Self Esteem Brands Names Two International Leaders to New Posts
Posted: May 25, 2023 in Chains
Self Esteem Brands
WOODBURY, MN – Self Esteem Brands (SEB), the parent company of a global portfolio of fitness, health and wellness franchise brands with more than 5,500 locations around the world, announces two appointments to newly-created leadership roles that will help advance the next phase of global growth. Taka Suzuki has been named Regional Vice President, Japan and Asia-Pacific, while Jonathan Midttun joins SEB as International Technology Lead.
“Expanding our leadership team across global regions is the right move at the right time,” said Sander van den Born, executive vice president, international, SEB. “Our existing global footprint is incredibly strong, and these moves will ensure we continue to deliver operational excellence for existing master franchisees, scale our studio brands, and keep pace with consumer demands for more digitally-driven health and wellness experiences.”
Suzuki brings a wealth of consumer and digital marketing experience to this newly-created role that will help lead expansion of studio brands for SEB in the Asia-Pacific region. He will work first to help expand Fast Fitness Japan, SEB’s largest master franchisee operating more than 1,100 Anytime Fitness clubs, into the studio club space. He will additionally support efforts for master franchisees throughout the region to modernize their operations and improve engagement of members through the Anytime Fitness digital ecosystem. More broadly, Suzuki will work closely with van den Born and the SEB international leadership team to scale both clubs and studios across the Asia-Pacific region in 2024 and beyond. An avid fitness enthusiast, Suzuki spent more than 17 years leading Subway and Pizza Hut franchises in Japan. He will continue to be based in Tokyo.
Midttun joins SEB at a key moment as consumer demand grows for digital fitness offerings and clubs need to keep pace with their operations and engagement. He will work closely with the international system operations and software as a service (SaaS) at SEB, as well as key vendors, to implement and scale global technology solutions, platforms and initiatives with a focus on bridging each country’s individual needs, regulations and priorities. Midttun’s experience includes more than a decade in member management for the fitness industry, working in solution architect and product ambassador roles with such brands and large fitness chains as Virgin Active, Pure Gym, Fitness First, GoodLife Fitness, and Life Time. Most recently Midttun was a partner at software company Exerp. He will continue to be based in Denmark.
