Planet Fitness names Colleen Keating as new CEO

Planet Fitness on Tuesday named Colleen Keating as its new CEO.

She will replace interim CEO Craig Benson, effective June 10, the fitness center chain said in a press release.

Keating joins Planet Fitness from FirstKey Homes, where she worked as CEO for about four years. 

“Colleen’s appointment is the culmination of an extensive search process conducted by the Board of Directors,” Planet Fitness board Chairman Stephen Spinelli Jr. said. “We are confident that Colleen is an exceptional leader with the desired skills, experience and culture-first mindset necessary to accelerate Planet Fitness’s next phase of growth.”

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Her past professional experience spans hospitality, real estate and franchise management, having held various positions at InterContinental Hotels Group and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Planet Fitness said.

Benson will remain on the Planet Fitness board, according to the company.

Keating said she is “eager to begin working alongside the management team and hit the ground running as we position the business for sustainable growth and value creation.”

A Planet Fitness gym is seen in New York on Nov. 2, 2023. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The fitness chain’s board named Benson interim CEO when it chose to “transition to new leadership,” and Chris Rondeau left the top job in mid-September. 

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The company has been implementing a “New Growth Model” as it navigates an uncertain macroeconomic environment and other challenges. That strategy is centered on “enhancing returns and reducing the capital requirements for opening and maintaining a Planet Fitness franchise location,” Benson said.

Colleen Keating joins Planet Fitness from FirstKey Homes, where she worked as CEO for about four years. (Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In recent weeks, the company has faced backlash over its policy of letting people use locker rooms that fit their gender identity.

The chain saw a $400 million dive in valuation from $5.3 billion to $4.9 billion just days after revoking an Alaska woman’s membership for snapping photos of a transgender woman, who was biologically male, shaving in the women’s locker room, according to a Daily Mail report.

In an earlier statement to Fox News Digital, Planet Fitness chief corporate affairs officer McCall Gosselin clarified company policy on gender identity.

“As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment,” he said in the statement.

“Our gender identity non-discrimination policy, states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity. The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated.”

Nearly 19 million Planet Fitness members use the company’s more than 2,500 locations.

FOX Business’ Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

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