Les Mills - Legend

New Zealand fitness industry heavyweight, Les Mills, has died at the age of 91. Les Mills founded Les Mills World of Fitness. Their fitness programs are sold by thousands of gyms worldwide. In the US alone there are about 4,000 gyms selling a Les Mills program. If you've seen BODYPUMP, BODYPUMP HEAVY, or BODYATTACK then these are Les Mills intellectual property. I often joke that we'll soon see PUMPIDYPUMPPUMP as a brand. Maybe BOOTYPUMP. There is no limit to the number of PUMPS possible.

Les Mills was a New Zealand Commonwealth Games field athlete who won a gold medal in the discus. He also won a silver medal in the shot put. Later, he coached Beatrice Faumuina to a world championship in the discus. 

Apart from sport and fitness, Mills was mayor of Auckland for eight years. He was big man, big in character and stature. His son built the business he founded into an international success story, but back in NZ he had little understanding of how big his name was. When visiting Texas, he was surprised at people's reaction upon meeting him, they were surprised Les Mills was a real person, not some French company!

I sometimes use Les Mills as an example of NZ's soft power. 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/people/celebrity/gym-chain-founder-and-olympian-les-mills-snr-has-died

Two Global Innovative Businesses

I am often told, New Zealand doesn't make anything or have any worldwide business presence. This is complete nonsense and I have shown this to be so on numerous occasions. Two businesses I have never mentioned before are examples of NZ businesses being world leaders:

1. Animation Research

If you've watched sports on the television, then at some point you've seen graphics designed, developed and provided by Ian Taylor's company. They are particularly dominant in golf, cricket, and yachting. Their stuff is jaw droppingly beautiful, that's how good it is.

2. Les Mills

There is a Les Mills fitness programme in more than 20,000 gyms worldwide. I was recently reminded of this when a friend in the US said she went to the local gym and enjoyed Les Mills. I looked up the gym, and there it was, on their website they were offering Les Mills exercise.

Both of these businesses started out small and grew organically. Their growth is despite the NZ government boasting of their accomplishments but offering little assistance. I'd rather see my tax paid dollar going into building business, rather than providing the government funds to put in their back pockets.