2026 Americas Awards

Tim Kimber, Pete Grymkowski & Ed Connors
Founders, Gold’s Gym Enterprises & Gold’s Gym Licensing/Franchising.

In 1979, Pete Grymkowski, Ed Connors and Tim Kimber acquired Gold’s Gym. At the time, it was only one gym on Second Street in Santa Monica. Soon after, they moved to a bigger location back to Venice where the brand was started by Joe Gold in 1965. Pete, Ed and Tim were pioneers in many areas of fitness, from promoting the first Women’s World Bodybuilding Championship in 1979 to creating the Gold’s Gym Motion Picture and Television Division in 1985. It later became one of the answers on the popular TV Game show, “Jeopardy.” Gold’s Gym was known as “The Mecca of Bodybuilding.” Realizing a need for serious fitness gyms worldwide, and the fact that not everyone could visit “The Mecca,” Pete, Ed and Tim brought “The Mecca” to the people. In 1980, the Gold’s Gym Licensing program began. In their 20 years of ownership, from 1979 to the end of 1999, Pete, Ed, and Tim along with their small, but mighty team, built the largest international co-ed gym chain, covering 43 states and 27 countries, with nearly 3 million members in more than 550 Gold’s Gyms around the globe. From the success of its gyms came the demand for fitness products with the Gold’s Gym trademark including apparel, fitness accessories, supplements, home exercise equipment, and more. As a result of the licensed gyms, licensed products and the never-ending publicity in feature films, television and print, the Gold’s Gym name under Pete, Ed and Tim’s leadership became one of the most visible logos in the world. From its bodybuilding roots, Gold’s evolved as the preferred gym among celebrity entertainers, amateur and pro athletes, and anyone serious about their health. Thus, its tagline, “Serious Fitness.”