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Meet the Mish behind mishfit!
I am most passionate about 2 things in my life:
In my life before children I was a teacher and have always loved education and learning. I used my Bachelor of Education and Diploma of Teaching to teach primary school in New Zealand, English in Japan and as a language consultant in London. I moved to Melbourne in 2002 with my husband and young daughter; however, within the year found myself a single mother with a newborn baby. It was a difficult time and I coped with the situation by getting fit. I have never been a naturally sporty person but found exercising the best way of dealing with postnatal depression. It was difficult to find ways of exercising with the children. And as I didn’t have any family here in Australia, the gym crèche gave me much needed respite from the overwhelming demands of motherhood. When my youngest was one, I tried to go back to teaching part time, but found the demands too great, balancing my family, work and “me” time. In the mornings I would race around to crèche, spend a whole day doing something I wasn’t enjoying, and then pick up my cranky and tired kids before trying to cook something nutritious for us all. It just didn’t work. And I was unable to exercise. The sedentary job didn’t do anything for my mental health. I decided on a change of career. However, during this time I was also harbouring a dark secret – every time I exercised I “leaked.” I was mortified, embarrassed and really hoped that it would just “go away”. 
Re-trainingWhen my son was 3 years old, I started my Certificate III & IV in fitness and qualified as a Personal Trainer and the following year became a Les Mills Body Pump Instructor. It was then I decided I had to do something about my incontinence problem! I went through my whole training in fitness and it was never mentioned there either! There was no mention that training or exercise should be different post-natally to before you had children! I was recommended by my GP to go to the Women’s Hospital to have my pelvic floor assessed and they said that if I didn’t stop exercising so heavily, I would need surgery to repair my struggling pelvic floor. I couldn’t take time out to have surgery! Who would look after or lift my kids? So my journey began—to find out as much as I could about my own anatomy and find an answer to this problem. What I found out in the process was astounding! One-third of all women who have had children will suffer from some form of incontinence. That means one third of all my mum-friends who were going hard like me at the gym were leaking too… and yet we NEVER talked about it! Leaking doesn’t have to be a badge of motherhood. Once I had full understanding of my own anatomy, not only did I solve my pelvic floor issues but I got the flat belly that I had always wanted! mishfit® is bornThis process inspired me to set up a business dedicated to providing safe exercise care to pre- and post-natal women. The focus of mishfit mothers™ is on education and exercising safely with pelvic floor awareness. We also welcome all babies and children (one of the biggest barriers for women to exercise!). Please click here to see a short video about mishfit mothers! Since mishfit started, I have re-partnered and my family has grown to include two-step sons! I am dedicated to my family and business equally, which is the reason I franchised mishfit, as I believe it is a perfect small business to work around your family, stay active and help other women. 
mishfit mothers currently runs in Northcote and has become a supportive exercise community to over 200 women. The specifically designed program runs during school hours. I also train a limited number of private clients at my beautiful purpose-built studio attached to my home. It is important to me to be present for my family. I love to cook and eat together each night with my family. It is also important to be an active participant in my community and I volunteer at both school activities and with migrant women to get help them to heal their bodies properly after having babies. I love working on my business and have been very inspired by the small giants philosophy. Read more about this here Only the start...This really is the beginning of my journey. It is my goal to see mishfit replicated all over Australia providing not only safe exercise care but creating opportunities for other women to have their own successful businesses where they can balance meaningful work and family. Would you like to be a part of this community? |
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