upcoming new event 2027

The LEADERSHIP Academy

Are you ready for the most comprehensive management training course for the health and fitness industry?
Join us for The Leadership Academy - Powered by REX! This is an exclusive, immersive experience designed for leaders like you who are ready to grow, challenge, and transform their leadership potential. Join us.

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OVERVIEW

the latest info about The Leadership Academy

Over the course of two-and-a-half days, you'll dive deep into critical leadership topics to help you lead your business or department with greater effectiveness and efficiency.

Graduate from the only immersive industry event in the US to engage with industry experts, network with peers, and gain actionable strategies that will help you thrive as a leader.

Why rex?

REX = FAMILY

REX creates an environment of exceptional honesty and openness. Members report that the direct, straightforward communication they routinely get from REX is not available to them anywhere else in their work or personal lives.

who Should Attend?

The Leadership Academy is ideal for:

Club or studio owners

Gain actionable strategies and insights to elevate your business, improve member retention, and drive profitability.

Club or studio managers

Learn proven leadership techniques to inspire your team, streamline operations, and achieve your business goals.

Department Managers

Develop the skills needed to lead your department effectively and contribute to the overall success of your organization.

Aspiring Business Leaders

Discover key leadership principles and tools to accelerate your journey toward becoming a successful industry leader

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Sales, Marketing & Personal training
Leadership & Strategy
Culture & Customer Experience
Operations & Programming
Networking & One On One Sessions
Financial Management
Event Speakers

Meet our speakers

Gain valuable insights from experts in their field.

Eddie Tock

Host & REX CEO

Allison Flatley

REX Chair

Brent Darden

REX Chair

Justin Tamsett

REX Chair

Mark Miller

REX Chair

Mary Laudati

REX Chair

Dan Duran

REX Chair

Frank Lawrence

CEO, Little Rock Athletic Centers

Don't miss out

Haven't booked yet? Book Now Book Now

Limited to 80 attendees!

Our Schedules

the leadership academy agenda

Agenda subject to minor changes

 

* On July 8, we will present a Welcome Zoom at 1pm EST. A link will be sent to all attendees. *

Day 1
july 21, 2026

Windrose on Hudson

Welcome Reception
kick off
EDDIE TOCK

Host & REX CEO

Get to know other attendees
Meet Our Sponsors - ABC Fitness Solutions
From Inspiration to Implementation: Using AI to Maximize Your Conference ROI

Join Dr. Ted Vickey as he demonstrates how fitness operators and leaders can use AI to capture conference insights, organize ideas, build actionable workflows, and immediately apply what they learn back inside their business.

During the conference, Dr. Vickey will also be recording live sessions and creating custom GPT tools based on key takeaways from presentations so attendees can continue learning and implementing long after the event ends.

Learn how to:

  • Capture and organize conference notes using AI
  • Create meaningful prompts and operational workflows from live sessions
  • Use custom GPTs to reinforce learning and implementation
  • Improve communication and accountability with your team
  • Increase the ROI of conferences through practical AI execution systems
  • Turn inspiration into measurable operational action

 

This session will be practical, fast-paced, and focused on simple ways operators can begin using AI immediately to improve execution, learning, and leadership inside their clubs.

Ted Vickey Headshot 2
TED VICKEY

Fit Well Inc

Meet Our Sponsors - Matrix Fitness
your rex way: being a leader personally & professionally

The REX community embodies the spirit of purposeful leadership. Individuals who lead by example, have a proven track record of success, and care deeply about their teams, members, and shareholders.  They don’t meander through life in mediocrity but rather choose to challenge themselves, and their organizations, through continual improvement. Exposing themselves regularly to introspection and inspection.

The evidence of their ability to lead is readily apparent simply because others choose to follow them. Top leaders spend their time revealing and cultivating what’s best in people, including themselves. Understanding that “who they are” is likely “how they lead”. They seek feedback, identify their blind spots, and demonstrate vulnerability. All in the pursuit of refining their ability to influence and motivate others to meet high expectations.

In addition, they have clarity about working hard on the very limited number of things that can make all the difference to their business. Leaders focus on talent, strategy, systems, and culture. Ensuring that priorities are sacrosanct, sufficiently communicated, and embedded in the daily fabric of the company ethos.

In this session, we will explore the concept of what it really means to “lean into leadership”!

Brent Darden

REX Chair

Break
Meet Our Sponsors - Instinctive Insights
Do You Lead A Healthy Health Club?

In this session, we’ll follow the full member journey—from lead to raving fan—and uncover the key touchpoints that drive success.

You’ll learn industry best practices on KPIs, actions, and behaviours that fuel a thriving club culture. Most importantly, we’ll pinpoint exactly where your energy delivers the biggest results.

Expect at least one moment where you say, “WOW—I totally forgot about that step, and now I see how much it impacts everything downstream!” 

Justin Tamsett

REX Chair

Meet Our Sponsors - Lionel University
Building fitness leaders
Dan Duran

REX Chair

Daily wrap
Eddie tock

Host & REX CEO

dinner at the Dining Hall
Networking; Stem Sentences to build trust
Justin Tamsett

REX Chair

Day 2
July 22, 2026

Windrose on Hudson

breakfast
The Power of strategy
Allison Flatley

REX Chair

Culture - everyone has one, how to get the one you want

Culture today is such a diverse phrase that means so many things. However its implications to successful managing and leading a club today are immense. Culture must not take a back seat to strategy, operations, sales or organization design. It must be in the drivers seat as all those stem from the culture you have. They say how you do one thing is how you do everything. Well your culture is that engine of how you behave as an organization, how you grow, whom you hire, how you operate and ultimately how you win. Join us as we explore and learn how to create and drive your culture.

  1. Define what culture is and is not
  2. Explore how culture is made and created
  3. Understand the necessary aspects of it and how to build, reinforce and develop them
  4. Driving it and shaping it throughout your journey as a leader
  5. Healthy and Smart.  What is the difference?
  6. Finally why culture is not just a work thing.

 

This session will be brief and packed with info to get you started on shaping your culture for a future of success.

Mark Miller

REX Chair

break
Top 3 Leadership Resources
all chairs
lunch
Financial Intelligence: creative club/department budgets

How do the financials make a difference in the swimming pool, locker room, and group pilates class? This session will explore essential financial management strategies for club executives and managers to maximize profitability and ensure long-term success for fitness clubs of all sizes.

The foundation lies in understanding your facility’s key financial metrics through tracking revenues and expenses, identifying your team’s financial key performance indicators (KPIs), and interpreting financial data to drive informed decision-making at all levels of the organization. 

Build on this foundation by crafting a compelling narrative around your organization’s financial data, making it easier to communicate about finances with your team members and external stakeholders. This financial foundation and guiding narrative will help your Executive Team, Managers, and individual contributors understand how their daily actions make a tangible financial impact on the club.

Effective financial management is about knowing how the numbers connect to your day-to-day operations, bridging the gap between the accounting department and the rest of your core team, and enabling each team member to make choices that positively impact the bottom line. By mastering these financial keys, you’ll be better equipped to originate the capital needed for innovative projects and achieve long-term financial success in your organization.

frank lawrence

CEO, Little Rock Athletic Centers

Building Sales Leaders
mary LAUDATI

REX Chair

Break
leadership starts with conversations
justin tamsett

REX Chair

customer experience

Having worked with hundreds and hundreds of clubs over the years, they all have two things in common regardless of size or scope –

1. they believe their good member service is a differentiator for them in the marketplace and

2. unfortunately, they fail to consistently deliver a memorable experience. Delivering on this lofty brand promise is truly hard work.

Those companies who achieve recognition in this realm are obsessive about being customer centric. They dedicate an inordinate amount of time and effort to establish standards, train employees, gather customer feedback, measure results, respond quickly to issues, and create systems or processes to prevent future disappointments.

They also understand that it takes a collaborative and orchestrated approach.

In this session we will delve into the extensive playbook of delivering excellent member experience and give you the insights to make it happen under your leadership.

brent darden

REX Chair

Leading Different Generations
Allison Flatley

REX Chair

TED Talk
Luke
dinner AT THE HEARTH
swag exchange
Day 3
july 23, 2026

Windrose on Hudson

breakfast
group photo
answering challenges
all chairs
break
Ideas to Actions
justin tamsett

REX Chair

trios
graduation ceremony
Lunch
Pricing options

Pricing

Limited to 80 attendees

2027 IS EXPECTED TO SELL OUT

REX Members

Standard Pricing
$ 1995 Person
  • All Education
  • Graduation Certificate
  • REX Swag and T-Shirt Swap
  • Hotel and food (6 meals) are additional @ $500 per night + tax to be paid directly to hotel upon check out for Tuesday and Wednesday. If accommodation for Monday night is needed it is an additional $320 per night and 2 meals.

non members

Standard Pricing
$ 2495 Person
  • All Education
  • Graduation Certificate
  • REX Swag and T-Shirt Swap
  • Hotel and food (6 meals) are additional @ $500 per night + tax to be paid directly to hotel upon check out for Tuesday and Wednesday. If accommodation for Monday night is needed it is an additional $320 per night and 2 meals.
Our Partners

SPONSORS AND PARTNERS

Thank you to our amazing sponsors.

our Testimonials

what they're saying About The Leadership academy and rex Roundtables

Our members share their experiences and touch on the value, comradery and business building results they’ve achieved by being part of REX Roundtables.

Rex Roundtable was an amazing experience that will truly help me succeed in my current position as a club manager. The seminars were interesting and informative, and the networking opportunities were priceless.

I loved the swag swap and the socializing outside of the conference - really great opportunity to connect with others.

Loved the conference and the networking. Enjoyed each speaker and the sessions, especially JT's session on the first day. The breaks were great so we had an opportunity to meet and mingle with others and gave our full attention during each session.

Everything was excellent. I came back feeling so inspired and excited to share what I learned with my team and implement some positive changes at the club. My favorite activity was the STEM sentences. I loved hearing what other clubs are doing, what’s working, and what’s not. I'm not sure I can pick a favorite session, but the whole experience felt like ownership training, which is exactly the role I’m currently in at my club.

So much great information, very smart leaders in our industry and great connections and conversations outside of the sessions.

What worked: every aspect of your model was flawless. The location was key because there was no where to go off campus, but you had everything you wanted on campus which made folks be present and mingle more. Had you done this in Vegas or Manhattan people would be inclined to sightsee. Here we all stayed around and got to know each other. It was easier to focus on work. Lastly, I loved the cocktail hours and gear exchange, particularly how low key and informal they were. Great event!

I have had the opportunity to be on a REX roundtable for over 10 years. REX has been responsible for not only helping me more than double my gross revenues and greatly increase my profitability; it has helped me become a much better leader.

Joe Cirulli Founder & President, Gainesville Health & Fitness

My membership in REX may be the very best business decision I have ever made.

Blair C McHaney CEO of MXM, Medallia's Partner to the Fitness Industry

The REX experience has been my invaluable Mastermind Group where I learn new strategies and tactics, bounce off new ideas, share common concerns and challenges, and discuss new opportunities and emerging markets. The net result is that my business has benefited greatly because of it.

Victor Brick Brick Bodies Fitness Services
General Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have some questions? See our FAQ's below.

Club Owners, Regional Managers, Club Managers and Department Heads.

As part of the REX Leadership Academy you will gain valuable industry knowledge that will help elevate your leadership. Walking away with an understanding of how to structure your club/company, build a culture, foster engagement, grow your profitability and set the strategic path to excellence.  

In addition you will build a network of like minded leaders that you can call on and learn from for many years to come.  This is not just about growth for your club its about growth for you as the individual. 

This is yet to be decided however, there will most likely be recommendations of videos, books, summaries and articles to help you be more in the know before the event.

The Institute was a great event. Having attended that will have set the stage for success. This event is for today: the current operations within the Industry. Covid changed the game, no longer can we play checkers. Todays fitness world demands Chess – more strategic, more innovative, more holistic driven leadership.

Absolutely, you have already experienced the power of peers and what REX can do. Imagine a focused event that is almost like an acceleration of training and leadership development. In these 3 days you will be flooded with new ways of thinking, acting and believing. The connections with others you have not met will expand your learning and accelerate your growth. This is a can’t miss event.

Yes, the closest airports are HPN, LGA, JFK, and EWR. You can also take Amtrak to NYC and then MetroNorth to Croton-Harmon station (5 min from campus).

Absolutely. Please let us know your specific needs when registering, and we’ll ensure your experience is seamless.

Yes, if you’d like to extend your trip, contact us. Rooms are available Monday night which includes breakfast and lunch Tuesday. Thursday night’s hotel is included in the optional add-on in NYC.

Event cancellations on or before March 1, 2026 will be refunded in full (less a $500 processing fee).

Cancellations received after March 1, 2026 will not be eligible for a refund, for any reason.

We’ve made it easier to switch names on event registrations at no charge. If you can’t make it, you may send a colleague in your place by contacting REX at least 7 days prior to the event (switches are subject to a fee increase based on member status). Contact joe@rexroundtables.com .

REX Roundtables for Executives USA INC is not responsible for any loss or damage as a result of a substitution, alteration or cancellation/postponement of an event.

REX shall assume no liability whatsoever in the event this conference is cancelled, rescheduled, or postponed due to a fortuitous event, act of God, unforeseen occurrence or any other event that renders performance of this conference impracticable, illegal or impossible.

For purposes of this clause, a fortuitous event shall include, but not be limited to: war, fire, labor strike, extreme weather or another emergency.

have an enquiry?

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Get Directions to The Leadership Academy

Event Venue:

Windrose on Hudson

Address:

1 Shady Lane Farm Road, Ossining, NY, 10562, United States