The 1st of July celebrates Terrific Fitness’ 7th year anniversary! Happy Birthday TF!
It all began on the 1st of July 2010 when I started as a mobile Personal Trainer working one on one with clients. The first 6 months were ultra-slow which was fine because I wasn’t doing it for the income I was doing it for the passion. I already had a corporate job.
In January 2011 I started running Bootcamp classes two nights per week with 6 members at a local park. Fast forward to September 2011 I hired my first staff member, another Trainer. By this stage between us we were running 7 classes per week and growing. We had moved to Mill Park Secondary College using the dance room at the junior campus and the art room at the senior campus. In November 2011 I resigned from my corporate job; my passion had ignited! I had no time to work for corporate because I was far too busy working in my passion.
In 2012 I started running Nutrition Workshops, helping people learn the power of food and how it could change their lives. It wasn’t enough to tell them what they needed to do. They needed to understand why; because that’s when they made it a lifestyle. When you know something, you can’t un-know it! Knowledge is power; put them together they create success. And that, is what people were seeing. Serious transformation success.
By January 2013 I had more Trainers on board and we moved to Plenty Parklands Primary School using both of their gyms. We had outgrown our last venue. The public was becoming aware that Terrific Fitness was not like any other business around. We were not a gym. We were not just a Bootcamp business. We were so much more than that. We were a safe place for people to come and seek help and actually see results. We had also expanded to Briar Hill, Greenvale and Epping, as well as our Mill Park location. The expansion didn’t last long though as I felt we were starting to lose the personalised service when that happened. So I drew it all back in, closed the other locations and focused back into Mill Park, reconnecting on a personal level with our members.
2014 was a huge year! One of the most pivotal for both my life and that of Terrific Fitness. I had been preparing for my very first figure competition for 9 months. I entered that competition to teach my kids and my clients that you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it. You see, in 2005 I had spinal fusion in my neck and had to relearn to walk again and to have function of my right hand again. Going from that, to competing in a figure comp was crazy. But I did it. I competed in March and I won 1st place in Ms Figure 40+ and 3rd place in Ladies Figure International at the INBA Rookie and Novice Body Building Competitions. To say I was crazy proud is an understatement. The best part, was that I had learned so much more during that process, that I could help our clients with. And that, I did.
In June my Personal Assistant Danielle joined the team just in time to proof read the book I had been writing. Unleash the Best Version of Youwas released in November 2014, covering everything from Nutrition, Mindset, Lifestyle, Exercises, Tips, Recipes, and a Step by Step Guide for implementing it all, to Unleash the Best Version of You.
At the same time we were running 14 classes per week in the school gyms, conducting one on one PTs at one of the local gyms, Nutrition Counseling and Applied Muscle Testing consultations from my house, Nutrition and Mindset Workshops at a local Function Hall and loving every single second of it! What a buzz!
In 2015 I was awarded the Victorian Active Achiever by Fitness Australia and my staff and I went to Queensland for the award Gala. What an experience that was. Not the Gala, the next day. The next day we were taken on a tour of the three top gymnasiums and leisure centres in Queensland. Holy moly! We were blown away!!! It reinforced what I had been thinking for a number of months. We took loads of notes, photos, and ideas and brain stormed and strategized what kind of place we could open up. My husband and I had been looking for venues for months, but not very seriously. I had my heart set on a place that used to be a gym, so wasn’t satisfied with anything we looked at; I wanted that place.
When we returned from Queensland we got serious about finding a venue. We finally started talking to agents and looking actively. By some miracle, the venue I had longed for, for so long was available! There was no way I was knocking that back! I signed on the dotted line and our Exclusive Studio was born.
We moved in for renovations in January 2016 whilst still running at Plenty Parklands. In between, we had my father-in-law fighting for his life.
February 29th we started our very first classes at the studio. My passion had started from the desire to help people become healthier, just as I had, after all of my health issues over the years. That passion was exploding by this point. I cried happy tears almost every day for a month. I was so happy too, because my father-in-law was able to see what we had achieved and we made him proud. It truly was a blessing.
Unfortunately we lost that incredible man in April 2016. It was one of the hardest times of my life. My husband Theo and I took a week off away from the studio to mourn. Our incredible staff and clients managed just fine without us. We truly were grateful for all of their support during this trying time. At the end of the day though, as hard as it was, we had to keep going; and that we did.
In August my assistant Danielle finished her certification and commenced as our in-house Nutrition Counselor, helping me out with this service.
In October 2016 we introduced my other passion, Terrific Fit Kids. I had wanted to bring in training for kids for years but just didn’t have the capacity or the space. I was very lucky that Coach Rachel shared the same passion and ran with the concept. Between us we created an incredible program that is crazy successful today! Running classes Wednesdays and Saturdays for children aged 2-12 we help kids develop through play and activity. Since we are both school teachers by trade, we created the program based on the development stages of children in accordance to the Victorian Curriculum.
In January 2017 my husband Theo introduced massage to Terrific Fitness, bringing in even more value for our members. Between the massage and the Rehabilitation & Mobility accreditation my Coaches and I now hold, we have been able to help members on a whole new level of success!
We recently released our latest initiative, the “Body Sculpting Transformation Manual” that is available free as part of our 12 Week Challenge and Personal Training Program. Besides me physically sitting at your dinner table feeding you, this initiative, together with the 12 Week Challenge or the PT Program, literally gives you absolutely every single little thing you need for a complete body transformation! Our Exclusive studio has done it again!
But wait, there’s more! We will have this program available to the public for purchase online in the not too distant future. So everyone around the world, will be able to tap into the 12 Week Challenge from their computers or smart phone and be part of Terrific Fitness!!! That, is totally mind blowing!!! I can’t even begin to express how excited I am to present this to everyone. Remember my passion to help people become healthier? Boy oh boy!! Enter #Mission1Million! We are on a mission to help 1 Million people unleash the best version of themselves. It blows my mind to look back at where it all began and to then to look forward to where we are heading! To date we have coached over 3,000 people. And that’s just from our local community. Imagine when we go world wide!
There is nothing like us out there anywhere. We are not a gym. We are not a Personal Training Studio. We are not a Group Fitness Centre. We are not a chain or a franchise or a gimmick.
We are an exclusive studio. A place of personal connection and real life transformations.
For us, my staffing team and I, this is our life’s passion, our dreams, our lives. We do this because we love love love, helping people and seeing their eyes shine with pride when they succeed. This is the best industry in the world!
There is no way in this world Terrific Fitness would be the incredible place it is without the love, passion, dedication, commitment, loyalty, hard work, drive, of my incredible staffing team:
A massive, massive, massive thank you, congratulations and God bless to Danielle Fancellu, Tania Passeri, Rachel Passeri, Lisa McLeish and last but certainly not least, my incredible husband Theo Batsakis, who is and always will be, my tower of strength.
I would also like to thank my gorgeous kids Denise and PJ for loving Terrific Fitness as much as I do, for always being patient when I had to run off to work and for supporting me in my quest to help people.
It all starts with a dream. A dream that just keeps growing and evolving. Never ever give up. Happy birthday Terrific Fitness. Here’s to many many more!
Our Coaches
Terri Theo Danielle Tania Rachel Lisa
