Pros
This job will be completely different depending on which location you work at and the owners you work for. I really lucked out working for the owners of this location. They provided great leadership, but allowed me to manage the facility and use my skills to the best of my ability. They never made me feel inadequate, even though it was my first time working in a management role. The members were also great and I was so lucky to be able to work with amazingly friendly and dedicated personal trainers. Some of these people will remain my good friends for the rest of my life. I usually worked only M-F, 10-7, which is an unheard of schedule in the fitness industry. Pretty awesome. My owners sent me to all expenses paid training seminars in 2011 and 2013 which were offered by corporate. It was invaluable training that really helped me learn what the company stands for and how they wanted business to be done. It's a great thing to find an employer who will invest in their staff. The only reason I resigned from my job was because I was going through some difficulties in my personal life, and needed to move away. I wish I didn't have to quit because I really miss it now. :)
Cons
I also did some personal training in addition to a full time management schedule, so toward the end of my time there, I was working nearly 12 hour days (training was required to be done outside of my office hours. This could be different at other AF locations). I was training an additional 10-20 hours per week on my own time and 40+ hours in the office (I opened and closed every day, M-F), but the additional personal training I did was completely my choice. I really worked myself into the ground during my last 6 months there, but I needed the money and I just loved the three ladies I trained every week. Sweet people. About 80% of my work each day involved heavy duty cleaning. It was a very active and physically taxing job because I was constantly cleaning, scrubbing, moping, sweeping, dusting, wiping, etc every square inch of the gym. I worked alone most of the time, so it was really a lot of work to be done every day by just one person. If you don't like to clean, don't apply for this job. It's a lot of work and you have to do it every day. It gets very tedious. I did it for 3.5 years, but I am a perfectionist and really wanted my gym to be known for cleanliness, so it sort of suited me. I did get burnt out several times, though, and really felt I needed more help. About 3 months before I resigned, I had to ask the owners to hire some help for me so I could reduce my office hours to 32 per week. It was becoming too much, but I was also dealing with stress outside of work which made the workload more than I could handle. Customers and members can be difficult, but that's true for any sales or customer service job. I have a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science, so this job really suited me and gave me the opportunity to do personal training on the side as I wanted. Again, the rules and how much responsibility you have within the facility will vary depending on who the owners are. All locations are independently owned and operated. Some locations don't give their managers much control of the business. My owners let me run the gym entirely (opening, closing, membership tours, sales, orientations, personal training, purchasing supplies and some equipment, all cleaning, staff/trainer management, developing rules and policies, some marketing and networking with neighboring businesses, etc etc) except for making huge purchases and handling payroll/accounting, etc. They handled those things. As far as compensation goes, that will also vary depending on where you work, but my owners gave me $11/hr to start. I received several raises and left my position after 3.5 years at $14/hr plus monthly sales commissions, and personal training commissions. I think this amount is considered very generous for this job. It is lower than you'd expect for a management role at most companies, but not bad. The biggest problem for me was that they didn't offer any benefits other than 10 days of vacation per year plus 6 paid holidays. I think even that is rare at most Anytime Fitness locations. I really needed medical and dental insurance, so that was a big negative.