Latest / The Booth Juice Creative Podcast / S2 Ep3 - A Holiday that Led to Love, Purpose & LiftHer with Amy Millen

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S2 Ep3 - A Holiday that Led to Love, Purpose & LiftHer with Amy Millen · The Booth Juice Creative Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: All the juice straight from the makeup booth.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the booth juice.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode of The Booth Juice.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Joining me today is the absolute superstar behind our local women's gym lifter and an amazing athlete herself.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Please welcome Amy Miller.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for coming on.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Amy, you're so welcome.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're so welcome.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: You are such a busy little baby, so I feel very grateful to have you in today to talk about your story.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: We've got plenty of time for you.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, before we dive into being a coach and having a gym and all of that, I'd love to paint a picture for our listeners as to where you came from before.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I came off a boat and then I landed in Australia.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Where you grew up, what was life like before Australia?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: So before less more or less before Kochimi.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yes, so I'm from Northern Ireland, Belfast, and I've been in Australia for it's coming up to three years.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: It'll be three years in September time, which is crazy that I've even been here for that long.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but yeah, so more or less from Northern Ireland Belfast.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I've been Kochimi for a long time now, um, longer than I like to admit, because it makes me feel very old.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but no, before that, there I was just a kid that got a job in a supermarket, followed in my mother's footsteps.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: As soon as I was able to get a job, she was like, You're getting the job with me.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think she just wanted me to pay house rent for her after her pen for me for 16 years.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, no, I just got a job in the supermarket, and I was just trying to find my way in life, as you do at that age, trying to find my way in life, and then I never knew exactly what I wanted to do.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I always tried to stay in school for as long as possible because everybody I felt when I was younger, like everybody just knew what they wanted to do and be.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I always felt like I was in like a roadblock because I always thought I wanted to be a P teacher.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I want to rock up to work in my tracks at bottoms with a whistle in my hand, coffee in my other hand, and then just have fun and play sports all day.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but this the school I was in, it wasn't it was like working class, it wasn't like a fancy school or anything.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: So the school I was in didn't have the qualifications that I needed to then go to like university, right?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: To then do like the PE side of like coaching and then teaching.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: So then I hit roadblocks, and I was like, right, okay, I just want to get money in my pocket.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I got a job, just got a part-time job.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: My mom helped me get it because she already worked in the supermarket, it was kind of it's called Tesco's, yeah, kind of like Cole's.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, got a job in a supermarket and then I started working there, but that supermarket became like kind of like my safety net for me, trying to get through doors of other ways of wanting to get into doing something that I wanted to do and love.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, so as I worked there, I was working there for that long.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: I was literally trained in every single department.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: I was like baker, checkout operator, online shopper, I was a fish mongerer, uh meat cutter, everything.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've got tricks in the train.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Of course I was literally like I don't see you doing anything half-assed.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, well, that's the thing too.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I used to be, oh, I used to be so bad at this.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: When I was younger, I didn't have much self-belief, and I wasn't actually that confident.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, and I always this is what this has always stuck with me.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: My teacher always says to me, You're half a job millen.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I always actually did things half-assed.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then it wasn't until I got you know when someone calls you out and then you get really offended and you're like, What the heck?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it wasn't until they said that to me, and I was like, You're absolutely right.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'll always do bare minimum to get by.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, even with my exams in school, I was like, I said to the teacher, what's the bare minimum I need to do to pass?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: They told me, and that's all I did.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Where everybody else was doing always that little bit extra, but that little bit extra always got them to the places where they wanted to be.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, where I always just did enough to get by and be like, Well, it still passed, didn't it?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: But I skipped like a whole section of say your coursework, so that really stuck with me.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: So then, whenever I was in Tesco's, I was like standing one day behind the meat counter, and I was like, This can't be my life, like, and like my mom worked in supermarket her whole life, and I love her, and she's a hardworking woman, and I was like, That I don't want that for my life as well.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I felt like I just want to be something more and have more meaning into my life and purpose.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I was standing behind the meat counter on my phone, shouldn't have been on my phone in work as it is, and I was like, How do you become a personal trainer?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: And that was it.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing, and that started it.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: So then obviously, like Google Search, everything came up, and it was like, earn up six figures a year, personal training, perfect lifestyle.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, I was like, You can earn that amount of money being a personal trainer, you mad?
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sign me up.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so because I lived in Northern Ireland, there, and this was like when I was 18, which is a lot of years ago, maybe like 17 years ago now, there wasn't that many resources in the country, so I had to move to England.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: So I moved to Manchester, got my PT course, right?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: But now I was still in Tesco's part time because it was like my safety net.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: I still needed money in my pocket, I still had like my card loan, phone bills, drinking money at the weekend.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, yeah, you still needed that.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, and um, so yeah, went to Manchester, did my PT course, and it was guaranteed, you were guaranteed a job off this course as well.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: So when I moved back home, I went into like a big franchise gym.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of similar to like Anytime Fitness.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: You guys have Anytime Fitness here, it was called Pure Gym Back Home, big franchise gym, and the deal with gyms and coaching is you either pay them gym rent, so you pay them X amount of money a month to work there to coach your clients, or you can work for free.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: So because I didn't have any clients, I didn't have any money, so I was like, all right, I'll do the hours.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: So it was like 15 hours.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: You had to do three five-hour shifts of like cleaning equipment, taking classes back to back.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: So one of my shifts, for example, was taking 45 minutes of like legs, bumps, and tums, then jumping into a 30-minute spin session, then jumping into a 20-minute abblast, and then after that, you had to clean all the equipment, everyone else's sweat marks.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: That is wild.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, so and because I didn't have any money, I was car sharing with my mum.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll always remember this, and I only probably only remember this because it's a Facebook memory, but it comes up every year and it always puts into perspective of where I started to where I was.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: So basically, because I car share with my mum, she was at work with the car, I had to get to the gym, and it was seven miles into the town.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I would have cycled for seven miles in, worked a five-hour shift of doing all them classes, cleaning the whole gym, then trying to coach maybe like a one-to-one session that I didn't have a clue what I was doing because I just started out.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: There was no one telling you how to do it and what to do.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: You do your course, you learn all about the body and all about your muscles, but no one teaches you how to actually like run a business and ask for money and payment and set things up like that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I was trying to coach clans after that.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: Then I was cycling seven miles back home.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: I was exhausted.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I was trying to do yeah, I was trying to do this like five days a week.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: And like obviously, you're young, you've got energy, yes, but like it caught up to me, and I was trying to work Tesco part-time because still wasn't making enough money, and then I just remember one night my mum was like, Amy, you just look really sad, and I burst like cracking in the car.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: I was dropping my mum off to like a Christmas party, and I was like, Mom, I just don't know what I'm doing in life.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really trying to do this, and I feel like there is something there, but there was no role models, or like Instagram as well at that time was just a photography app.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it wasn't filled with these great coaches that you could follow around the world and get advice from, or like business coaches and you know, things like that.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just in trap, yeah, trying to find a way, and I was like, I do not know what I'm doing.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and like people were going to the more older experienced coaches in the gym, which is fine because who would trust a little 18-year-old girl that's just fair she qualified to like put their health and fitness around.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: But I also feel like it's such an important point to talk about how like I love that you've come from such humble beginnings, and you were you still did keep your supermarket job to help you, you know, to get your foot in the door and stuff.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, maybe people weren't going to you straight away, but gosh, like all of that just shows how determined you are, you know, to start with.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: So and at the time I didn't notice determination because looking back at it, I could see like this is what I wanted, but it was such a blurry part of my life because I was really down.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know what doing, I was struggling, and I was just like, I need help.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: So what I did was I took a step back from the gym and I was like, right, let's just get more hours in the supermarket.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: Still kept money in my pocket, and then I was like, but what I will do is I'll continue to learn.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I was constantly reading books, I was constantly then maybe going to the gym with my friends and being like listen.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: If I if you just follow this program, tell me if you see results, tell me if you see progress.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's literally it, yeah.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I made a promise to myself, right?
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: Just don't give up.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: It is a step back, but it's also just a step in another little direction.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: So um, I still just kept educating myself while I was working in Tesco's as well, and then it came a few years later, came a point in my life where um I was in a relationship and they were also a personal trainer too.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they were working the other side of the country, and then we came together and we decided then to open up our own.
• 9:15
  unknown: Cool.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: So we decided to open up our own, and then that's where the real basis of like where my coaching kind of started.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, we had a gym, it was male and female, and that's where I started getting my confidence.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, really started getting confidence.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: I remember there was like my first session back on the gym floor.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: We're writing up the workout on the whiteboard, and then I was filled with so much anxiety.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh my god, I can't do this here, I can't do this here.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Started balling out in tears.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: Clients were walking in the door that I've never met before.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: I'm standing at this whiteboard, I can't turn around because I'm like, oh, shaking like a leaf.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I can't do this, I can't do this here.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: And um, basically, it was thought, you've no choice, yeah, go to it.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like kind of thrown back in the deep end.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, had to deliver a session.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: By the end of it, I think I was landing on the floor, yeah, just breathing and being like, okay, regular session done.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, but then it just became a thing, and then so we had that gym, and obviously the relationship and things like that as well, it's for like eight years.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: Gym grew and grew and grew and grew.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's huge, like eight years, particularly in a gym because it's such a close-knit environment, and then you probably create such close connections and things that got really hard.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so then because it was a male-female gym, I kind of just gravitated towards just looking after all the women because I was the only female coach.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: We had all our coaches working for him, they were all lads, they're all boys.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously, all the women then just sort of gravitated towards me, with just like little issues and things like that, and I created like really good bonds with them, and a lot of them became really good friends, yeah.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: And girls I would still talk to to this day back home and that as well.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: And um, that's where my confidence then grew as a coach because I started then working more hours, and it got to the point then I was actually able to step away from Tesco's and just start coaching full time.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's like coaching full-time, yeah.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: So coaching full-time, though, but it was long, it was six in the morning to nine o'clock at night, like it was a big operation, essentially.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and um, and it was just that repetitiveness of just being like, just show up and do like there's like some obviously the coaches they would say, like, you're not qualified until you did a thousand hours in the gym, gym floor, and like that's where you learn, and that's where you're how to like deal with your everyday people because not every person is the same, yeah, and not every person should get the same style of movements and coaching and things like that, and it's about thinking on your feet because if someone walks in the door, and especially with group coaching, and it's like, Well, I can't squat because I've got a knee injury from this, it's like, okay, well, what toolbox have you got in your head so they can still get the most out of their session?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, my confidence really grew as a coach, and then obviously life happens, things like that.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: That relationship ended, yeah.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I stepped away from it.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: What age were you at this point?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: So this was more or less from my 20s, so stay from like 22 right up to I was like 29.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, yeah.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that was kind of like all my 20s was just spent like just working really hard, really trying to build a successful gym, and obviously that relationship as well, and um and it served its purpose, learned a lot, and then obviously like COVID hit as well.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so that was a big learning curve for us today.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: For you over there, that was yeah, that was tough.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously, lockdown happened.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: We had this small group training gym with over it was like 150 members at the time.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're like, what are we gonna do?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm a bit like a little bit tech savvy.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: I always did like the background work, so we set up, I tried to set up the best I could as like an online bit of a platform.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we give all our members our equipment, we rent, we just give them it up, and we just tried, I just tried my best to keep them moving through lockdown.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: We were doing the Zoom workouts, we were flipping, doing workouts in my living room, recording things, but not on YouTube.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: I was trying my absolute best to keep people moving because people obviously struggled during that time as well.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely, yeah.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always so fascinated to see how people navigated that time because obviously Port Douglas was very different to yeah, other parts of the world, and it's cool to hear.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: I've heard very good stories about Port Douglas and COVID, and it sounds like a dream.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds like a dream of a crazy world, yeah, yeah.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: It was a crazy time, yeah.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's so cool to see that you just adapted to just try our best, do what we can, look after people the best way we can.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: So we were locked down for maybe like six months, and then when the gym reopened, because obviously COVID measures were in place with social distancing and cleaning things so much more than what they need to be cleaned as well.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Then we had to like readapt the gym.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: So before COVID, we were maybe having like 20 people in one session.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's not small group coaching, that was just large group coaching, essentially, and we tried to make it personal, but you just couldn't, it was too many people.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: So then after that, we adapted it, bring groups in smaller.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we just tried to adapt the best we can through that.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: So again, it was just then taking that learning curve of how to like remodel a business to then still bring it forward and rebuild back up.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so anyway, after COVID, built all that back up, life happens, and then I stepped away from that gym, that relationship.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: But at that point, I was just turning 30 and I took a big massive breath and I was like, I need a break.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like I need a break.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: I was working in the supermarket all hours of the ship, like every single shift there from there.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: Then I tried to do obviously the franchise gym, couldn't find my way there, went back to the supermarket, did this gym then for like seven, eight years.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, all my 20s, I just spent my life looking after everybody else and trying to obviously build myself up to.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: So after that, I decided I need a break.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: I need an absolute break.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: Took a lot of time off, but as I was taking time off, the girls from the previous gym were messaged me being like, Amy, when are you going back coaching?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: I really miss coaching with you.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: I want to work with you.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: Let me know whenever you're going back to work.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, leave me alone, I'm taking a break.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like, please.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: But it was also lovely for people to actually come to me and be like, Amy, I actually want to be coached by you because I trust you.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I know you're good at what you do, and I feel good whenever I train with you.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: So that was kind of like one of them things, and it was one of them moments where I was like, oh my god, people actually value my coaching.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: And that was a big confidence boost for me because I was like, people actually still want this.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: Where I was obviously then, confidence was shot, I didn't know what I was doing.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I'm just gonna get a normal job again where you're guaranteed a uh a wage every month.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_02: I can clock in, I can clock out, I don't need to think about anything afterwards.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then um obviously them messages came through, and I was like, right, let's restart this again.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a few months later, contacted a little local gym that I started my whole fitness in.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Whenever I was coaching my friends for free, yeah, I contacted them.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: They had like a bit of a side run.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I was like, all right, this time it's just women's only.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: Women only.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: I can't be bore can't be bothered with men.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, to me, it's no offense, guys.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it just it just bores me treating men.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Men show up to the gym, they get strong, they have a good session, they leave.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: When you coach women, it's like a jigsaw puzzle.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, okay, how are you feeling today?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: What's actually going on in your life?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: Women have a lot more stress about always looking after everybody else.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, whenever they step foot in the gym, that's the only art they probably have for themselves in that day as well.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: And they've just got And they're lucky to even get there.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's the thing.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: If they even get there too, that's massive.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, coaching women for me, it just means more to me because I feel like I can relate to them a lot more.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: I can't relate to a man that can just show up, get strong, and get results.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and there's there's space for them in other areas, yeah.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: But 100%, yeah, yeah, that's a thing.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: Buggling in your skills, yeah.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's what you've got to offer.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it's rare to actually see just a women's only gym.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like many like towns and cities you've gone to, it's rare.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe you have maybe like one, and that's it.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: We have all these other places that obviously men can go to, and that's all good.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, I started just women only.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: A few of my clients came from that gym, which is great.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: So, I had a really good start, built my own little community in this side little room of this gym, and that really filled my cup back up again.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Do you know what?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: This is just so natural to me now.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so confident of what I'm doing.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: I've learned all the mistakes in the past and know how to set everything up now.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: So I was doing that and it was great.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: I was enjoying my life, and I said to myself, right, now's the time of my life where I'm single again, business is going well, I want to take a few things off from my own life, my own personal life, like bucket list things.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like a girl's holiday.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: I did I've never did a girl's holiday before in my 20s, and I was like, right, I'm 30, I'm gonna do this.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I started taking things off my bucket list, went skiing, girls' trips, little trips here and there.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just traveled a little bit more, and I loved it.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I was able to do that because obviously then my business was doing really well and it was good, but then I kind of got to the point where there was one last thing to take off on the bucket list, and that was Australia, essentially.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: That was Australia.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: No, I didn't really tell my mum and dad this because they would have freaked, they would have well, they did freak out, yeah.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I kind of had a moment, I was landing on the living room floor, and I was like, Mum and dad, like I've been taking these things off, and it's great, but there's just one thing that I really want to do, and it's obviously a big trip.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: And now when I say a big trip, it was only a six-week trip, but to me that's huge.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's huge.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Taking six weeks off when you're self-employed, like that's a big trip.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's a life-changing job.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, dude.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: And my dad was like, Amy, you can go to Australia, and I was like, but I want to just go experience it.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: And my dad's first thing was like, Amy, you need to think about your pension, you need to think about your business.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Damn, 30 years old.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's the last thing I'm thinking about here.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Also, I've just spent the last 10 years doing that too.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I said to my dad and mum, and I was like, This and guy's like, I've spent my whole life looking after everybody else, making sure they're good, trying to improve their life, and really pour myself into everybody else.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: And this is probably the only time in my life where I'm single, I'm by myself, and it's the only time, probably before I maybe get serious with someone else that I can take this off.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and then my dad turns around and says to me, He goes, Amy, I'm just being selfish.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want you to go because I just want you here, essentially.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because my mum and dad became my best friend.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I moved back in with my mom and dad as well, and they're like my best friends, so they are, and like every weekend I was ringing them and be like, What are we doing this week?
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm gonna be your third wave.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I was like, So, where are we going for food this weekend, guys?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I'm just making best friends, and no, so my dad obviously said that my mum was obviously sitting on the sofa just crying her eyes.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'd be like, Don't even speak to me, like she couldn't even speak, so I was like, It's just a six-week trip.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and they were like, Okay, and they were like, Well, when do you think gonna go?
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: I know, but what I didn't tell them was that the year before I actually had a bit of a meltdown, so I was sitting in bed one night feeling sorry for myself, watching Netflix, and the Australian government had changed the work and holiday visa, and they increased the age to 33.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't want to used to be 18 to 30 year old because I hit my 30.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: Whenever they brought this in and they increased the 33, I was like, Well, this is my chance.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: If I want to go to Australia, yeah, I can get a work and holiday visa, and then I can go.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: So, mental breakdown in my bed, plan for a visa, being like, this country, I want to leave, I want to go to the sunshine, I don't like the winter, applied for the visa.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: Next morning I woke up, did an email, and I was like, What is this email?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: And it was the visa that was granted, and I was like, Oh, right, okay.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, so the visa was granted in like September.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I was like, okay, well, maybe I'll go at the start of the year.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'll spend Chris with my parents, I'll go at the start of the year.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: But then a ski trip opportunity came up.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: Never been skiing.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: I want to go skiing my friends, so I spent my money skiing with friends to take it off.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, then it was my mom's 60th birthday party.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't leave before my mom's 60th birthday party.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, you threw her away.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely not threw her a big surprise 60th birthday party.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: It was great.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: Then another holiday came up with my friends, and I was like, I just want to do this here.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: So anyway, I got to the point after everything had happened.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, it was like August time, so this visa was about to expire.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: The visa was gonna expire the following September.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, if I don't do this now, I'm gonna waste a good opportunity.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: So that's when that conversation happened with my parents, and they're like, Well, when do you think of going?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Well, my visa expires in September, and they're like, What do you mean a visa?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: You've already applied.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Well, I kind of applied last year, but I didn't think I would go because everything else was coming up, but it's gonna be a wasted opportunity, I don't know what I'm doing.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, after my midlife crisis land on the floor, crying to my parents, um, they were like, Do what you gotta do and me.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: So um booked a flight, which was in two weeks' time, and got everything all sorted.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, I had to tell two weeks.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I had to tell all the girls I was coaching, they were all so understandable.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then my pivot point was like, okay, well, I still want to travel and I still want to have an income, essentially, too.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: So I pivoted then my business to do online coaching.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it means if I had a laptop, internet, I had location freedom with online coaching, and then I could still build that.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I launched online coaching, and then obviously, like you know yourself with content.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: I was always producing content, content, content.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: I became this like trusted coach that got results, knew what she was talking about, and people could see that.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it worked out really well that when I launched the online coaching, it was really successful.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like it was absolutely it was perfect timing.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: So then I had an income.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: So did you do that in the two weeks that you decided?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Pretty much, yeah.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's insane.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know it was nuts.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not surprised coming from you, but in general, that's wild.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: But it was it was kind of one of them's things too.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you'll probably get this as well.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: It was even though I launched it within the two weeks, it was the years' worth of content that I was always producing that led to that moment that when I was able to launch something, people were like, I can trust this person, I'm bought in.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I want to do online coaching with you, essentially.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um so yeah, so from that, just launched online coaching, and then from the years ago when it was COVID, because I had that pivot point where we tried to do the YouTube and a little bit of Zooms and things like that, I kind of knew how to set up the online stuff really quickly.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: And because I've had years worth of programs and everything, all I had all the background stuff, it was just piecing together to make a product, which was the online coaching essentially.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I launched that and it was successful, it was pretty much doing six figures, so it was already, yeah, which was incredible, which I was very, very grateful for.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so yeah, brought my laptop, Australia, for a six-week trip, and that's all I was gonna do.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: Six week trip.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then my plan was once I go back home, being successful off the online coaching, I'll have enough money to open up my big, proper own facility, my own gym.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I says to the girls, I'll be back.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: Says my parents, I'll be back.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: I says to my best friend, I'll be back.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: She says, No, you won't.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I says, Yes, I will.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: She goes, No, you won't.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna stay in Australia.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Shut up, I'll be back.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: Best friends.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: No, I know and all.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, so then obviously landed in Sydney.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: And actually, the first day in Sydney, I ended up doing being part of the Sydney Marathon.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: That was like my first day in Australia, right?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like this has kind of set the tone.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like this has kind of set the tone for like what my life would look like.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: And it was you marathon training leading up to this?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I didn't do the marathon, I did the 10k event.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: Did the 10k.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because back home it would have done maybe just fives and tens, but that's all what it did.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: But on my group, my group coaching back home, one of the girls, she was from Sydney and she had moved to Northern Ireland to be with some family because she wanted to change, and she would always talk to me and tell me about how she would have done this ultra, ultra marathons and ultra trio running.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, what the hell's an ultra?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: I've never heard of it before.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: So you don't have that over there.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: No, well, we do, but because I wasn't into it, I didn't know anything about it.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: I was just all about weightlifting, a little bit of bodybuilding kind of side of things, and just strength training.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't really into the cardio side of things.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: And then with her being in my groups, she missed the cardio side of things because that's all she did, and she was new to strength training.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: And because she was kind of came from Sydney back over, I was like, Well, I'll tell you what, her name was Grace.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: Brilliant inspiration.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, All right, Grace, we'll get the girls and we'll get them running.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you can be the inspiration, we'll get them running.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's something that you miss, you're doing something new to you.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: Let me do something that's new.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: For me.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: So we started like running every week, all that stuff, and we started doing little 5K events and then little 10Ks, and it was good.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: Really good crematary for the group.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: So she told me, she was like, Amy, actually, when you land, the Sydney Marathon's on.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I tried to get into it.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: It was all sold out, but there was 10K races still available.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I'm just laughing, thinking about the context of like how long is your flight?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: How long sorry, my brain's going from like, she's just decided two weeks ago, then she's launched an online coaching, then she's flown across the world and landed in Sydney and decides to run a marathon.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Who does it?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's maybe a bit ADHD.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's what they call it.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um but anyway, so I had to use her Sydney address to get an injury.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: So she was like, just use my address because there was no international spaces available.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: But it was only the 10K event anyway.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, whenever I landed, picked up my bib, threw my suitcase into the hostel, and it was the next morning that the 10K was on.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: So my very first morning in Australia was running across the Sydney Bridge.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: Is it the Sydney Bridge?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: The Harbor Bridge, yeah, yeah.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Running across there, sun was rising, everyone running.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: So my first view of Sydney was running the 10K around it, which was amazing.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: I was cram out.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: I was at halfway through it.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then whenever the Sydney courts, whenever you come down like around the hill, and then you start seeing the Sydney Harbor, the opera house for the first time, goose bumps, everything.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, what is my life right now?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: What am I doing?
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: How did I get here?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: This is insane.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I finished that off.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: So spent a few days in Sydney, and then my plan was to work up the east coast.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, had a bit of an itinerary, figured out.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so yeah, worked myself all the way up the east coast, and then my last stop was going to be Cairns to do the whole Great Bayer Reef experience, things like that.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: But then I remember seeing um just like little TikTok travel videos because that was all my feet at the time.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: Check out this place, check out there.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember seeing a TikTok, and it was like, if you all make it all the way to the Cairns, just make another extra hour trip, check out a place called Port Douglas.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, TikTok.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: Bring in TikTok.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, this place looks beautiful.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I had a hire car from Erie Beach, drove from Erie Beach up Townsville, did Magnetic Island, beautiful, drove up to Cairns, did that, and I was like, right, I'll drive up to Port Douglas.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, drove up here, and I was only spending three days here.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, this place is amazing.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: What a little slice of paradise.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: And this was in September.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: So this probably would have been so I landed in Sydney in September, and then coming up towards Port Douglas would have been towards the end of the six weeks.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: So week five.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, week five October.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, September and October, beautiful weather.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Warm, gorgeous weather, decent weather, yeah, perfect, and not probably at that point where it's not so busy, yeah.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Or wet season, which I had no idea about wet season, jump seasons.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: I had no idea.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: No idea.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: So um Q and I was like, this place is beautiful.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Had this hire car and I hired about from Erie Beach.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: So the plan, my plan was at the time, end of my six weeks, and then I was thinking, all right, well, what am I gonna do then this six weeks?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_02: So my plan was kind of like I've never did Bali or Vietnam and all that.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, all right, on my way back after Australia, I'll maybe take off them, go back home, set up my women's only gym.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: Got to Port Douglas, spent three days here, loved it, it was beautiful.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: And would you be spiritual, really?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: A little bit.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not massively, I'm not massively in general.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: No, yeah, I definitely am a bit, for sure.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: There's been a few moments in my life where I'm like, whoa, yeah, this is weird.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I had this hire car and I had to bring the hire car back to Early Beach, okay, which was grand because I was leaving Port Douglas all good.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I was driving, it was a Sunday, and I was starting out at the range, I was driving down the range, and I kept looking at my rearview mirror, and I was like, Port Douglas was beautiful, love my time, and I kept thinking about it, and then I had this that was the most insane, overwhelming feeling I have ever had in my life.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: It was literally like goosebumps from my toes, right up to the like my whole head was just insane of this big rush, and all I heard in my head was just go back to Port Douglas, like just go back.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: I've got the rush.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_02: It was honestly like I've got goosebumps thinking about it.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: It was the most intense, overwhelming feeling I've ever had.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: So I pulled over on the range in one of them little side bays.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I wonder if I can maybe try and leave this hire car at Port Douglas instead of driving back to Early Beach and trying to work my way back up.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, the first time I realized you get no signal on the range because I was trying to ring the hire car company on a Sunday.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: No one's gonna answer on a Sunday, be like, Can I please leave this car here?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to leave.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no one answered.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, okay, Amy, bring the car back and then work yourself back up, the Port Douglas.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: So drove all the way down.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Context for people that don't really know the area.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Early Beach is probably like eight hours.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: Eight hours.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but eight hours.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, eight.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would say eight.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but good eight hours.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Eight hours south.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: And like for me, right?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's a huge road trip because I'm in Ireland.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: From the top of Northern Ireland to the south of Ireland, it's like six hours, six, seven hours.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: So that's my whole country.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: So like that's a big drive for me.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we're with you guys, you Australians, yeah.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's like just that's a roading.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's grand, it's just a day's trip.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's fine, let's go to the beach.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but that's a huge trip for me.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I drove the car down, left it there, made my way back up to Port Douglas, um, staying in the hostel.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: So it was one of the backpacker hostels, and I was trying to find like a place to stay.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Now this was like at the end of October, and I says to myself, I didn't want to commit too much time to Port Douglas, still wasn't sure.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: But anyway, trust him, I got that big feeling back to Port Douglas.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: I was here, I was trying to find somewhere to live.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: And then about maybe a couple of weeks later, I got myself an apartment over just at Main Street in the back of Rattle and Hun.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: Got myself an apartment there, and um, yeah, I was still doing online coaching, so I was still working from my laptop from home in that as well.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: And then pretty much the apartment that I got had six months' lease.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so when I was ringing my mom and dad being like, So I'm just gonna stay for another six months, they were like, What?
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: So you're not gonna what the hell?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you always said this was a six-week trip.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, but it's winter back in like back at home.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to go back to the cold, like it's so nice here.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, after they got over it, which I still don't think they have got over it, um, I ended up staying.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I got a six six-month lease.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: I stayed there, and then I was working from my laptop from home from the apartment, and I'm not a big drinker, I don't go out loads, so I felt kind of lonely.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say you do.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder how you started.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't really know anybody, got a little bit lonely.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then pretty much what I actually did was I got a job in Gander in the main street.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: Got a job in Gander.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: I was working in Gander, and it was so good because I could meet like loads of girls that were like obviously just in the same thing, a lot of Irish ones as well.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I met like a good group of girls, which is really good.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't know that, yeah.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_02: Just worked a few ships, like grand, in fold and clothes, handiest job I've ever had in my life.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: So easy.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, and but because it I had the online coaching thing, it wasn't because I relied on that job, so it felt easy, like I was just showing up kind of thing.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't like, oh, I have to be here and working, so it was kind of nice and light just to be somewhere to work, but not feel like you needed it, essentially.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I met a really good bunch of girls, and then from that, I obviously met Matt, my partner.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, so I met Matt in Port Douglas, and I started then just building our own little life.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: Met Matt, he ended up moving in with me.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: Nice, our relationship.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: What does Matt do?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_02: He's a plumber.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes, yes, he's a plumber, yeah.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_02: Hydro track, yeah.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_02: He did say for me to plug it.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: Nice, um, put it in the show notes and so yeah, and met Matt, and then we just kind of started building this little life of Port Douglas.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: We had some friends, we'll have Matt, he moved in with me.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then obviously, as me and Matt were building our relationship, we were kind of thinking, like, do we stay in Port Douglas or do we leave?
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what do we do?
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then whenever we were training one night in Port Douglas gym, it was we were just leaving the gym, and I was obviously telling Matt like what I would have did back home and things like that.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: It was actually really funny.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you this story.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_02: Mine and Matt's first date, we actually didn't know much about each other, we just knew each other's names, we didn't know what we did for jobs, we didn't know anything, right?
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: All I said to him was, I love pizza.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like, Okay, I'll bring a pizza, I'll meet you at sunset, Rex Mead Park, obviously.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: So we were sitting there getting to know each other, and um, I asked him, you know, like what does he do?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: He said he's a plumber, and I was like, Is there anything else that you've always wanted to do?
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: And he says to me, I've always wanted to open up a gym, and I was like, Oh, and I was like, Yeah, it was so weird, and I was like, I might know a thing or two about gyms, and he's like, Why what do you do?
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, Well, I'm a personal trainer, and I have been personal trainer for 15 years at this point, and he was like, Shut up, and he didn't believe me.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, No, I swear to god, this is what I do, and he goes, Prove it.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, I had to show him the whole Instagram.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Here you go, there's my Instagram.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he was like, What the hell?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: This is nuts! Yeah, so that was weird that obviously that was Mona Mine and Matt's first conversation.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Well, I just do online coaching at the minute and that as well.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: And also, sorry, quick question.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how long was Matt here?
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, has he always lived in Port Douglas?
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, did he come from somewhere else?
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so Matt's from Adliad.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, well, there you go.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and what he was doing was he was wanting to do a lap of Australia.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so he had his caravan, and when he got to Port Douglas, he stopped to stay here to work for a bit, yeah, and then he was gonna move on.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously, I did my six-week trip, stopped in Port Douglas.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's so weird, it's like all the signs are aligned.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously, me and Matt met each other.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: He sold his caravan, we decided to stay here because we were in two minds of like, do we maybe go to Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, a little bit more going on for job opportunities and things like that.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then we were training one night in the PD gym, and we came out and we seen this big lease sang in the front of where Lifter is now.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then I was like, Matt, do you think like something like this could be possible here?
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like, Amy, you can do anything, like you can do anything you want.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like with what you've told me, you know exactly what you're doing, you've got that credit behind you, there's absolutely no reason why you can't do it here.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: I know, which he's very supportive, he's the most supportive person ever.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so I was like, Okay, let me look into this.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: So we went and viewed the space, the shop, and I was like, I think I can make this work a little bit.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_02: I think I could make this work, and then I was like, let's do it, let's do it.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_02: So the funny thing was so from my little job in Ganda, yeah, that was my first Australian job, right?
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: Where I was getting Australian dollars.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so all the money that I got from Gandha, my wages was going into my Australian bank account.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: So what I did was all the equipment that I opened Lifter with was from the money that I made from Ganda, essentially.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: So that was my budget.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, this is my budget, this is what I'm gonna buy, like all the equipment, I budgeted it all out.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: Now, fair enough, I budgeted it all out.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: Spreadsheet, barbells cost this, dumbbells cost this, racks cost this.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: It costs a lot, a lot of money.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I didn't budget for living in Port Douglas was the shipping.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: The shipping engagement.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, yeah.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: So when you're ordering 500 kilo, half a ton of weights to get them shipped to Port Douglas, it cost the equivalent of the actual plates.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_02: And it was, I was like, what have I done?
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't like thought this through completely to like the shipping.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_02: So that was a big spatter in the works.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: I was lucky enough again, just more research and then a few like random website offers and that I was able to get it stored, which was all good.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: So we took the lease on, and Matt was like, Okay, you're gonna do this, I'll set my plumb business up.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: We did that, so that was why we stayed in Port Douglas.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: We were gonna be like, if we stay in Port Douglas, we're gonna commit.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'll do this.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_02: He does that, essentially.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, so created lifter, started off really, really basic.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and um what year was this again?
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: So this was 2024.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: 24, yeah, 2024.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_02: Basically, I'd been in Australia for one year, yeah.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, been in Australia for one year, and then I opened Lifter.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, opened up Lifter, yeah, and which is pretty cool.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um so opened up Lifter.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: Now my biggest thing was I was sending Matt.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Matt, I am opening the gym up in a country I'm not from.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: I am not Australian.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_02: I actually don't really know.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: I knew about three or four girls from Ganda.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I know about three or four girls in this town, don't know any locals.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm probably like, I don't even know if this is gonna work.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but what I'm good at is obviously just like market it and seals, and I have like 10 years worth of like proof that I can prove that I'm a good coach.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: So this is where I come onto the scene.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, actually, my mum.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, your ads started popping up.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: This is when I first discovered it.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: We had these ads popping up on our socials.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like every time we open our phone, it was like, what is this lifting the thing?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, who is this?
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: What and so then we started like, oh my god, this is awesome, like fantastic.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, yeah, you think signed up for your like pre-whatever.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think mum definitely did, and I was a bit I'm a bit hopeless with all of that.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: But um, mum signed up, and I think she's been with you since pretty much the beginning.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: One of the OGs, yeah, one of the originals, and yeah, it was just so cool to like watch you because I kind of watched from a distance, obviously, watching mum and stuff, and just to see how you've grown since 2024, yeah, has been unreal.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's just fantastic.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: It is did really I'm shocked about it is did really well, and I've been so grateful because obviously one of my concerns was like, I'm not Australian, are Australian locals gonna trust me, a coach from another country and things like that.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: But obviously, with Port Douglas being Port Douglas, we've so many different nationalities here anyway, so it's just a mixed bag.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: You don't really notice the thing.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've grown up here, so I'm so used to it being so transient and so many different cultures and stuff coming and going.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah, I it's not even really anything that we consider, I guess.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: It was just one of them fears that was just all in my head, yes, it was just all my head, and I was just overthinking it, yeah.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, so pretty much we open lifter, two-week trial, women's only, come in, trials out, yeah.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_02: And um, it's all small group coaching, yeah.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not like you can just go by yourself or anything.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and my kind of whole thing with coaching is it's small group personal training, essentially.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: So if you imagine it's like one-to-one training, but you're in a group environment.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and how many people, when you say small group, how many does that kind of so we have maximum 12?
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, when we first opened it was nine, the space was a little bit smaller because I didn't want to overshoot myself and be like, oh my god, just in case this doesn't really, you know, work out as well as what I wanted to, wanted to keep it manageable.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: So it was to start off with nine.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then one year later, we did a renovation.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_02: Matt did a renovation, God love him.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_02: He actually, when we first got the the shop, he was like, Amy, I think we should do this.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, No, no, no, no, no, we'll need to keep it like this.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, not yet.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_02: So then when the renovation happened, he's like, So we're doing the thing I told you to do at the start.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Yes, we're doing nine.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, better position nine.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, it was nine.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: So my thing is like women, I want to make sure every single person gets what they need out of it.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_02: I see everybody as an individual.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_02: We've got a bit of a skeleton-based program, and the girls also have the program on their phones.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_02: So not every single person is gonna squat exactly the same, or maybe a squat movement doesn't suit them, but what does suit them is maybe an alternative movement.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_02: So then they just change that program on their phone so they know every single week, okay.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: I know instead of squats, I do this.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it suits them so they get the most out of their session.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: So it's kind of more of that personal style to it, rather than just hey guys, this is the workout of the day, this is what we're gonna do kind of thing.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_02: I just want to make sure that everyone values their time in that place.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think that app is fantastic, although I've only been a couple of times because I'm so slack.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: But um being able to record every single time, you know, hey, this week I've lifted this way, and then the following week you're trying to beat your, you know, you do that's it, you get these personal bests, and you you really feel rewarded because you're kind of monitoring, not in a not in a stressful way, or you're just tracking what you're getting up to, and I think that's really rewarding when you can see that you're making progress.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, and that's one of the biggest things.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think when women go to the gym, yes, they do a workout, but they don't really actually know what they did in that workout.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: So the next time they come in, they're not sure if they do that workout again or something different, and are they making progress?
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: And like, don't get me wrong, some people come into the gym and they don't track, they just want to come into the gym for just an hour of themselves without having to think about anything else, which is great.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but whenever you have like okay, I did this last week, let me try and do something a little bit more while it's an extra rep or an extra kilo.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: We're not talking about climbing Mount Everest every single session, it's just that little bit more, and it's just that snowball effect that whenever we follow a program through between say six to eight weeks, they can see week one starting weights to week eight, and they're like, Oh my god, I can do this.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_02: Look how much I've progressed, or look how much I got stronger, or look at the weights I was lifting at the beginning to now.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it's kind of one of them things where women are strong, right?
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: But they do not know they're strong.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: They will be carrying their five-year-old kid in this hand, they're pushing a prime here with a coal shopping, right?
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're pushing like 20 kilos and holding this hand.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: They'll go in the gym and pick three kilo dumbbells up, and I'm like, girl, you're strong.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you do not need to lift these three kilos, like, go get heavier dumbbells and actually lift because you're so much stronger than what they believe.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely essentially.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then obviously, just with that guidance of coaching, it just gives them confidence.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and I'm like, just be curious and see what you can do in the gym.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the worst thing is you get a rep or you don't.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the end of the world, like just always try for that little bit more at you, yeah.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_02: And that's it.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_02: And then with it being a women's only gym, like the special thing about it is that there's no there's no judgment.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like, oh my god, there is no judgment.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_02: You walk in, someone might be wearing their 20 year old bra, their favorite bra, and you know what, their bra strap might give way, and it's like, just take your bra off, it's fine.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_02: No one get no one cares in here, you know?
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_02: They're wearing their favorite leggings, their trusty leggings, they've got a hole in their crotch, but we don't care.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: Come in, get your session done.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_02: If you're lifting 30 kilos or 300, everyone's cotton for you.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's the thing.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone gets celebrated because everybody's small wins are a big win in my eyes.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_02: Essentially.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just why I love coaching women because I feel like for my cup, it's just so much more, I get so much more out of making a woman feel comfortable.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: One, starting to see their confidence bloom by lifting weights, making them realize they can do the thing that they've always wanted to do.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: What I think is so beautiful, particularly about your gym, is that your bond seems to, you know, extend well past just being in the gym.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like you guys have awards nights and bingo and like the most fantastic extra activities.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell us a bit more about what yeah?
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: So basically, one of my things is I just I love bringing people together.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like for me, and it probably just comes from like my own like personal childhood of like feeling left out or like just wanting someone to be like, hey, Amy, we're doing this thing.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to come?
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like whenever you feel included or when someone invites you in, you feel you feel it makes you feel nice.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_02: And that feeling you probably remember for the rest of your life.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: So my thing is no one gets left out.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_02: And because I've got a woman of such like a group of women of such diversity, it could be someone saying, Oh, I just got a new bike at the weekend.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_02: But then I had a conversation with someone two weeks ago that loves mountain biking.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'm like, I've got a bike too.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, well, why don't we all just do a group cycle?
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_02: Or if someone's chatting about like a documentary they're watching, and maybe someone's a little bit timid in the corner, I'll be like, oh hey, such and such.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: Have you seen this documentary?
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just about include everybody in.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: So then taking things outside of the gym, like we're going for cycles or little runs or hikes and things like that.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's about okay, you're building your strength in the gym.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Let's take it out of the gym and see what we can do.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a good opportunity just to bring everyone together and actually just talk without just that little hour window in the gym.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_02: You can get to know people better.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I just love bringing everyone together and just getting involved outside of the gym.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I think as well in Port Douglas, too, not everybody has their whole family here.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: So if you have them, I think a lot of people rely on their friends here as well, too.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you are so good at that.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like an example of that as well is we had a paint and sip class here not that long ago.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: And you went out of your way to invite a bunch of girls to come into a paint and sip class for one girl that had just sort of moved to town and she didn't really know anyone.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I had chatted to her previously in the store about trying to find her friends and stuff.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you guys just it was so beautiful.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like I almost got a bit teary because I was like, these girls have just seriously swooped her up and made her feel so special on her birthday when she doesn't really know many people, and yeah, absolutely.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_02: In me, it's just you have to, and I think that's the part of my mother in me where you have to make everyone feel included, and it's just people remember that stuff.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_02: People will always remember how you made them feel, yes, absolutely.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I just always want to make people feel good, included, and it's just nice to bring people together as well.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: And that's one of the biggest things that I love doing as well, and just celebrating the women, celebrating their achievements, what they're doing, with the awards night.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_02: We have an awards night every year, cheese around Christmas time, and it's just a bit of fun too, you know, and it's just the girls rally together, cheer each other on, celebrate, and I feel like they are so good at cheering you on, too, you know.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_01: Even um, because obviously you're coaching constantly, but you're also an athlete yourself, you know, you're training for yourself.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_01: And can you tell us more about some of the events that you've competed in lately and what you've got coming up?
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so I feel like there's a hectic schedule coming up.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_02: It is a lot.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is this year in particular is the biggest year that I've challenged myself physically.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's been a big year, and what I would say is what I'm doing is not normal, okay, and it's not normal for anybody to do, and I would not recommend your everyday average woman to do what I'm doing.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but basically, this year I really challenged myself on very big endurance-based events.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was the girl who, when back home I had small groups and had we had Grace, who was an ultra-trail runner.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I'd never be able to do that.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_02: I always told myself I couldn't before I could, yeah, or even try.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_02: I always told myself I couldn't before I could even try.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I remember trying to do them 5Ks, and there's video evidence of me crying because I couldn't run a 5K.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_02: I got so frustrated myself, I always beat myself up.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_02: It was negative self-talk in my head.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_02: And last year I started getting involved in the whole like triathlon base sports, new to me, absolutely new to me.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_02: Road bikes, swimming, oh my gosh, swimming.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm from we don't swim back home, we don't swim in the UK.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_02: That we don't.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_02: Use trainers are brilliant swimmers, we do not swim back home, so that was new to me.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, then obviously running longer distance, very, very new.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_02: So last year I did my very first triathlon, which was the Cairns Iron Man 70.3.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, very first experience, loved it.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was good fun, it was a really big challenge.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_02: I overcame so much um to get that done.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_02: And it was a lot of just sort of mental work on being like, listen, just accept exactly where you are and work on that.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it's okay because if you put in the work, then you will get to where you want to be, essentially.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I did that and I've got the bug.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_02: So this year um I've did the Cairns half our man again, so the Cairns 70.3 in June.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_02: And then from that, I've been I got qualified for the world championships.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_02: Congratulations.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's in September time, which isn't too far away.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_02: So that's in France in Nice.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't wait because my mum and dad are gonna be there, and my two best friends from back home are gonna be there, so it's gonna be an emotional roller coaster.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: And how long will you be in France for?
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's only a six-night trip.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, very in and out, yeah, very in and out.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a very short trip, um, but I can't wait for it.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_02: So that's in September.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_02: Last weekend I did the Karen's full marathon.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_02: So that was my very first full marathon off the back of that.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_02: Felt amazing, uh, really happy with how I paced myself.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that video of you gets me all choked up when you're you're running and you're like, How is my swim?
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's gone crazy, it's gone silly barrel.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: Someone has yeah, it was easy to use.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: You ran tracking it or something.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but you have to go and watch it again if you've if you're on there, but basically she wasn't tracking it.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: She quickly asked Matt, what was my time?
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: And she almost did like a double take of like, Wait, what do you mean?
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I couldn't believe it ran in.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: It was just like, oh my god, I know.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I am not a swimmer, I am not a swimmer, it's my weakest point.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I I'll keep trying and keep going.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously, I had a big fear of open water swimming, especially in far north Queensland.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's very daunting.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_02: Open water swimming, and per Matt, like we were up at the lakes, um, Lake Brain the weekends before practicing with a wetsuit on.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_02: He was in the kayak and the paddle boards beside me.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_02: I was trying to swim, I was throwing a hissy fit, being like, What am I doing this for?
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: Struggling.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_02: So the predicted time for me in the water was like an hour.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, okay, an hour.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was windy, it was choppy, it was a rough day at Pam Cove.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, my watch, I didn't track it properly, I had my goggles on, I couldn't see what I was doing with my garment.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_02: I was trying to get in the water, and then I was just trying to swim.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_02: So whenever I got out of the swim, I couldn't see Matt.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I just ran straight through my bike, and then obviously I was cycling up the range and back down.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_02: So the first time I seen Matt was when I got off the bike and started my run.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I ran towards him trying to figure out what my time was.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, what was my swim time?
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_02: And he goes, 45 minutes.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, shut up, no way.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was like, oh my god, that's a scale, which is huge for me.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_00: No, really good people would probably do it in like 30 minutes.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_00: No, but 45 minutes was a huge win for me.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that fired me up.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I need to run.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I just started.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was like, I couldn't believe it.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_00: Matt couldn't believe it.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: He was so in shock because he was expecting me to be out of the water for another 10 minutes.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: So he was off getting coffee.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that's why I didn't see him coming out of the swim.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_00: He was away.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_00: So um so when he did first see him, I couldn't believe it.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, he was like, we can't believe what you did.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, we did it, I've already won, and I haven't even finished the race.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, finished that race anyway, and then we got qualification for the world championships championships in France, and um off the back of the marathon.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: So then the next event coming up is the Rumport Douglas, yes, which is happening for the second time.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, so I'm saying you've been a bit of an ambassador for that, yeah.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, which is absolutely fantastic.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_02: So last year was its first year running, yeah.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_02: This year is its second year running, and they've already sold a hundred percent more than what they did last year, so it's gonna be a huge event this year.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_01: And for people that don't know what that event is, what can you explain?
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_02: So basically, there's a two-kilometer run, little like junior stash as well.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_02: There's the five kilometers, 10k, and half marathon distance.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_02: You can choose your any distance that you want to do.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and obviously, it's all around beautiful Port Douglas, and you finish up in four Mile Beach at the finish line, which is amazing.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's gonna be an incredible, very busy event this year, which is gonna be amazing.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_02: So, even if you're not taking part in it, just get out there and support because it's such a good atmosphere, just watching people do amazing things, like your everyday people take on these challenges and they try and run it, and it's so heartwarming to see everyday people just get out there and just take part and enjoy.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, it's gonna be a really good event, and that's on September 5th.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, September 5th, right?
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's gonna be a fantastic event.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_02: I can't wait for it.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully, the sun is shining this year because it was a little bit rainy last year, but hopefully the sun will be shining this year for it, so that'll be fantastic.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, we've got that.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_02: The week after that is France World Championships.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then after that, I'm in doing the Nike Melbourne half marathon as well, which will be quite fun.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_02: The finish line is in the MCG.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, never been to Melbourne before, so that'll be a new experience.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'll take another box, yeah.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that'll be a new experience for me.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then the week after that is a full R man, cool, full distance Arman.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, which I'm trying to train on for at the minute, yeah, which is scaring the pants off me.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but let's just try and do it.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just gotta show up to that start line and just get through it, and that's all we gotta do.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, incredible!
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_02: What an exciting it's a lot, yeah, yeah, it means a lot, major, it's a lot, but like as I say, it's not normal to be doing things like this as well.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like one of them things obviously I read a lot about it, I coach myself through these things, and I take my like nutrition recovery just as important as the actual training itself, and it's a whole package.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_02: And listen, if I was a mom and if I had things going like that on, there's no way I could be doing this, but just that my life at the minute I've got the time to do it, and it's one of them things I just want to take all that off and just say that I did it, you know, before bigger commitments to that in life, too.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, it's pretty good.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, thank you so much for telling me all about your wonderful life because I feel like I've learned a lot as well, even I knew most of it.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, it's just so interesting to hear where you've come from and the fact that you've settled down here and made such an incredible community here.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I've loved every minute of it, and thank you for having me.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I'd love to quickly wrap up with a piece of advice from you.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, whether that be something that you live by or you know you'd like to just leave us with today.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, let me see.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_02: So, I would say a piece of advice for anybody, and I think this in anything in life, is if you don't believe in yourself, find someone who believes in you first.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and just put all your trust in them.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_02: And once you do that, you start to believe in yourself.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then something that I personally live by is just always do what you said you're gonna do.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's gonna be always do what you said you're gonna do.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_02: Because not only, not even just showing up and do what you just I'm gonna run and say, okay, I'm gonna do it.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's not even about that, it's just if you always do what you said you're gonna do, yeah, that just shows you as a person that people can trust you.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, people can be like this person just always does what they say they're gonna do.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_02: They'll show up, they'll show up for me no matter what kind of thing, and that's what I kind of live by as well.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, sorry for the noise, guys.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_01: There's um Argentina just won.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry for the noise.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a lot of uh energy about the time this morning already, and it's only 9am.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_00: Crazy, so good.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and one last thing, I'd love to know from you what has brought you the most joy this week?
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_01: What has brought me the most joy this week?
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, having sore legs after being able to physically run a marathon, even though I'm in peeing, it has brought me joy because I'm grateful for what I can do in my body.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I love it.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_02: Always fitness related.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_02: But no, thank you for having me, Rin.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for joining us.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: And for those of you who might want to maybe join your gym or at least follow along, where can they find you?
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so myself just underscore coach Amy on Instagram or lifter underscore lifter on Instagram.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_02: I love celebration.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so happy.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_02: Such a good buzz.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good night to leave on the city.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_01: It is absolutely celebrated energy.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, awesome.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Amy, and thank you guys for listening.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we will be in your ears very soon.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.