Interview with Gymfluencers founder Jonathan Lundy
Find out how his own personal journey inspired Jonathan Lundy to launch Gymfluencers, a business on a mission to bring back authentic health and fitness supplement reviews, and where you can read real, trustworthy, credible reviews by real-life people who have actually tried and tested the products.
What’s the backstory to Gymfluencers?
By any stretch of the imagination I have been on an incredible personal and business journey over the last few years. Back in 2020 I was at a very low ebb. I was a dejected, 30-year old, 30 stone individual who had lost all hope and was ready to die.
It was during one mucking around play session with my niece that the penny finally dropped that if I died the next day there were close family members (niece, sister, mum) whose lives would be irreparably impacted.
Galvanised with renewed purpose, I decided that my immediate salvation lay in the gym. So I googled for appropriate gyms and PT guidance to turn my ship around. A game plan was assembled and I trained for 365 days straight with one-on-one PT sessions at nighttime away from prying eyes. I embraced the same three meals over that time-frame, whilst refusing myself any cheat breaks or socialising time-outs. Within a year, 15 stone had dropped off and I was rejuvenated and buzzing with new business thoughts.
It dawned on me during his my gym boot camps how many indie gyms were struggling to be financially viable and how many incredible PTs were staring at empty diaries whilst hollow, quick-fix online websites continued to prosper.
The thinking behind Gymfluencers was put to bed and the fledgling operation was launched in 2021. Almost immediately it became clear that my life would never been the same again!
What was the lightbulb moment when Gymfluencers was born?
Reality struck 14 months down the line from the website’s launch when sales for the brands in question began rolling in, Google loved the thoughtful content and the need for a brand-savvy agency became clear.
Hello Fresh was Gymfluencer’s first brand collaboration, a real statement first client followed by head-turning alliances with brand heroes as diverse as The Body Shop, Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, Lululemon, C4 Energy and Hunter & Gather. Our team also get as much of a buzz supporting finding their way start-ups and bootstrapped underdogs (for example, StockUK).
Gymfluencers also isn’t afraid to say no to prospective brands who dabble with questionable raw materials and ingredients, trash talk their peers or who are little more than pale imitations offerings.
What is Gymfluencer’s USP?
Everything for everyone’ is our mantra. In its first incarnation Gymfluencers acted as a one-stop online pitstop where you can scroll through lists of meticulously vetted personal trainer profiles that can be accessed for free, where indie gyms and products are reviewed and where free day gym passes, events calendars and membership discounts can be unearthed fostering a greater appreciation for the nation’s growing network of progressive indie gyms.
The Gymfluencer vision translates effortlessly on to the global stage, which is why this unique vision now extends to twelve more markets (including Dubai. India, Brazil, Australia and North America) with bespoke, market variants of the Gymfluencer vision.
At this very moment in time Gymfluencers has access to +2.5m yearly website members providing the perfect stage for 100,000+ collaborations and +450 brand alliances to take place.
16 months down the line saw the gymfluencers agency came into being, a predominantly UK facing operation that acts as the influencer arm of the operation providing reassuringly informative and articulate ‘everyday affordable’ brand reviews to health-conscious consumers. Sister sites within the USA and UAE will also be live from this summer.
Who’s your ideal customer?
Anyone with an inquisitive mind seeking best-in-class, health-conscious offerings.
What makes you special?
We insist on a clean, seamless reading experience. The ethos of our site is no barriers, no infuriating pop-ups and no spammy ads – we understand that speed-of-use and credibility are massive pluses for our brand so refuse to get dragged into distracting our readership with any needless bolt-ons or time-consuming diversions.
What’s the best business advice you’ve been given?
‘Go fast alone, go far together’ – It’s a quote that indomitable Hunter & Gather founder, Jeff Webster once shared with me; an ‘on the nose’ observation that resonated very loudly for me.
I was fairly successful on my own, building the business, however being part of a like-minded team with shared goals is so invigorating, be that sharing the highs and lows, building on our snowballing success and planning for ‘next stage’ breakthroughs, its great to provide the right setting for team members to truly shine!
Find out more about Gymfluencers.
