Personal vision

Andrew Simmons’ personal training franchise is on a mission to improve the health of the nation. By Andrea O’Driscoll.

ANDREW SIMMONS is passionate about helping people with obesity or type 2 diabetes to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. It’s a passion that’s seen him establish Vision Personal Training, a franchise network of 32 personal training studios across New South Wales and Queensland dedicated to tackling Australia’s obesity epidemic.

Andrew Simmons plans to take his network
of personal training studios nationwide in an
attempt to combat Australia’s obesity epidemic.Simmons started out as a personal trainer working within a commercial gym. At the weekends he also worked for the international fitness program company, Les Mills, which choreographs workout routines and licenses them to gyms in over 70 countries as well as offering training courses and seminars. Simmons was impressed by Les Mills’ systematic approach to fitness and the supportive environment it offered to employees.  

“I loved how when I was part of the Les Mills organisation, I was part of a team of people who were helpful and supportive of each other,” he explains. “When I worked in the gym as a personal trainer it was dog eat dog. All the personal trainers on the gym floor were in constant competition for clients.”

Simmons’ desire to create a more supportive environment for fitness professionals led him to form Vision Personal Training in August 1999. The company planned to continue operating within the large commercial gym in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire where Simmons was working, but to employ its own team of trainers and centralise the allocation of clients to avoid the endless competition. The plan proved successful for a time, but after Fitness First purchased the gym, the concept foundered.

“I wanted to grow a team of trainers who would work for us inside the commercial gym,” explains Simmons. “But then Fitness First came on board and changed all the rules on personal training. They wanted everyone in the gym to work for Fitness First instead of a separate private company, which meant that we would no longer have been able to grow as a business in our own right. We had no option but to leave.”

Vision relocated its trainers and clients to its first fitness studio in Caringbah in 2001. “Our first gym was basically a 500 square metre factory,” explains Simmons. “We operated as a personal training studio – people would come and see a personal trainer at least once a week, but then they could also use the studio’s facilities outside of their one-on-one sessions.”

The Vision fitness studio had the added advantage of being much less crowded than the commercial gym environment and considerably less intimidating for a lot of its clientele. It was also better suited to Vision’s holistic approach to personal training, which aims to offer a complete weight-loss solution that includes nutritional advice and emotional support in addition to an effective exercise program.

Simmons sold his first franchise 2004, but the decision to go down the franchising route was taken much earlier. His experience with Les Mills had shown him how to effectively systemise training programs and maintain standards across a large company, while his experience with Fitness First highlighted the importance of offering his employees the potential for personal growth.