Meet Jeff Cozart of The Belmont Athletic Club in Long Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Cozart.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in Long Beach, not the nice areas by the beach, but the rougher parts that are known more for crime and gang activity. My dad was killed when I was a kid and my Mom raised me on her own. Her goal was to keep me alive and send me to college. She managed to do both, and for that, I will be forever grateful. I started working in health clubs my first year in college on a part-time basis. I had recently been introduced to racquetball by some friends and thought it would be fun to work at a place where I could play. A couple years later that club was sold and we were out of jobs. I was bouncing around doing odd jobs while still in school when the manager of another racquetball club called me. She was the manager from the first club I worked at and was now running the nicest racquetball club in the city. She asked if I would want to come there just to do the racquet re-stringing for them. I did and soon after I was offered some regular hours at the reception desk. After a little while I started moving up, I was offered a weekend management position and gladly took it. By this time, I was getting close to graduating and had to make some decisions, I really liked working in this industry but I wasn’t sure there was a future for me. I didn’t see a way to continue moving up there and this wasn’t my plan going into college; I was going to be a psychologist. As I contemplated leaving and following my degree the general manager of the club abruptly left. The owner of the club was on site but he did not get involved in the day to day running of the business. I saw an opportunity and took it; I made myself the new General Manager! I talked to the staff, I told them to bring issues that would normally go to the old GM to me and I just started doing the job. Consciously I told myself that I was just stepping up until the owner could decide what he wanted to do; subconsciously I believe that I had made a decision to stay in the industry I had come to love and to take advantage of an opportunity to be able to make a living doing it. Even though the owner officially made me the new General Manager about a month later it took me several years to accept that I wasn’t going to follow my plans of being a psychologist. I have never regretted making that choice; and after several more years when the owner decided it was time for him to retire from the business my decision paid off. He approached me about purchasing the business from him. I loved the business, we had the best people possible and I knew opportunities like this don’t often come to kids where I’m from. The owner, who was more father than boss to me, worked with me in how the sale could be structured since I didn’t have that kind of money just laying around. In 2012, we decided to form an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and used that structure to make the purchase.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest challenge for me has been learning to run a business while running a business! My degree is in psychology, not business management. And I am much more comfortable dealing with people that dealing with numbers. But I have had the benefit of working with a great mentor over the years who has made much more comfortable with the financial side of business. The hardest part of any business is getting started and my mentor had already tackled that challenge for us since we didn’t take over ownership until year 32 of its existence.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Belmont Athletic Club is a health club located in the Belmont Shore section of Long Beach. Our building dates back to 1927, it was originally The Belmont Theater. We have been in business for 37 years and a history based on health, community and tradition. We are club that is a reflection of our community. Our members are mostly made up of the long time established residents of this area in addition to some world class athletes. As a whole these people are some of the nicest people you would ever want to be around which makes serving them such a pleasure. What I think is the best thing our club has going for it is that we are an employee owned business. Being an ESOP has been special for us. Our employees take pride in the business just as an owner would because many of them are owners. I think this gives our club a special feel that is hard for other businesses to duplicate. When I ask people why they like The Belmont one thing seems to always come up, they say they like the feel, it has a comfortable community feel that empowers people to achieve their goals. I attribute this to two things, the strong foundation that the founding owner established and the incredible devotion our staff gives each day to provide the best health club we can for our members. Equipment from one health club to another tend to be similar, the difference most times comes down to the level of skill with the personal trainers and group exercise instructors. We have long been known to have an incredibly skilled group of professionals in those areas. Another different aspect to our health club is we have an Irish pub inside the club that is open to the public. It’s called Murphy’s and in addition to having the best sandwiches and salads in the area it has over 70 different beers and an outdoor balcony. Our pub adds to the community, friendly feel of our club.

What were you like growing up?
I think growing up I was like most kids. Living in the areas we lived in I got in to my share of trouble, but I managed to avoid things like gangs and drugs. I think because I was never a follower. I did not do things because someone else did it. I was the kid that would stand back and look at a situation and think, “how is this going to work out for me?” I was a very analytical kid and I think that has carried over into my adult life.

Contact Info:

• Address: 4918 E. 2nd Street Long Beach, CA 90803
• Website: belmontathleticclub.com
• Phone: (562) 438-1176
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: The Belmont Athletic Club
• Facebook: @belmontathleticclub