MISS MOTIVATOR

Bubbling with energy, Fiona Gratzer oozes enthusiasm. She tells Niamh MacSweeney how she has taken the family business and moved it into the 21st Century ensuring that this revolutionary model has stood the test of time.

Fiona Gratzer

We are constantly bombarded and inundated with diet tips and nutritional advice, but back in the 70s dieting and healthy eating were concepts that were virtually unheard of. With more than 35 years of nutrition experience, Unislim is Ireland’s longest running slimming and health organisation. Set up by Agnes McCourt in the early 1970’s after struggling to lose post-baby weight, her daughter Fiona Gratzer took over the reigns in 2001 and today overlooks 600 weekly meetings across Ireland.

A former PE teacher, when Agnes McCourt tried to lose weight she found there was nothing on offer in 60s Ireland. She had gone to her local GP who suggested that she take diet pills. Unimpressed with this advice and aware that there weren’t any exercise or slimming classes for women in Ireland, she got a core group of people together and went to the local parish hall to set up a class. These classes were confessional in nature, where people would reveal what they had eaten that week and in return receive basic nutritional information.

Spreading The Word

People lost weight and news of the concept spread rapidly. Realising that there was a gap in the market McCourt and her husband left their teaching jobs to open up Irelands first provincial gym in Newry. Unfortunately it coincided with the start of the troubles in the north in 1969. When the building next door to their gym was blown up they saw first hand the devastation and decided against starting that business. At the same time McCourt continued to run weight reduction classes. Eventually she realised that if she trained other people to spread the word rather than trying to do all the classes herself she would not only be in a position to change more people's lives, but would also be able to grow the business further. In 1972 the business was franchised out, evolving into what it is now widely known as Unislim.

A completely new concept, Unislim was seen as a revolutionary idea at the time because nothing like this existed. Not even their main competitors, Weight Watchers had come into the market. Fiona Gratzer recalls that Unislim was propelled into every Irish home when Gay Byrne invited her mother onto the Late Late Show. Transmitted into every household across the nation, according to Gratzer, when Gay Byrne spoke everybody listened and clearly her mother’s appearance on the show was a huge turning point for the business.

Family Matters

A family run business from the outset, Gratzer says she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t working in the business. “I would have been working during the summer throughout my youth and to be honest since I was a nip of a thing I was always involved in Unislim,” she says.

Gratzer recalls how she and her two siblings spent much of their youth out and about handing out leaflets, much to the bemusement of the people who were receiving them. After all, telling somebody they may need to go to a sliming class might not be what they want to hear.

Working her way up in the business was always something Gratzer aspired to do and the experience she gained along the way, even in her early years, was invaluable. “I started at the bottom and got to know every aspect of the business. I went through everything from the post room to the accounts department, learning how to enter in all the details about the classes and the leaders,” Gratzer reveals.

Serving her time in the business under the watchful eye of her mother, Gratzer gained a comprehensive understanding and knowledge of every aspect of the business, which she admits, was a really important grounding, especially when her time came to take over and run the business.

In 2001 Gratzer became managing director of Unislim and although her mother officially retired from the business, she has still maintained a role in the company as an advisor to her daughter. According to Gratzer, her mother’s advice and guidance is an invaluable asset. “To have somebody around with that amount of experience, who knows the business so well, is very helpful. There is not one problem that she hasn’t encountered before and we work very well as a team,” she discloses. Even now when all major decisions need to be made, Gratzer will go to her mother. “I go to her first because it is good to have a second opinion and the beauty of a family business is that you can rely on somebody who really has the best interests at heart and who you can trust. That is always there in a family business,” she explains.

Family Business Survival

Family businesses are an exemplary element of Irish society and need to be maintained to ensure and encourage continued buoyancy in the economic landscape. However 70% of family businesses in Ireland fail to survive the next generation due to lack of effective succession planning.

So does Gratzer have a succession plan in place and has she made the necessary preparations to ensure the continuity of the business through to the next generation? Apparently not, because not only does she feel her children are too young to be considered successors, but also she is adamant that she only plans for the immediate five years. “I don’t necessarily see it as a family business that needs to continue in the McCourt family. I would like to build it up further myself and perhaps pass it on to somebody else. I haven’t considered a role for my children in the business because I would like them to do what they want to do,” Gratzer admits.

A Natural Progression

Understandably Gratzer’s children are very young and she says that when they get older if they are interested in the business then she will put a strategy in place for one of them to take over. “In my mind I have a five year plan for the business and I don’t necessarily know where it is going after that,” she says. She also reveals that it was never expected of her to enter the family business, it was in fact her own desire and strong interest from a very young age that propelled her into the business. “I was never pressurised and my Mum never made me feel like I had to go in and take the business over for her. It was a natural progression of my career. If I wasn’t good at it my Mum would never had allowed me to take it over.

Gratzer’s mother has kept a close eye on her throughout her career and only allowed her to take over the business when she felt her daughter was ready and only when she was sure she was the right person for the job. Passionate and enthusiastic, Gratzer says she has a robust interest in the whole area of health and wellbeing. She says it is imperative to approach people in a holistic manner by looking at the whole person not just in relation to weight loss, but as a lifestyle choice as well.

Positive Projection

Gratzer believes herself to be very fortunate to be satisfied by and involved in a positive business that has the power to change people’s lives. “I don’t know very many people who can say that their jobs help to improve life expectancy, reduce the risk of serious illness and the chances of getting diabetes, while improving wellbeing, energy and confidence,” she says. She also maintains that the same is true for the leaders running the classes for Unislim, who get a great buzz from helping people to achieve all of the positive effects of weight loss. Unislim is very much a human business and Gratzer agress that the classes inject a level of energy and enthusiasm that is selfperpetuating.

Health Education

The fact that there is an abundance of dietary information in the public domain does not necessarily mean that people really need to go to a Unislim class. So what is it that makes the concept so compelling? According to Gratzer it is not enough for people to be equipped with dietary information, they must be educated and shown how they can incorporate healthy eating into their lifestyles. “We use a unit system for people to record a food diary but even at that what Unislim has, which is unique, is the ability to motivate people to make a change. Lots of members, who have been long standing members, go to maintain their weight loss because they feel being answerable to somebody every week and picking up or renewing information is the only way to achieve that goal,” she says.

Unlislim also regard themselves as nutritional educators and the approach they have taken over the past 35 years has clearly stood the test of time. According to Catherine Joyce, Communications and Advocacy Officer with Bodywhys, the Eating Disorders Association of Ireland, education is key when it comes to healthy eating. “Education is extremely important and should be based on building good self-esteem in children, fostering good communication skills and positive coping mechanisms. Eating disorders usually take hold when a person doesn’t feel they can cope with their world or particular feelings or issues that are going on for them. The ED behavior provides them with a sense of control over their life, which they may feel is out of control. Therefore, helping children to find positive ways of communicating and coping with distress early on may help prevent difficulties in adolescence or adulthood,” she warns. She adds, “Bodywhys produced a CD-Rom for secondary schools last year, which looks at issues such as self-esteem, body image, food and mood and media literacy. We also recently produced an information booklet for teachers and youth workers to help them recognise and deal with cases of eating disorders that may present to them.”

Growing The Business

Gratzer attributes the success of Unislim to a strong brand and to the positive benefits the classes have on peoples’ lives.

She also says that Unislim food products are performing extremely well in a declining market. Gratzer adds, “there are a few things that we haven’t revealed yet but there are ways we are planning on capitalising on the Unilsim brand and building on our reputation of building solid, sound, healthy nutritional advice which has always had the respect of the medical profession.”

Gratzer hopes to maintain the ethos that Unislim is an Irish company, a unique point of difference in comparison to their competitors. “Our plans are written by Irish people, we employ Irish people and our plans are made with the Irish person in mind. People like to support an Irish grown company, all our foods are made in Ireland so I think people are proud to support Irish products and Irish services if they are givin the choice,” she comments.

Striking A Balance

Running a successful business while managing the demands of a young family can be extremely stressful and demanding. Gratzer warns people in a similar position to set strict boundaries. “I wont allow any talk of business in the house after 7 pm. I need to have my down time to relax and I have my own family life to respect and look after. If I introduce business issues into my evening it plays on my mind and it just has a negative effect, so I have learnt to cut out business talk at home.”

No matter how demanding work and home life are, Gratzer still sets herself personal challenges and goals. She gets up early in the morning to go jogging and says that fitness and healthy eating is what keeps her mind and body active. This inspiring business woman clearly practices what she preaches.