And That's A Wrap...

My gym, just after it was built.

After ten years as a personal trainer, last month I trained my last clients in Hong Kong. There were tears.

I worked in sales and marketing for twenty years (in corporate and then working for myself) before I retrained and turned my love of fitness and health into my career and vocation.

I started off running (with imposter syndrome- ha!) bootcamps, then visiting client’s houses to train them, which was fine, but lugging around equipment, clients not having enough space and getting constant interruptions was not great for me or clients. From then on, I turned my basement into a gym, going from strength to strength every few months. I remember my husband painstakingly putting down the gym flooring and putting together Calum the cable machine (which has probably been taken apart and put back together about four or five times now), both of which were no mean feat.

In 2020 we got horrendous rain during the summer and the gym flooded. Twice. Aaargh! This meant loss of revenue and bailing out with buckets- a workout in itself. 2020 was really an annus horribilus- Covid and flooding! One of the directors of Kadoories (our landlords) visited shortly after the flooding and felt bad for us. Long story short, husband started working for them and we twisted their arm into converting our empty non-functioning swimming pool (which again had to be bailed out every so often) into a gym. So the pool was filled in and within a matter of months a wonderful bespoke glass house was built. It opened in December 2020, right in the middle of covid, but a great escape for my clients from the madness.

I’ve had many compliments in the five years that I trained from the Glass House. “It’s the most beautiful gym in Hong Kong” , “The drive up here is so zen”. The monkeys on the roof stealing oranges and papayas have been a welcome diversion from sets and reps. And watching boar and porcupine out of the window never gets old, for me or my clients.

At the time of writing, I’ve trained hundreds of clients over the last ten years, many I’ve also helped get into a healthier path, to a greater or lesser degree. Many many clients are now overseas, as I soon will be. I'm sad to leave and taking that leap into the unknown is always scary, but you never know what is at the bottom of the ravine, unless you make the jump.

It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to help so many people and many I can now call friends, and will remain in lifelong contact with. I’m excited to help all new clients when I am set up in Wales.

If you've crossed my path up til now, I'd like to send you a heartfelt thank you, for supporting, me my business and my vision. See you on the other side!