About Fellow Studios
Notes from our founder, Stevie.
Fellow did not begin with aesthetics, it wasn't overly visual. It was a feeling, a feeling of home, connection and courage.
Owning a Fitness Studio certainly wasn't a life long dream. However looking back I think I ticked all the right boxes, turned all the right directions and travelled down the necessary paths to get here, to bring 'Fellow' to life.
If I'm honest I didn't even have any interest in fitness until after I had my first baby 10 years ago. I had been a hairdresser from age 16, never really feeling overly passionate about the industry, but I managed to have quite a successful 16year career in it. I have always loved people. One of my greatest skills has always been building relationships, I'm not sure where this skill was acquired, but it's been there since childhood.
After sending both babies off to school, I thought "now what do I fucking do", which is an uncomfortable place to be in. Believe me when I say I tried a hell of a lot of things. I trained and competed in multiple body sculpting competitions, diamond bikini and all. I then took a very strong interest in nutrition and overall wellbeing and created and built a website. I think the last thing I did was creating a youtube account to create Vlogs. Shit there were so many ventures I tried. But nothing was igniting a fire in me that I knew I had. Being a mother is something I have always been deeply grateful for, but, it wasn't enough, it wasn't me as an entirety. I know you're not meant to say that as a mother, I dont know why it's so taboo but it was true. We want our children to have dreams, I show them everyday that it's hard work, and it's challenging, and you will at times FAIL (the big F word that people avoid saying, again i dont know why that is) but chase those dreams anyway babies.
Fast forward a little and I was in yoga class, laying there in shavasana looking up at yet another office ceiling. I remember thinking to myself " If I owned a yoga studio I'd have a beautiful ceiling". I never understood why these studios had awful ceilings when you spent so much time on your back. It made no sense, and it irritated me. (hence why I was at yoga, to be less of a psycho lol)
Later that month I came home and told my husband I had enrolled in a yoga 200TT. Honestly this man has the patience of a saint, but he knew I was searching for something so again he supported the process. I completed the course and began instructing straight away, I loved it. It lit me up every single day, and I suppose at the back of my mind I thought about what I would do if I had my own space. A seed was planted without really any intention to actually do it.
Later that year my husband had a cycling accident that resulted in a spinal injury. The worst phone call you can receive. It was a very long, challenging few months. Tim made a full recovery and when he was back on his feet, I came home and said " I've found the most beautiful space you can imagine, and I'm doing it"! Ha again this very patient man. If I'm honest most people tried to talk me out of it, there is always a reason not to do something.
But after Tim's accident I really did think life's too short not to do something you love, 'Everyday.' So I rallied the family and friends together and we did the entire fit out ourselves, I'm fairly sure when we finished my father and father in-law didn't want to speak to me for a good six months. I am like a dog with a bone and I nearly lost several relationships over that gorgeous timber ceiling. I wouldn't compromise on the vision, and I pushed many friendships to make it happen. But the studio was family built, every detail, and I love that.
'Fellow' did not begin with aesthetics, it wasn't overly visual. It was a feeling, a feeling of home, connection and courage. A space that was beautiful but completely stripped back, where you felt empowered to be you. Through all the seasons of my life I will be raw with you all, and through this I saw our little fellow family able to grow. That's where my purpose and the studio's purpose is hidden.
I do push social boundaries, I do swear, I do say (yell) inappropriate things at you in class, but I am a huge empath, and I will love you. This is OUR brand, this is OUR studio, and you will always get something authentic and real here. We will always take pride in knowing our members.