Huddle #58 – Chat with Stunt Actor Heather Burridge

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Ten years ago almost to the day a young athlete by the name of Heather Burridge was brought to see me by her parents, seeking guidance to overcome a chronic injury.  At that time Heather was pursuing throws in track & field and netball.

During the next few years working with Heather, I noticed this athlete had an x-factor, like the stereotypical female warrior. As a result, she earned the title of ‘The Goddess’.

After leaving school Heather commenced an engineering degree at university. However, it wasn’t long before her yearning to use her physicality took her on another path. True to her warrior traits, Heather courageously changed paths and went on to follow her own path of stunt work for movies. She has established herself in the industry and her credits are impressive and growing.

Bio – https://www.stuntbookaustralia.com.au/member-profile-details.php?sba_member=647

Showreel – https://youtu.be/l1I5o3ZrKlI

We’ve asked her to take time out to chat with her journey and the impact working with KSI has had in the fulfillment of her passion and potential.

You will learn:

  • That as with every athlete and sport, stunt acting has its risk.
  • As with team sports stunt actors really rely on their team for their safety and the outcome of their stunts.
  • The mental challenges that come with stunt acting e.g. allowing yourself to be set on fire!
  • What it takes to break into stunt acting.
  • How each stunt acting brings a different skill set to their craft.
  • How much training and rehearsal go into a stunt.
  • The injury risks o training and performing stunt acting.
  • And much more~

Join us as we learn about and celebrate Heather pursuing her passion and finding her niche in stunt acting!

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Ian King

The English rose and a coaching challenge

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On the 11th March 2023 in his first year and 4th game as head coach of the English national men’s rugby union team, Stephen Borthwick set a record. But not the kind of record anyone would want or celebrate. At the spiritual home of English rugby, Twickenham, his team was beaten 10 – 53 by France.

·       England 10-53 France: Steve Borthwick’s sorry side concede their most points EVER at Twickenham in Six Nations[1]

·      England suffer historic humiliation after France’s Twickenham tour de force[2]

·      Post-Eddie England humiliated by France in record Six Nations thumping[3]

·      France humiliates England in record 53-10 win in Six Nations[4]

The game result also came with some unenviable records:

  • A record loss for a home game;
  • The third highest loss deficit in English history in any game;[5]
  • The worse deficit for England in Six Nations history.

The 53-10 scoreline in England’s devastating home defeat to France in the Guinness Six Nations has made the record books for all the wrong reasons.[6]

So, Stephen has a challenge.

Let’s go back a bit in time.

In late 2015 the English Rugby Union hired their first foreign coach in Australian Eddie Jones,[7] replacing Stuart Lancaster. Lancaster had achieved a 61% win/loss record in his four-year, one world cup cycle tenure.[8]

Eddie rewarded this decision in 2016 with an unbeaten record and a Six Nations title.  He also became only the second coach to achieve an unbeaten year record. Eddie backed it up with another Six Nations title in 2017. He achieved a third Six Nations title in 2020,[9] and led the team to the finals in the 2019 World Cup where they were defeated by South Africa.

Jones achieved the title of the most successful English coach ever over his seven year stint finishing with a  73%.[10]

So, what’s that got to do with Stephen Borthwick and the latest ‘record’? Everything.

Some infer that the slump is because Eddie has left, such as this heading:

Post-Eddie England humiliated by France in record Six Nations thumping[11]

I suggest there is potentially a different perspective to this story.

At England Eddie Jones joined that small list of ‘first year winners’.  That creates a new challenge. Some say there is only one way to go from there – down. I like to think there are two. Stay winning, or decline.

Eddie took the former path for his second season, and then took the latter path for the following two seasons.  There’s a story behind that (you can read more about that in my upcoming rugby book), but for now I’m going to stay focused on Stephen Borthwick’s predicament.

The following tables depicts England’s annual Six Nation’s results under Eddie Jones.

Table 1 – Eddie Jones’ England’s 7 Year Six Nations Ladder Results

You can see three phases here- the decline from 2016 peak to 2018, and then the recovery from 2019 into a new peak in 2020, followed by a further decline into 2022.

However, the Six Nations tournament is only part of the picture. The annual win-loss results may be more informative.

The following charts shows this pattern.

Figure 1 – Eddie Jones’ 7 Year English RugbyWin-Loss Stats

Stephen has a challenge. He has been left with downward momentum by his former mentor and predecessor. Will he successfully overcome that challenge?

Some doubt it such as this journalist:

Hopeless England suffer their most humiliating day and worse is to come.[12]

What do you think?

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If you’re a rugby fan and interested in my experience with rugby union specifically over the last 40 years, you might be interested in a book I’m currently writing. Send me an email (info@kingsports.net) or post a comment on this blog and I’ll ensure you’re the first to know about the completed book once finished.

 

References

[1] England 10-53 France: Steve Borthwick’s sorry side concede their most points EVER at Twickenham in Six Nations

[2] England suffer historic humiliation after France’s Twickenham tour de force

[3] Post-Eddie England humiliated by France in record Six Nations thumping

[4] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2023/03/11/france-humiliates-england-in-record-53-10-win-in-six-nations_6018971_9.html

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_England_national_rugby_union_team_records

[6] https://www.rugbypass.com/news/a-list-of-england-rugbys-heaviest-defeats/

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Jones_(rugby_union)#:~:text=Jones%20was%20named%20as%20the,end%20of%202023%20World%20Cup.

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Lancaster_(rugby_union)

[9] https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/history/roll_of_honour/

[10] https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/england-eddie-jones-record-six-nations-b2239811.html

[11] https://www.smh.com.au/sport/post-eddie-england-humiliated-by-france-in-record-six-nations-thumping-20230312-p5crd7.html

[12] https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/england-france-score-result-six-nations-b2298855.html

Ian King

What’s missing? The repetitive boom and bust cycle of fitness business models

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It looks like the Australian originated, global fitness franchise F45 is getting very wobbly at the business end.

Can’t say I’m surprised, but it’s disappointing. Disappointing for those who have chosen to  put their careers, businesses, and money into this path.

Some background to boom and bust.

The fledging fitness industry was very young in Australia when we witnessed the arrival of a new beast – the US modeled fitness center –

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, slick, glitzy fitness centres modelled on US gyms appeared around Australia at a rapid pace…. Membership agreements and contracts were often deliberately vague and many clients paid hundreds of dollars for badly planned and ineffective courses. [1]

My first personal exposure to this boom-and-bust fitness industry was in the early 1980s when my exercise physiology tutor was hired to consult to a new fitness chain named ‘Vigor’, and hired me to help him.  He must have liked what he saw in the fitness chain because he then purchased a franchise. A year or so later, it collapsed.

The wheels started to fall off the fitness boom in 1983-84….The first significant fitness failure was the Vigor group in NSW and Victoria, which collapsed in 1984. Several small, independently run gyms soon followed. In the second half of 1984, the John Valentine chain of seven clubs (six in NSW) crashed, owing creditors and customers $1.6 million [2]

It was incredibly coincidental that I was part of that history, and very helpful because it gave me a perspective that would serve as many flashy and attractive fitness industry business models boomed – and the busted.

The list of fitness industry boom busts business is long.  Some of the bigger more recent cases in the US have been Bally Fitness (filed for bankruptcy in 2007)[3], and 24 Hour Fitness[4] (filed for bankruptcy in 2020).

What’s missing?

Everyone’s going to have their own theories on what is behind this fitness industry business model boom and bust cycle.

Here are some thoughts:

Business model commission structure

Maybe it’s the commission model of the business structure?  In the case of F45, the CEO Adam Gilchrist apparently earned $500m AUD when the company floated on the NYSE.

F45 fitness founder and CEO Adam Gilchrist has just become one of the wealthiest people in Australia after a staggering result from floating his company on the New York Stock Exchange…F45 is valued at $US1.4 billion ($A1.9 billion) after it was put up for $US325 million ($A437 million) in its initial public offering on the New York Stock exchange at Thursday local time. Shares skyrocketed to $US17.75 ($A24 million) from their $US17 open, before closing on Thursday at $US16.2. Considering Mr Gilchrist holds 28.9 million shares in the company, that means he made around $US371 million ($A500 million) in one day.

And the founder, Rob Deutsch apparently pocked $67m AUD when he sold out in 2019.[5]

Sure, the franchisees made profit along the way – at least until they didn’t – however was the business model sustainable? 

Same product, different packaging

Essentially F45 was another group training fitness model.  With unique color in the logo, clean lines in the branding.  So same package, different packaging.

For decades fitness industry business models have competed on price, equipment, space, and appearances.  If that is all they have to differentiate themselves, perhaps this is not enough?

Serving the needs

Some suggest this group fitness model meets the needs of those who need to be ‘motivated’, and who seek social interaction of group fitness. This is a reasonable argument. But at what stage does value adding stop and start.

Let’s imagine you had 100 people with knee pain. There are going to be individual differences in the needs of each of those 100 people. But let’s say the only alternative they have is to go to a group class for rehab. It’s better than nothing, until its not. Until they realize their bodies specific needs are not getting met. Until they realize they are still in pain. Until someone comes up with a better way to serve their needs.

Perhaps one day the industry will choice the needs of the individual over short-term profit for a few?

Interestingly…

Apparently F45 used my 3-digit timing system as an integral part of their training systems.   Imagine if our industry could adopt the musical or similar creative  industries values and procedures where intellectual property and royalties are taken seriously.

Conclusion

F45 are not the first and won’t be the last in the fitness industry business models to boom and bust  Our goal with our KSI Coach Education is to guide our coaches towards sustainable business models.  Whatever F45 and the others have done is not sustainable. Somethings missing.

What do you think is missing?

References

[1] https://www.afr.com/companies/fitness-industry-gets-back-in-shape-19890811-kaiza

[2] https://www.afr.com/companies/fitness-industry-gets-back-in-shape-19890811-kaiza

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bally_Total_Fitness

[4] https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-06-15/24-hour-fitness-bankruptcy-coronavirus-gyms-closed

[5] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10678759/F45-gym-founder-sells-three-storey-ultimate-bachelor-pad-Sydney-mansion-18m-Rob-Deutsch.html