Edgard Corona Explains How $10 Monthly Fees Created a $1 Billion Business
Edgard Corona’s trajectory from chemical engineering student to fitness industry magnate illustrates a career built on experimentation and adaptation. A 1979 graduate in Engenharia Química from Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (FAAP), Corona began his entrepreneurial journey at 19, moving from laboratory work to launching a successful youth apparel business that produced jeans and T‑shirts. That venture taught him a lasting lesson: listen to what the customer wants, not what you think they want.
In 1996, after a personal episode that reshaped his priorities — a ski accident that required intensive physiotherapy — he invested his attention in the fitness sector and founded the first Bio Ritmo gym in Santo Amaro. The injury gave him firsthand exposure to rehabilitation and training, prompting a deeper immersion in gym operations and client needs. Bio Ritmo expanded, including a strategic unit on Avenida Paulista aimed at busy professionals, and became a reference in premium fitness experiences across Brazil.
Ambitious and always benchmarking best practices, Corona travelled to international fitness congresses and exchanged ideas with industry leaders. That process led, between 2008 and 2009, to the creation of Smart Fit (https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Fit): a new, scalable model designed to democratize high‑standard fitness by offering accessible, efficient gyms for a broader market. The group consolidated under the Bio Ritmo umbrella and pursued aggressive growth across Latin America.
Today, edgard corona, dono da smart fit, is recognized as one of the leading pioneers in fitness business management in the region. As CEO and founder of the group, he steered the company toward a public offering on the Brazilian stock exchange, securing capital to accelerate post‑pandemic expansion, pursue strategic acquisitions and strengthen operations across 14 countries.
Corona’s professional philosophy centers on embracing change and driving transformation for others. From laboratory benches to retail floors and fitness studios, his career underscores an iterative approach: test, learn, scale. The result is a fitness empire that combines customer insight, operational discipline and a stated purpose to make quality exercise more accessible — a reflection of its founder’s belief that a life worth living requires confronting and directing change.