Weald Fit and Therapy – A family business

We are Weald Fit and Therapy, which surprisingly for the health & fitness industry, is a mother & son business, based in the Wealden area of East Sussex. As the name of our business suggests there are two separate parts of the business, but we also work together as a team. Daniel is the specialist Personal Trainer and Wendy is the Massage Therapist, who has also worked in the fitness industry for over 25 years. Joe came on board in 2018 as a Personal Trainer and is a valued member of the team.

This combination works extremely effectively with many benefits to each aspect of the business, but can also provide its own set of challenges, one of which is working with a member of your family from a different generation. We each organise our own working diaries for Personal Training sessions and Massage Therapy appointments but come together to run some of the classes we provide, namely Boot Camp, a class for mixed ability clients and “Fit Kidz”, locally a much-neglected market for children aged 8-14. Wendy assists in the general class admin and acts as another pair of eyes, while Daniel draws on his specialist knowledge to create the session plan and run the session.
If appropriate we refer clients to each other; Daniel to Wendy for example, with clients requiring injury rehabilitation through Sports & Remedial massage therapy and Wendy to Daniel for nutritional intervention or specialist Personal Training. He is more innovative with regard to exercise prescription whereas Wendy has the broader Anatomy & Physiology knowledge so each can learn from the other.

Daniel is also the technological half on the business who attends to our website requirements and frequently posts on various social media platforms. Wendy admits to being technologically challenged when it comes to computers, but can write blogs on a wide variety of subjects that attracts attention to our site wealdfitandtherapy.co.uk. Much patience is required on Daniel’s part as it can be frustrating “whenever Mum and technology are involved!”
So how does running a business with a close family member work in practice?
Firstly, we both understand the strengths and weaknesses of the other. We stick to our own areas of expertise and do not attempt to interfere with the other side of the business, so we don’t step on each other’s toes! We share each other’s business problems and look to the other for support and advice. Sometimes an older head will have the experience to supply the answer; maybe a more innovative approach supplied by a younger generation is required. We might disagree on occasions, but we have never really argued so a compromise may be required that both parties can feel comfortable with. Neither of us is essentially confrontational in nature.
Secondly, we both network & promote all the aspects of the Weald Fit and Therapy at, for example, the local Chamber of Commerce meetings which one or both of us will attend on a regular basis. We often support different Charity events & business expos together as a team, e.g. the warm up for the local fun run & have attended conferences / workshops together that apply to us both, such as FitPro Live.

Essentially it works extremely well for us. We both hold similar ideas as to how we wish the business to evolve. Knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which has enabled us to build on the foundations of the business we have developed together over the past eight years.

If you would like our help or like to ask about any aspect of the business, please just contact us.

Wendy James MFHT

Daniel James BA