Georgie Delanie MBE: From chance meetings to 2000 gyms. The story of The Great Outdoor Gym Company

Karmic Capitalist - businesses with purpose

"If going to a TGO gym can help unlock your potential not only for your life, but for your community, for your planet, that's the end game."
Georgie Delaney MBE isn't short on a big vision.
But critically - she's also not short on taking action.
It was wonderful to talk to her about setting up and growing The Great Outdoor Gym Company (TGO). From a seed of inspiration seeing outdoor gyms in China after the Beijing Olympics, to high level backing in the London 2012 Olympics, to now having more than 2000 outdoor gyms globally. It's been a heck of a journey so far.
Oh, and on the way, invites to exhibit at COP21 and COP22.
And then there was the MBE...
To be fair, a TGO gym is no ordinary gym. It generates power. It charges phones. It supports tree planting. It fosters community.
And all while staying true to its mission and promoting inclusivity, unity and charity.
This is quite a different episode. Of course, we talk about the specifics of the business journey Georgie's been on - the challenges and victories of going from startup to success and international scale.
We talk about the role of luck, and how luck often has 2 bookends which are under your control. The first is continually taking action, which invariably creates more opportunities for luck to find you. And the second is what you do with the luck that's made its way to you.
But we also talk about religion. Georgie is very much a Christian, and guided by Christian values which manifest in how she runs her business.
Most visibly in love, and in community.
Love sits at the heart of how she started and grew the Great Outdoor Gym Company. She founded it with people she loved, to serve a humanity she loves while serving a planet we all should love more.
And that translates to community. The gyms often give opportunities for communities to form. She talks movingly about the interfaith community that's sprung up around one of her gyms in East London.
Georgie's is a business with purpose and values very much at its heart. And it's a business that wears that heart on its sleeve.
A deeper dive. And I think for both of us, a bit of therapy!
Enjoy.

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