Jen (00:00.834)
Dani welcome to the Mumsafe Movement podcast. How you going?
Dani (00:05.821)
Thank you, I'm good, I'm excited to chat with you. I love your podcast, it's great. Yeah, it's a bit of fun.
Jen (00:10.582)
Me too. It's fun and I think I've been finding like I get to know things about some of our Mumsafe trainers that I don't even know yet, which is pretty cool. And you're a relatively new member of the team. So I think I'm going to uncover some things today, which is exciting. Before we get into your story and your journey, can you share with us a word, a win and something that you're working on?
Dani (00:23.014)
I know.
Dani (00:26.619)
I am.
Dani (00:30.402)
Yeah.
Dani (00:38.889)
Mm-hmm. So my word for today is determined. My win is so boring, but being able to refine learning over the last, however, nine months, whatever it's been, to be able to refine my T's and C's and get myself into a really confident place with where I'm at. So super boring, but for me that's a win.
Jen (01:05.671)
It's a huge win. What did you think about refining? So what did you do with your T's and C's that needed to be different?
Dani (01:12.549)
Well, firstly, I did them initially. No, I did that earlier this year, but it's just been so much learning along the way of, you know, this scenario might come up and it's quite a common one. So I need to add that into my teas and teas. And it's been a lot of speaking with you throughout the process with the Mumsafe community and also just sort of being like, guys, what do I do here? What do you do here? What do you find works best? What do you find what hasn't worked?
Jen (01:14.078)
Okay, that's helpful. Yeah.
Dani (01:40.997)
And that's been so great for me to be able to find, figure out what aligns with me and the way that I wanna take it to ensure that my business is going the way that it is. And I feel like having my T's and Z's sorted, it seems like such a trivial thing, but for me, that's just confidence and it just removes some of the fear, I guess, in a way, because I can be like, nope, this is what I do. This is the way that I'm sticking to and...
Jen (02:03.534)
Hmm.
Dani (02:10.705)
what it is and it's only running.
Jen (02:12.638)
Yeah, I heard you say before there was a few things that like popped up that may have happened that maybe you didn't have the terms and conditions around. What were they? Can you think of any specific ones?
Dani (02:23.337)
Things like how I approach makeup sessions, how that will work for my community and for my life and my family. And how I approach last minute cancellations.
Jen (02:28.055)
Mm-hmm.
Dani (02:41.833)
What are some of the other things? Now, I think they're just the two that are top of mind at the moment that I'm just trying to work through.
Jen (02:49.254)
Yeah, what did you come up with? Like what was happening before? Because I know that the people will be listening now and going far out man, I don't know what to do with makeups and people cancel and what do I do? So what was happening for you and then what have you put in place?
Dani (03:03.397)
I think in the past I've had a lot of guilt around even if someone cancels five minutes before the session, I've been the one feeling that guilt of like, okay, now do I need to return their money or how do I add value? How do I, you know, it being my problem when I really needed to have boundaries around that of what was going to work because I can't keep losing last minute income and I can't be giving money back all the time.
So for me now, I have a broader range of sessions, so it allows me to offer more makeup sessions. Not makeup sessions, but just offer, you know, if I know someone's sick or away that week, I can throw it out to the group and be like, guys, a couple of you have makeups, you can jump in on this session. And then I'm also sort of trialing the super Saturday idea that you've come up with. So one Saturday a month, having that down as the date of if you've got a makeup session, jump in on that.
Um, that one's still something that I'm getting a bit of feedback. I'm just asking my clients at the moment for some feedback on how they would feel for my planning for next year. Um, and then also speaking to the mum safe community, they've spoken about giving records of the, the session or PDFs and that sort of thing. So that is another option that I am looking to looking at for next year. So I just feel like I've really narrowed down what works for me at the moment.
Jen (04:26.786)
Mm.
Dani (04:31.849)
and I know what works for this term and then I'll just refine that even more for next term. So it's just nice to have that direction and not feel so lost.
Jen (04:40.302)
And also to know that you can change it whenever you like because at the end of the day, it's your business, right?
Yeah.
Dani (04:48.113)
just lost your bet. Sorry, Jen.
Jen (04:49.614)
Just ignore, so if that happens at all, just ignore it. If you can kind of figure out where we're at, keep going. Normally, what happens is if you just keep being there, either the words will pick up quickly or you'll find you don't need to pick up my words and then you can talk back. Yeah, it's weird how it happens, but it does. So that will just go five, 10, cool. So I think what I just said was it's your business. So you can do whatever you like.
Dani (04:56.634)
Okay.
Jen (05:18.634)
and change anything that's not working.
Dani (05:21.105)
Yeah, which is something that I really like, and it's nice to know that I can change things along the way when I need to.
Jen (05:28.834)
Absolutely. And then what are you working on?
Dani (05:32.445)
At the moment I am working on planning for next year, seeing what's achievable for me and my family with a number of sessions, and then also working out a financial goal as well, which is something that I haven't had in the past. So, yeah, yep.
Jen (05:46.262)
That's exciting. How does that make you feel?
Dani (05:51.321)
actually good, kind of more in control, I guess, of my business. It's just not so, I don't know, I guess it switches more out of being seen in a way as a hobby. Versus, yeah, and it's actually a business and something that I need to keep making sure works and yeah, having those goals. So yeah, it's good.
Jen (06:04.287)
Mm-hmm. It's so true. Yeah.
Jen (06:12.512)
Yep.
What made what's made it feel like a hobby? Is it up until now? Or has there been a recent switch?
Dani (06:22.157)
Yeah, look, I think it was partly fear. Like, fear's been a massive thing for me that has held me back and that I've found, yeah, with the MumSafe community and just the learnings and the guidance and stuff along the way that it's helped me overcome those fear barriers. So that's always been a big thing. And I guess in my mind, when I had thought of it as a hobby and hadn't so much done financial projections or done any marketing or anything like that, I was just like, that's okay, the pressure's off. You know.
Jen (06:25.867)
Mm-hmm.
Dani (06:51.909)
It's okay if it doesn't bring in this and that and you know, no pressure sort of thing. But I need it to be, and I want it to be more next year. Like I'm so passionate about what I do and the impact that I can make that it needs to progress. And I want to, yeah, see my business thrive and yeah, be able to help more women along the way. So, yeah.
Jen (07:13.624)
Mm.
Jen (07:18.422)
No more hobbies, I love it. Tell me a little bit more about the fear. Was the fear the fear of it not working or was there some other fear in there as well?
Dani (07:20.237)
Yeah.
Dani (07:27.937)
I think it's a big fear that comes down to self-confidence and also perfectionism. So I have always been, yeah, just scared to put myself out there because I always think, especially with the day and age of social media, I always think, I don't know enough. I don't, yeah, you know, there's always someone that knows more than me and I would always second guess myself.
imposter syndrome would play into things a lot as well and it would just sort of be like, oh, maybe I'll just stay back here and I'll just stay Stay small and stay behind everyone and not try and make an impact and it'll be okay But the more that I'm going through this business process the more that I'm talking with the mums a community the more that I'm hearing stories of people furthering their businesses and being really successful and I think you always driving home that
you know a lot, like you are a professional in your area, you add so much value, it's just that, sometimes you need to hear that I think, and it's kind of putting myself out there more along the journey has been helping increase my confidence too. But I don't know if I would have ever done that without some guidance. So, yeah. Yeah. Ha ha ha.
Jen (08:47.854)
Maybe. We're just here to hold your hand along the way, that's all.
Dani (08:55.449)
I think, yeah, just because when I, I'm probably going completely on a tangent here, so rein me back in if you want to. I'm going to go back in and I'm going to go back in and I'm going to go back in and I'm
Jen (09:04.127)
Why don't we start at the start? Cause we both went, oh, we just dove into all these things based on your word, your winning, your working on. So let's take it way back when, I love this already, we can go into all the places. Let's go back to how you even got into the fitness industry and when you first launched your business and became a mom and all that kind of stuff. So take us back.
Dani (09:08.649)
I'm sorry.
Dani (09:27.497)
Alright, so I got into the fitness industry about six or seven years ago now. I'd always been passionate about exercise and health and fitness. It was something that I always loved. It was actually something that I had quite an unhealthy relationship back in my early twenties with. I had an eating disorder and I would run an exercise for not the right purposes. I think going along the journey, that journey...
learning about myself and learning how to exercise in a way that was good and healthy for my body to support myself and make myself feel good not because I was trying to beat away these bad feelings of eating and everything that comes with that. So I wanted to be able to make a positive impact at that point on people that might have been struggling with eating and understanding where exercise sat into their life.
So I did my CERT 3 and 4 in PT. I had an incredible mentor who was just one of those coaches that is so passionate about what he does and he sees fitness as fun and you can learn and you can exercise your body in ways that you're going to really enjoy. And this is how we, yeah, I don't know. Like he was just incredible. And I guess having someone, seeing someone so passionate.
in a pretty full on environment at that time, because it was a lot of just seeing PTs in gyms. And I obviously at that point wasn't seeing smaller businesses and what that life could be like. So I was coaching in a corporate PT gym and then also an F45 gym when I was in Sydney. And I sort of got to see both spectrums down there. So the corporate PT gym was very
Like, you have to get these clients in. It was very dog-eat-dog. Despite everyone being really lovely, it was if a new person comes up to the front bench, you've gotta run and grab them and then they're yours. And it was just, it was an environment that just made me feel, I didn't feel good. I didn't like it. It wasn't, that's not what I want. The, you know, the client's health should be the end goal, not you having to feel like you need to fight.
Jen (11:36.089)
Mm.
Dani (11:45.885)
to get these people that might not be right for you. So I was doing that and then at the same time, I was working at an F45 gym. So obviously, big up, group fitness. I had two awesome head coaches that were great mentors for me and they loved what they did and they made exercise again. Fun, warm, welcoming environment. It wasn't dog eat dog, it was just everyone support everyone. I will help you learn to help clients and that is what I love.
So I took a step back from fitness for a while. I went back into the corporate world because of the feeling from that PT gym. I just sort of started to think, I don't know if I can do this. And then I got pregnant. And actually while I was still working, I was still casually working at F45 and there were more and more clients coming through that were in early pregnancy. And that really sort of sparked an interest because I was like, I don't know anything in this area.
I don't know how to safely train you, but I'm really curious. So I started to look into courses and I started pre and postnatal course then, and then I got pregnant. We moved up to Newcastle, had my bub, and then I had unfortunately one in three women with birth trauma and ended up with pelvic organ prolapse and vulvodynia. So that made an incredible
incredible impact on my life through postnatal depression, probably just the hardest year of my life. And I was trying to still finish off my pre and postnatal course at that moment, but I was getting to the point where I couldn't even read about pelvic organ prolapse and any of those sorts of things because I was so deep in the depths of depression and trying to understand this new body and understand what was going on.
Jen (13:42.914)
Hmm.
Dani (13:43.269)
and I felt really alone at that time. And it took me a while, it took me a good few months to get my head around that, and I was able to flip it in a way of, well no, like I ended up with a wonderful women's health physio, and I think she made all the difference too. She was the one that would answer my million questions, and she was the one that gave me hope, rather than just someone saying, well you've got prolapse now, you can't lift anything heavy, you won't be able to run after your kids.
And I just thought I don't ever want another woman that I come in contact with to feel as alone and without hope the way that I did when I first prolapsed. So I sort of flipped it and used it as a way of, all right, let me see how I can rehab my body. What else I can learn from my women's health physio through other courses that I can do through rehab courses and ways that I can then help other women. And I guess that's when I...
Jen (14:23.946)
Mm.
Dani (14:42.301)
sort of took the step out to start my own business between babies, which was then Thrive Women's Fitness. And again, I never really pushed that. It wasn't until after I had Leo, my second, who's two tomorrow, that yeah, I got New Year's Fitness up and really running this year, so.
Jen (15:04.278)
What a journey. And what am I looking for? A driving force. Like what I heard you say then was I don't want any woman to feel like I did with a lack of hope. So were there, before you met the pelvic health physio that really supported you, did you run into or did you experience situations where...
Dani (15:05.558)
of yeah yep definitely
Jen (15:29.174)
you felt like there wasn't hope or where it was all doom and gloom or like what was your experience there?
Dani (15:35.709)
Yeah, well I had, yeah, I just didn't really, like I was seeing a women's health physio for two years before I was even pregnant actually, so I was really, I felt like I went into my birth really prepared and I felt really, I think that was an even harder hit when I ended up with prolapse and I had come across, because I had other things like pudendal neuralgia and some other issues post-birth that I was really dismissed by.
the head obstetrician of the hospital that I birthed in. I asked them, you know, my women's health physio in Sydney, who was incredible, she couldn't physically check me for prolapse at the time because I was in too much pain. I also had vaginismus as well. So the person that I trusted down there in Sydney to be able to check me couldn't. And then the obstetrician that was dismissing me,
had a physio come in and I was like, look, I need you to see if I have prolapse. She did the quickest check that I can't even remember and was like, no, you don't prolapse, you're fine.
I was like, okay. And I didn't know that you can prolapse three and a half months down the track, seven months down the track. I didn't know that was a thing. I didn't know that there was so many other little niggles that were going on that could lead, that have furthered some pelvic dysfunction and that she wasn't checking me the way that she should have. So it was a lot of dismissal. And I had seen another women's health physio up here who was really, really lovely, but.
Jen (16:48.853)
Mm.
Dani (17:11.253)
just sort of describe things in quite a top line manner. So more like, yep, it's stretch, it might probably get worse during menopause, you just manage it, put a pessary in, we can get you back to exercise. So it was, you know, it was fine. But for me, I didn't want top line. I'm one of those annoying people that like to ask a bunch of questions. I want to know about my anatomy, I want to know what's going on, I want to know if there's anything I can do. So I think that's why.
Jen (17:14.488)
Mm.
Dani (17:38.497)
my Women's Health Physio now had such an impact on me because she was able to tell me and teach me so much about my body, the female body, and answer a million questions, make me feel more validated and give me that hope. And I just think hope is kind of what you need in these situations. It can just, yeah, it can help you go so much further than you thought you ever could.
Jen (17:58.517)
Mm.
Jen (18:04.774)
Yeah, and I think that when you give people top line information, when there's something complicated going on, it just makes you question more. And it doesn't give you hope or it, I mean, you could be one of two people and just go, OK, cool, that's it. She just said this, this and this, and I'll just go on my way. But at some point, potentially something's going to unravel. And I'm so glad that you came across the physio in Sydney that really helped to educate and support you.
Dani (18:33.529)
Oh, that's my one in Newcastle, but yeah. Yeah.
Jen (18:35.958)
The one in Newcastle. Yeah. Yeah, do you want to give her a shout out so people can look her up if they're in Newcastle? Is she still she's still working? Yep.
Dani (18:43.898)
Yay!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's got an incredible business in Newcastle. Everyone in Newy would know her. Her name's Erin. She owns the Female Focus Physiotherapy in New Lambton. And also I have to say, if you're in Sydney, A-line, Philippe, I think it is. I think she owns Brave Pelvic Health, but she was my support in Sydney. And even when I hadn't seen her in almost, you know, six months or something, and we'd moved to Newcastle and I had prolapsed, I messaged her.
She sat on the phone and talked to me for 40 minutes and she gave me more hope too. So she was a big, big part of my journey. And I think that people that are willing to do that and spend that time with women that are going through things to give them that hope, they're just incredible. Good humans. Yeah.
Jen (19:20.892)
Mmm.
Yep.
Jen (19:31.902)
Absolutely. They are and we'll make sure that we put links to both those physios in the show notes so people can find them if they're in Newcastle or in Sydney. So you've had your second baby, you've experienced prolapse and a whole load of other things going on as well. We might yeah, we should get into that in another podcast. We'll bring you back and talk about your experience in those
in the next year we're going to real focus on the body and all that kind of thing. So this year's business next year's body. Tell us then about you know launching or you know relaunching your business because you had launched it a little bit between babies and then you had Leo. Tell us what from there.
Dani (20:02.79)
Yeah.
Dani (20:16.049)
So when I always knew that I wanted to start my own business back up again, but I also knew from my experience last time that I needed to know more and I needed support because I didn't have the foundations in place like teas and seas and even pricing and things like that. Like I would just discount all the time and I wouldn't, I'd question my pricing every day. So, um, yeah, I actually came across your
I think it was like a four day boot camp or something that popped up on my Instagram and I was like. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Oh, I know, it's perfect timing. But yeah, I came across that and I just got so much value over those four days. And I was just kind of like, there are so many things.
Jen (20:45.778)
So funny that we're recording this as we're about to start the three-day boot camp tomorrow.
Dani (21:02.685)
that I can do to start my business and to put myself in a more confident position. And from there, I obviously, I had a chat to you and I was like, yep, let's do this. Jumped in the mum safe membership and did safe return to exercise and just started to learn how to best lay my foundations. And so that I have all of the information going into taking on a new client. Um,
and feeling more comfortable about that. Like I've definitely gone through a big rollercoaster and a lot of learnings this year about discount. I know I remember like one of the first hot seats with you, you're just like, don't discount your price, don't discount it. No, it should be more things like that. But I had to go through it myself. I had to be like, no, it'll bring you more clients. But I just learned, I've learned so much this year and just understanding and.
my value and what I can offer and I think having the community support as well within Mumsafe has been invaluable in the way that it helps me find my path. And I guess overcome some of that fear and put myself out there a little bit more. Yeah, good.
Jen (22:13.346)
Hmm.
Jen (22:24.899)
I love it, I love it. So when you came into Mum's Safe, what did your business look like?
Dani (22:31.621)
It didn't really, it was sort of still... No, see I think I knew that I needed a new name for it and that was something that I was doing. I'd sort of done, kept my business Instagram going while I was pregnant and during that early postnatal time with Leo, but that was all I really had at the time, I think. So...
Jen (22:32.098)
Had you relaunched it, you were kind of...
Dani So when I joined the Mum Safe membership, Leo had I think not long turned one. So I was still in a real state of like
overwhelmed and frazzled sort of because we've got two other bit yeah as always um we've got two other businesses as well that we try and my husband and i run so i was trying to stay on top of those leo wasn't starting in daycare until i think january so it was just sort of still trying to find my feet um figure out what i wanted to do with my business and my brand what i wanted to rebrand to even how i wanted to
Jen (31:09.878)
As you are. Absolutely.
Dani (31:36.285)
who I wanted to coach. I think that was actually a really big one when I came into the Mumsafe membership because I didn't really ever have that much direction. I knew that I wanted to stay in the pre and post-natal space but never really drilled it down to a niche. I was like, oh yeah, but I'll just train everyone and you know, I can't have a niche because then I won't really get clients and rah rah, that sort of thing. So coming into the membership, that was a really big.
Like I think even in that boot camp it was just like try and narrow down your pitch in one line and who you want to target and a real sort of focus on finding your ideal client and that's been such a big like wonderful amazing realization for me that I can yeah have a certain client that I focus on and
Jen (32:19.862)
Hmm.
Dani (32:33.445)
that feels really good and I feel like that's the right thing for me. And I feel so much more clear and concise with the message that I'm putting out there, the direction even for my learnings and yeah, increasing my knowledge and that sort of thing in that post-natal space.
Jen (32:51.206)
Tell us more about that. So who is your ideal client now?
Dani (32:56.877)
My ideal client is a postnatal individual with pelvic floor dysfunction. But I guess a little bit broader than that, it's a postnatal individual that's returning to exercise in order to help them build both the strength and the confidence in their body to get back to whether it's running, CrossFit.
hit classes, anything like that. So I guess sort of that middle ground, but then with the ability, if they wanna keep training with me, like amazing, which is why I've decided to do small group classes. I'm doing sort of classes of four so that I can, I don't know, it's more face to face time with my clients. I really get to know them and their bodies and stuff like that. And it took me a while to get there because I was like, I'll also train like...
Jen (33:42.23)
Mm-hmm.
Dani (33:54.761)
pregnant women and just yeah really narrowing down into that postnatal like where I fit like this is where I feel I can fit I feel like I've got the knowledge if you've got a pelvic floor dysfunction to work alongside your women's health physio or your other healthcare provider to help you progress safely and effectively to get back to running or to have a daily life where you don't have to stress about your pelvic floor all the time or you have more confident.
Jen (34:14.115)
Hmm.
Dani (34:22.601)
confidence. It was so beautiful the other last week one of my clients came back she's she has prolapse and she came back from a trip to Tassie I think and she ended up carrying her two-year-old on her back in one of those carriers and didn't have any symptoms and she cried telling me the story she's like I've been working with you for this long now I had the confidence to do that and I didn't have any symptoms and I was like oh my god
Jen (34:40.821)
Hmm.
Jen (34:50.274)
That's so amazing.
Dani (34:50.565)
I'd seen her Instagram stories and I was like, I just wanted to shout out to you, like you are amazing. And she was so proud of herself and like that is exactly what I want. That's why I say strength and confidence. Like I want you to trust in your body again and to show you how you can safely trust in your body again. So it's just like, yeah, just that alone has just been the biggest. That's what I want. I wanna be able to help women like that.
Jen (35:03.217)
Mm.
Jen (35:15.926)
and you're literally changing lives.
Dani (35:18.289)
Yeah, it's so nice, so, so nice. So it's been really nice to sort of hone in and feel where my place is in the fitness space kind of thing because obviously, as you know, it's such a broad, broad space. And also...
Jen (35:32.746)
Yeah, and the beauty of when you've... Oh sorry, you go.
Dani (35:37.889)
I know I was just going to say, I guess pre and post needle space is kind of oversaturated where I am as well, but just still having that confidence that I can add a bit more value and I know what I'm doing. So yeah. What were you going to say?
Jen (35:48.962)
Hmm. Yeah. So the two things that came to mind one before you said what you said, and then one after you said what you said. So the beauty of specializing doesn't necessarily mean that the people that sit on outside of that speciality don't come to you. It just means that you are very clear on who you're talking to. But you'll often get people that go, I don't have a prolapse, but I love what you do. And I love how you do it. Can I work with you and then you get to choose that person or not. And we get that so my ideal client is
Dani (35:53.937)
Yeah.
Jen (36:18.046)
an exercise professional that works with moms that is also a mom. But we have trainers on our team that are not moms and we've got trainers on our team that are dads. And it's, you know, as long as you fit within, you know, the values and the mission, then welcome to the team. But I'm not gonna be talking directly to you when I'm talking about what I'm doing. And then the other thing I heard you say is pre and postnatal exercise is saturated where you are. And I know that you're on the central coast and we talked to Louise the other day. And
Dani (36:33.617)
Yeah.
Jen (36:47.754)
And there are a lot of pre and postnatal trainers on the coast, but there's still not enough. So like there's still, even if you add it up, all the pre and postnatal trainers, and it may even just be that we feel like there's more because we know them all, or we know the majority of them, but there's still thousands upon thousands of mums. And even, let's say 10 trainers could look after a hundred mums each. That's only a thousand mums being looked after. And there's tens of thousands of mums on the central coast.
Dani (36:54.397)
Yeah.
Jen (37:17.342)
of New South Wales or in any other part of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, wherever we are. So yeah, and also having your unique voice is amazing. Yeah.
Dani (37:26.309)
Yeah, oh definitely. Yeah, yeah, and I guess that's another thing as well, just yeah, still getting those reminders every now and then through the, and I think that's something that I've really learned and understood this year that, yeah, there might be a lot of people in this space, but there are so many mothers, and there's so many people that need that support, and you have to find the right fit for you. So even, you know, it's still the,
one client might resonate with me that they might not with another trainer that has the same skills or vice versa and that sort of thing so yeah definitely yeah
Jen (38:03.182)
Absolutely, absolutely. So you've come into Mumsafe, you started to refine your mission or what you stand for, your pitch, and then what?
Dani (38:14.329)
And then it was figuring out how to, what I wanted to do, how I want, did I wanna, and how I was gonna fit, what would fit in with our family's lives and what would work best for me. So it was, you know, do I do boot camps? Do I do small group? Do I do one on one? Blah, blah, blah. So I just feel like that was such a big process. It was so many times of me coming into the monthly hot seats and being like.
So I'm thinking about this, or what about this, or just listening to what other people are doing, other people's journeys, and just putting question after question in the Facebook group, just to try and find, see what's worked for people, and like the positives and the negatives of small group and that sort of thing. So I always sort of knew that I liked, you know, that four to one.
five to one sort of group. And then the space that I have available as well is more conducive with that, like not with the bigger boot camps. So yeah, it was just then having the confidence to start doing that and putting myself out there and actually like locking in times. Because I think I mentioned it really, and when we first started chatting that my perfectionist tendencies tend to hold me back.
Jen (39:19.688)
I'm sorry.
Jen (39:32.242)
I don't think you're the only person.
Dani (39:35.113)
Oh, well, yeah, so that was a big one. It was just sort of like, oh, but I don't know if this will work for everyone. And it was big part of you going, just start it. Just try it. Throw your hat in the ring. Like give it a go, pick a time and see if it works. You can always change it later. So that's something that I've yet definitely trialed around with different things this year. And I mean, I still am with bigger group sessions and boot camps and that sort of thing as well. Um, and it's always going to be trial and error, but just getting that confidence.
to overcome the perfectionism and the fear and just to jump in and do it has been obviously getting the way that my business has actually got started. Because I feel like I might still be sitting back at there going, I don't know if this will work. Or it could also be that, because the other thing was that I was going to offer quite like a lot of different times and just I'd be coaching maybe one person in that session and I wouldn't be making enough.
Jen (40:19.11)
Hmm.
Dani (40:35.069)
to make it worthwhile. So I think, yeah, just refining my times and pulling it in and making sure that I'm filling groups before I'm opening new sessions has definitely made a big impact to my life, my mental health and how I feel about my business. So I think that's good too.
Dani (00:02.213)
Small groups is sort of what I've run with initially in one-on-one PT's as well. And the other thing that came to mind when I was thinking about all of this and, you know, the perfectionism tendencies that I was going on about was that I was going to offer a multitude of times, like three different times, two or three days a week, and just be like, oh, just so it'll work for someone and that's okay, I'll just train one person and you were very much like...
No, no, you fill the classes and then open up another one. And I definitely minimized the classes, but I did open up too many times. And that was another learning this year. Like I, it's not worth just training one person. It's a better vibe when there's more people. And obviously financially for my business, that's more sensible and my time as well. So yeah, it's been kind of nice to find my.
Jen (00:50.274)
Mm.
Jen (00:58.902)
So there was a bit of resistance around doing the things, like not discounting and not opening too many sessions.
Dani (01:03.142)
See ya!
Yeah, I think so because it's just, I guess, starting up again, like I just don't have that faith and I want to try and get as many people as I can and I thought that would be across discounting and across, you know, having so many different times. But what it turns out that's worked so nicely, sort of particularly for this term, is me sticking to my pricing, sticking to my guns, having limited times available.
and just waiting for the right, and just spending the other time, like putting out content and sharing information and marketing in ways that align with my business and my goals. And then waiting for those clients to come. I think initially I was like, oh, I'm not getting, no one wants to join, like no one wants to do it. No one wants to join in my classes. So I need to have so many times. I need to be cheaper, cheaper. And then I was getting like.
flaky people, I was getting people that didn't value what I could offer. And it just, I was getting that feeling that I just didn't like last time, it just didn't sit right with me, really made me feel off balance. And so since refining that and waiting for the right clients, like my community are epic, they are just such good humans and I am so thankful for each and every one of them.
and just knowing, like feeling so much more confident in my business and just everything that I've learned over the last year through the MumSafe community, through the resources and everything, it's just been so incredibly valuable to get me here. So I'm really excited about next year. I just need more time.
Jen (02:48.418)
They do. I'm excited to learn your financial goals and all your things. You just need more time. Let's touch on that, because when you've got limited time, what do you find like you have limited time because you've got two little people? Is that right?
Dani (02:54.65)
Yeah.
Dani (03:02.705)
Yeah, two little people and two other businesses. So, yes.
Jen (03:05.354)
Yeah, okay. And so how much time a week do you think that you get to spend on your business, whether it's face to face or working on it?
Dani (03:18.381)
Oh my god, I don't know. I couldn't tell you. Because at the moment, it still feels like...
I still sort of feel a sense of overwhelm going into every week. And I'm trying to commit myself to the three tasks and what are you working on in the action points, which you ask every week for all of us to come back and mention, and I think that is so good. But I'm still at that point at the moment where I'm just like, I don't know how to divvy up my time yet. So I'm just sort of throwing in things here and there. Like I have an ad hoc to do list.
Jen (03:30.274)
Mm-hmm.
Jen (03:40.078)
I'm going to go to bed.
Jen (03:52.59)
Mmm.
Dani (03:55.709)
Like this is definitely something that I am, again with my word this week, like determined to get things down pat because I am so time poor and I do have random chunks like an hour here and there to be able to go to that task list and be like, oh yeah, I'll grab that one now is obviously going to benefit me. But for some reason, I think it's the perfectionist stuff as well because I can't do the perfect to do list. I just like.
keep things in my brain and hope for the best.
Jen (04:27.591)
I wanna know what is a perfect to-do list.
Dani (04:31.977)
Okay, this is ridiculous. This is, oh, you're gonna have a laugh. But this is how my brain works. It's just like, I can't write it down on notes on my phone because it doesn't look nice enough, or I might forget something, or because we've got the other businesses, like do I have a separate notes for them, or do I have the same one, and how do I prioritize what it does? But then I have to, like, I've got reactive things, like emails to respond to, and all of these other things that I wanna do in my head.
Jen (04:42.551)
Mm-hmm.
Dani (04:59.805)
that I can't, I don't know how to write it down neatly and concisely so I just don't do it. Which is ridiculous, but I've got my brain in front now.
Jen (05:07.998)
It's, it's, well, it's not ridiculous. We all have things cause you're avoiding something that's not right. Yeah. So you just avoid, avoid doing it. What do you feel like you need separate to do lists for each business?
Dani (05:16.283)
Yeah.
Dani (05:25.076)
I probably don't. I probably just need to look at my priorities and the time I have available.
Jen (05:30.794)
Or maybe you do, because if you do, then you know, yeah, it's interesting in my head, like my brain's going, you could have three pages that look exactly the same, but they are different, got different things on them for each business, or you could fit, you could split your page into, well, it's easier to split it into four, but you might need to split it into three, because there's three businesses. I have a lot of, you know those Kiki K, not Kiki K, typo,
Dani (05:55.246)
Yeah.
Dani (06:00.151)
Yeah.
Jen (06:00.514)
books with their insert. So you could almost have like a section for each business and each one has a to do list. And then, and with your emails as well. So I mean, you've talked about the three projects. So I have something similar running. I just made it look pretty for you guys, but you might need it in a separate. So I literally have one project, two projects, three projects, the five action points underneath, but then down the side, I've got an email list.
Dani (06:10.923)
Yeah, that's a good idea.
Jen (06:30.474)
or I already know at the start of the week, I've got emails. So I've got my email list written there. And then I've got my ad hoc list, which is things like I needed to pay an ASIC fee this week and do that kind of thing. But I know that they're the things, the ad hoc lists don't need me to sit down to really focus. Whereas my projects, most of my projects that I'm trying to move forward on in the business need me to sit down and go, okay, I'm writing my emails, I'm doing my social media, I'm following up clients.
And then now I've got this other ad hoc list that is life shit, like order Christmas gifts and order a Christmas tree and like that kind of stuff down the bottom. So it's, I should take a photo for you because I feel like it's quite neat. Or it's ordered, it's at least ordered.
Dani (07:16.163)
good because you've got what you need to sit down that makes sense. That's good.
Jen (07:20.278)
And then some of it's like, I can do my ordering Christmas gifts while I'm watching the TV and that's okay because it's not work work. So I can do that in downtime. Or if I've got a couple of emails, you know, I try not to work, work at night. I mean, this month's a little bit different, but yeah, I'll take a photo for you. It's very similar to the thing that you've got in your portal to download around time management, but it's just on a piece of paper. Anyway.
Dani (07:46.757)
Yes, awesome. I'll have a look at...
Jen (07:49.742)
I'll send it to you. No, it's fine.
Dani (07:53.085)
Please do. That might help me and then I'll actually get some stuff down and get some stuff done. Like it's got stuff done but it's just not ordered and I don't know, it's all over the place. But yes, it's all, yeah.
Jen (08:00.043)
Yeah, and then just...
Jen (08:04.426)
And then sometimes you just have to accept that it's a shit fight and get on with it.
Dani (08:07.897)
Yeah, that's the other piece. Yeah, that's the other bit. Ha ha ha.
Jen (08:09.97)
Yeah, yeah. So if we go back to the fact that you've got, you've now got sessions running, what I heard you say was beautiful. Like I, if the right clients don't come along, I'm kind of waiting for the right ones to come along. But I know that you're not really waiting. You've got other things going on in order to attract or bring clients to you. So what are some of the things that you're doing in your local community to
you know, bring clients into your orbit and to help people to get to know, like, and trust you.
Dani (08:42.109)
So at the moment, I am co-hosting a podcast with one of our wonderful local health physios. So that's been lovely. I'm doing some stuff with a local chiropractor and sort of just networking with other healthcare providers within the community, as well as doing odd talk here and there, which I really want to step up next.
week, next week, next year. I'd love to because talks initially for me were so scary and something that I never felt that I had the skills and the knowledge to do but I feel like I do now. I'm confident and I like sharing knowledge so that's something that I want to be doing more of next year and then I also need to go back and do all of the layers again so I've obviously got my branded gear on and I'm wearing that around and
Jen (09:29.069)
Mm.
Dani (09:37.937)
Yeah, I still need to be doing all of like my flyers and marketing and that sort of thing. So there's, there's still a lot on my to do list to grow my business next year, but it's good to know those layers and how to do them. So yeah. Yeah.
Jen (09:47.304)
Mm-hmm.
Jen (09:54.218)
Absolutely. And if you look back nine months from when you joined mum safe to where you are now, what would you say like the biggest, biggest changes and transformations have been for you?
Dani (10:06.345)
I think it is the confidence in myself and my offering. And that has come through understanding my niche, my target client, and having like more solid foundations. So again, lots of layers.
Jen (10:24.718)
And yeah, nice, nice. And from a business perspective, what are the things that you feel kind of have become easier than they were before?
Dani (10:43.789)
I think from a business perspective, even the confidence in running my classes with all of the extra education I've done this year through the different master classes, my confidence is built just understanding who I'm marketing to and who I'm creating content, writing blogs, putting out Instagram posts, who I'm talking to.
that's definitely become easier. And knowing a direction of where I'm going into next year has become a lot easier.
Jen (11:22.466)
And we touched on it a little bit before, like there's a lot of pre and postnatal trainers in, on the central coast in Newcastle and a number of them are mom safe trainers. How do you find that? Like having other mom safe trainers in a, in a similar area to you.
Dani (11:36.177)
I love it. I just think the Mumsafe team are so, it's not competition, it's collaboration, like we always say, and the Mumsafe team are just incredible. Like everyone that will offer to help you. We've got another local Mumsafe trainer who's just sort of 15 minutes down the road, Lawrence, who's just opened his own studio. He's wonderful. We catch up for coffee.
every now and then and we talk about our businesses and we bounce even ideas of pricing and things I've bounced those off him before and I just know that it's not it's not a competition between us like it is a relationship to help the pre and postnatal women that we're wanting to work with and yeah I just love it I think it's just so valuable to have those relationships and
Jen (12:19.768)
Mm.
Dani (12:30.573)
also because business can get so lonely. Like despite the fact that we're training people a lot for most of our days, it just does, it does still get lonely. So to have that community around you and to be able to jump on and, you know, I've connected with another couple of the MomSafe trainers that we chat quite a bit just to feel, yeah, like you're not working on your own and you're working in a community of people. It's just, it's really, really beautiful or something I value so much.
Jen (12:58.078)
Amazing. I love it. So you've talked a lot about future plans for like 2024. So let's say if we fast forwarded to this time 2024, where do you want to be?
Dani (13:11.073)
I probably want to have doubled the amount of postnatal individuals that I can reach. I want to be known a lot more in the community. I really want to be known as that postnatal coach that people want to work with. I really, really want to be known and I want to be, yeah, I just think the go-to person, the one that...
Jen (13:18.975)
Mm-hmm.
Dani (13:40.221)
is open to sharing, and knowledge that you can really learn from, and yeah, the lovely human that you want to train with or something. Ha ha ha!
Jen (13:48.706)
And you are a very lovely human. Ha ha ha.
Dani (13:50.669)
I think.
Jen (13:55.47)
And if there's, Danny, if there's someone sitting there at home going, I feel like I've got a business to start or I feel like I'm hiding, what would you say to them? What would your words of wisdom be to that person?
Dani (14:09.265)
Fitness business? Business in general?
Jen (14:10.59)
Yeah, fitness business. They wanna do what you do in their local space.
Dani (14:17.55)
I would say to them don't hide, just get started and if you feel like you need support go and get it. Like the MumSafe community are just a beautiful bunch to join in with and through Jen what you've put together with understanding how to start and lay those foundations of your business to really get rolling that will help you.
build the confidence and become more confident within yourself and what you can offer. And yeah, it'll just sort of give you the confidence to move forward, to get started, to get stuck in, try what works for you and your family, move things around and hopefully just come to a really great place where you're going to thrive and be doing something that you love. So, yeah.
Jen (15:05.546)
I love it. I love it. And Danny, if someone's listening and they do live in your local area and they want to work with you, how would how would they find you? Where would you be hanging out?
Dani (15:15.741)
So you can find me on Instagram at Nui Fitness. I think I'm the same on Facebook at Nui Fitness for women. I think it's just at Nui Fitness handle, but Instagram's definitely the best place to go. You can reach out and send me a DM, give me a call, yeah, get in touch. Or you can also go through the mumsafe.com.au website and just search Newcastle and I'll come up as one of your local trainers.
Jen (15:36.566)
and we've obviously got your... yeah
Jen (15:44.554)
Yep. Amazing. Beautiful. Well, I want to say a massive thank you for taking time out today. We've had a couple of interruptions, so hopefully people have got to the end and they've got no idea, because it's all been beautifully stitched together, but I've just given it all away. We've had like a couple of stop starts and a dog and a builder and a, I don't know, something happened in your background a second ago that I don't know what was going on.
Dani (15:58.181)
Yep.
Dani (16:05.901)
Oh my goodness. I've seen a bit of everything.
Jen (16:08.462)
But I think that's, yeah, but that's the beauty. Like, and that really, you know, we're both recording from home. We both work from home. We've got families, we've got life going on. We've got everything else happening. Yet there's still that space and the capacity to do something in the world that we're really proud of. So just getting it done sometimes in any way that you can get it done is, yeah, it's important. It's the way to go. Yeah.
Dani (16:32.837)
Yeah, exactly, exactly. So if you've listened to the end, thank you!
Jen (16:38.882)
And Danny, I'm super excited. Like I've been watching you, I guess, find your confidence. And I've actually read it down before and I haven't had the, I wrote down leaning in and also you show up, you show up all the time. And that's one of the things in a membership. So if you're, you know, if you come into one-on-one coaching and things like that, different scenario, like there's somebody tapping on the shoulder saying, hey, how you going? What's happening? Like we do that inside MomSafe, but there's also a,
it's an important responsibility for the individual that chooses to opt in to, you know, come into the space and put themselves forward and say, Hey, I've got a question or Hey, I need some help because we can check on people, but we can get to you so much quicker if we, if you lean in to what's on offer. So massive hats off for you for turning up and showing up when it's uncomfortable, when it's difficult, when you're like, I think I've got a stupid question. It's like, there is no stupid question.
And consistently coming back and going, okay, I'm trying this. Okay, whether that's worked or not, now I'm trying this. And through leaning in, through you doing that, you provide space for other people to do the same thing. So I wanna say a huge thank you for showing up in that way inside the team and that I'm so excited to watch. You're so passionate about what you're talking about. I know that you've got so much to give and you've got an amazing business that's just gonna flourish as you do.
So I'm very, very excited to watch 2024 unfold for you.
Dani (18:10.033)
Oh, thank you. Yes. And thank you for the beautiful community that you've put together. Like the confidence that has come from me is testament to a community of members that are just so open and willing to listen and help. And I just think and you, of course, just always with the support, like if it wasn't for that type of community, there's no way that this confidence would have grown. So I really, really appreciate that. And I'm so excited for next year. So thank you for talking to me today. I appreciate it.
Jen (18:33.674)
So exciting. It's a big thank you for taking the time out. I know it's not easily available in any of our lives. So appreciate you, Dani. Thank you so much. See you soon. Take care, bye. All right, stay, stay for a sec.
Dani (18:42.277)
No worries. We'll see you soon. Bye.
