--- title: "Anytime Fitness Co-Founders Release Book Designed to Help Leaders Take Their Businesses to the Next Level" url: https://burnaze.com/article/fe0b0829-e5e6-4e80-ba69-6d56895525ea source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/anytime-fitness-co-founders-release-book-designed-to-help-leaders-take-their-businesses-to-the-next-level-2704030 category: "Gym & HVLP" industry: "Fitness" segment: "Gym & HVLP" published: 2017-09-07T14:09:32.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T04:10:39.131Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/cf5ef88656efdd41fa8b1b361b09c84a315.jpg --- # Anytime Fitness Co-Founders Release Book Designed to Help Leaders Take Their Businesses to the Next Level **TL;DR:** Anytime Fitness co-founders Chuck Runyon and Dave Mortensen have released a book, Love Work, to help leaders tap into passion and enthusiasm in their work environments. The book is based on their 15 years of experience with Anytime Fitness, which has grown to over 3,500 locations in 30 countries. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-09-07. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/anytime-fitness-co-founders-release-book-designed-to-help-leaders-take-their-businesses-to-the-next-level-2704030).* ## Story When thousands of fans take it upon themselves to get a tattoo of their gym’s logo, you know that the brand is doing something right. But that type of enthusiasm isn’t something that’s often found in business, even though it has become Anytime Fitness’ norm. So, how can other leaders and business owners tap into that extreme level of passion in their own work environments? That’s what the co-founders behind Anytime Fitness—Chuck Runyon and Dave Mortensen—are explaining in their new book, *Love Work*. *Love Work* is the culmination of Runyon and Mortensen’s 15 years with Anytime Fitness. What started as their simple business idea has become one of the franchising industry’s fastest growing concepts with more than 3,500 locations currently up and running, including 1,000-plus international locations. But getting to this point hasn’t been an easy task—it has taken a lot of hard work and lessons learned to open successful gyms in 30 different countries on five continents. Plus, remarkable stories of brand advocacy and community rallying—like people climbing mountains with the Anytime Fitness flag, or raising money for a member’s new dentures, because her old ones didn’t fit after losing significant weight. These moments are now front and center for others to hear. “That’s what has really compelled us to write the book. It’s to help you, the reader, understand this code for team performance to grow your company and see unbelievable results, and to build a culture around your team to get you where you want to go,” Runyon said. Throughout *Love Work*, Runyon and Mortensen highlight the secret to their success: the 4Ps. People, purpose, profits and play are the four driving forces behind the success of Anytime Fitness; the unique combination of them all is what leads to a business—and leader—maximizing potential. That’s why *Love Work* is an honest account of what it takes to grow a concept from one location to 3,500, and it’s why Runyon and Mortensen share their actionable advice to help companies determine where they’re falling short and how they can improve. After all, the Anytime Fitness co-founders are no strangers to the challenges of business ownership. “We’ve seen a lot of shared stories and a lot of people struggle in business for every reason outside of the product itself. It’s not about the actual business that you’re running or the operations, tools or sources that you have. Typically, it’s about the leadership and how you’re developing the people inside of your organization, and how do you build a culture that fosters growth, opportunity, inspiration and passion,” said Mortensen. “When we started to put those pieces together, that’s where *Love Work* came alive.” But *Love Work* isn’t only written from the perspective of Runyon and Mortensen. The book features a foreword from Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson Moto Company, and chapters from notable leaders including John Donahoe, Mike Solberg, Suzanne DiBianca and Dr. Peter Diamandis. *Love Work* also includes personal stories from the people who make up the Anytime Fitness brand—its franchisees, employees and members. Eric Keller, Anytime Fitness’ first franchisee, is one of those people who shares his Anytime Fitness experience in the book. From taking a leap of faith in his late 20s by becoming the brand’s first local owner to his current position as its vice president of international operations, Keller has seen the 4Ps at work. And he notes that while profits are often touted as the most important factor of a business, they often appear in unexpected ways. “Between franchising my own clubs and coming back to work a corporate job, experiences have been my ultimate profits,” said Keller in *Love Work*. “I made good money as a franchisee, but it’s always been more about the journey. I’ve met some of the most interesting and influential people on the planet. I’ve been to places rarely seen by Americans, and my experiences have made a profound impact on who I am and how I think about the world.” Through writing *Love Work*, Runyon and Mortensen are helping readers learn from stories and experiences like Keller’s, ultimately enabling them to realize success of their own. It’s clear from Anytime Fitness’ continued success that the 4Ps are effective when applied to businesses, and the co-founders are eager to inspire other brands—and the leaders behind them—surpass their expectations by putting culture first. Runyon said, “When you love work and you apply the 4Ps, you are going to enjoy life.” ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - franchise growth (topic) - Fitness (sector) - leadership (topic) - Anytime Fitness (company) - Chuck Runyon (person) - Dave Mortensen (person) - business culture (topic) - Harley-Davidson (company) - book release (topic) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/anytime-fitness-co-founders-release-book-designed-to-help-leaders-take-their-businesses-to-the-next-level-2704030). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/fe0b0829-e5e6-4e80-ba69-6d56895525ea).