Long Bio

GRANT IAN GAMBLE | Long Bio

(736 words)

Fitness & Wellness Thought Leader

Best-selling Author, “The Affinity Principle”

After serving as a Junior Officer in the Royal Australian Navy, Grant returned to civilian life and quickly rose to a management role in a small national fitness chain. In 1985, at age 23, an opportunity presented itself for Grant to purchase a failing fitness club and turn it around. This project ignited his entrepreneurial spirit and leveraged his leadership skills. Grant transitioned the business from a failing fitness center to an integrated wellness model, long before wellness was a trend. This transformation led the business to unprecedented success in a highly contested fitness market.

The success of this turnaround sparked interest in the fitness industry and another floundering franchise operation recruited Grant to head up a complete rebrand of their hard-core fitness model into a broader, more inclusive wellness model. As the General Manager, Grant led this company from two struggling centers to a group of 12 successful locations spanning Southeast Queensland. After growing company revenue 15x in 4 years, Grant established an international consulting firm and a full-service marketing agency.

In 1997, Grant took on two consulting contracts with companies on the East Coast of the U.S. to establish a group of large wellness centers. This ultimately led to offers for a permanent role, and he became the Senior Vice President at acac Fitness & Wellness and moved to the U.S. permanently. Over 10 years, Grant grew this company from a $3M revenue single site operation to a $45M revenue, multi-site group on the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. He later returned to acac for a second contract where he helped facilitate their growth from just under $50M to almost $100M annual revenue in 4 years.

Over the course of these two contracts, Grant managed the design, development, and construction of over a dozen campuses and clinics. These projects varied from a stand-alone Concierge Medical Practice to a 22-acre Wellness Campus; from a regional group of Physical Therapy clinics to an urban mixed-use development centered around a four-story wellness center; from a physician campus to a suburban recreational campus.

acac’s Charlottesville, Virginia operation enjoyed the highest market penetration rate of any fitness or wellness group in the U.S. market. This was achieved by focusing on the “interested deconditioned market segment,” establishing the Physician Recommended Exercise Program (P.R.E.P.), a Corporate Wellness Program, creating partnerships with local and regional hospitals and healthcare providers and establishing WellnessMD and Physical Therapy clinics.

Grant’s vision was for fitness and wellness to become an accessible preventative healthcare solution for the communities he was serving and to make the campuses attractive and accessible to all.

In 2008, Grant re-launched his consulting firm and combined his passion and experience in growing mindful businesses to serve a small group of select clients and to take on various full-time assignments.

In 2016, Grant took on a role as the Chief Operating Officer of the Seraphic Group and grew that business 10x in less than 2 years. He was in charge of both shaping and executing the vision of seven start-ups under the umbrella of the Seraphic brand.

This group of companies included forays into the human, pet, livestock, and agricultural sectors; a pyrolysis company; a digital R&D collaboration platform; and an R&D division with its own Core Lab.

In addition to heading up operations, Grant was personally responsible for managing the sales, marketing, and HR divisions. He spearheaded the growth of this suite of companies from ‘start-up’ to $50M annual revenue in two years, with sales in over 120 countries.

In recent years, Grant has worked with select clients in the U.S. and Australia in wellness sectors ranging from integrative health to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Outside of the wellness realm, Grant’s clients have ranged from a nitro coffee start-up to an established and growing consortium in the social club sector.

In 2020, Grant published a best-selling and award-winning book, “The Affinity Principle: A Formula for Business Success through Mindful Leadership.”

In 2021, his family took a sabbatical to travel over 20,000 miles (about 32,000 kilometers) across the Americas and the South Pacific in a 40-foot RV and a 38-foot sailing catamaran.

In his recent role as the CEO of Alliance Wellness Group and TotalFusion, Grant worked at the forefront of developing some of the most innovative wellness campuses in Australasia.

As the founder of AFFINITY OS, the #1 AI-Driven Customer Experience and Team Engagement Management Platform, Grant continues to innovate and shape the future of the fitness and wellness industry by providing leaders with the most powerful lead indicator on the market.

Alongside his professional achievements, Grant contributes his expertise to the Global Wellness Institute’s Wellness Communities and Real Estate Initiative as well as the Workplace Wellbeing Initiative.

With his wealth of experience, Grant continues to inspire and influence the fitness and wellness industry through his weekly “AFFINITY Podcast.”

BACK TO MEDIA KIT

PEOPLE FIRST, ALWAYS.

Grant has over 30 years of experience in leading teams to create innovative customer experiences, building engaged workforces, and developing leaders who prioritize mindfulness in their approach.