Gary Heavin (born 1955) is an American businessman from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He is the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

of the fitness chain Curves International.

Career

Heavin dropped out of college at age 20 and took over a failing

fitness center A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness and health ser ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas. Along with his brother David, he built the business into a chain of 14 locations. He was a millionaire by age 25 but then lost it all by age 30; he filed for bankruptcy. After his first marriage, Heavin was sentenced to jail for failure to pay

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

. While in jail he rededicated his life to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, and he has been outspoken about his support of

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

causes. In 2004 Heavin was named the

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

Entrepreneur of the Year. He is also the author of several books, including ''Curves: Permanent Results Without Permanent Dieting'' and ''Curves On the Go''. Heavin and his second wife Diane opened their first Curves center in 1992 in

Harlingen, Texas Harlingen ( ) is a city in Cameron County in the central region of the Rio Grande Valley of the southern part of the U.S. state of Texas, about from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city covers more than and is the second-largest city in ...

. Curves is now based in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

. By 2007, Curves had over 10,000 locations and was the largest fitness chain in the world. However, since selling Curves to North Castle Partners, a private equity company, more than 75% of the Curves franchises have closed. North America is now the home of approximately 600 Curves franchises. The Heavins currently reside in

Mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...

in central Texas. On April 3, 2011, they were featured on ABC's show '' Secret Millionaire'', where they gave away $410,000. Gary and Diane Heavin have recently begun to produce politically conservative and Christian themed films. ''Mission Air'' is a Christian movie that has been available since 2013. ''

Amerigeddon ''Amerigeddon'' is a 2016 American action film directed by Mike Norris. It is written by Gary Heavin and Chase Hunter. The film describes a fictional attack on American society by the federal government, working in concert with a global "E ...

'' is an action adventure film that opened in 30 theaters on May 13, 2016, the plot of which surrounds the takeover of America by a UN/Globalist supported terrorist organization.

Views

Heavin was a guest on ''The Ron Paul Liberty Report'' on April 4, 2018, and has referred to himself as a "right-to-life"

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

and is for a non-interventionist foreign policy.Archived a
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In 2020, Heavin gave $10,000 to the Oath Keepers, the far-right anti-government militia organization that helped lead the

2021 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in pow ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heavin, Gary 1955 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Christians 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century Christians American anti-abortion activists American libertarians Businesspeople from Texas Christian libertarians Christians from Texas Non-interventionism People from Coryell County, Texas