I AM COMMITTED TO IMPROVING THE FITNESS OF ALL AUSTRALIANS.

I use a variety of methods—from face to face workouts that I deliver myself to educational coursework and classes that I have designed to teach the fitness industry to accomplish this goal.

For 30 years I have been actively engaged in educating fitness instructors in both the Australian and International communities.

I have presented at National and International conferences every year since 1994 and deliver workshops around Australia and New Zealand on topics which include aqua exercise and leadership, pelvic floor and core training, and functional muscle conditioning. I have played an integral role in creating a bridge between the fitness industry and physiotherapists with the purpose of providing a holistic approach to pelvic floor and core health.

It is impossible to fully describe the excitement and intensity that I feel coursing through my body when I am delivering a live presentation or working on a new online education project. Though the word “passion” may be considered cliche, there really is no other phrase more apt to describe the way that I feel about the teaching and training of fitness instructors.

I love every moment that I get to spend with the people who have decided to dedicate resources and time to spend with me to learn new information. I am addicted to seeing instructors experience those life-changing light bulb moments, that in life are so rare and so magical. I rarely feel separated from my audience, instead I believe that I am sharing in the learning along with my community, one that I am part of and certainly cannot do without.

All my life I have loved to solve problems—be it how to get my clients to perform an exercise better or finally getting to appreciate the benefit of a new healthy habit. I love coming up with creative ways to achieve this faster and easier as well as developing completely different and inspiring ways to move. Being a teacher is a calling innate in my very soul, and something I have been doing since I was still young in school, helping other students with their school work. There is no greater joy for me than to pass on something that I have learned to my colleagues so that we can all move forward effectively together.

There is no greater joy for me than to pass on something that I have learned to my colleagues so that we can all move forward effectively together.

Personal Struggle

Being an overweight child and teenager in a small country town where sport prowess was revered made it impossible to fit in.

Being an overweight child and teenager in a small country town where sport prowess was revered made it impossible to fit in.

I longed to be part of a community, part of a circle of friends—just part of something—but my ethnicity and weight made it impossible. I wasn’t cool. I wasn’t interesting. I wasn’t athletic. I couldn’t hit or catch a ball, and running felt like torture. All I desperately wanted was to be like everyone else.

One summer, a gym opened in my little town. My dad thought it would be a good idea to purchase a gym membership while school was out for the term.

I was so nervous. I thought that I would have to do humiliating things in the fitness assessment and expose my grossness.

What I actually experienced was completely unexpected.

I was treated with respect, compassion, and gentleness that I had never before known in school. I was not expected to do anything other than what I felt comfortable doing. One of those things was aerobics. The idea of moving around to music brought back a long buried childhood desire to become a dancer, which had never felt like anything but an unattainable dream—but now, with aerobics felt almost fulfilled. Now I could move my body and enjoy music at the same time.

This ignited my lifetime passion with aerobics, now known as group fitness.

Today I am the weight that I am happy with, have the energy that allows me to do whatever I want, and I have the strength and ability to empower others to achieve the same.

Group fitness is accessible.

It allows people to move at their own pace and be part of a group. The instructor provides encouragement and guidance and allows each participant to choose their level of involvement. I love teaching classes and I am passionate about teaching others how to deliver classes using formats that cater to diversity.

Group fitness is accessible. It allows people to move at their own pace and be part of a group.