Elaine Jobson, CEO of Jetts Fitness, has revealed the fitness company’s unique culture and strategy behind member growth and retention in a competitive market.

In an exclusive interview with HCM, Jobson explained how she has adapted Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to break the member journey down, and give customers what they need to stick at exercise and flourish.

“We knew we needed to build a point of difference that couldn’t be easily copied and we decided it would be our culture and as a result, culture became our competitive defense,” she said.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs is based on five levels. Once essential, psychological and safety needs are met, belonging and love and esteem are key to achieving the fifth and final level, which is self-actualisation – the point at which people are achieving goals, such as fitness targets, and experience fulfillment.

Jobson has broken down the member journey for Jetts Fitness customers in these terms. The business has also moved away from standard industry procedures, such as sales and locked-in contracts – Jetts Fitness was the first gym brand in Australia to combine 24-hour gym access with a no-contract model.

“We don’t do sales, we do flirting – the first 90 days we call falling in love, because it’s an emotive time, you have your early hopes and dreams,” she said, likening this period to when you “meet your partner for the first time and you have those rose-tinted glasses on.”

This is when the Jetts Fitness trainers connect with members, helping them get into the habit of exercise. “At some point the rose-tinted glasses are going to come off, and, at that point, just like in a relationship, some of the bad habits will get noticed,” she said.

This is the moment where the team helps members transition into “something more meaningful”. Jobson says that they have different strategies to help members progress at this point. “We understand how to give our members what they need, when they need it,” she told HCM. “There’s a total understanding of our member relationship and the concept of love sits at the heart of it. That’s been ingrained in our language and our DNA for years.”

The impact of the pandemic and consumer behaviour from Gen Z has also led Jetts Fitness to transform the way it handles its memberships and engagement.

“The rules have been torn up since the start of the pandemic and I think the concept we’ve spoken about for so long at Jetts – about being a ‘good profit’ business – is on the cusp of becoming the norm,” said Jobson.

“Gen Z aren’t used to contracts or hidden fees and they won’t tolerate them. Over the next decade, the industry will realise that consumers ultimately always get what they want.

“The practices we as an industry haven’t been very proud of – pressure selling and sales techniques, misleading marketing and hidden fees and all of that – are going to be challenged. I believe we’ll end up in a much stronger position, in an industry we really can be proud of.”

In September 2022, Jobson completed a Management Buy Out of Jetts Fitness with COO Mark Hollis and CFO Cheryl Ling. The deal excludes New Zealand, Vietnam and Thailand – FLG retains ownership there – but covers the rest of the world. While she has ambitious goals to reach over 30 corporately owned clubs in five years, other growth targets are important too.

“Our vision is to be Australia’s most-loved gym,” she said. “Love is key because gyms aren’t transactional.”

You can read HCM's exclusive interview with Elaine Jobson in full here,, online, on Digital Turning Pages and on PDF.