Every Decision Runs Through One Question

The Leadership Test Kitchen is a newsletter where I share the real ingredients behind leading and growing successful companies. Some editions feature practical frameworks from CEOs who've mastered challenges in strategy, culture, and growth. Others share the lessons I've learned firsthand as a CEO, or insights I've gained from my work with other executives.

A Conversation with Elaine Walker, President of Seattle Gymnastics Academy

Every few weeks, I highlight leaders who are navigating real-world complexity with clarity and conviction. This time, I’m featuring Elaine Walker, President of Seattle Gymnastics Academy (SGA), one of the most respected youth gymnastics programs in the Pacific Northwest. 

I’ve come to know Elaine in a few different roles: as a fellow CEO in Vistage, a board member at SGA, and now as a client at CFO Selections.

When I sat down with Elaine, we talked about what it actually means to put the customer first. Not just saying it, but using it to make decisions about people, programs, facilities, and where you invest your time and money.

For Elaine, it all comes back to one question: Is this in the best interest of the child?

“Customer First” Is the Standard

This question guides decisions across SGA, from the front desk and its programs to how coaches teach, how lesson plans are developed, and how financial decisions are made.

Elaine has built a “SGA Strong” experience, centered on respect, perseverance, and commitment, especially in the tough moments. That also means being clear about who fits at SGA, both employees and customers.

“If someone doesn’t fit our values, that doesn’t mean they’re bad people,” she said. “It just means we’re not the right place for them. When you put the child first, you move on from people quickly if they’re not the right fit.”

Having a clear standard makes some decisions easier. It doesn’t necessarily make them comfortable.

Talent Selection and Development Is the Foundation

SGA is in the building business: building strength, skill, and character through gymnastics. But when I asked Elaine what she wants people to know about SGA, she didn't start with gymnastics. Instead, she started with teaching.

“My job as the leader of this company is to make sure we have people who truly embody being a teacher first,” she told me. “Gymnastics is what we do. Teaching is who we are.”

That’s why SGA’s hiring process is intentionally hard to pass. Technical skill matters, but Elaine puts a lot of weight on mindset, character, and whether someone genuinely wants to work with kids.

“You can be a high-level gymnast and not actually enjoy working with kids,” Elaine said. “Being good at something doesn’t mean you’re a good teacher. We are after great teachers, with a passion and patience for developing healthy and resilient children, not just great athletes.”

SGA has also put a lot of work into consistent teaching tools, methods, and curriculum. But the goal isn’t to create a cookie-cutter approach.

The structure gives coaches a strong foundation, then lets them adjust to the child in front of them. They still need to understand what each child needs and meet them where they are.

For any growing organization, that balance between consistency and flexibility is important. You need enough structure to deliver a consistent experience without taking away people’s ability to use their judgment.

Your Worst Customer May Be Your Best Teacher

Elaine makes a point of paying attention to unhappy customers. You don’t build a customer-first culture by just playing to your most loyal, happy customers. Playing to your happy customers allows you to get positive feedback, show your investment in them, and boost your team’s morale.

The unhappy customer tells you how to be better, and there’s almost always some truth in what they say. Elaine believes there’s usually some truth in critical feedback, even when you don’t agree with all of it. You have to be willing to seek out those different views and listen to things that may be difficult to hear.

That also sets an example for the team. If you expect people to stay open to feedback and keep improving, they need to see the leader do the same.

You don’t have to agree with every complaint, but you do need to understand what’s behind it.

The Physical Experience Has to Match Up

Putting the customer first also influences the physical experience at SGA. 

Back in 2015, the company went through a full rebrand, organizing everything into three clear pillars: Play, Learn, and Compete. Before that, a marketing partner told Elaine that SGA looked less like a branded house and more like a house of brands.

Today that consistency is deliberate.

The floor design directly supports the curriculum. Signage, colors, and uniforms are consistent across locations to ensure that no matter what facility a parent/student enters, they will receive the same experience. Anyone walking into any SGA facility should recognize the experience and know what to expect.

Elaine has also built a quality brand ambassador team made up of two staff members who have each been with SGA for more than fifteen years. They regularly evaluate every site from two perspectives: what a parent experiences and what a coach experiences.

It’s a practical way to make sure the experience you intend to create is the one people are actually having.

Staying In Tune with Changing Times

Elaine is candid that maintaining a consistent customer-first culture has gotten harder since the pandemic, not easier. 

SGA shut down for six months, reopened in stages, and shifted almost overnight to QR codes and digital communication. It worked, until it didn’t.

“There’s just so much noise in the digital world right now, with AI and people not knowing what’s real,” she said. 

Elaine is seeing families pull back from some of those digital touchpoints, so SGA is deliberately bringing back more analog materials and putting greater emphasis on in-person connection.

The kids have changed too. Progress through SGA’s skill levels takes longer than it used to. Elaine has found that some children who spent formative years isolated during the pandemic need more support with class management and emotional regulation before they can focus on the physical skill itself.

In response, SGA has doubled down on coach training and is redesigning how it tracks progress so kids can celebrate smaller wins along the way.

The Hard Part of Customer First

Every leader I feature in this newsletter has a story that tests who they are, not just what they know. For Elaine, that story starts with a team of coaches who were winning everything and, at the same time, weakening SGA’s  “customer first” standard.

On the surface, this team was successful. They raised the bar and performed well in competitions. Yet, over eighteen months, that team lost two-thirds of its students. 

When Elaine got on the floor to see for herself, she noticed a pattern: a coach whose behavior changed the moment Elaine was in view, then reverted when she looked away.

Elaine intervened directly and ultimately rebuilt the team and the program's culture.

“I had to take ownership,” she said. “Some people still don’t like me for that decision, and that’s okay. But I did the right thing.”

This is where Elaine’s commitment to “customer first” really shows. If she had looked only at competitive results, the team appeared to be succeeding. But losing two-thirds of the students told an alarming story.

That’s one of the many reasons we enjoy working with SGA at CFO Selections. We believe that building great companies goes beyond the numbers. The human side of the business matters too.

Elaine brings that standard of care to the decisions she and her team make, including the difficult ones.

A Culinary Note

Fun fact: Elaine has a serious passion for gardening.

This season, her garden has produced more zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and jalapeños than she knew what to do with. Her answer was to get creative: zucchini muffins, zucchini bread, zucchini boats, zucchini lasagna, and, memorably, a chocolate cake built from black beans and avocado instead of flour and butter.

I love this about her. It’s the same instinct she brings to leadership: work with what you’ve got, know what you’re trying to accomplish, and be willing to adapt based on what’s in front of you. Simple, purposeful, resourceful, and maybe a little fearless.

And, yes, I’ll be following up with her for the avocado chocolate cake recipe!

Originally published on LinkedIn on September 29, 2026.

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