Jo Bar is just one of our fabulous fitness Lecturers and in her own words, she tells us a little bit about herself!
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I was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in the 1970’s however I do not like the cold and have never taken to skiing.
In 2002 I decided to move to the Gold Coast of Australia in search of new opportunities and a warmer climate. Having lived in several areas of the Gold Coast I am now very much enjoying living in Palm Beach on the southern end of the coast.
Whilst back in New Zealand I spent the first half of my working life in Government and Banking positions and went to the gym everyday for sanity, eventually I was more a part of the gym furniture than most of the staff. The instructors at the time kept encouraging me to take classes as I had become the front row gym junkie and their argument was that I may as well be getting paid for it – the thought of teaching classes terrified me!
In 1999 I bit the bullet and did my training to become a group fitness (aerobics as we used to call it!) instructor. Eventually I resigned from the bank and committed to a full time gym instructing course so that I could start working in a gym as a career. My friends and family thought I was crazy but I knew that the only place where I felt good about myself was at the gym. I decided that money was not the most important thing in life and that being happy and enjoying every day was.
After working in nearly every gym in the city and being promoted quickly (funny what you can achieve when you are passionate and driven) I decided to move to Australia with my partner to seize whatever new opportunities came up.
Opportunities in fitness education opened up and I was able to share my experience and passion for fitness with other like minded people.
Managing a fitness centre had always been a major long term goal and I had put this onto the back burner so in 2007 when I was offered the opportunity at managing a facility with 1800 members I jumped at the chance. This was a 9 month journey of learning and growing as a person and being able to put an amazing team of fitness professionals around me.
I now find myself back in the education side of the industry. Being able to share my knowledge and experiences with our students in a fun and exciting way is a challenge that I embrace daily.
I am passionate about:
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You can drop in and see Jo at our Gold Coast Campus at Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC), Dominions Road, Ashmore, QLD, 4214 – Or call her today on 1300 557 637 to talk about your fitness career goals!
