MY STORY
MY STORY
People often ask me if I excelled at sport as a child and the honest answer is I absolutely LOVED sport but I wasn t brilliant in any one particular thing. I m so grateful to my parents as they encouraged me to try so many sports growing up including tennis, dancing and gymnastics. I became OBSESSED with gymnastics as a child and sat for hours and hours watching the Olympics and other gymnastics competitions on TV (see blog post for this story) But I struggled alot with the strength side and most of the 'upside down' skills petrified me! After breaking my wrist attempting a backflip I became more nervous and eventually gave up age 11.
Writing was a huge passion of mine (as was talking!!) so I decided to study Broadcast journalism at university and these were some of the best times of my life! I started training on and off at the gym at uni (in between all the crazy social events!) and I had this huge gut feeling that sport was calling me and that I wanted to find another sport to love and to help other people do the same. After graduating I decided to study to become a personal trainer. I regretted not being better at gymnastics and giving up and I wanted to find something as an adult that i had the same passion for. After qualifying as a PT I got my first job as a personal trainer and fitness instructor at a health club in Cheshire. I did everything! I cleaned, I did gym programmes, I chatted to the members and helped run the gym! I absolutely adored this job!!! It was the first time I had loved a job and the best part was the team spirit and positive energy of working in the fitness industry with likeminded people. I m so grateful for the 2 years I spent there.
One day I found a youtube video of a russian pole dancer called Anastasia Skukhtorova and instantly fell in love. This sport was everything that I loved about gymnastics, she was graceful, strong and flexible and right there and then I decided I was going to become an expert and learn everything there was to know about pole and become as strong and flexible as I could be.
Around the same time the opportunity arose to buy a struggling gym in Oldham Heavenly Bodies and 12 years later that’s where I am sitting right now writing this. Heavenly Bodies is in a converted church building and when I say it’s the best gym in the world (I know I m biased!) but it honestly is! The people, the atmosphere, the energy, the diverse range of training styles and skills, its where I met my partner matt and its where I taught myself pole, built my physique and my mindset. This place has changed my life and I m so grateful for what me and Matt have created at HB and for every single team member and customer who has walked through the door and made this journey what it is today!
I have competed on stage many times in both pole and fitness modelling (my competing journey started age 31 (2 years after having Lexi) and in 2018 I achieved my goal of winning my pro card with the best fitness modelling federation in the world WBFF Entertainment - this is an achievement that still gives me goosebumps to this day when I think about it. I am so proud that every time I have set myself a goal I have been absolutely relentless and have not given up until I have got there. Performing on stage in a bikini and on a pole have been some of the most empowering moments of my life. Putting myself through the prep mentally and physically to get to the finish line and step out on stage to showcase what you have worked so hard for is something that has made me so much stronger and determined in so many areas of my life and it helped give me the confidence that I CAN do anything and I teach others that they can too.
I fell in love with competing the minute I stepped on stage. I had an overwhelming feeling that it was where I belonged and competing with myself year on year both on and off stage to become a stronger, fitter, more flexible and more talented athlete is something that drives me every single day when I get out of bed in the morning. The phrase ‘go to bed with a dream, wake up with a purpose’ is one of my absolute favourites and I truly believe that everybody needs a passion and a dream. I have experienced so many highs and lows throughout my career so far – but there is one thing that always brings me back up and that is my passion for the sports that I do and the lifestyle I love to live! Knowing that I am teaching others to do the same and achieve things they thought were impossible is my passion and I think I ll still be flying around the pole, doing splits and cheering on my clients in the gym and at pole when I’m 70 years old!
All these moments over the last 12 years have made me who I am today. I am 40 years old this year and I m not afraid of being in my 40s I can t wait!! I only have feelings of pride to be able to continue this journey and help teach others to not let their age or having a family and a busy working life be a limiting factor! I can not wait to see what my body can achieve next. I might not have ever achieved that backflip but instead I can do a pole backflip, I am far bendier and stronger than I ever was as a child and I am not scared of much these days. I am so grateful for everything my journey has taught me! Today my biggest competition is with myself – I want to continue to keep growing year on year and I want to help others believe in themselves so they can grow in the same way that I did in my 30s. I am so excited to see what the future holds for myself and my incredible team of coaching clients at Heavenly Bodies and around the world.
LETS GROW TOGETHER!!
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain in words how I actually feel from the start of this journey to now, I think this is something you have to experience for yourself! Kate has given me the guidance to better myself and this is just the beginning! It’s been my goal to gain weight and tone but I didn’t realise how much my happiness would also improve! I urge you to contact Kate! You won’t look back!” – Becky
“CWK has help me to achieve my goals of improving my fitness and to be in better shape. Over the past 3 years Kate has taught me food is my friend and not the enemy, she has helped me to integrate food and fitness into my daily life helping to transform my body. The facilities at HB and Kate’s outstanding knowledge of fitness have helped me to become more confident in lifting weights, myself and nutrition. Without Kate and the heavenly bodies team I wouldn’t be where I am today!” – Robyn
- coachingwithkate1@gmail.com
- Heavenly Bodies Gym, 639 Ripponden Road, Oldham OL1 4JU
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