The Joy of Turning My Vision Into a Reality

I was a personal trainer for 20 years. I was lucky enough to have graced Hollywood, experienced international travel and enjoyed a successful career. But, like anything in life, things got stale. I wanted more and I wanted a change. I wasn’t using my creativity anymore, I was just going through the motions.

A chance conversation with a client who was the head of a construction company responsible for building what GQ magazine called the second coolest thing of 2016, The Collective Co-Living experience, changed everything. The Collective was a new way to live in the congested and often expensive London rental market. It was a design-rich building with everything in place for the tenant to live their best life.

The Collective needed a gym. So, I pitched the idea of a wellness space that touched the senses, was beautifully lit, spatially aware and most importantly, chic. It would complement their crowd of entrepreneurs and go-getters.

I’d always dreamed of my own gym, a place where ambient room temperature was constant, where pin spotlights were banned, natural textures were used and colour and light played an essential part.

I closed my eyes and saw the space clearly.

To my absolute surprise, I won the pitch and had to deliver from scratch the vision in my head. The doodle in my A4 sketch book was about to become a reality.

My first job was to get the floor plan sorted. It was all new to me. Designing and creating a gym and cafe from scratch was nothing like how I imagined. It's one thing choosing a beautiful shower unit, it's another ensuring it's efficient enough to cope with industrial usage.

I decided early on to attach a small café to the gym reception, it would create community and ambience and a much needed revenue stream.

All my days and weeks were now spent with architects and interior designers, weaving my vision of a unique wellness space. I convinced the owners to let me have the ground floor unit at the front of the building. I had just over 3000 sq ft to make my dream space happen. Every centimetre counted.

Five-meter floor to ceiling windows gave me the natural light I needed. I decided to retain a lot of the industrial-chic fittings to enhance the look I was going for. Plus, it saved money.

The blank piece of paper was coming alive.

We agreed on four shower cubicles, each one designed with a vinyl wallpaper theme, a landscape to immerse the customer. The toilets would be individualised too. I took days to decorate. I wallpapered Marvel Comic strips from floor to ceiling in one toilet and fluffy white clouds and a blue sky in another.

I knew exactly what I needed. My mother's trusty scissors. I had inherited them when she died. An unusual inheritance perhaps, but a valuable one for me. She had used them for her dream career of hairdressing and now I was using them to craft my own dream.

I held the worn handles and cut through the paper easily. The blades were as sharp as the day my mother had bought them. I sat in the enclosed space of the toilet, lining the patterns up on the Marvel Comic strip so each one was perfectly alligned. It was therapeutic. Amongst the whirlwind of building a gym, I was sitting down on the floor, meticulously cutting wallpaper.

But, it was details like that, that mattered to me.

I was determined to ensure that everything people touched was of the highest quality. Door handles, hand-embroidered towels, cups, plates, tables, chairs, weights, cardio kit. There was so much to think about.

A small studio for classes was put in after much debate. Some argued we would lose space, I countered that we would win on customer experience.

It had to be a totally sensory experience, sight, sound and smell. I chose high tech projectors, heating and cooling systems that actually worked, and shelves for essential oils so beautiful scents could etch their way into people’s subconscious and counter any sweaty spin class aromas.

The height of the space brought its own problems. The acoustics in the café made conversations disappear. The original pale blue coloured walls were cold to the eye and the overhead lights, although not pin spots, were lacking intimacy, depth and warmth.

With so much going on, it never occured to me that the same finish for the gym space and juice bar wouldn't work. This would all change after a weekend in Barcelona when I had another bright idea.

For now, I was flat out. Opening day was speeding closer. I was in my element. Everything had to be perfect - website and logo design, membership systems, security systems, recruitment, training.

I took an age to choose 366 Concept furniture for the café and seating areas. The curves brought much needed softness and calm to the eye.

The importance of uplighting the 17 enormous windows at the front of the gym to change colour throughout the day took a long time to get through to the lighting guys. My idea was to have lilac and purple hues for the early morning, followed by undulating colours throughout the day. Red, orange, yellow, turquoise and then indigo and blue at closing time.

Equally, I wanted the music system to be of high quality. We were creating a sensory and beautiful experience. There could be no distortion of the background music.

Every day, I crafted each piece of the puzzle. I’d sit quietly in my PPE on the newly skimmed concrete floor, visualising everything as it would become. I would wake in the early hours of most mornings, sitting with strong coffee going over design, touch and feel.

I got involved with every installation.

After three days of wires, cables and Bluetooth syncing, I tested the music. The sound of Faithless’s anthem Insomnia was pitch-perfect. It was 9.30 at night. I was alone. I stood with my arms out wide and my eyes closed. It was coming together.

The studio was equally impressive. Hot yoga in 38 degrees of heat with the backdrop of the Taj Mahal and the woody smell of incense gave me the sensory experience I had hoped for.

The opening day sped ever closer. In the final three weeks we had a problem. The four showers needed to be moved next to the toilets due to drainage problems. I quickly agreed the new location along the back wall.

It was also agreed that a screen at the back of the gym would be needed for privacy for members exiting showers and toilets. However, it had to allow light to pass through so the overall space wouldn't look smaller. After two installation attempts, we got it right, a beautiful corrugated 4-meter high internal wall gave both privacy and amazing reflective light.

Opening day was a blur. I was handed over multiple keys, passwords, guarantees and waivers. At the same time all the exercise equipment arrived. It was hectic but truly exciting. My heart felt full. It was one of the most emotional and wonderful days of my life so far (apart from the birth of my children).

Slowly, the vision from deep inside my mind and many doodles on scraps of paper had come to life. I flicked back to sitting on the cement floor at the very beginning of it all. I couldn't believe the moment had come. My dream, my gym, would open to the public.

As if by magic, we opened on November 17th 2016. People queued to become members, the music played, people did yoga. It was as if the space had always existed.

The comment, “this is the most beautiful gym I’ve ever seen” brought tears to my eyes.

Investors from The Collective stood inside the cool and aesthetic space, showing it off to potential tenants and friends. It was a triumph.

However, it wasn't all plain sailing. We had a huge problem with the juice bar. Nobody was buying our salads, juices or healthy snacks. And we were running out of money.

My well overdue short break to Barcelona gave me the answer, the amazing Alsur Cafe in El Born gave me the inspiration. My juice bar needed to become a coffee house, a warm and welcoming place, not the industrial-chic gym extension it currently was.

With only $300 left on our budget, I rolled up my sleeves and did the refit myself. I remember sitting silently looking at the space for a good couple of hours before I began. I mentally created every centimetre, every colour and imagined the resulting customer experence.

Warm red brick wallpaper throughout made it immediately cosy. I hung the wallpaper myself, once again using the sharp blades of my trusty scissors as I balanced on a 5-metre high ladder in the early hours of Monday morning.

Secondhand drop lighting, and a favour from a friend who could fit them, brought the overhead height of the cafe from 5 to 2.5 meters. Driftwood dining tables added warmth and texture. The high counter bar, that looked out of the tall windows, was dropped and made into an inward facing bench. Another second hand pine table, picked up for $5, became the new deli counter.

The final touch was the wonderful gift of hand-made cushions. My dearest friend spent days printing and sewing quirky bird and giraffe cushions wearing necklaces and drinking coffee. The result gave me a glow of happiness. The cushions were the missing piece of the puzzle.

As I looked around the cafe at its total transformation I felt deeply happy. The harmony of working together with new friends and old friends to create something wonderful that I hoped would bring joy to many, was my driving force.

I had never been so eager to jump out of bed and begin work. Each moment of every day felt exciting. I wanted to create a space that would leave an imprint on people's lives. And I really hope I did that.

I look back and wonder how I did it all. A blank canvas and preliminary sketch became a thriving and beautiful business.

Creating your happiness is possible. You have just to be in touch with your dreams and ready to craft your vision into a reality, no matter how scared you feel. Because when you trust your heart and your creative mind, amazing things can happen.