A Cork-born entrepreneur, who opened his first gym outlet at the beginning of the pandemic, has just launched MaxLife Apparel, a luxury athleisure apparel range, and has announced plans to open a second Max Life location in the next 3 to 6 months. The new activewear clothing brand – MaxLife Apparel – has just launched with its first range with both women and men’s garments including leggings, sports bras, crop tops, tracksuit bottoms, training vests and half zips.
Founder, Brian O’Sullivan, said that while the first 12 months of his business could not have been more challenging, his dedication to his vision and his determination to bring it to fruition meant that letting Covid scupper his plans was simply “not an option” and the pandemic actually gave him the gift of time to add another offering to his business.
Max Life fitness are currently recruiting for positions in personal training, front of house staff, and marketing, with plans to triple the workforce from 7 – 20 in the next 12 months.
Speaking of his experience over the last 2 years, Mr. Sullivan commented,
“I’m glad I did not know, when we opened our doors in March 2020, that this could not have been a more challenging time to launch a new business! Rolling lockdowns over a year made it really difficult for us to establish ourselves. Of course there were days that I questioned whether or not we’d ever get a chance to make it work. But during the closures, I decided that I would put my energy into an idea I had been toying with anyway. I used this time to bring MaxLife Apparel to life. We sampled from China, Turkey, etc. looking for the right fabrics, quality, and material. After a year of a research, the product development and testing phases were completed. Like many, we have faced logistical hurdles as a result of the global logistics crisis, but we were delighted to have launched our first line, Reflect, in time for Christmas.
In the meantime, slowly but surely, over the course of a year Max Life acquired new clients and we have now built up a reputation in the industry as a best-in-class fitness provider. So much so that we now need more people on our team. We are excited about getting some more great people on board. The jobs market in Cork is really strong – lots of talent out there – some really good Personal Trainers. It’s a good time for the industry – for both employers and employees alike”.
Since July 2021, once restrictions were lifted, Max Life’s gym membership has grown at an increasing pace. The Wilton location currently has 1,100 members and they are on target to sign up 2000 members in 2022.
Mr. O Sullivan has also announced plans to open a 2nd location in the Little island area. He’s looking to expand into a 20sft warehouse.
Max Life is an official Hammer Strength Training Centre – a range of best-in-class training equipment – one of the first in Cork to be certified in this. It gives members access to bespoke and premium training equipment which sets it apart from other gyms. The fees are very competitive – clients can avail of a choice of 40 classes a week for just €35 a month.
Mr. O Sullivan continued, “One of the real positives that emerged during the pandemic is that people, with more time on their hands, really began to focus on their health and fitness, and their overall wellness. More people than ever before have come to see working out as a way of looking after not only their physical fitness but their mental wellbeing also. The classes we offer seem to be a major draw for people and the gamut of fitness enthusiasts ranges from 18-year-olds to those in their 50s and above. The way people frequent the gym has changed too – the key is that a gym needs to be flexible – it needs to fit into people’s time schedules – between work, children, college etc. Not everyone works off the same timetable, so you need to accommodate all your members. Where once mornings and evenings were the more popular times, now with people working from home, many want to come in on their lunch break, which means afternoons are popular now too”.
The Future
Mr. O’Sullivan concluded, “The plan is to expand into a franchise model. Low-cost, high-performance gym models are my inspiration – high volumes are key, and Max Life is enjoying rapid growth in this area. We are committed to continuously investing in state of the art, best in class equipment, giving customers great value and unparalleled access at really affordable pricing”.
Max Life will begin with expansion throughout Munster – they already looking at premises in bigger towns and will broaden their scope across the country in the next 2/3 years. The plans for MaxLife Apparel are even further reaching with global expansion plans to meet the growing needs and demands of the athleisure market.
