Help
Add this page to your book
Show book (0 pages)
Suggest pagesRosemary Conley
Rosemary Jean Neil Conley CBE DL (née Weston, 19 December 1946, in Leicester)[1][2] is an English businesswoman, author and broadcaster on exercise and health. She is the founder and president of Rosemary Conley Diet And Fitness Clubs, a franchise-based organisation that is, alongside Slimming World and Weight Watchers, one of the "big three" weight loss organisations in the UK. She has released several exercise videos and books.
[edit] Biography
Rosemary Conley was born in 1946. She was educated at Bushloe High School and Goddards Secretarial College.[1] After leaving school she studied for an RSA in Exercise to Music.[2] After losing weight herself, Conley began by running evening classes for local women looking to lose weight in 1972, under the name the Slimming & Good Grooming Club.[1][2] She built up a number of slimming clubs which she later sold to IPC for £50,000,[3] working for the company to oversee the expansion of the club network.[2] After suffering from gallstones, she adopted a low-fat diet as an alternative to surgery, and the resulting fat-loss inspired her to promote the diet to others.[2] She became nationally famous in 1988 via her book The Hip & Thigh Diet, which went on to sell over two million copies.[2] The Rosemary Conley approach is characterised by a low-fat diet regime, but what distinguishes the organisation from its competitors is that classes also offer a 45 minute aerobic workout with a trained instructor. Thus it provides a fitness club for people wanting an alternative to gym membership rather than simply another club for dieters, although there are similar product endorsements of foods and kitchen equipment. Conley's personal fortune expanded as the Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Club franchise expanded to 180 clubs by 2004, with 80,000 members.[2] In 1998, the cost of starting a Rosemary Conley franchise was £12,000.[3]
Conley has had dozens of books published as well as many videos.
In 1999, Conley was a Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire. In 2001, Conley became the first woman to be granted the Freedom of the City of Leicester.[4] She was awarded a CBE in 2004.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c The International Who's Who of Women 2002, Europa, ISBN 978-1857431223, p. 113
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bridge, Rachel (2004) How I Made It: 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal All, Kogan Page, ISBN 978-0749443115, p. 43-46
- ^ a b Cooper, Glenda (1998) "Profile: The slimmer's evangelist; Rosemary Conley", The Independent, 4 January 1998, retrieved 2010-11-14
- ^ "Celebrity health - Rosemary Conley", BBC, 23 January 2006, retrieved 2010-11-14
[edit] External links
|
|
|||||
 |
This article about a British businessperson born in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
