Our Teams

Management Team

  • Management Team

    Our Management Team collectively has over 40 years of management and leadership experience in health and fitness and the service industry.

  • Richard Chew
    Founder of Elixr Health Clubs

    Richard is the founder of Elixr and has set the direction of Elixr Pilates.

    Richard's teaching experience extends back to his childhood. He started teaching adults Karate at the age of 14, competed with, and then coached the Australian Karate Team in the 80s, and was head coach of the Australian Aerobics Team in the 90s.

    Richard brings his provocative sense of humour to his challenging Pilates and Kickboxing classes.

  • Christian Ruggeri
    General Manager

    With over 15 years of management experience in retail, telecommunications, entertainment and recruitment, Christian has led teams from small to large in various positions such as Store Management, Area and State Management. In 2003, he embarked on his career in the Health and Fitness/Service industry.

    Christian receives enormous personal satisfaction when he witnesses his team of passionate individuals develop new skills, grow professionally and ultimately reach the goals they set out to achieve. He believes value for money, innovation, and a happy team who provide genuine customer service are paramount in business.

  • Chris Charnas
    Club Manager, Bondi Junction

    Starting out as a textile design teacher, Chris also worked in the food industry before deciding that fitness was his obsession. He began his career at Elixr in 2005 in sales and is now Club Manager at Bondi Junction.

    Chris has trained most of his life and enjoys regular Personal Training sessions at Elixr.

    With over 15 years of experience in the fitness industry, Chris has an easy going style and a "can do" attitude that filters throughout the Elixr team.

  • Koula Bariamis
    Club Manager, Bligh & Park St

    Koula started off as Member Care Manager at Elixr Bondi Junction in 2006 and managed our Bligh Street club before going back home to Melbourne to take up a new challenge and be closer to her family. As Business Development Manager of a national health club operator, Koula realised that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and that she missed Elixr. She returned to Elixr in 2009.

    With years of experience in leading large teams and customer service, Koula has a passion for helping people and loves to interact with members everyday.

  • Ally Brown
    MemberCare, Bligh Street

    Ally joined the Elixr family in 2009 having taken some time to travel the world after completing a degree in Exercise Science. After returning to Australia and with her studies behind her she was eager to learn about the health and fitness industry.

    Ally enjoys living an active and healthy lifestyle and felt that the chance to work in an environment that compliments her studies and customer service experience was too good an opportunity to miss.

  • Craig Gee
    MemberCare, Bondi Junction

    Combining his curiosity about the human body and a passion for customer service, Craig has been at Elixr since 2006. He is currently completing a degree in science at the University of Sydney.

    Prior to joining Elixr, Craig worked for several companies within the tourism and hospitality industry and shares his wealth of customer service experience with the Elixr team. Having worked at all three Elixr locations, Craig enjoys talking to members everyday and working in a dynamic team environment.