business will do well here. The people of Levittown are good and I'm familiar with the territory. We'll be teaming up with local organizations to be active participants in the community.

Visit the International Franchise Association’s @OurFranchise website for more stories of passionate local franchise owners, employees and their communities.