WHAT INSPIRED ME TO BECOME A TRAINER?
I had anorexia when I was 17. My mechanism to deal with the constant fight and stress towards food, was to do sports, enough that I wouldn’t have to think about gaining weight the whole time. Movement healed me but it also injured me. One can’t cover one problem by overdoing something else in order not to see the original problem. So movement taught me how to listen to myself, taught me to be grateful for my body and to spend time on it on a daily basis by listening, feeling and complying. Some days are just recovery days, some days I eat a lot, some days are just spontaneous. Being a trainer has been my own coping mechanism, a continuous journey of self-discovery and observing how everyone has their own struggles and how through movement, breath and awareness I can also help people find the best and healthiest habits in order to live the life they dream of.
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I must say this is my most frequently asked question. It’s a question that I find very hard to answer. I don’t feel that I belong to a country but that I only temporarily inhabit it. I was born in England, quickly moved to Virginia, then moved to Chile where I spent 16 years of my life. The moment I graduated from school I left to embark on my own journey. I went to university in Scotland, spent the summers in Washington D.C. and then did an Erasmus program in Leiden, which effortlessly convinced me that I was in love with Holland… and thus I’ve spent the last eight years in Amsterdam.
WHAT SPORTS HAVE I DONE THROUGHOUT MY LIFE?
I started with ballet but after my feet operation at 17, I switched to tennis. When I was 16 I joined the gym, falling in love with spinning and step (or rather, my very hot Brazilian step instructor). At university, my first year I danced modern and Bollywood, my second I did boxing and my third I re- entered the gym for group classes and to start to train alone. My fourth year I moved to Edinburgh and joined both a gym and a spinning studio. I had my first personal trainer during this time, who taught me to do a proper push up and pull up. In Holland, I became the ever-present spinning student. From then it evolved to weight training, yoga, calisthenics, barre, pilates, reformers and now I’m finding a balance between calisthenics, weight training and high intensity workouts.
FAV. LOCATIONS IN AMSTERDAM
During Covid I re-encountered my love for calisthenics and working out at outdoor bars where community forms and the sun is fully appreciated. I love the hard work and consistency it requires. For a workout, I love High Studios, especially the skill mill which is unbearably hard but excruciatingly satisfying and Vélo, specifically Milou’s and Jordy’s techno rides.
WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME:
- I can’t watch a film without eating ice cream (or banana nice-cream!)
- I’m addicted to waking up early.
- I interned for President Obama reading the letters he received from children from all over the USA.
- I have a chameleon accent: it changes depending with whom I am talking or in which country I’ve been living.