Appointed CEO and president of IHRSA – now the Health & Fitness Association – in 2021 for her advocacy skills and experience, Liz Clark had no idea she was walking into a virtually bankrupt association. She talks to Kath Hudson about the turnaround

The most challenging part of my career has been saving IHRSA.

When I took over as CEO three years ago, the association was US$8m in debt. I was shown an ageing creditors’ report and I didn’t even know what it was because I’d only ever worked for wealthy associations that paid their bills on time!

Knowing I didn’t have enough money in the bank to make payroll the following week meant I didn’t sleep that night.

As a result of the pandemic, the whole industry went through such an awful period of closures and uncertainty and this was reflected in our association. Having to cancel our trade show in 2020, because of the pandemic, resulted in a loss of more than US$8m and was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I knew things were bad when I accepted the role, but I didn’t know quite how bad they were – both financially and organisationally. There was also a lot of frustration from former members who’d left the organisation because it wasn’t focusing on what they considered to be a priority.

In time, I went on a listening and learning tour, hearing what the members cared about and what they didn’t care about, apologising for the past and promising a better future, but the first thing I had to address was the financials. I had to look at all options – filing for bankruptcy, clearing house and getting as much money from salaries as possible to pay the bills, or trying to get a loan. I didn’t even know if we had enough credit for a loan!

I had to go at speed, so we ended up making major staffing changes within about 100 days. I’ve made personnel changes in the past, but this was something else: a holistic, big sweep of the entire executive team – people who had devoted their entire careers to this industry. That was really tough. I made the change quickly, because nobody wants these things to drag out. I did it myself and tried to do it with grace and kindness.

If you have a heart, going through that really impacts you personally. I wasn’t sleeping and lost chunks of hair.

For 18 months there was a lot of negotiating: I went through every contract, from our lease, to our tradeshow partners and our Salesforce account and asked for a longer payment terms, less interest or lower payments and I was able to get a loan at a really low interest rate. It was 18 months of putting out daily fires. I had a lot of things coming at me and had to take things day by day. Initially, it was all about staying alive, so there was some frustration from members that we weren’t going fast enough.

I’ve been in the seat for just over three years now, and the first year was salvaging and staying alive. The second year, we started to recover and now we’re in year three and starting to get healthy. I’m building out our team again and bringing people on board that I know are A plus players. In the last two years I’ve hired 11 new people.

Coming out the other side
I’ve definitely learned a lot, including how to fix an organisation, but that’s not a job I want to ever do again! It helped that I had the full support of a strong, smart board, who have given me the leeway and support to do what I needed to. My husband and sister-in-law also run trade associations, so my personal network is good.

If I could go back to the point where I was taking the job I would tell myself to do as much due diligence as I possibly could, so I knew what I was walking into financially. I had a lot of big, bold ambitions, thoughts and plans, but no resources to deliver them.

Coming from the confectionary/candy industry I felt both welcomed and as though I was on trial. I’m still on trial, but that’s my job. For the most part I was well received because I was hired to focus our organisation on advocacy and that’s been my whole career. The industry was fed up and frustrated about being neglected during COVID and I promised that wouldn’t happen again.

As a registered lobbyist in Washington DC, I’d spent my career talking to lawmakers, building relationships on behalf of industries and being a credible, informed voice. By age 30, I’d testified to both the House and the Senate on a number of occasions and that’s a very intimidating situation. You’ve got to have your facts and stats at hand. You can’t fudge them or fake it. If you don’t have the answer, you don’t make one up, you say I don’t have the answer, but I’ll get back to you.

I learned so much about being in the hot seat, how to pivot, to think before speaking and how to communicate what needs to be said, not just what people want to hear. As a result, I’m comfortable giving speeches, having conversations in the boardroom and on television and have also developed a thicker skin.

I hope I’ve brought hope to IHRSA – now rebranded as the Health & Fitness Association (HFA) – and because of that, we’re seeing a major turnaround.

It wasn’t just me that did this – I have a great team, a powerful board and fantastic members. We have the same shared goal now as our North Star and we’re about to hit the gas and go to the moon!

The Health and Fitness Association Show, the organisation’s conference and trade show, will take place in Las Vegas in March 2025. For more details, go to www.hcmmag.com/HFAShow