Sport, fitness, and lifestyle entrepreneurship

“A Labour of Love”: Active Lifestyle Entrepreneurship (Occupational Devotion) During a Time of COVID-19

“…The globalization, commercialization and commodification of sport has led to a noticeable increase in the number of entrepreneurs looking to establish their own space in a heavily congested and highly competitive active economy (Jones et al, 2020;Ratten, 2020). According to Finch et al (2019, p.4), an "active economy" "incorporates all organizations who participate in, or contribute to, improving individual and/or community level well-being through the development and delivery of sport, physical activity and active recreation experiences".…”

“…Burns (2001) defines lifestyle enterprises as businesses that not only provide adequate income, but also allows the ownermanager to engage in an area of activity that brings them personal pleasure. A lifestyle entrepreneur is therefore someone who creates a new business venture that aligns with their personal values, interests and identities (Wright and Wiersma, 2019;Jones et al, 2020). According to Shaw and Williams (2004), lifestyle entrepreneurs are typically older male adults who enjoy being their own boss.…”

“…The resources invested in the beginning, development, establishment, maintenance and decline stages can vary, however, with one's progression being driven by a range of social, cultural, and historical factors (Stebbins, 2014). Serious leisure consumers have also been found to share a number of personal traits, many of which are also shared by active lifestyle entrepreneurs (Jones et al, 2020). These including the drive to persevere, the desire to pursue a career, the willingness to put in effort in order to gain skill and knowledge, the ability to realize the special benefits attached to self-fulfillment, self-expression and group accomplishment, the ability to create/cultivate of an attractive personal and social identity and, lastly, the ability to maintain a unique ethos through active involvement within your social world (e.g., an internally recognizable group of likeminded people) (Stebbins, 2014a).…”

“…In terms of recommendations, our only one relates to the lack of post-qualitative literature looking at occupational devotion within the sport, leisure and tourism sectors. This would appear to be a missed opportunity, considering the large number of owner-operated (family-run) enterprises found within the service sector, not to mention the large number of lifestyle entrepreneurs choosing to blur the boundaries between work and play (Wright and Wiersma, 2019;Jones et al, 2020). With this in mind, we would like to see more occupational devotion-inspired research being undertaken within the fields of sport, leisure and tourism, including the creation of personal narratives and CAP ethnographies (e.g., autoethnographies and ethnodramas).…”

Sport for a Livelihood and Well-being: From Leisure Activity to Occupational Devotion

“…Although in recent years, several authors studied lifestyle entrepreneurs in the tourism sector (Ateljevic & Doorne, 2000 ; Bredvold & Skålén, 2016 ; Fadda, 2020 ; Marchant & Mottiar, 2011 ; Peters et al, 2009 ; Ratten, 2018 ; Walmsley, 2019 ). Only a few exceptions explored the phenomenon of lifestyle entrepreneurship concerning sport (González-Serrano et al, 2020 ; Jones et al, 2017 , 2020 ; Ratten, 2010 , 2011 ; Wallis et al, 2020 ) or other sectors (Andersson Cederholm, 2015 ; Marcketti et al, 2006 ). Wallis et al ( 2020 ) even claimed that it is not yet fully understood.…”