My story

When I started in the fitness industry, I realised I’d found my ‘element’. I felt free. I felt alive. Exercise is medicine for my soul, and it drives me. It’s an industry that I love: the people, their attitude, the environment. I thrive on sharing that energy and spark with other people because for me, it’s as much about the people as it is about my own achievements. I love what I do.

Early beginnings

My life today in London is a far cry from my early upbringing in a small farming village just outside Belfast, Northern Ireland. But looking back, I guess there were lots of hints of what my future might hold. I was always involved in sports and regularly won medals. And I was a bit of a performer – partly as a result of speech and drama training. I often created cookery shows for family and friends in my parents’ kitchen, using my sister as bottle-washer and general slave!

After completing a degree in Hospitality Management, I was keen to spread my wings. I left Ireland to live and work in England with a large food manufacturer where I was fast-tracked into management and relocated to Wales. Never one to stay still for long, I began to hatch a plan to combine my business and management experience with my love of fitness.

I’d always wanted to be self-employed, and so it seemed the perfect fit – and combined my interests in nutrition and fitness. I started to study to become a personal trainer, and it was then that I got the bug for weight training. I saw a real change in my body when I moved from mainly cardio training, to weights, and it really motivated me – and still does.

Going it alone

In 2000, these things all came together. I saw a gap in the health market and launched a business creating corporate health and wellbeing programmes for businesses across Wales. The business was a success, providing programmes to more than 25 businesses.

My circumstances changed and I ended up moving to London and began to pursue a career as a personal trainer. I found that my experiences in business, in managing people, and my determination to make my clients look, feel and be their best, attracted a solid core of loyal customers. They were largely business people – entrepreneurs, stock brokers, company directors and others who were highly driven, expected results, but also had a passion for making the most of every aspect of their lives.

A taste for competing

It was in 2009 that I entered my first fitness competition, in the USA. It was a period of personal challenge for me, but my response was to stay physically and mentally strong. I trained hard for the Fitness America competition in Miami, while raising funds for a local charity, Ability Bow. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I wanted to do something positive. It’s what I call ‘training during the tough times’ and for me, the best way to do this is to pick up the weights, hop on a yoga mat or sweat it out through a punishing cardio session.

My goal was to dramatically change my body shape, gaining 6-8 pounds of muscle in just 20 weeks and I did it, coming in the top ten out of hundreds of entrants in the Bikini category. I found a new edge to my passion.

Competing introduced me to new people and places, and gave me a fresh perspective which resulted in setting myself another new challenge. This time it was to develop my business internationally so that I could work with my clients and followers, and help more people look, feel and be their best.

My new adventure has just begun …

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