In every industry, some leaders focus on scale, and then there are those who focus on significance. The rare few manage to balance both building organizations that grow not just wider, but deeper. In a field where trends often outshine fundamentals, her approach stands out for its quiet conviction: real transformation begins with clarity, consistency, and a genuine understanding of the people you serve.
At the center of this philosophy is Suzanne Robb, COO & Co-Founder of Alloy Personal Training, a leader whose journey reflects decades of discipline, service, and operational excellence. Her work sits at the intersection of science-backed fitness, business scalability, and human-centered leadership, an intersection she didn’t arrive at by chance, but through years of lived experience that shaped her belief in systems that uplift both clients and business owners. As Alloy expands at an unprecedented pace, her role has evolved into that of a steward protecting quality, strengthening foundations, and ensuring that growth never comes at the cost of the mission.
Her perspective is shaped by a remarkable blend of analytical rigor, operational mastery, and a deep understanding of community-driven wellness. What began as a personal connection to a small training studio eventually transformed into a leadership journey that now influences thousands of lives, entrepreneurs, and communities. And with new national expansion possibilities emerging, her strategic vision has only sharpened, grounded in a principle she holds firm: if it doesn’t scale with excellence, it doesn’t stay.
Continue reading to discover the story behind her impact.
Purpose at the Heart of Her Leadership
As COO of Alloy Personal Training, Suzanne Robb defines her mission with uncommon clarity: to serve others through systems that genuinely change lives. Fitness, for her, has never been about vanity or competition. It has always been about empowering people, especially adults over 40, to feel strong, confident, and capable at every stage of life. She believes this demographic often lacks what truly sustains long-term wellness: community, accountability, and a sense of belonging. Alloy fills that gap with intention.
Alongside this purpose, Suzanne is deeply committed to the success of franchisees. She builds systems, technology, and operational structures that enable them to thrive even if they come in with no prior business experience. As she often emphasizes, “If franchisees aren’t profitable, the franchisor isn’t successful.” Everything she creates is designed to remove friction and offer owners a clear, consistent pathway to results.
From Client to Co-Founder: Evolution of Her Career and Leadership Style
Suzanne’s connection to Alloy began long before her official start date. She first walked into Rick Mayo’s original gym in June 1994, shortly after the birth of her fourth child. For 16 years, she trained consistently as a client, an experience that became the foundation of her leadership. Having firsthand knowledge of the product, she understood its transformative power before ever stepping into an operational role.
Her journey unfolded across three defining chapters:
- The Client Years (1994–2010)shaped her understanding of the brand’s soul community, coaching, and consistency. Alongside this, her career as a microbiologist and medical office manager quietly refined her operational discipline.
- The Licensing Years (2010–2019)marked her transition into the architect behind Alloy’s global systems. After Rick invited her to help formalize his consulting work, she built the frameworks, manuals, and processes that later served more than 2,500 gyms across 25 countries. In 2014, she purchased equity and officially became a business partner.
- The Franchise Years (2019–Present)began with a pivotal decision: shifting from licensing to franchising to gain more control over implementation. Becoming COO and co-founder of the franchise model, followed immediately by the onset of COVID, shaped her leadership more than any other moment. Though franchise sales halted for 13 months, their first location opened successfully in June 2020, proving the resilience of Alloy’s small-group model.
A defining leadership moment came when Rick’s rapid flow of ideas overwhelmed the operational pipeline. Suzanne recalls the day she told him, “The answer to your next idea is absolutely no. I need to catch my breath.” His immediate response, stepping away so she could rebuild the structure, cemented a partnership based on sincere candor, vision, and discipline.
Operational Principles That Guide Every Decision
Today, Suzanne’s leadership rests on principles designed for long-term success. She believes every Alloy location must deliver a consistent, premium experience, something only possible through strong systems and disciplined execution. Scalability sits at the core of her approach; if a process cannot support hundreds of studios, it doesn’t make the cut. Most importantly, she ensures that franchisees never feel alone. Their journey is supported through real estate guidance, onboarding, training, KPIs, and ongoing coaching. Her belief is simple: scaling is not about speed, it is about sustainability.
Challenges in Building a Premium, Scalable Brand
Scaling Alloy has required precision, adaptability, and unwavering commitment to excellence. The transition from licensing to franchising demanded a complete rebuild of training systems, technology, manuals, processes, and governance. Launching the franchise model in 2019 meant facing the immediate shock of the pandemic. Yet the first franchise opening during this turbulent time affirmed the strength of the model.
Maintaining culture while expanding has been equally essential. Suzanne insists on hiring people who embody Alloy’s values: service, clarity, and sincere candor. With more than 330 franchises awarded across 37 states, she carries the responsibility of accelerating openings without compromising quality. Territory planning and protecting owner profitability remain top priorities. Scaling a premium brand, to Suzanne, is a continuous process of refinement guided by uncompromising standards.
Staying Ahead in a Rapidly Evolving Industry
In an industry fueled by trends, Suzanne remains grounded in fundamentals. She describes herself as curious, disciplined, and committed to what truly works. “I don’t chase trends. I filter them,” she explains. Every new idea must answer two questions:
- Will this improve client outcomes?
- Will this improve franchisee profitability?
If not, it doesn’t enter the system. Her approach to staying ahead includes:
- Testing innovations internally before rollout
- Using technology to improve coach workflow and client experience
- Relying on data, dashboards, and predictive metrics
- Listening closely to franchisees, teams, and clients
- Learning from fellow operators and COOs
- Staying rooted in Alloy’s niche, the active aging population
Innovation, for Suzanne, is intentional, not performative.
Service as the Foundation of Her Leadership
Service influences every part of Suzanne’s leadership philosophy. She leads through relationships, not transactions; communicates with sincere candor; celebrates team wins of every size; hires people with a heart for service; and removes barriers so others can excel.
Above all, she leads with gratitude. Franchisees are trusting Alloy with their future, and she believes her responsibility is to honor that trust through systems built to help them succeed.
Strengths That Ground Her Success
Suzanne’s strengths are a blend of scientific thinking, operational mastery, lived experience, and personal grounding. Her background in microbiology trained her to see patterns and systems. 16 years of managing a surgical practice taught her how to run efficient operations and support people under pressure.
Being an Alloy client for more than 16 years gives her deep empathy for members. She leads with directness anchored in care, a style she calls sincere candor. Her daily gratitude practice keeps her centered and humble. And as a mother of four, grandmother of ten, and former respite foster parent, she brings clarity, responsibility, and compassion to every decision. “I’ve lived many lives inside one,” she says, “and every one of them prepared me for the work I do now.”
Maintaining Balance Through Intentional Living
For Suzanne, balance does not happen by accident. She prioritizes time with her family, delegates effectively, and builds systems that run without constant manual oversight. Gratitude anchors her mindset, and physical activity keeps her strong. She also protects time for rest, hiking, reading, and being in nature, reminders of peace beyond the demands of leadership.
Vision for the Future And Advice for Women Leaders
Looking ahead, Suzanne is deeply energized by the work on the horizon. She is focused on opening awarded territories efficiently, achieving royalty sufficiency to reinvest more heavily into franchisee support, and building a world-class operations team rooted in service and competence. She remains committed to serving the active-aging population, a group she believes deserves science-backed programming and spaces where they feel seen.
Her advice to women aspiring to lead in the fitness industry is heartfelt and hard-earned: lead with service, speak with sincere candor, master operations, stay endlessly curious, build a strong network, care for your body, practice gratitude daily, and never diminish your strengths. She believes women are reshaping this industry, and there is ample room for many more.
A Transformative New Phase: Alloy Expands Into 2,000 Additional Territories
A milestone moment in Alloy’s recent history and in Suzanne’s leadership is the expansion of its available U.S. markets by approximately 2,000 additional viable territories. Updated demographic, income, and population density data revealed that Alloy’s total addressable domestic market is far larger than previously estimated. The discovery was energizing and humbling for Suzanne. “It moved the goalpost in a really good way,” she reflects. “We suddenly realized the runway is much bigger than we thought, thousands of potential communities we can serve, thousands of business owners we can empower, and thousands more adults over 40 we can help live stronger, healthier lives.”
This expansion intensifies her operational responsibilities. Her systems must now support a footprint capable of scaling into the thousands, which requires tightening and strengthening every pre-opening, training, support, staffing, and SOP structure. Her guiding principle feels more relevant than ever: If it doesn’t scale, it doesn’t stay.
She is equally committed to protecting quality while expanding, ensuring Alloy grows intentionally rather than rapidly. Supporting franchise profitability becomes even more crucial as new owners enter the system, many of them first-time entrepreneurs. Strengthening the corporate support team with individuals who embody sincere candor and service-driven leadership is essential to sustainably meeting this new demand.
This recalibrated territory map shifts Alloy into a new league. The brand is no longer a franchise with a few hundred potential markets; it is one with thousands, uniquely positioned to lead the active-aging segment across the nation. For Suzanne, who has spent decades building Alloy’s operational backbone, this moment is deeply validating. “We already knew we had something special,” she says. “This just confirmed how big the impact can be. The numbers changed, but the mission didn’t. Now it’s simply our job to scale with excellence.”
Suzanne Robb – https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-robb-1653a81a/
Alloy Personal Training – https://alloyfranchise.com/
