Colleen Keating

Chief Executive Officer and Director Planet Fitness

Last Reviewed: October 1, 2026

Executive Summary

Colleen Keating is Chief Executive Officer and a director of Planet Fitness, the New Hampshire company behind one of the largest fitness franchises in the world, with about 2,930 clubs and 21.5 million members as of mid-2026. She took the job in June 2024 after more than three decades in hospitality and property operations, most of them spent running other people’s franchised buildings: as a senior franchise operations executive at Starwood, as Chief Operating Officer for the Americas at IHG, and as CEO of the single-family rental operator FirstKey Homes. Roughly 90 percent of Planet Fitness clubs are owned by independent franchisees, so the board hired an operator who had spent a career making a brand promise hold across thousands of sites she did not own.

Career Highlights

• Chief Executive Officer of Planet Fitness since 10 June 2024, and the only member of management on its board.
• Led a 2025 realignment of the senior team, creating Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer roles and recruiting a new Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Development Officer.
• Chief Executive Officer of FirstKey Homes from 2020 to 2024.
• Chief Operating Officer, Americas at IHG from 2018 to 2020, overseeing the operations of more than 4,000 hotels.
• Rose to Senior Vice President of Franchise Operations and Compliance, North America at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, where she worked from 2000 to 2017.
• Independent director of Bloomin’ Brands since February 2026, serving on its Compensation Committee.

Professional Journey

Keating studied business at Western New England University and joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2000. She stayed until 2017, first in sales, marketing and management roles and then in hotel operations. She served as an area managing director and general manager from 2009 to 2012, then as Senior Vice President of Operations for the North Region. From 2014 to 2016 she was Senior Vice President of Franchise Operations and Compliance for North America. That job put her on the franchisor’s side of the table, holding independently owned hotels to a brand standard.

She left Starwood in 2017 and became Executive Vice President of Operations at Davidson Hotels & Resorts, a hotel management company. In March 2018 she joined InterContinental Hotels Group as Chief Operating Officer, Americas. There she oversaw the operations of more than 4,000 hotels across the region, including franchisee performance support and the hotels IHG managed itself.

In February 2020 she became Chief Executive Officer of FirstKey Homes. Planet Fitness describes it as the fourth largest single-family rental home property management company in the United States. At FirstKey she led brand-aligned digital work, reduced platform costs and worked on the resident experience. The Bloomin’ Brands proxy credits that period with her hands-on grounding in real estate economics.

Planet Fitness announced her appointment in April 2024, and she started on 10 June 2024. The company had been under an interim chief executive, director Craig Benson, since Chris Rondeau left the chief executive role in September 2023. Chairman Stephen Spinelli Jr. cited her knowledge of large-scale franchise operations and consumer-facing brands.

Her first full year brought a restructuring of the top team. In early 2025 Planet Fitness recruited Brian Povinelli from Marriott as Chief Marketing Officer and Chip Ohlsson from Wyndham as Chief Development Officer. It also moved two long-serving division presidents into the new posts of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. At its November 2025 Investor Day she set out four strategic imperatives: redefining the brand promise, enhancing the member experience, refining the club format and accelerating new club growth.

The work since has centred on membership. The company passed 2,800 locations in 2025. In its second quarter of 2026 it reported revenue of $365.2 million, up 7.1 percent, and same-club sales growth of 1.7 percent. Her stated priority in that release was to “reignite sustainable member growth”, including a new marketing campaign aimed at a broader audience and tests on pricing, member experience and retention. In the same period she oversaw a turnover in the finance chair, which ended with the appointment of Sudhanshu Priyadarshi as Chief Financial Officer and President, International in June 2026.

In February 2026 she joined the board of Bloomin’ Brands, the restaurant company behind Outback Steakhouse, and its Compensation Committee. Shareholders elected her in April 2026 to a term that runs to the 2027 annual meeting. The Bloomin’ proxy also notes that she is certified as a Six Sigma Green Belt.

Education

Western New England University

Studied business. The company’s filings do not state a degree.