Dmitry Grishin about World Class. MONACO

Dmitry, tell us about your career as you got a story of an incredible career growth?
Well, I can say so. The perfect career story. I joined the company 12 years ago. I started as a fitness coach, then held a position of a supervisor, then became a fitness manager and ended up managing the club. Indeed I can say that I am inspired as in fact this is the first European World Class club, which is a very ambitious and interesting place. If we talk about my career, as I already mentioned in some of my interviews, I am in the right place. I love people and I love that special atmosphere around the club which gives me a boost of energy to implement new projects and to conduct new trainings. Undeniably, my entire career story is the story of World Class. Starting with the basic knowledge of anatomy and physiology of modern trainings, while already holding positions in World Class, I was doing my MBA. Then such an ambitious project in Monaco, which is truly a great project. So, I can say, that World Class is truly rich in its career and success stories. Above all we work like a big close-knit family which launches in the market such an interesting project.

World Class club format is something completely new to France? How did people react? Do French clients understand what they are paying for?
I have a lot to say here. When European customer comes to World Class, there is a big challenge for the sales representative. One understands, that he or she can get the same training for €49 per month and here the sales representative says: “our club is exclusive, our membership is exclusive so the price of such exclusivity is several thousands of Euros”. Therefore the first challenge is to show not just the price, but the value. Further challenge is to fulfill this understanding of the value with top notch services, unique programs and top certified coaches. In the grand scheme of things, the first task is to present the club. Monaco is a place where discount of whether €100 or on some occasions €1000 does not really matter. People here do not think that paying a lot for fitness is worth it whatsoever. Well, I am really happy that Europeans started thinking otherwise as since we opened, lots of clients joined us. After some time passes, they say: “I risked joining your club thinking why should I pay so much more and now I really understand that it is all worth it: that smile of the receptionist, correct algorithms of trainings, the feedback you give me… Also that atmosphere that you created here is well worth it. I am renewing my membership with a great pleasure for the next year, and I invite all of my friends to join the World Class family”.

Now I would like to ask you about your day-to-day life. Firstly, anything Russian you miss in here? What do you miss most of all?

I can say that I don’t have time to miss anything as in reality I have a startup, new project, new business and a manager’s position. If in Moscow there is a clear structure, here i hold in my hands marketing, communications and operations from a to z. So no time to be bored.

I meant maybe you miss Russian food? Buckwheat, Rotfront candy bars?
You know, Russian presence in Monaco is pretty strong. If you really crave buckwheat or Russian candies, there are special shops to buy these from, which are, by the way, very successful shops. One thing I miss for sure is the speed of life, the speed of doing business. The thing is that Monaco and Russia, France and Russia have absolutely different concepts of speed. Learning possibilities, self-education possibilities, attending seminars – that is what I miss. To be fair, we advance in other things here: we learn languages, we learn to communicate, to attract resources and to build a strong team.