Behind every successful business stands a leader with a distinctive approach. For Latin America’s largest gym chain, that leader is Edgard Corona, whose management philosophy has guided Smart Fit from a single location to over 1,500 gyms across 15 countries. His leadership style offers valuable insights for anyone looking to build and scale a successful organization.
Horizontal Management: Empowering Teams for Growth
Unlike many traditional business leaders who maintain tight control over decisions, Corona has built Smart Fit around what he calls a “horizontal management” structure. This approach pushes decision-making authority down through the organization, giving team members significant autonomy to solve problems and drive initiatives.
“The business environment in Latin America is not a simple environment. It’s inhospitable,” Corona has pointed out. “If this person is surviving well, they have learned something. So we visit stores, talk, ask questions. We always come up with an insight. The only place we shouldn’t be is in the office. We have to go around, visit, ask questions.”
This hands-on yet empowering style has been crucial to Smart Fit’s rapid expansion. Rather than creating bottlenecks by requiring top-down approvals, Corona’s approach allows the organization to respond quickly to local market conditions while maintaining consistent quality standards.
The dono da Smart Fit puts special emphasis on developing people at all levels of the company. By trusting team members with real responsibility, he creates opportunities for growth that benefit both individuals and the organization. This philosophy became particularly valuable during the company’s international expansion, where local teams needed flexibility to adapt the Smart Fit model to different cultural contexts.
Leading Through Crisis: The COVID-19 Test
Corona’s leadership qualities faced their greatest test during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the temporary closure of every Smart Fit location. Rather than panicking or making shortsighted cuts, Corona maintained a steady hand and communicated a clear vision for navigating the crisis.
First, he preserved cash by pausing expansion plans while avoiding unnecessary layoffs—a decision that kept the company’s talent intact for the eventual recovery. Second, he accelerated digital initiatives that allowed Smart Fit to maintain member engagement even while physical locations remained closed. His team quickly developed online training programs and even acquired a digital fitness platform to strengthen Smart Fit’s virtual offerings.
Most impressively, Corona managed to execute a highly successful IPO in July 2021, while many fitness businesses were still struggling with pandemic aftereffects. This bold move raised R$2.3 billion, providing Smart Fit with the capital to emerge from the pandemic stronger than before and resume aggressive expansion. The fact that investors showed such confidence during an uncertain time for the fitness industry speaks volumes about trust in Corona’s leadership.
“No Comfort Zone” Culture
A central tenet of Corona’s leadership philosophy is what he calls a “no comfort zone” culture—constantly challenging the status quo and refusing to become complacent. “We must not get comfortable with things as they are,” he often reminds his team, emphasizing that growth comes from continually pushing boundaries.
This mindset explains why Edgard Corona, despite already having a successful premium gym brand in Bio Ritmo, was willing to create Smart Fit—a new concept that could potentially cannibalize his existing business. “If I’m going to lose members to low-cost clubs, I’d rather lose them to my own low-cost clubs than to my competitors,” he explained about this strategic decision.
The dono da Smart Fit extends this philosophy throughout the organization, encouraging teams to constantly seek improvements, test new ideas, and adapt to changing market conditions. This appetite for innovation has kept Smart Fit at the forefront of fitness industry trends, from gym design to technology integration and new workout concepts.
Corona’s leadership approach combines strategic vision with practical execution, empowerment with accountability, and ambition with attention to detail. These balanced qualities have enabled Smart Fit to maintain a consistent brand experience across thousands of locations while continuing to evolve and grow in a highly competitive industry.
