Force of personality: How Ellis Genge fulfils his sport and business ambitions

After captaining Leicester Tigers to the Premiership title in 2022, Ellis returned to his hometown club, Bristol Bears, where his career began.

Having also captained England, his never-settling approach is typified by an early-career positional change on the field – from the back row to the front row in the forwards.

“I played in the number eight position until I was about 18. Coaches saw my natural aggression and willingness for confrontation and thought being a prop would be a good fit. It worked out quite well,” he explains.
 

Fit for business

A restless spirit that constantly seeks new opportunities can be seen in his entrepreneurial drive. Ellis set up his first business venture with former Leicester teammate Sam Aspland-Robinson in 2023. The pair opened the SYN Gym in Leicester with more planned around the country.

“The business side is a release for me,” he says. “The skills you acquire in rugby and the personalities you meet prepare you for the business world.”

Thinking beyond the ordinary meant giving people a different experience. He says SYN Gym breaks the boundaries of the usual corporate-owned gym set-ups.

“We want to have about 10 gyms, creating a space for high-level performance with everything in one place. It’s like a health club where people can train at a high level,” says Ellis.

He adds: “I enjoy building a brand. I enjoy being a part of something and that's what we're trying to do here.”
 

Leading from the front

Whether in sport or business, he prioritises three leadership qualities: hard work, selflessness and adaptability.

As you’d perhaps expect from a prop, leadership comes with a tough edge. “You don’t want to lose that aggression, but you also need to understand that you have limited currency in speaking to people. You can’t shout all the time or people will stop listening.”

Coupled with his aggressive streak comes calmness and approachability when called for. “I think, believe it or not, that I’m easy to talk to. People have a certain perception of me from watching rugby, but when they meet me, they’re often shocked,” Ellis points out.

“I hear it all the time: ‘I didn’t think you’d be like that’. But you have to separate the human side from the sports side. After all, we’re in the entertainment industry, so it’s all a bit of a front sometimes.”
 

For club and country

Ellis draws interesting contrasts between leading at club and international levels. Again, this demonstrates his ability to adapt to get the best out of himself and his teammates.

“The transition to internationals is quite seamless because everyone in that environment wants to be the best. You’re there for a short, intense period with a clear goal. It’s expected that you drive each other hard,” he says.

“At the club, there’s more of a human side. You have to be wary as a leader because there are only so many times you can crack the whip.”
 

Tackling criticism

Being a leader inevitably puts you in the firing line, especially when results aren’t going your way. Handling criticism comes with the territory.

“People are entitled to their opinions. I welcome criticism because it’s feedback and you can use it to improve yourself. But when it’s mindless, it’s not helpful. The pressure can become tough, especially when you’re not winning games.

“That's when the pressure builds and the walls start closing in on the team and you find out who's really got a backbone and who comes out on the other side,” he says. “But you also have to understand the human side of it.”

He finds that building relationships and friendships away from the pitch is important to help pull him through tough times.
 

Community focus

You sense that nowadays Ellis is probably as happy off the pitch as much as he is on it. Not only with his young family but also sharing his professional and personal experiences to help guide younger players in the local community. Here, the calmness he describes comes to the fore.

What he says resonates with a younger audience. He has readily acknowledged having scrapes with the law in his youth and said that joining a rugby academy as a teenager helped steer him onto the right course.
 

Sharing life lessons

Ellis shares his life lessons with youngsters on the basis that prevention is better than cure. He says: “I’d rather stop people from making the same mistakes I did. I always tell youngsters that there’s nothing they can do that I probably haven’t done – and if they do, then they’ll be in real trouble. Having made those mistakes puts me in a stronger position when I speak to young players.”

He adds: “It's nice to me to be able to come back to Bristol and engage with clubs and communities as a local boy who's come through that system and come out on the other side of it. I can give these kids something to aspire to, so they know that it's not just the people from the upper echelons and top private schools that are going to be able to crack professional rugby.”

He also has dyspraxia, which hinders hand and eye coordination – a bit of a challenge you would have thought for a rugby player. But it’s just another hurdle he has determinedly tackled in his career.
 

Ambitious outlook

Having achieved much already, ambition still burns strongly with Ellis. His ‘to do’ list includes winning a trophy with Bristol, playing in a Six Nations-winning team and being part of a British & Irish Lions tour. And in business, a priority is to open a SYN gym in Bristol.

And when things don’t go as you planned, one thing’s for sure: “You're never going to get where you want to go if you just sit there and feel sorry for yourself.”

At the end of the day, his driving force is a love for rugby. “The emotional side before a game, knowing it’s going to be tough but being willing to muck in with your teammates.”