I’m Laura, mum of one living in Leicestershire in the UK with my partner, our daughter, our cat Lilo, hamster Ellie and a tank full of fish. I work part time in Resource Management for a Logistics company and I also run an online fitness business.
I am a busy lady!
So, with having a job, a child, a house to run and general life to get on with…what on earth led me to set up a business and add more to my already pretty hectic schedule? I guess I felt I owed it to others to share what had worked for me and then see if it could work for them.
My partner, Leigh, is ex-military and due to an injury he received he had to have his lower right leg amputated. The years leading up to that surgery were difficult for us as a couple and then as a family. Leigh was in a lot of pain and had to use crutches to be able to walk. He was depressed, suffering from anxiety and putting on weight.
When the amputation was finally done our daughter was just 15 months old, Leigh had to spend weeks at a time away from home undergoing physical therapy and learning to walk with a prosthetic. I was not the priority, don’t get me wrong this was ok with me, I needed to support Leigh and look after our little girl but that meant my own self care went out the window.
I needed a way to look after myself, I wanted to lose weight, get fit and be the ‘me’ that I had somehow left behind
Once Leigh was mobile again I needed a way to look after myself, I wanted to lose weight, get fit and be the ‘me’ that I had somehow left behind. It was still really difficult to be out of the house in the evenings and to be honest a gym membership didn’t appeal to me anymore.
I started working out at home, I found an online coach who could support me and keep me on track on the days where I wanted to hide away and I began to find myself again. It was then that I realised that I could help other people, I understood what it felt like to be ‘trapped’ at home but want to do more, whether through anxiety, body confidence, child care issues, cost or anything else stopping people from turning to traditional ways to get fit and healthy.
Getting started with my business wasn’t easy
I was inspired by my partner who refused to let his physical injury hold him back and I decided that I could help others by guiding them in their fitness journey but also by sharing what we as a family had been through. I wanted to share with people that even on the really dark days you can get up and get on and make progress.
Getting started with my business wasn’t easy, I have so many pulls on my time that I still sometimes feel overwhelmed and I still suffer from self-doubt even though I know that what I am doing is changing lives and helping people daily. My long-term aim is to turn my business into my full time career but until then I will continue to work with my clients around the other commitments I have.
I’m fortunate that my business is online, I can work with people all over the globe…
…and I can do it all from my phone if I need to which means I can keep in touch with my clients and keep them on they path they want to be on even when I’m not at my lap top or able to meet them face to face.
I get up early most days in order to workout in our living room or our garage, I do this not just because it sets a good example for my clients but also because it is great for my daughter to see and she will often try to join in herself. I also do it because it gives me time to myself each day, time to focus on me, time to just be in the moment and not be thinking too much about what I need to get through that day. For me working out grounds me and lets me remember exactly why I got started and knowing that is key to continuing on the days when you don’t think things are going the way you want them to.
I’ve started to share my story on what got me started more and more because I feel it’s important that people really know who I am and where I have come from, so to speak. In 2018 I became a #1 best selling author for my contribution to Mumpreneur on Fire 3, which you can buy on Amazon. My chapter touches on how and why I got started, the issues my family was going through and what it is that I want to achieve. By sharing this as well as my fitness journey I hope that people can see I’m just a normal girl trying to do her best.
So here’s a little bit on what I’m doing now…below is a behind the scenes image of a body confidence photo shoot. When I was asked by some amazing ladies that I know if I wanted to take part in a course they were running on body confidence I decided to go for it. My passion is health and fitness but I don’t want my ladies to focus on a number or a size I want them to focus on feeling great and loving themselves no matter what. Being part of this group meant that I could learn to love myself even more but also learn new techniques to help my clients on their own journey. Part of the course was to do a photo shoot which I jumped at. We had such a fun day and as well as the photos like the behind the scenes shot where we were in gorgeous dresses we also did some underwear shots. Size and shape don’t matter, being fit being healthy and loving yourself is what really counts.
If you have a passion in life, something you really want to achieve in life then I whole heartedly say ‘Go for it’. Don’t waste too much thinking about what could go wrong or how you will feel if it doesn’t work out instead think about how amazing you will feel when it works, when you see your dream coming to life and then keep on going until you get there.
If you would like to hear more about my journey so far with my business, or you would like help with your own health and fitness please do not hesitate to get in touch!
