June 2016 Cover Story Preview: Todd Smith and Las Vegas Athletic Clubs – Continuing the Smith-Palluck Legacy
Posted: June 7, 2016 in Other News
Todd Smith
Among Club Insider’s Mission and Objectives, being a reporter and guardian of the health and fitness club industry’s history is paramount in supporting those tasks. In January and February of 2002, Club Insider Publisher, Norm Cates, reported on and forever locked into our publication’s archives the story of Rudy and Virginia Smith across a 2-part cover story. Already having completed a legendary career with more than 100 years of experience between them, Rudy and Virginia took on the task of transforming a 4-club chain known as Las Vegas Athletic Clubs (LVAC). Across the totality of their careers, their list of colleagues, business associates and team members reads like a Who’s Who list of the most well known industry pioneers and legends, to whom we all owe so much. Todd Smith, along with his brother Chad, were deeply entrenched in this industry from their own early days, and those whom they were exposed to and learned from during their developmental years ensured a long-term future in the industry their parents helped build and loved so much.
The great Rudy and Virginia Smith have since passed on, and Todd now leads LVAC as its Chairman and CEO. In this role, he represents the continuing changing of the guard our still young, but maturing, industry has been experiencing over the past decade. Dedicated to the work of their elders but possessing a vision of the future driven by the idea of what can be, these new generation leaders continue the legacy they have been tasked with guarding. Being a second-generation industry participant myself, I admit my view is biased, but regardless, I do believe it is an interesting dynamic our unique industry possesses as a strength heading forward. As you will hear from Todd, LVAC is proud to be a multi-generational family company, and they do not shy away from it.
Compared to the LVAC of then, the LVAC of today is night and day, and the work to enable further progress continues. Contained in the following interview with Todd Smith are many lessons from the club management team and ownership group that literally has hundreds of years of industry experience behind them.
Read all about it in the upcoming June 2016 Edition of Club Insider!
