For the Wellness Briefing, Glossy spoke with Michelle Duffy Smith, VP of marketing, retail and events at luxury gym chain Life Time, about next week’s formal rollout of LT Social, a collection of expansive entertainment programming built around city-specific cultural events.
Additionally, Dyson enters oral care with a $499 toothbrush, meditation app Headspace is set to be acquired, and veteran supermodel Carolyn Murphy joins supplement company Infinity Wellness.
Life Time plants a flag in entertainment with the launch of expansive social programming
A pivot toward entertainment as a tool to stand out and retain customers has worked well for the beauty industry in the past few years. Industry leaders like Dr. Squatch and E.l.f. Beauty have given marketing leaders a blueprint for evocative ads, comedian partnerships and an endless bouquet of unexpected collaborations.
Now, as fitness and wellness explode in size and scale, gym chains are fully embracing entertainment programming to better serve evolving customer needs.
“We’re seeing it happen very quickly [through] the explosion of run clubs, race participation, social programming [and] fitness brands hosting events. … Fitness and social are married,” Michelle Duffy Smith, VP of marketing, retail and events at Life Time, told Glossy. “All of this [change] is because people are seeking companionship, and they’re looking for more than the workout.”
Life Time, the Minnesota-based luxury gym chain launched in 1992, has dabbled in entertainment programming as a beta test of sorts over the past few years. Customer feedback has been stellar as the company has ramped up its group runs and pool parties, all of which often hit maximum capacity and a waitlist, Smith said.
“Our members are already viewing our locations not as traditional fitness, a place where they work out, but a place where they want to hang out, where they’re making plans, they’re making friends,” said Smith. “It’s happening naturally.”
Starting next week, the company will corral, formalize and expand its offerings into LT Social, a new pillar of the company that will produce daytime pool parties, cocktail hours, celebrity DJ sets, performances, elevated food and beverage experiences, and morning recovery sessions with extended childcare hours.
“Now, we’re programming at a more national level by saying, ‘These are experiences worth getting on a plane for,’” Smith said. “We’re not going to show up with the LT Social on a random weekend in March. We’re going to go to a particular city because the city is buzzing on that weekend in March.”
Life Time has nearly 200 gyms across the U.S. Its primary customer is in their early 40s with disposable income to travel to new locations for cultural events.
For example, Life Time will launch LT Social in New York City on September 12-13, which is aligned with the finals of the U.S. Open and New York Fashion Week. “[A client] may already be traveling to Phoenix or New York for a particular weekend or event, and this [becomes the] thing you can do beyond attending a sporting event or [a fashion week party],” Smith said. “We are like the other hub for you.”
Next week’s LT Social launch includes a Saturday night rooftop social at Life Time’s Sky location in Hell’s Kitchen with celebrity DJs, performances, food and drinks, content opportunities such as a red carpet step-and-repeat, and on-site childcare. Sunday will feature two distinct programs: a recovery event starting at 7 a.m. with food and drink, body work offerings like massages and mini facials, and a recovery lounge hosted by Hyperice recovery tools. “We’re saying it’s the ‘night after done differently’,” Smith said. “Then, at 11:30 a.m. [on Sunday], there’ll be a hard transition from ‘rest and relaxation’ to a rooftop pool party.”
Tickets are free for members and their guests, and there is currently a waitlist for the NYC kickoff. Phoenix will be next, although details have not yet been released. Smith told Glossy that this is a customer retention strategy. Prior rooftop pool party tests have hosted more than 800 people per event in their various markets.
It’s one part of a growing shift toward more community-focused and social-led eventing. For example, grassroots wellness events like Coffee & Chill and Capri Wellness Club have become popular marketing channels for wellness brands, while run clubs have exploded in popularity for marketers.
This evolution in consumer needs is partially fueled by the loneliness epidemic that snowballed during the global Covid-19 pandemic. According to a 2024 Harvard study, around one in five survey respondents experience serious feelings of loneliness, while 29% of respondents 30-44 years old said they were “frequently” or “always” lonely.
A steady stream of social wellness clubs in Los Angeles has popped up to fill the need, but none have managed to scale beyond SoCal yet. For example, Heimat, a social-first members-only gym, opened in 2022 to fanfare. It offers a rooftop pool, restaurant, boutique fitness classes, co-work space, full gym and robust social calendar. Then there is Remedy Place, a wellness studio built for socializing, and Love Life, a one-stop shop for community, longevity and fitness from a co-founder of Whole Foods.
“Wellness is how you feel, both inside and out, and so I think this explosion within the industry is on a really great trajectory to continue,” Smith said. “People are looking to build connections, to laugh and have fun. … This is just the start.”
Executive moves:
- Veteran supermodel Carolyn Murphy is the new chief brand officer and partner of Infinity Wellness, maker of protein and supplement powders sold DTC. According to the company, Murphy will lead the creative vision, brand storytelling, product positioning, creative direction and consumer experience while helping guide the company’s long-term strategic growth.
News to know:
- The oral care race to win the next generation of shoppers has a new contender. Dyson, the vacuum company-turned-beauty tool manufacturer, launched its first toothbrush on Tuesday for $499. The Dyson Camera Jet toothbrush features an electric motor and AI-powered camera to find gaps between teeth to flush with water while brushing, which the company says will help reduce plaque build-up. Dyson also launched “non-foaming” toothpaste and “low-foaming” mouthwash for between $11 and $15.
- The next iteration of goat yoga has arrived: puppy pilates. A new wellness pop-up company called Puppies and Pilates is making headlines this summer after scaling its experimental format to four cities in under a year across the East Coast, including Washington, D.C.; Arlington, Virginia; Annapolis, Maryland; and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Classes are programmed by a former SolidCore executive, and tickets run for between $65 and $75. Each event features a 45-minute mat pilates class, refreshments and 30 minutes of “wellness puppy playtime” with animals from shelters and local breeders. The company plans to expand into more markets in 2027.
- Headspace, the popular meditation app that launched in 2010, is set to be purchased by specialty care platform Sword Health for between $200 million and $300 million in a cash deal, according to reporting by ATN. Sword Health was valued at $4 billion during a $40 million raise in June 2025.
Stat of the week:
According to a new study commissioned by conglomerate E.l.f. Beauty, girls who play sports for at least three years during primary or secondary school are more likely to become workplace leaders. The report surveyed 9,500 women across the U.S., Germany, the U.K. and Canada who currently work and found those who played sports in their youth were 50% more likely to hold leadership roles, 37% more likely to aspire to senior leadership and around 25% more likely to have negotiated their salary. The study was done in partnership with Parity, a women’s sports consultancy firm.
In the headlines:
How a content marketer became an award-winning cannabis creator [Digiday]. Fitness stakeholders bet on pop-punk music revival for cardio workouts [ATN]. Rising raw material costs are hitting everything from stickers to foil [Modern Retail]. Crunch rrings boutique fitness to big-box gyms [Fitt Insider]. Forget GLP-1 stocks, baldness drugs are Wall Street’s next goldmine [Bloomberg]. Ditch the 40-ounce water bottle: You’re probably hydrated enough [WSJ]. Why walking is the best thing you can do for longevity [Vogue]. Olivia Munn on breastfeeding, postpartum anxiety, and choosing surgical menopause [Allure].
Listen in:
Can bold makeup finally dethrone the “clean girl” aesthetic? Celeb makeup artist Jamie Greenberg unpacks what’s next on this week’s episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast.
Need a Glossy recap?
Fashion Briefing: As the wellness industry booms, fashion brands are hosting pilates classes and selling juices. New brands flock to Target’s post-Ulta beauty section. As Off-White creative director Ib Kamara exits, has the brand lost its way? Beauty Briefing: A year after launching at Ulta, Rodan + Fields is expanding again — this time to Amazon. Anthropologie is launching Nike as sneaker shoppers increase nearly 30%. Glossy Pop Newsletter: How Maybelline leveraged ‘Love Island’ to supercharge lip gloss sales. Bath & Body Works says its Amazon sales have ‘tripled’ as it seeks to return to growth.
