Photographing Steve Kass in front of the waterfall that he designed for the spa at 200 Riverside Boulevard, a residential condominium in Manhattan, seemed just about perfect for the founder and CEO of the American Leisure Corporation.

His company, which traces its origins back 30 years, created and manages the fitness facilities at 200 Riverside, an impressive edifice built by developer Donald Trump that speaks to Kass' own remarkable success in what he prefers to call the "lifestyle" industry. American Leisure, based in NANUET, New York, owns one club (the Fitness Center at Blue Hill in Pearl River, New York); provides consulting services to a wide range of clients; and is involved in the operation of 60 spa, fitness, and recreational facilities in an endless variety of environments, including commercial clubs (4), residential clubs (23), hospitals (1), corporate centers (2), country clubs (16), and community recreation centers (14).

So photographing Kass against the backdrop of a waterfall seemed just about perfect. But something was missing. And Kass realized what it was. Suddenly, without hesitating, he stepped into the waterfall. That was it! What was missing was the fun.

If you were to search for the secrets of American Leisure's success, you would discover three guiding business principles. The first is: Everything is possible. The second is: All business is relationships. And the third is: Have fun!

Although American Leisure works squarely in the fitness industry, Kass has appreciated, from the start, that it's really in the lifestyle business, a fact that many club operators are just now beginning to understand. The orientation has permitted Kass and his 500-plus employees to be open-minded, imaginative, and eagerly entrepreneurial. No opportunity seems out of reach; no problem, without a solution.

Again, the waterfall is instructive: The idea for it came to Kass during a meeting with Paul Davis, the CEO of Hudson Waterfront Associates, a company involved in many Trump projects, and other Trump associates. Davis asked Kass how they could market the property to young Wall Street bankers and investors. Kass, thinking lifestyle, considered the "fantasy" prospective buyers wanted their new lives to be; his creative response the perfect remedy to 15-hour workdays---was a beautiful, heated waterfall. Kass, spontaneously, launched into a sales pitch: "After a day of tension and stress, come home to a sensual environment filled with the sound of falling water ..." When he stopped, he noticed that several people were laughing, but Davis turned to him and said, "I'd like to hear more about that."


To understand American Leisure and its achievements, you must first understand Kass, because the company is the personification of the man. But to truly understand Kass, you must first take a trip--to Coney Island.

Now 53, Kass spent his formative years in Brooklyn, which have shaped him indelibly. "When you say Coney Island, people think of two things--amusement parks and Nathan's hot dogs," he explains, "but when I grew up there, Coney Island was much more than that. It was a wonderful, mixed neighborhood of working-class Jewish, Irish, and Italian families.