Front of House Manager
Virgin Active

Satesh M

00:00:03 Okay, my name is Satesh M. I am Front of House Manager and I work at a beautiful building at Canary Wharf for Virgin Active Classic. Front of House Manager involves participating in every single activity in the building, so you’re working with the fitness professionals, you’re working with the personal trainers, you’re working with the sales team, you’re working with the health bar, you’re working with the members, and you’re making it an incredible experience for everybody. It’s the heart and soul of the club.

00:00:31 At school I was quite a geek. I used to study a lot. I was very naughty. The one thing that I did realise at school was that I was very good with people and that I anticipated the needs of my friends, so when somebody was down I used to be there for them. Throughout my school activity and my careers, I took part in every single club. I did some mentoring at school. As I grew up, I did some coaching as well, so that has been something that has always been with me at school. It wasn’t easy. I was bullied at school, which was horrible but made me stronger as a person and it made me fight for myself.

00:01:18 I went to a state school, so I didn’t have the privilege some of my friends did. They went to a grammar school. I also finished that, didn’t do very well, did a BTEC national diploma, which was really good. It was an alternative to A levels. I did that and went to university. I got really involved again with the council, setting up activities, fundraising, and that’s how my charity work started, which I’ve been doing throughout my life.

00:01:51 When I left university, I did realise what I wanted to do was to work with people and help people, but I got scared. I got scared, got lazy, didn’t want to go out and look for a job, didn’t want to fill out applications, didn’t want to do my CV, so I joined my father. While working with my father, and doing the charity work and doing my part-time work at the health club, I realised that either I needed to move now and make a difference in people’s lives or it wasn’t going to happen. I spoke to a few friends and they all mentioned that when I was with them on the days that I worked with my father in the city, I was a different person to when I was working at the health club or I was doing my charity work, and it was two different people. If they could put a mirror in front of me and they could see how motivated, and energetic, and inspired I was when I left the other two jobs, that’s what I needed to see, and I think for me that’s the turning point that I realised, but it was only… I think you get a gap. When you go with what you feel, that’s when you know what you’re going to be good at.

00:03:03 I see myself in two roles: either being a general manager of a club, or mentoring, and supporting and coaching in the next five years. So I have, with my general manager, I’m accountable to him, but I also have a regional manager that trains me and my team, and I’d like to do that. So I’d like to go out, travel the Midlands, travel the UK, and train on just the ethos or what the principles of Virgin Active are, which is, you know, having fun while you’re working, giving great customer service, challenging the norm, so trying to do something every day, and that’s just great. So I think just inspiring more people.

00:03:48 End