Our Firm
The Atwood Group (TAG) team provides a powerful blend of interdisciplinary skills and years of industry experience to offer independent health club a level of support that embraces strategic thinking in combination with the real-world experience needed to generate meaningful, measurable business results.
The TAG team stands ready to support independent health club owners and operators with a cross section of business and industry experience to improve their bottom line and grow their business.
John Atwood is founder and Managing Director of The Atwood Group with over 25 years of experience working in the health and fitness club industry. During these years he has owned an upscale medically focused fitness center, a multi-purpose tennis racquetball and fitness club, and held management positions in marketing, sales and general management. His medical fitness center, HealthFit, has been featured in Boston Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, AARP Magazine, and other prominent national media for its innovative business practices and contributions to the fitness industry. Time Magazine called HealthFit “a pioneering fitness center” for its ground-breaking approach to working with sedentary populations. In 1999, John developed the IHRSA Financial Management Tool (FMT) to assist club owners and managers in driving profits by being more strategic through the capturing and analysis of vital financial and programmatic information. John has served on the New England Health, Racquet, and Sport’s Club Association’s (NEHRSA) Board of Directors in the position of Vice President, has spoken at numerous club industry conventions and conferences where he was a top rated speaker, and was on the faculty of the IHRSA Institute.
Financial Management
Chris Evans is one of the top financial experts in the country for Health and Sports Clubs. Chris has held senior executive, senior level controller and director positions in industries as varied as health and wellness, casino/hotels operations, travel management and real estate. More specifically, from 1990 – 2001, he was the National and Regional Controller, Starmark/Wellbridge Company/Club Sports International, and for a two year period served as a Divisional Controller with The Monsanto Company, also serving on the board of SSM Health Care/Wellbridge, St. Louis, Missouri. From 1982 – 1990, Chris was the Regional Controller and Director of Management Information Systems, Sporting Clubs of America, Denver, Colorado and San Diego, California. Most recently, Chris has been Vice President of Finance and Administration for Abacus Travel, in Peabody, Massachusetts and has served concurrently as Finance Director for an affiliated real estate company in Lincoln, New Hampshire.
Beth Wald has 25 years of management experience working in both the public and private sectors. Beth’s health club experience includes ownership and operations experience for eight years during which she applied her past experiences to team building, and an obsessive commitment to “hiring the best”. Beth also focused on managing the day-to-day operations and overseeing the development of programs for seniors and special populations. Beth has been a featured speaker at the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association’s (IHRSA) international conventions and was on the faculty of the IHRSA Institute.
Rick Devereux is considered one of the premiere experts in the world on health club trends. He recently retired from his position at IHRSA where he worked for 20 years as the Chief Operating Officer, and before that, the Director of Sales and Marketing. While at IHRSA, Rick had a major impact on the growth of the industry both nationally and internationally. Prior to working at IHRSA, Rick managed large multi-purpose fitness facilities. Rick’s extensive knowledge and experience in the industry allows him to provide clients with a broad perspective as well as in-depth information on how to build or grow businesses related to fitness. Rick graduated from Harvard where he played on the tennis team and now works with the team on “Yoga Tennis”.
Feasibility Studies
Brian Goodman specializes in the strategic positioning of startups including market research and segmentation, branding, financial modeling, marketing strategy and feasibility analysis. Brian has over 15 years of diverse industry experience including providing analytics for the retailer Filenes and the May Company to strategic marketing consulting with the Monitor Group to public policy experience as a strategy analyst with the City of Boston’s Office of Business Development. Brian the founded First Steps Consulting, a boutique consultancy focused specifically on innovation and startup strategy and has worked with a variety of startups and corporate innovations over the past 10 years. Brian earned his MBA in entrepreneurship from Babson College in Wellesley, MA and holds a degree in Business Administration from UMASS Amherst. Additional studies have been completed at MIT, Harvard and the University of Manchester, England.
Club Design and Retrofitting
Daniel Meus, A.I. A. Architect has been an innovative designer of successful fitness facilities for two decades. He co-founded Graham/Meus Inc Architects in 1980, to provide exceptional planning, architecture and interior design services to clients throughout the United States and abroad. The firm’s portfolio consists of nearly 250 completed fitness projects that range in size from a 4,800 SF specialty health club to an 85,000 state-of-the-art recreation center. Dan is dedicated to quality fitness center design. He is an associate member of IHRSA and speaks annually at the IHRSA conventions about the future of fitness center design. He is a board member of NEHRSA, the New England Chapter of IHRSA, and donates time and resources to their cause. Daniel was recently named the New England Architectural Representative for the facilities division of the United State Swimming Organization.
Wellness and Fitness
Ed Phillips, M. D. is the Medical Director for Outpatient Medical Services for the Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital Network in Boston, MA, and serves on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. Dr. Phillips has been an advisor to IHRSA, the fitness club trade association, on a wide range of issues from exercise motivation factors to fitness related partnerships with health care. In his consulting role with Atwood Consulting Group, Dr. Phillips coaches clients on strategies for developing relationships with the medical community.
Strategic Planning and Marketing
Bill Tedrow is a bottom line business/marketing executive with over 30 years of diversified marketing and business experience in professional services, health care, technology, financial services and consumer products and services. He has a proven track record successfully implementing marketing programs and garnering market position and awareness in highly competitive environments.
Bill has helped launch new businesses, re-boot existing businesses and expand small to medium size companies. A graduate of Harvard he served on the Board of Governor for the Harvard Club of Boston for 7 years.
Bill Howland has 20 years in the health and sports club industry, was director of research and public relations for IHRSA and is one of the preeminent experts in the industry on the statistics/data which reflect individual club performance and the future of the industry as a whole. Bill received his MBA from Boston College.
Web & Technology Support
Reuben Fletcher has over 15 years of technology and web experience including software development, new product development and web technology. He has been the Chief Technology Officer for a company serving the recreational, resort industry. As a TAG team member, Reuben provides technology support across all of the Team’s disciplines.
Javier Matos serves as TAG’s web master and SEO consultant. In this capacity he works with other TAG team members to translate strategic and operational plans into optimal web and SEO programs.