personal trainer

front desk agent

general manager

fitness instructor

membership sales

Golds Gym

- Lower level, in club positions can offer good work/life balance, social and fun environment with the right team and club managers. 
- Promotions to club level management are based on personal productivity. Unfortunately, personal revenue generation is capped once in a management role, reducing the overall club business and often the compensation of the new manager. 
- There is no leadership development for management to develop from a producer to a leader. Managers are stretched thin between calls and meetings with various departments, each with their own urgent agenda. There is a constant stress of daily KPI goals that reinforce an end result mentality, without clear guidance, and a varied priority depending on which department manager the club manager is speaking with. The added stress of dealing with customer issues such as billing, member complaints, account issues, payroll issues, etc., leaves very little time to develop team members, much less creating a positive culture. Personal trainers and membership advisors rarely seek advancement due to seeing the level of stress their managers are constantly under. 
- There is a huge lack of standard process and support for field team members. Gold's is a fitness company, but one of the smallest departments is fitness support. Unlike other companies that require "x" years of experience, a PT certification, and other education/certification standards, there are no qualification standards at Gold's. The lack of knowledge and experience by some of this department leads to a large lack in trust and credibility from the field with PT's who are more qualified than those leading these teams. Unfortunately, many of the most qualified individuals in many departments have either been terminated, overlooked due to leadership's personal relationships with other candidates, or have no aspiration to move up due to poor culture and/or personal experience with leadership. 
- Often, positions are terminated without just cause or even false information. The false information used to terminate employees, such as reducing overhead, is then blatently ignored to hire outside professionals and then celebrate their new positions with Gold's. These hires usually take place behind closed doors, without opening the position prior to hire for current team members a chance to apply. Decisions seem to be made single handedly without collaboration or consideration. Subject matter experts and field team members are rarely utilized in the decision making process. In the rare case that they are, the chances of their recommendations being valued and implements is slim to none. This lack of process, collaboration, and constant outside hiring, has devastated the culture and hopes of internal career advancement. Above club leadership lives in a state of fear due to so many examples of the "you're replaceable" mentality.
- Though many top leaders preach about team development, investing in the team and process, promoting internally, collaborating, and creating a great culture, their actions and decisions speak a much louder opposite mentality and culture. I encourage top leaders, especially the great, transparent CEO, to seek feedback from the field. It would be hard to receive honest feedback due to a culture of fear, but there are some that would be willing to speak out. I hope this review is a step in the right direction. Should things change at Gold's under the new RSG ownership, this review will be terminated. I wish the brand nothing but success. 

Communication isn’t clear with management, management isn’t there most of the time, management rely on employees to manage everything / do their job. It’s a great company, the culture is friendly to any community, but it’s more stressful than it seems working there. On the upside you will meet people, develop knowledge in the fitness industry, and grow a trust with the members and others in the community. You will be apart of something bigger than just your life. it’s an overall great company but like any other business I guess management gets comfortable with their job, authority, and how much of an asset to the company they are. No offense to the Golds gym or any one who works there. Don’t be opposed to doing things against the policy and rules to keep your job and good outlook with management. Agree with doing things that could get you into to trouble ,if you did them alone, if someone else is doing it. Try to fit in and kiss butt and you should keep your job. Be there when they need you, but when you ask for more hours they will say something about hour cuts. The place is always out of supplies, never has supplies on time to keep clean. But overall through all the horrible times I’ve had here, I’ve had some good days, I made the best out of the worst days. 
I continued to strive even when I felt that the work environment was hostile and everyone looked at me strangely or found no favor in me and the managements way of resolving things was not working or fair. Working here has changed my life, the pay sucks especially when housing in the area is as expensive as it is.  Although the lives and people you will encounter; the different people in the community who join the gym to keep in shape, stay healthy and train... will be worth it in a way. You will definitely practice valuing others above yourself at all times. love, strength and wellness is the somewhat motto of the gym. I enjoyed working there a lot , I’ve met so many great people from all over the world. 
The best part was being apart of a business that welcomes people from everywhere to work out. The gym is literally for any gym person, not just bikini competitors or body builders but for beginners, first timers, one nighters , visitors and travelers from anywhere ... I tried my best to support the company  while I was there and that mattered most to me. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have worked at one of the greatest commercial gyms in the world. It was a blessing. The experience will always be a souvenir of the efforts I gave, opportunities I took advantage of and lives I became apart of while working there. God bless them.

Best part: kids were really fun and the free gym membership
Worst part: coworkers and pay


Let me start out by saying: corporate is the problem. Management at corporate locations literally can't pay you more than they're allowed to. You could be an AMAZING employee and as much appreciation as management shows, it is rare that you'll end up making even $10 a year after working there for 3+ years...because corporate does not allow them to. It is disgusting and goes to show how little corporate cares for the employees: part-time and full-time employees alike.

At the location I worked at, management was generally great! General manager, assistant general manager, and OPS manager- great people and very understanding! I worked as a Kids Club Associate and the OPS manager really did try to balance out everyone's work and life. The OPS manager put everyone else before themselves which is insanely rare for someone in power. I do wish the OPS manager had drawn a line because I don't think you should let people walk all over you (especially as a manager), but I really respect their work ethic.

However...

My problem is that because they start essentially everyone out at $7.25/hour (corporate's fault), they'll hire literally anyone. What does this mean? Well, it means you'll probably be working with... mediocre employees. As in, paying more attention to their phones than being efficient employees. I know this sounds like nagging but imagine being in a room with 20 children (some of them literal babies) and essentially having to take care of all of them because your coworker isn't paying any attention to the children. It is unfortunate that corporate cares more about making a profit than the literal safety of children. The safety of children would be better ensured by increasing their starting pay; which would allow the hiring managers to have higher standards as to who they'll hire. I'm not necessarily suggesting that corporate pay us salaries, but jeez... $7.25 to take care for up to 10 children at a time...? I have to laugh.

Frankly, despite having a lot of respect for my respective manager, I started slacking because it was difficult to take pride in a job that did not pay its employees as if it respected those employees. I absolutely do not blame the management at corporate locations for the ridiculous wage; rather, I blame corporate. If you can find a different job, please do. This is not a job for people that have a strong work ethic, nor is it a job for people who take pride in doing a good job.

A typical day for me at Gold's Gym would be to come in and Clock in first. If I worked the front desk, I would go there and relieve the last employee of their work so that I could take over. From there I would get everything organized and then help guests check in and make sure their memberships were up to date in terms of if they were active or if they owed money. I was also in charge of selling concessions and retail as well as doing inventory once a month on the retail and once a week with the concessions. As a trainer I would get with my clients and set up appointment times for training. Finding  their body fat percentages and weight will then help me and themselves determine a goal to reach for. I will then assess and choose the proper warm ups, exercises, workouts, and diet to help my clients reach their goals. Each training session lasts an hour. We would also have a trainers meeting every week with our our head trainer to talk about selling training and other various topics of discussion regarding the gym. I learned a whole lot while working here. I had interactions with folks from many different walks of life. Learning how to deal with and get along with many different types of people was probably one of the biggest lessons. I learned a great deal more about training, diet, and new exercises from senior trainers. Management at the gym was mostly good. The only ones that could be a pain sometimes would be the gms. Other than that, mostly good people. The coworkers were the same way. Most everyone was really nice and generally good people. The hardest part of the job is when I would have training spread out all day. It was a grind coming and going back and forth from the gym all day. Even though I wasn't working all day, it would feel as such. The most enjoyable part of the job was knowing that I was helping people and changing their lives for the better.

The work you do while training clients and the culture of Golds is great. Most the management, staff and members are at least to some degree passionate about fitness and you get to interact with many types of people. I had no issues with managers, coworkers or clients. 

BUT 1st Con, the pay and hours chips away at you quickly . If you're not training someone, you (currently) get paid $9hr. Most trainers have some type of fitness degree or certification that takes time and money to earn, so its a bit of an insult when my teenager still in High School working at a restaurant ,makes more hourly. While training someone you can get up to an additional $25hr for that client. Theoretically there is potential to make a lot of money, but the actual number of trainers training 20+ hours weekly (say 4people a day for 5 days) is slim. So most of your pay will be that base $9 hourly. Which you will be cleaning up weights, making phone calls and "building your business". 

2nd Con, your work hours will be inconsistent. Most clients will train early in a.m. before their own Job, or after 4/5pm after their job. So this means either you come in early, train clients, stay all day "building your business" and train more in afternoon; Or you come in train, leave to handle your own life, then come back to train someone. Multiply this weekly, monthly and unless you live close to your Gym of work, you spend almost as much time commute as you do training. And sometimes clients will call/text last minute saying they can't make it, running late, etc ; so now you are giving your time away.

This work inconsistentcy is why many Trainers and Gym workers don't stay in career for extended times. If Im making decent pay, grinding out a 9-5/40 hr work week, I can plan my life better and justify any commute and time sacrifice. But if any one of those is inconsistent, that's when you have to ask yourself, is this job even worth it ?

Don't get me wrong, its been a great work experience, I love training people, but I don't think most people can sustain this type of job for more than a couple years.

It's an interesting place to work to say the least. on a typical day I'll come in and train my clients while tending to members in my free time. I learned how to deal with lots of different types of people in a fast paced environment. Another huge lesson i learned i that being a Personal Trainer today in the corporate world is actually being a salesman who also trains people. Sales comes first! especially in this company and especially at my location. 
Management is the root of almost all the problems at my location. Members get the run around a lot from upper management, and i was flabbergasted to find out we we're not allowed to give out Corporate's info to the members because they do not wish to deal with member issues. 
The gym gets a lot of criticism for the staff's attitude however being there for 4 years i can attest that we were often  humiliated in meetings to make points, jobs threatened (almost weekly) to "ignite" fires under us to pressure sell, forced to stay at work off clock for private one on one meetings, selling supps, or booking appts (promote business). and to top it off each year we we're asked to do more for less. Policies were constantly being created to save money on payroll which meant less for us. So yea no one is jumping for joy here.
The quality of the staff was on a steady decline during the last 2 years. policies pushed out experienced veteran trainers who were replaced by fresh out of high school first timers. it took a lot of the quality away form the gym as a whole. Very High Turnaround!
The hardest part of the job is just swallowing the policies that you'll encounter along the way keeping you from putting 100% into your clients. and watching the managers abuse they're power and treat you and your co workers like children, browbeating sales down your throat and treating your clients as numbers instead of people. The best part is definitely the Clients and Members. They will give you a reason to come in everyday. They add so much to life in that gym, and are the SOLE reason i stayed for 4 years!

ad Front Desk / Operations

 Working alongside GM to manage and maintain gym budget.  Documenting any member incidents that happen within the gym.   Responsible for managing and receiving orders through the PO System for Retail & Concessions, janitorial supplies, office supplies, printing & forms and small equipment.  Multiple walk-through’s a day making sure the Gym is safe and clean.  Prep for monthly Inventory process taking initiative by assisting the GM as much as possible to make sure inventory is complete accurately and on time.  Plan and promote any events for the gym on a monthly basis, using Corporate Marketing as needed. 

 Manage the Retail & Concession sales procedures for the gym.  Effective decisions to provide the best customer service to fix or answer Member questions and concerns.  Responsible for cash deposit with GM sign off ensuring daily deposits are made on time and enforcing all Cash Management procedures.  Manage majority of all documents associated with making any changes on members account.  Responding to all MyVoice surveys from our members making sure that there questions and concerns are being addressed.  Using ICims program finding potential new hire associates after assesment is completed schedule interviews and training new associates.  Assist the GM by managing and helping the cleaning staff.  In Liaison with Customer care dept if member billing request or any operational issues that can not be resolved at the gym level.  Assist GM with payroll and correct all associate mis punches.  I make sure that all front desk systems are followed such as proper Member Check-In, Telephone Inquiry,  Guest Registration, Cash Handling, Replacement of Member ID Card, Delinquent Account Procedures, Account Change requests, travel/guest passes, Membership Addendum completion with accuracy.  Assist GM by managing disciplinary actions involving all gym level employees.  Work with the GM regarding ways to improve Front Desk and Kid’s Club operations

I applied for front desk. i did my interview and they told me i wasn’t going to have to do kids club just help out every once inwhile. i am not good with kids but said yes you know that’s what you do. i asked for full time and he told me i could get full time
my first week i got trained in kids club. three days . then the week after that i was scheduled all kids club four days that’s week. which was 16 hours 4 hour shifts. i talked to management and she put me in to train for front desk two days that week. rest kids club. i came in for training and the manager wasn’t there. she called in sick and didn’t let me know. i was supposed to train for four hours then go to kids club another 4. the lady at the front desk tried to show me how to do stuff then the boss came over and said she wasn’t allowed to train me therefor wasted 4 hours of my day. When i decided (beep) this place i didn’t come in the next day for training. boss texted me once asking where i was. the next day threatens to not give me my check because i has two t shirts. which one of them he told me he got for free because the t shirt company messed up. 
Management and Boss sucked. they put me in the kids club by myself with no warning i’d have to do it everyday. new MEN got hired but got to be on front desk all there shifts just because they “aren’t good with kids” they do not read applications. There full time is 32 hours which is fine but they gave me 16. Most of the employees transferred to different gyms because this one sucks. Boss told me to find one of my friends to do kids club so i can do front desk on my 4th day. LIKE WHY WOULD I DO THAT WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME TO DO THAT. idk. DONT WORK AT THIS GYM others are prob good but i said (beep) that because if this is my first experiance then i’m not going to work for another. I tried to find the boss of my boss to tell him how his place needs new EVERYTHING but he’s impossible to even find. SO DONT WORK HERE. 
employees are very nice tho i do want to say that you will get along with everyone. I even felt bad leaving but i just couldn’t deal with the people in charge they really are ruining that place

a typical day at work is checking in kids or members and greeting them with a smile and asking how they are. playing with the kids and making sure they are playing safe and having fun. helping them with their snacks if they need it. cleaning all the toys that were taken out for the day twice a day. cleaning up after the kids. making copies of information for the members on the classes and movies being played, washing the towels and distributing them around the gym. answering the phones and helping the caller if possible. making protein shakes for the members after their workout. vacuuming and cleaning up the front desk and juice bar. making sure the gym is cleaned up when walked through. hardest part of my day would be making sure all the kids have something to do and that they are entertained. also assisting members to the best of my abilities. or having to deal with an angry member over the phone about the membership. the most enjoyable part of my day is when kids come in and run to give you a hug because your are working when they are there to play. also when members appreciate the help and the hard work that we put in at the front desk. or just being thanked for doing the job i do. my front desk manager is wonderful to work with as well as my gm. they both are very understanding and easy to communicate with. the kids club manager however is not the same. this person is unorganized, gossips about other employees, plays favorites among the employees and children, talks about private things that are discussed between them and the employee to other employees. this person also will not make decisions on their own they are easily influenced by others. this person is also unfair about hours on the schedule. the work place is fairly great and easy going.

Just from the perspective of a Front Desk Associate, it's a fine job to get you through college, such as in my case. The work is easy once you've learned how to navigate the check-in system. You're standing your entire shift usually 6-7 hours. You greet members, ring up sales, finalize membership agreements, promote PT sessions, and address any red flags on people's accounts. Pretty much going to be the main person members will interact with and it can be good and bad. Most people are pleasant, but some people can be very rude for things that are not in your control and depending on your management, they'll intervene, or leave you out to suffer because they themselves don't want to deal with an irate member, which was the case when we had to enforce wearing masks.
For the most part, the culture isn't anywhere on Venice Beach levels, but in general the people at Gold's still have a sense of duty when they enter over most casual gym-goers and you get a lot of long-time members that you'll know on a first-name basis. The connections that you can possibly make are endless and probably the biggest perk of working here.
Otherwise, you'll never climb any ladders here. Raises are upon your yearly review and you'll get anywhere between 0.17 to 0.49 cent increases based on performance, much of which the standards they grade you on are very vague and they're typically really picky about giving high grades, even if you do everything you're supposed to without fail. They want you to really go above and beyond above reason each day to get the highest praises and it doesn't seem worth it for this job.
Unless you're in school for business, exercise science, or studying to become a PT, there's nowhere to go as a Front Desk Associate. It's a fun second job, or part-time position and that's really it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Personal trainer 30 salaries reported	$26.02 per hour
Front desk agent 9 salaries reported	$10.33 per hour
General manager 5 salaries reported	$68,000 per year
Fitness instructor 5 salaries reported	$27.79 per hour
Membership sales 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour

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