Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to Gymshark’s 5 year birthday party and to celebrate, they opened up their second pop up shop, in Covent Garden.

There was a champagne reception whilst guests were encouraged to peruse the new and exclusive Gymshark apparel whilst chilling with Gymshark athletes and Gymshark CBO Ben Francis.

Whilst there I was lucky enough to have a quick 5 minutes with Ben to talk about the evolution of the brand and what he does in his spare time.

As Gymshark is an English company, I wanted to know why Ben decided to do the first Gymshark pop up shop in NYC…

“We decided to do the first ever Gymshark pop up shop in NYC as it was the launch of Nikki Blackketter’s range and we wanted her to have free reign to decide on where to have it. New York is her favourite city, so we decided that’s where it would be. I was really happy with how it turned out and the feedback from everyone who came by was extremely positive.”

Knowing that Ben is from Birmingham, the home of Bodypower, I had to know from the man himself if there’s something special about having a stand there…

“Certainly! Bodypower is my favourite show. I grew up twenty minutes away from where Bodypower is held and the transition certainly is a surreal going from a visitor to showcasing as a brand.”

Finally I wanted to know, what does the guy who has one of the best jobs in the world do to blow off steam?

“I love to drive my Triumph scrambler motorbike. It’s an old school bike with a lot of character. Nothing beats driving it home after a long day in the office.”

Quick Fire Questions

Trail or Treadmill? Treadmill

Protein or Carbs? Protein

Tea or Coffee? Coffee

Heavyweight or Bodyweight? Heavyweight

Solo or Group exercise? Solo