Bulking Up: CEO Targets Top Spot in Anytime Fitness System

Name: Luke Andrus
Title: CEO
Company: Blue Star Investments
Units: 83 Anytime Fitness
Age: 42
Family: Wife and 5 children, ages 13, 11, 7, 5, and 1
Years in franchising: 17
Years in current position: 6

Luke Andrus is the Mega-Growth Leadership MVP (Most Valuable Performer) for achieving excellence in growth and expansion.

When Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine profiled Luke Andrus in 2024, he operated 46 Anytime Fitness locations and aimed to double the number of gyms over the next five years. He has nearly reached that mark in less than half that time while setting his sights on becoming the largest franchise group in the Anytime Fitness system.

As CEO of Blue Star Investments, Andrus now owns 83 units across 16 states. He added 35 locations in 2025 alone, which is a primary reason why he earned the Mega-Growth Leadership MVP. He is also quick to credit his business partner, Kevin Tupy, for the group’s aggressive approach to scaling the business.

“I never saw myself as being CEO of one of the largest Anytime Fitness groups in the country,” Andrus says. “I am passionate about leadership, and I’m passionate about jobs. It is Kevin who brought growth to the table, so I said, ‘Let’s go to the moon.’ When I came on board, I thought we would have around 50 locations. But growth is addictive because it provides more opportunities for my employees to achieve their dreams.”

A former personal training director and franchise business consultant with Anytime Fitness, Andrus became a franchisee with Tupy in 2019, owning 10 gyms. He originally came aboard as COO, but four months later, the CEO resigned, and Tupy told him, “Luke, you are the horse I’m betting on.”

As he tried to navigate in this sudden, unexpected role, Andrus Googled “Accidental CEO” and found David Novak’s book, The Education of an Accidental CEO. He read the book while traveling to Anytime Fitness’ corporate headquarters in Minnesota and learned some important takeaways about leadership and delegation.

He discovered that customers often evolve more quickly than corporations, and he realized the fitness sales process is different now than when he worked in that role a decade ago. He has learned to trust his current sales team’s method of reaching potential customers through videos and social media. By trusting his team, Andrus can focus on overall financial numbers while letting them carry out the sales process and suggest refinements.

Andrus’ approach to adding locations is primarily through acquiring high-performing units and taking them from good to great. That means holding his locations to the highest standards of Anytime Fitness’ three pillars of operations: cleanliness, friendliness, and well-maintained centers. He has reinvested in his business by renovating seven clubs last year and plans to refurbish 15 this year and another 20 in 2027.

It is easy to wonder how the married father of five young children finds enough hours in the day. He says the key for him is to cherish the moments of silence in his life, which slow down time. He ran a 50K race in February and used that time to enjoy the silence and meditate.

“Human beings are resilient and learn to adjust pretty darn quickly,” Andrus says. “The more you load on, the more you can handle. Your muscles get stronger. You just find a way.”

MVP QUESTIONS

Why do you think you were recognized with this award? 2025 was a banner year for us. We purchased 34 locations and opened one, including closing on 21 locations in one day in October.

How have you raised the bar in your own company? I think raising the bar simply comes down to consistent execution while including vision and purpose for what we’re doing. Words can do only so much. I imagined that as a CEO, I’d be playing golf with fewer day-to-day tasks, and that’s just not how we can lead in this industry. The work looks different, but the grind stays the same. Every day, you move the business forward by getting into the details and communicating with your team. While we do that, we celebrate the wins that give us purpose.

The other part is elevating leaders who can lead from the trenches and by example. I’m grateful to have John Witzke, our VP of sales, leading from the front. When it comes to raising the bar, the example he has set is unparalleled in the Anytime Fitness world, and our territory managers and regional managers are happy to rise to it.

What innovations have you created and used to build your company? Our proudest innovations are happening in our ability to continuously evolve in our saturated industry with our new generation of members. Our sales funnel and process evolve to our gym members, and our business structure evolves to the needs of our team members and what they value most. Our VP of sales has done a great job of this. Getting a fresh mind from a retail background and planting it in the service industry was one of our best decisions. They continue to effortlessly execute the things that take no talent and focus our efforts on constantly improving what does take talent. In addition to this, we continue to keep our business performance visible via scorecard on the front lines every morning. Our sales team does a heat check every day to keep the performance and provide advice on how to improve front and center.

What core values do you think helped you win this award? Our four core values have stayed the same since we implemented them in 2020:

• Be humble, hungry, and smart.
• Relentlessly execute the fundamentals.
• Grow and develop future leaders.
• Be a “daymaker.”

These values have contributed to who we want to be, how we execute, where we want to go, and how we serve our members.

How important is community involvement to you and your company? Extremely. Especially given the marketing challenges we are all facing in a growing industry. The online world has become highly competitive, and we are getting back to our roots by continuing to be as involved as possible in our local communities.

We have done everything from leading the way in local runs to developing deeply personal ways to serve our community. For example, our team in LaPlace, Louisiana, hosted a memorial service for one of our deceased members at the club. He was a transplant to South Louisiana and had only one living family member who lived in New Jersey. When the team realized he wouldn’t be having a funeral, they put a memorial service together. More than 60 people from our club and community attended, including his sister, who flew in from New Jersey. It was truly beautiful, and it’s why our clubs are a haven of community and comfort.

What leadership qualities are important to you and your team? Anytime Fitness has had great service standards for years now. It is known as PLEASE: personal, listen, empathy, anticipate, sense of urgency, and encourage. These exist for our members, but if we aren’t treating our team members the same way, it means nothing. If we treat our team right, it will bleed down to our customers.

PERSONAL

First job: My first job was building cabinet doors for my dad in his cabinet shop when I was 12 years old.

Formative influences/events: I began to take a personal interest in health when my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was 14 years old at the time. She died when I was 16 years old, and I got my first job in the fitness industry shortly after.

Key accomplishments: In 2014, I won the Anytime Fitness Trainer of the Year award at our international conference. Currently, we are the third largest franchise group in our system, and we won an IFA Franchisee of the Year award in 2025.

Biggest current challenge: Our biggest challenge is to continue to grow in membership in a tough economy with increased competition.

Next big goal: We’d like to reach 100 gyms without compromising our same-store growth.

First turning point in your career: The first turning point in my career was when I won the Trainer of the Year award. It gave me a platform to speak to as many owners as I could to offer advice. This lit a fire in me to help as many business owners as I could, which led to consulting, and that eventually led to my partnership.

Best business decision: The best business decision I’ve ever made was to leave the franchisor side to become a franchisee with my partners. My business partner, Kevin Tupy, has become a mentor in my life. He has a wealth of knowledge on how to build a business that cares about people.

Hardest lesson learned: It is important to draw boundaries between the workplace and your personal life. I tend to get close to many of our team members, and there always comes a time when you inevitably must draw the line between work and personal so that you can hold your employees to a high standard of work, and they can do the same to you. Work is personal, so you can’t just be their colleague. You must draw clear lines and find the balance. Admittedly, I’m still learning how to do that.

Work week: The work week is a mix of travel, club visits, and office work spent learning about new opportunities for growth through acquisition and new development. I will typically travel twice a month to scout other locations.

Exercise/workout: I try to practice what I preach and stay healthy. In addition to lifting weights in our clubs, I’ve been running marathons and ultramarathons for a few years now. It’s been a great source of personal prayer and meditation for me.

Best advice you ever got: This comes from my favorite character, Augustus McCrae, in Lonesome Dove: “You can’t avoid mistakes; you’ve got to learn to handle them. If you only come face-to-face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life, it’s bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day. That way, they usually ain’t much worse than a dry shave.”

What’s your passion in business? My absolute passion is watching people advance in their careers and grow in their personal lives. What else are we doing if we aren’t making others better?

How do you balance life and work? Work-life balance can be defined in many ways. I define it as the ability to maintain your own identity when you are with your family. If work is a heavy weight 365 days a year to the point that I’m no longer myself, I am not balancing it correctly.

The popular idea is to just shut work off and not touch it, but the business needs what it needs, and the business supports life. This really depends on the place of the business at the time and the demands it makes. When the demands are high, it’s just not as simple as shutting it off.

In practice, the key for me is that when I’m present with my family, it’s important to segmentize work and family. Instead of setting a nearly impossible standard to unplug completely, I step out when I’m needed so that my kids don’t see me buried in my work. Then I come back in when it is resolved. Even if it is a day that they have only 20 minutes with me before bedtime, the phone is off, we isolate ourselves, and they get full attention. A little goes a long way.

Guilty pleasure: I love my movies and shows. I’m addicted to quoting the shows I like at all the wrong times. I’m basically Michael Scott from The Office.

Favorite book: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Favorite movie: “Big Fish.”

What do most people not know about you? I’m an avid hobbyist and enjoy most things that make zero money. I enjoy painting, woodburning, drums, and guitar.

Pet peeve: When people say, “That’s not my job.” The job is the job; do what it takes.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Rock star and/or an actor.

Last vacation: Croatian cruise with my lovely wife in 2024—all the islands, all the wine.

Person you’d most like to have lunch with: This will always be Robert Duvall or the spirit of Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove.

MANAGEMENT

Business philosophy: The one that comes to mind is simply that relationships matter. Give freely. People remember the advice you gave them when you had nothing to gain, and those relationships resonate and sometimes come back to you as opportunities. If they don’t, you still did the right thing.

Management method or style: Trust and delegate, but step in when needed. Too many fail to manage out of fear of micromanaging.

Greatest challenge: Currently, it’s how to encourage people in a language that they understand. You can praise them all day, but if you aren’t doing it in a way they can receive it, they won’t feel your appreciation.

How do others describe you? I’m not sure if I want to know that, good or bad, unless it’s negatively affecting others. But I hope they see me as someone who helps others.

Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? Absolutely. Every pivotal moment in my life has been assisted by a mentor. Currently, that is my business partner, Kevin Tupy. We speak and collaborate about the company every day. His guidance and experience are invaluable.

One thing you’re looking to do better: Listen more.

How close are you to operations? As close as I can be. I’ve worked in most of the positions in this industry, including club manager, trainer, regional manager, consultant, and owner. I can’t take responsibility for its success or failure unless I’m part of it.

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Solid platforms that track performance and consumer insights.

What you need from vendors: Efficiency in their process and delivery along with prompt support.

Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? As the online battle gets tougher, we find ourselves gravitating more toward the basic roots. Referrals, word of mouth, even direct mail, and simply giving as much as we can to the people of our communities.

How is social media affecting your business? Its primary use for us is being our outside voice to reveal our excellent culture to the world.

How do you hire and fire? We try to hire fast and fire fast in the beginning. It sounds harsh, but in reality, we just don’t want to drag out a person’s next chapter if they aren’t a fit for their role with us. The first things we’re looking for are natural ability that we can build on and their coachability. We are also heavily influenced by Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Ideal Team Player, and looking for someone who is humble, hungry, and emotionally intelligent.

How do you train and retain? We have much to grow here. We train with a combination of corporate courses, our own LMS for our company, and mentorship. We retain them with great benefits, competitive pay, and a passionate culture. We also reward them as quickly as is appropriate. We give a preemptive raise for those who deserve it. We also surprise them occasionally and don’t wait until you risk losing them to reward them. My dad once said, “Pay people what they’re worth. If you’re paying them the lowest you can, you are saying to them, ‘If I could pay you less, I would.’”

How do you deal with problem employees? Visibility and documentation on work performance and corrective communication. We’ve learned that to be clear is to be kind. We keep coaching reports logged on expectations so that when they need to be rewarded or require correction, we have the evidence.

Fastest way into your doghouse: Say the words, “No one told me to do that.”

BOTTOM LINE

Annual revenue: We are aiming for $35 million this year.

2026 goals: We would like to open two locations and acquire as much as we can.

Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Same-store sales are king.

Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? The vision is to maintain our highest level of customer service and facilities while growing store count and same-store sales. In 10 years, we want to be the largest Anytime Fitness franchisee and be synonymous with quality locations.

Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? We only operate Anytime Fitness franchises. When it is the right time, we will seek more opportunities in the health space.

How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? We’ve had to get creative. What I have seen is that people don’t mind paying for quality. Our maniacal focus is on a sales process that connects with our members. Our other focus is on helping every member succeed, whether they purchase personal training or not. When they believe in themselves and us, they will invest in themselves and us.

Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? In many of our markets, yes. We have locations in urban and rural areas. That’s one of the best things about this franchise. Every town needs an Anytime Fitness.

What are the best sources for capital expansion? Until now, it’s been conventional financing and using our cash flow to fund growth. Most people can get creative with cash when acquiring businesses through seller notes, and we try to do that as often as we can.

Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? We have experience with all of these, but we structure our company like a PE group. I can see us landing there in the future.

What are you doing to take care of your employees? Passion goes a long way, but in the end, they want more security. It’s important to have a clear path to positional and financial growth.

How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? We’ve prided ourselves on providing great healthcare plans for our team members. We also offer a 401(k) match for all team members, including part-timers. As for minimum wage, we work in an industry that calls for higher than that. So, this hasn’t been an issue for us.

How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? We regularly give recognition to our performers at weekly and monthly meetings. We also give awards and trophies once a year to our top performers.

What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? Exit? And miss all the fun?