Hattie Shepard
Hattie Shepard is a District Operations Manager for LA Fitness in the Tennessee market, where she oversees multiple fitness club locations and supports day-to-day operational excellence across management teams and staff. In her role, she is responsible for ensuring smooth facility operations, maintaining customer service standards, supporting revenue and membership goals, and developing managers to lead their clubs effectively. Her work emphasizes team coordination, staff performance, and creating a safe, welcoming environment for members and employees.
Her career at LA Fitness reflects a steady progression through multiple leadership roles, including Operations Manager, Member Services Specialist, Area Manager, District Operations Supervisor, and ultimately District Operations Manager. Across these positions, she has gained extensive experience in staff supervision, training and development, payroll and operations management, and customer relations across multi-location environments. Prior to entering the fitness industry, she built a strong foundation in customer service and technical support, working with AT&T and Shelby County Government, and also spent years in real estate and administrative support roles, all of which strengthened her leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Corrections from Strayer University and also brings additional training and certifications that support her professional development. Her leadership approach is rooted in coaching, accountability, and team building, with a focus on helping managers run their locations as if they were their own businesses. She is also actively involved in community and church leadership, reflecting a long-standing commitment to service, mentorship, and empowering others both professionally and personally.
• Being an Effective Team Member
• Real Estate License
• Strayer University - B.S.
• Samaritan Rehabilitation Services, LLC
• Mid-South Food Bank volunteer
• Whitehaven District Association, Inc
• Middle Baptist Whitehaven Church
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my Lord and Savior and hard work. There's a verse of Scripture that I've told my daughters - you work as if you're working unto the Lord. If I'm working unto the Lord, that means I'm always going to present excellence. I'm not going to give garbage or the bare minimum, I'm going to give you the very best that I have to offer. My religious background has been the driving force for where I am today. I've served at my church as president of the women's ministry, overseeing over 200 women for the last 3 years, and I also serve as a district women's president for over 25 churches. My secular life has benefited from my religious life - it's given me the confidence that I have today.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Treat others the way you want to be treated. That's one of the things that steered me away from sales - treating others the way you want to be treated. Do I want to be lied to? Do I want to be misled? The answer's no. So I don't do that to others. That was one of my first advisors, and that stuck with me. I've carried that with me everywhere I go - treat people, treat others the way you want to be treated.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be yourself. Be true to you. And don't let anybody try to persuade you otherwise. In this industry, and especially as a leader, it's easy to be looking across the fence at somebody else's accomplishment and say, you know, I want that, so I'll do anything to get that. No. Hard work pays off. Persistence and hard work, it pays off. And keeping integrity - integrity is everything, because you don't have to be looking over your shoulders. I believe in taking ownership. If I messed up, I'm the first one to tell you, okay, I need to bring something to you. It was my mistake, and let me tell you what the mistake was. There are no shortcuts for me. I don't believe in shortcuts. I believe in following the steps. Don't miss a step, because if you miss one, I promise you, it'll be like a house of cards. It'll fall apart on you.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Right now, one of the biggest opportunities in my field is how to maintain the staff that we have. We want to build it to be more than just a workspace. Because you spend so many hours working, we want there to be good camaraderie between our staff, not just with the members, but even among the staff themselves. We want them to feel like this is more than just a job. We want their families to know who it is that they interact with every day. We're planning team outings, like taking the team to baseball games in June so they can spend time with their families, and their families get to see who they work with on a day-to-day basis. When we did the Wings for Life event in April and invited families to participate, the outcome was so impactful that it caused us to want to do more outings with the team for bonding. We want it to be an enjoyable environment and opportunity, and we want them to see it as more than just looking at revenue - it's an investment in their life.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My morals are everything. Integrity - I operate with integrity. Do what's right, even when nobody's watching. That's true in my secular life as well as my spiritual life. I am always conscious about doing what's right. And I just believe in my reputation being valued more than gold. You can't put a price on your reputation. Because once it's gone, it's hard to restore it.