 
Kingfisher Club, Waterford
Gym Location: We are located on the Tramore Road, Waterford.
Background: I started in this industry as a part-time lifeguard and gym instructor as a 16 year old at Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, St. Albans UK. I worked through my final years at school and then took a year out to earn enough money for University - this I did as a Duty Manager at Westminster Lodge. I then went to Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education (now Gloucester University) to study Leisure Management with Sport and Exercise Science. As part of my degree I had to complete a one year work placement which I completed at the David Lloyd Club in Bushey UK. I worked for David Lloyd for a further 3 years, working in many of the clubs in North London. I then moved from David Lloyd to work for The Champneys Group of Health Farms and Clubs. I was Operations Manager and was responsible for both of their two London Clubs - one in Picadilly and one in CityPoint. This was my first adventure into the beauty industry - having to learn that toning was not something that was done with a free weight! I then moved on to the Spa at Pennyhill Park in Surrey as their Spa Manager - a State of the Art haven for all who used, where we won UK Spa of the Year 2005. From here I moved to open Monart Destination Spa in Enniscorthy Wexford as their Spa Director, Irelands first out and out Destination Spa, where we were very proud to win the IBPA New Spa of the Year 2006 and the IBPA Spa of the Year 2007.
Role: I will be overseeing all operations to ensure that the club runs to an exceptionally high standard, ensuring that our members get a great experience every time they come.
What are your plans for the Kingfisher?: I am the first to acknowledge that most of us exercise and use facilities such as the Kingfisher Club because we know we should - one member said it to me best by saying the only people who enjoy training are the sadists who work in gyms. Whilst I don’t quite agree I saw her point. I believe that to keep people training and working out variety to their programme is essential. We will be making sure we advise all our members to utilize all the areas within the club - have a work out one day, a swim the next, do a class next, have a game of tennis too, and then finish this all of by having a session relaxing and pampering in our spa facility.
What one bit of advice would you give to existing members or new members joining?: The key to enjoying and maintaining exercise is as I said above ensuring variety in ones programme, but I also believe it is about a membership community. Getting to know your fellow members is the best way to obtain results - organise with another member to meet up for training sessions - it is easy to let yourself down but not so easy to let someone else down.
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