Life Fitness, Rosemont, Illinois, is revamping its leadership team by reappointing several brand veterans to executive roles, the company announced Sept. 5. This includes the transition of Dan Wille from chief commercial officer to vice president of global marketing and product development, as well as the appointments Tim McCarthy and Frank van de Ven to the roles of vice president of sales, Americas, and international vice president of sales, respectively.
"Since my return to Life Fitness, I've spent a lot of time meeting with employees, customers and other business partners to get a sense of where we stand today," Life Fitness CEO Chris Clawson, who returned to helm the brand in July, said in the media release. "As part of this review, I've reflected on where we should focus our efforts and who will help us successfully execute on our strategic initiatives. These changes to the company's executive leadership will allow us to better reach our strategic goals and further position Life Fitness as the global leader in commercial fitness equipment."
Wille, since joining the brand in 1994, has primarily overseen product development, marketing and sales goals. In his new role, he will be help direct Life Fitness’ future product development strategy.
McCarthy held various strategic sales and go-to-market oversight roles with Life Fitness between 1991 and 2017. Since January 2018, he has been the executive vice president of sales and marketing for Advanced Exercise, a Life Fitness dealer based in Littleton, Colorado.
Van de Ven has been a key figure in Life Fitness’ international business growth since first joining the brand in 1996. He recently worked as a growth catalyst partner with ASICS TenKan-Ten Growth Catalyst, Barcelona, Spain.
In July, Life Fitness also appointed Steve Klyn as its new chief financial officer and Life Fitness founder Augie Nieto to its board of directors.
New York-based KPS Capital Partners purchased Life Fitness from Brunswick Corp. in May 2019 for $490 million. Life Fitness’ brands include Life Fitness, Hammer Strength, Cybex, Indoor Cycling Group, SCIFIT and Brunswick Billiards.
Since emerging from Brunswick as a standalone company, Life Fitness also unveiled a new corporate brand identity, redesigned logo and corporate website. These changes come at a time when the company is evolving and expanding its global offerings. The company logo will also allow the Life Fitness corporate brand to be distinguished from the Life Fitness product portfolio, according to a separate announcement about the new corporate brand identity from Life Fitness.
“The logo includes a nod to the original 'three-ring' Lifecycle logo from 1968, but the reinvented rings illustrate our global reach and the energy we bring to our future," Krissy Radek, vice president of global marketing at Life Fitness, said in the announcement."The word LIFE is bolded to signify how we emphasize our mission of inspiring healthier lives.”