Making the American Dream Come True
Roger Wittenberns came to the US from Canada with a dream--a uniquely American one--to grow a business so prosperous it would ensure the wealth and lifestyle of his family for generations, and provide a successful business model and growth in the field of his passion: physical fitness.
Behind every successful individual are teachers, family and mentors. More often than not, the bigger the mentor the larger the success, and nothing could be more true than in the case of fitness business giant Roger Wittenberns who learned the ropes from none other than Jack LaLanne.
LaLanne was a true pioneer literally laying the ground floor for the fitness industry as we know it today. Roger realized that big things were yet to come and that to get there one had to think a step ahead of the current marketplace. After a successful career with Jack LaLanne's Health Spas and European Health Spas, Roger was ready to make his move.
"I still have a photo of me holding out a dime," says Roger with a whimsical smile. "That was what was left after buying my first health club: one thin dime!"
Roger purchased a Nautilus Fitness Center in Delray Beach, FL in the mid- 80's. At the time, eccentric Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones was making headlines and quite a name for his equipment and the namesake clubs that rose around his new time-efficient workout. Roger was on the ground floor again.
Roger turned this opportunity into dramatic growth in his first year. His thin dime was becoming as thick as Fort Knox as Roger continued to open several company owned stores. Soon the Nautilus fad faded and new styles of full-service clubs became popular as Roger continued to build his empire.
Beginning with one club in Texas, Roger began building one of the largest women's franchises in the world. In 2004 Rogers was operating nearly 1,000 locations under his Lady of America, Ladies Workout Express and Workout Express trademarks. Since its inception, Roger's facilities had serviced over one million members worldwide.
Roger operated his chain of fitness centers from the Lady of America World Headquarters located in the prestigious downtown Broward Financial Center. Looking down from his office windows at the promenade on the beachwalk below it seemed Roger truly had accomplished his goals; he was indeed, surrounded by fit people everywhere he went.
In early 2005 Roger was approached by Trivest, a leading Miami based equity firm, to sell his company. Always hands-on in his business approach, Roger did find the idea of "retiring" appealing, and the decision was more difficult because of the "family" of employees and friends he had built over the years. Roger finally accepted and agreed to stay on as a consultant and minority stock holder for a period of time. In 2006 Roger stepped away from Lady of America as one of the leading authorities in the health and fitness industry.
