Sports and the art of healthy living: A business that outplays crisis

Raluca Stefan, 6 Apr 2009

Romanian version

Michelle Dietrich, general manager at World Class at Grand, waved a final goodbye to “the land of opportunity”, back in the 95’and embarked on a journey to Poland, only to settle down six years later in Romania. In an interview to Wall-Street, she shares her insights on Romanian business landscape, and how she has successfully guided a growing business through stormy times, as well as the expansion strategy of the wellness club for the coming year.

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“Being a client of the wellness clubs, I became very interested”

Ever since she was a child, she found the instinct of leadership unfolding in everything she did. Her biggest dream was to leave her small home town in South Dakota, only to travel and settle down where things were actually happening and where she could make a difference.

She followed the courses of Management school, with a specialization in Organizational Studies at the University of California and during that time she finally ascertained her passion for fitness.

“Being a regular client, I thought it would be nice to learn to become an aerobic trainer. Then, one thing led to another so I decided to come to Eastern Europe”, Michelle Dietrich recalls.

Equipped with a repertoire of skills in management and sports, she accepted the offer to work in Poland for World Class Warsaw, ever since the opening of the first club in this country.

“In 1995 I went to work in Poland at World Class as they intended to open their first centre in Warsaw. I had a lot of experience in sales so I started selling and also teaching aerobics”.

In 2001, she confronted with a new challenge, when World Class had decided to open a center in Romania. She pursued her instinct and grabbed the offer. For eight years now, Michelle Dietrich is the leader of World Class at Grant.

“This is because of the belief we have that people should be open-minded and no matter what professional education they have, they should first follow their dreams”, Michelle Dietrich added.

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