My working week..

Oct 5 2007

Award-winning Louise McDonald is the managing director of a growing franchise gym operation

Fitness has always been a huge part of Louise McDonald's life.

A professional Irish dancer, she retired from performing at the age of 22. Her second career, established with an American gym franchise concept, led her to cross the sea from her home in Northern Ireland to Scotland, where she saw a huge gap in the market.

"I packed everything in my little car and started over again in Glasgow," says McDonald.

The franchise, Curves, is a female only gym that offers a 30- minute circuit training course, designed to appeal to women with busy lives. She opened her first club in Motherwell in 2004, and she has opened three further sites in Airdrie, Kirkintilloch, and a joint venture in Glasgow city centre.

McDonald, still only 26, could easily be described as one of those busy women. In addition to overseeing the clubs, which now generate an annual turnover of £350,000, she still makes it to the gym three times a week.

She admits this last year particularly has been a big learning 'curve' - planning and strategy takes up a lot of her time. She also pops into each club on a random basis to ensure standards are high: "No one knows I'm coming," she says.

In the past week, press and marketing has also been taking up her time . She's taking full advantage of all the publicity she can get on the back of being chosen the best young start-up in the Lanarkshire regional final of the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) Business Awards.

She goes forward to the national final in Glasgow, to be held on November 19. She'll be one of six regional winners, selected from a total of 18 possible regional finalists, who compete for the coveted national title of PSYBT and Royal Bank of Scotland 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year'.

Otherwise she's planning the various charity events that Curves is involved in throughout the year. "It's good fun for staff and for members," she says.

But she also admits she enjoys a glass of white wine and socialising with friends after hours, although her working week can extend to 50 or 60 hours - but she's not counting. "I've never sat down and thought about how many hours I work. I just do what needs to be done."