Alanna's Classification
Alanna said she was born in North Vancouver but moved, very young, to the Sioux Saint Marie area, the city of the big loon, via Ottawa for a couple of years. Between that experience and school classes she was bilingual for a while. Their village had about 600 people. When she went to UWO there were 600 people in her residence. She took courses in anatomy and exercise physiology, then a course in physiotherapy at Humber which resulted in co-op placements in Toronto and St. Catharine's rehabilitation centers.
She had volunteered at a Sports Injury Clinic at Western, which is where she met her husband who became an engineer and who worked in auto plants in St. Catharines till he was offered a position at Pillsbury here in Midland. Alanna likes Midland because it's a little smaller and it's closer to her parents and her in-laws in Hunstville. The first year here, unemployed, she did a lot of crafts, joined the rowing club and worked out. She did take a contract position in a physio clinic in Orillia but was soon unemployed again and she'd made all the Christmas presents people could stand.
She took a Certification in Pilates, part of which was a course in running a business and she had to develop a business case. During her research she talked to the Curves people and in Jan. 1999 she went to Waco for training and then opened the third franchise in Canada. She opened a 2nd location in Alliston about the time she had her son, Gabriel, who is a sports fanatic.
In 2002 she opened locations in Smith's Falls, Carleton Place and Perth and then had Josephine who, by her pictures, likes to dress in pink. She then sold 3 and bought operating franchises in Penetang and Ottawa. Taking places over presented a whole new set of challenges than opening one from scratch.
She and her family live on 28 acres and have dogs, chickens, cats and I'm not sure what else. As a runner her latest achievement is a half marathon on the Great Wall of China in May 08.
Alanna then presented a brief power point on the Curves operation. Gary and Diane Heaven started the idea in Texas and have launched more franchises quicker than any other company. Now over 10,000 and with reciprocal privileges it means you can exercise almost anywhere. It is specifically for women because research shows many women prefer a 'safe, supportive' atmosphere and it is designed to accomplish goals quickly - 30 minutes works every major muscle. Curves publishes a quarterly magazine and supports research into their program, different health issues and nutrition. The promote weight loss and health. Recently they partnered with General Mills to develop a line of snack foods.
A recent innovation is a Curve Smart monitor that links to the equipment and calibrates the effort - how hard they push. It programs increases in repetitions or effort and counts calorie burn, hearth rate, etc. If someone comes back after an absence the machine automatically sets lower targets to get the person back in. Alanna said Midland has several good gyms but many women prefer a less intimidating and fancy environment that they can use simply and quickly.