Eric Levine is undoubtedly one of the most visible expats active in the Thai business community and certainly one of the most successful. He’s the Chairman and CEO of the California WOW Xperience PCL, Thailand’s hippest fitness chain.

Eric has pioneered the development of the fitness industry in Asia, opening the biggest and most advanced clubs not only here but in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan as well.

Born in Montreal, his dad was a body builder who represented Canada in water polo. Eric started working out when he was 13. After a voyage of self discovery, in India, he settled down to work at Club Med as chief of entertainment for four years. He then decided to go to Venice Beach, California, to kickstart his acting career. But one day, he walked into a Gold’s Gym and got turned on to fitness again. He could see that fitness was going to take over the world.

So Eric bought the name “Gold’s Gym” and opened up his first gym in Toronto in 1979, near the Don Valley Parkway and Eglinton. In Eric’s mind, Toronto was an up-and-coming international city and the next highest consciousness destination after California.

Eric eventually expanded the chain to eight centers with 80,000 members and a staff of 500. But he sold it in1987 and moved back to California, where he partnered with fitness legens Ray Wilson, and started the Family Fitness Centers, then the biggest chain of fitness centers in California. In 1996, he decided to try something new so he moved to Hong Kong and opened up his first fitness centre in Asia.

Commenting on his California WOW concept, Eric says, “I don’t look at it as exercise, I look at it as ‘Exertainment’, people don’t want to work out — they want to enjoy themselves. At our clubs, you can have the same great time you would have at a nightclub, but you are taking careof yourself at the same time.”

 Eric says he learned a lot from Club Med and how they created a club from a hotel and made it an experience. He has done something similar taking a fitness center and adding disc jockeys, spinning lights, and the latest equipment to create an experience — not just a work out.

Since opening up the first branch in Hong Kong, the company has grown throughout Asia and now has over a few hundred thousand members. Eric has taken the fitness industry almost single-handedly from hotel fitness centers to mainstream Exertainment centers that have become landmarks in major cities throughout Asia.

“Anyone who comes to one of our clubs is going to improve their body, mind and spirit. But how do you get them to walk in the door in the first place? You have to create the dream and make them want to come in the door. And we’ve established a brand that’s sexy, cool and celebrity-driven. People want to see celebrities, they want to be part of club that has celebrities, they want to be treated like a celebrity, and they want to feel like a celebrity!"

The California WOW fitness centers provide over US$1million of state-of-the-art fitness equipment.  Also available are aerobics, spinning (stationary bicycling), yoga and Pilates classes, and steam and sauna facilities as well as swimming pools are available on site.

To get the most of your California WOW Xperience Eric says you need to work with a personal trainer. You get two free sessions when you sign up, but Eric suggests that you sign on for 10-12 more sessions throughout the year to better monitor your performance and get the most out of your fitness experience.

From its first established branch in 2000 on Silom Road, the company expanded to four branches by the end of 2005 with the addition of its Sukhumvit 23, Pinklao and Ratchayothin branches. In February of this year, the company opened a six-star branch at Siam Paragon (a US$6 million investment with US$1.5 state-of-the-art equipment) and in June a club exclusively for women called California WOW Women on Sukhumvit 31, which also feature a Planet Yoga Club. The company now employs 800 staff and has 65,000 members. Next year, it forsees increasing its staff to 1,600 whiile having130,00 members with its new locations in Ratchada, Ekkamai, Asoke Central Rama II, Sukhumvit Soi 36, Central Chiang Mai and Pattaya.

The company’s shares were traded in the Stock Exchange of Thailand in November of 2005, when it converted to a public company limited through an initial public offering (IPO) and became the first fitness company in Asia to be listed. California WOW Xperience also has three clubs in South Korea, and Planet Yoga and Bikrams Yoga centres in Hong Kong with over 500 staff and 40,000 members in those two locations combined.

In March 2006 the company launched both a WOW magazine containing fitness, exercise and health articles and a TV show called “Planet Yoga”, shown on weekday mornings on UBC's Money Channel, actively promoting health and exercise awareness for the Thai population.

On his staff Eric says, “Everyone I hire is positive and fun. We’ll train you if you have the right attitude. But if you have the wrong attitude, I don’t care if you have a Doctor’s degree.”

Eric has established strong brand recognition through the California WOW Xperience concept, its services, and celebrity spokespeople. The fitness and yoga centers offer various types of membership with additional charges for professional services. Having set up shop at prime locations throughout the city, his Exertainment concept really works for the modern Thai population.

Eric’s own regimen sees him rise at 6am where he immediately does an hour-and-a-half of Dhammakaya meditation, a technique he has been practicing for the last five years. Then he exercises in his own personal gym for another 90 minutes, before heading down to his pool on a complex overlooking the Chao Phraya River. He then fields calls from his operations around the region, addressing and tending to problems. At 11am, it’s time for him to head into his office in the Silom Complex to deal with the day-to-day business issues.

His advice to expats living here: “Embrace Thai culture with all your heart, don’t be closeted away and live the life of a guarded expat.”

Eric’s dad, unfortunately, did not live to see his son’s success, but the week his mom died (she was 79), Eric made the cover of the Asian Wall Street Journal, so she was able to celebrate his good fortune.  

Eric’s next big goal is to be the CEO of a large existing charity. He admires people like Bob Geldoff and Bono, and he wants to convince the younger generation that it is cool to give.

On the personal side, he’s currently building a home on 10 rai of land in Natai, Phuket. It’s a house he calls, “James Bond meets Buddha” and he sees Phuket as the St. Tropez of Asia.

With over 25 years experience in the industry, Eric has definitely changed people’s lives through fitness. He knows the business and people well: “All in all, fitness is for everyone,” he says. “Having traveled and opened up clubs all over the world, I’ve learned we are all the same. We all want to feel great, we all want to feel attractive and we all want to feel sexy.”

http://www.californiawowx.com