Happy New Year. Summer continues here - well, not summer exactly, as it has been cool. We have had high pressure systems take up residence over the north Pacific for most of the fall and winter hasn't really arrived yet. It will soon though.
In the irregular set of posts I call "Only on Bowen" comes this Undercurrent story about Fawn Gill's strategy for coping with demand at the Bowen Island Gym. Dig it:
Since the beginning of December, the Gym at Artisan Square has been open every day from 6am to 10pm and owner Fawn Gill says the experiment in this new operating method has been such a success that it is here to stay.
Gill says she needed to move to a system like this because she was getting burnt out by being on call every time one of her volunteer staff wasn’t able to make it. She also wanted to offer people more flexibility for their work-outs.
“There are people on this island whose lives have been saved by working out, so on a certain level I really see making it easy for people as a community service.”
Gill says that so far she’s received positive feedback from members and more people are working out on a daily basis. A few new have also joined up.
“People are looking after the gym,” says Gill, “and they’re looking after each other.”
Where, in any small business text book anywhere does it say "to increase your operating hours, just give your customers the key!" Fawn is not just a business owner; she hosts a small committed community up there at Artisan Square. I think Bowen Island Gym members are as fiercely loyal to her business as you are likely to get. So naturally she parlays this loyalty and trust by letting them self-manage and look after each other so she can have something like a 40 hour work week, and her customers can still meet their needs.
Awesome. Welcome to Bowen Island, where everything you thought you knew about business just doesn't apply!
What a lovely story! As a business owner on Gabriola Island for 18 yrs, I can totally relate! I swear half the island has a key to my front door!
ReplyDeleteI hate to detract from this story - lord knows we could use some warm and feel-good stories right about now - but I did want to contact you and, as it's a time sensitive request, this seemed the most direct, if somewhat rude, way of getting ahold of you.
Thank you for your work on fighting against the ferry cuts! I represent an active group of Gabriola Islanders fighting against the upcoming ferry cuts and are working hard to link ferry dependent communities up and down the coast. You may have seen our video “I Live Here” or our Faces of the Cuts campaign (www.bcmarinehighway.org). We are hosting a Video Conference call with other organizers in ferry dependent communities on Thursday, Jan, 9th at 1:30 PM and we would like to invite you to participate.
Our goal is to discuss ways in which each of the ferry dependent communities can pool resources, share strategy and information and maximize, strengthen and support each other’s efforts to fight these cuts.
Let me know if you, or a representative, are available to “attend” and we will send along the steps to log in to the call. I’ve included some links to a few of the initiatives our group is currently working on - right now, we’re asking property owners in ferry dependent communities to appeal their property tax assessments as they do not reflect the damage these cuts will do to the economy of our communities. Again, I apologize for budging into the comment section, especially on a story that is so sweet. She sounds like a wonderful woman.
Kathy Ramsey
250-247-7412
250-325-7412
kathy@artsgabriola.ca
www.bcmarinehighway.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvXjcUzAIlE
www.coastalferrycuts.com
Hi Kathy...I think the guy you should contact is Andrew Pietrow who is spearheading a petition here on Bowen. I'm just lobbing grenades from the margins. He's out walking the lines!
ReplyDelete