Ep 31: Is Your Governing Body Doing Enough for You?
Welcome back to the new season of Group Fitness Real Talk! In the first episode, Will is getting the perspective of an area of the Industry that he hasn't covered on the podcast before and that’s regulatory/governing bodies for Group Fitness. Today, Will is interviewing Sue Wilkie from EMD, the governing body for group exercise across the UK. Sue played a crucial role for Instructors during the pandemic and she and the team at EMD worked incredibly hard, not only to support instructors, but also to ensure the Group Fitness industry had a voice with government.
Now, we know many of you are not UK based, but no matter where in the world you are listening from, it’s likely you have a governing body that was doing very similar to what the EMD UK team have undertaken in the last year so it’s well worth a listen to this chat to gain a perspective on this side of the Industry.
Here’s a glance at this episode…
(3:00) Sue shares a bit about herself and her role throughout the pandemic as head of instructor development for EMD UK
(4:50) Will asks Sue to explain what an NGB is and how EMD slots into the regulatory framework of the UK’s fitness industry
(10:33) Sue explains the origins of EMD becoming the voice of GX Instructors in the UK
(17:58) Sue shares the biggest challenges she faced when trying to advocate for GX
(25:28) Will and Sue talk about the Limited Online Music License and the process of allowing original music to be used in online fitness in the UK
(28:58) Sue shares her feelings, positive and negative, on the state of the Group Fitness industry after the pandemic
(36:46) Will asks Sue how she sees the role of the governing bodies for the Fitness Industry and Instructors moving forward
(42:56) Sue shares why she thinks the hospitality industry would be prioritized above the fitness industry if this happened again
(43:48) Sue’s biggest predictions for Group Fitness industry in the next 12 months
Links mentioned in this episode:
Sue Wilkie’s Instagram
Will’s Facebook, Instagram and Email Address
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