My podcast Eavesdrop is BACK – and we’re kicking off the new season with an interview with my friend and personal trainer, Laura Faye!
In this interview, we discuss:
- Resilience
- Letting go of limiting beliefs
- Quitting your job and
- Chasing your dreams!
Here’s a brief recap of our conversation. To hear the full conversation, give my podcast a follow on Podbean, Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts!
An Interview With Laura Faye
Can you tell us about who you are and what you do?
“So I am Laura and I have a business called ‘Laura Faye Fitness’, which I started in 2021 in the midst of Covid-19.”
“I really wanted to help people get a grip of their fitness… and help with their mental health because I had been through a bit of a struggle, and I really wanted to help people feel their best self.”
“So I started doing personal training outside, and having just left the military, I basically just wanted to help people as much as I could. I knew that one day I would have my own gym, but never did I expect it to come this quick!”
Talk to me about the process of starting your own business… what does that take?
“Honestly, I always got told that I was lazy and I believed it. I believed I was a lazy person.”
“You kind of fall into what you’re told, don’t you? So I believed I was a lazy person… but it just turned out that I wasn’t lazy. I’ve got ADHD (undiagnosed) and I don’t concentrate or listen to things that I’m not interested in – which is quite difficult. And I think now I know I can understand it, so I put a lot of time into things I don’t want to do because then I know that it’s gonna take me longer.”
“So I was really passionate about fitness, I was really passionate about mental health, and I just really wanted to smash it!”
“I never gave myself an option to fail. When I left the military, I was on a very good wage – but I didn’t want to be in that male focused dominant workforce. I didn’t want to be restricted to 12-hour shifts.”
“So I literally said to my partner, I’ve got no option, I have to make this work.”
How have your childhood experiences shaped the person that you are now?
“My grandma has really shaped me. Really, really like, my granny especially is really strong and she doesn’t stop until she gets something. I feel like she’s quite stubborn, and I feel like I can be quite stubborn, and I feel like having those influences in my life has really made me make sure that I don’t stop until I get what I want.”
“I remember saying to my dad about five years ago, “I’ll have my own gym one day” – I wasn’t qualified as a PT, I was still in the RAF… and I was like, “I will have my own gym one day”… but I never ever thought it would happen because I thought I was lazy.”
So that limiting belief of you are a lazy person, where did that come from? Who told you that?
“School, because I didn’t listen. I didn’t pay attention. I was really silly in school. But because I was so afraid (not in a bad way) of my mom (the discipliner) – I was really well-behaved at home… but then I was just wild at school and they were like, “oh yeah, you’re lazy”.
So you’re always living two different lives. Unleashing it all at school and being the good girl at home… but actually, something about school wasn’t stimulating for you?
“Yeah, and I actually wanted to be an architect. So I went to college to do A levels….and I was just like, no, this isn’t for me.”
“So there was a different entry level into architecture by doing this construction BTEC. So I’ll do that. But again, you’re a lot classroom based and I wanted it to be drawing and going out to construction sites. I wanted to be doing the physical work… yeah, so I’ve got bored again.”
“So I said I’m joining the Army… and eventually went in the RAF.”
Wow. And what was that like at first? How did you feel?
“Terrified. Yeah, a really scary experience actually. And again, because I was in a very, very conformative environment, I was very well behaved because I was so scared of annoying the corporals or getting in trouble. But this is hilarious because I did my 11 weeks and I actually got sent back to the beginning with a bad attitude – even though, honestly, I tried so hard to not have that attitude.
Wow! So you had to do it all again?
“Yeah, all of it!”
And how did that feel?
“Awful, but there was no option to fail because I was there then, again.”
So it’s that stubbornness, that resilience in you that kind of kept you going?
“Yeah. For me, it was like, I’m here now. I have to finish it. All or nothing…. which I don’t really like the all or nothing mentality now, but… I went into trade training and learned how to fix planes and it was so interesting!”
So, young Laura is in the RAF, semi-enjoying it. Loving it. What changed?
“I think as I got older, it was more of just a job. I wanted a life as well. It was never a set week. Random shifts. Getting up at four o’clock in the morning or you get sent away – like I went away to America for six months – but I felt like I was missing my life back home”.
So now that you’re more in control of your schedule, how do you prevent yourself from burning out?
“Honestly? So I don’t have that button that says “this is going too far now”. I am pretty bad at it, but recently, I knew it was getting too much – that’s why I booked holiday. I don’t really like booking a holiday and having to escape my life, because I like my life, so I never want to get to that point again.”
“But in general terms, I’ve just dropped a training session a week because I’m tired, I need that extra day off. I try and turn my phone off in the evening. Things like that, and just making sure I spend time with my family.”
Leading up to the opening of your gym, did you have a self-care plan in place?
“Honestly, I wish I did have a plan in place. I should have been going to bed much earlier (not watching Love Island!) and just making sure I was taking a full day off a week to go to yoga or something.”
“I always get up 40 minutes early in the morning so I can sit and have a brew on my own, and that’s something that I’ve always done, but this last month, I haven’t.”
“I think whether it’s mental health, fitness, anything, I think doing something that you enjoy for yourself is really important because you will feel the benefit from it. You’re not going to be tired and you’re not going to be exhausted.”
What are your thoughts on supporting other women in business?
“I really think as women, we need to support each other and bring each other up.”
“It’s about sharing, and giving, and helping each other succeed. If anyone asks for my help, it gives me joy to help them because I’m not in competition with them. You’ve got to work together – because I’ll tell you what if you do start helping people you’ll feel a lot happier.”
“If everybody set out each day to be kind to each other. Everything would change. I always say… focus on you, stick to your boundaries, but be kind along the way.”
How can people connect with you?
“The best way to reach me is on my Instagram, so @laurafayefitness. If you want to head to my website, it’s www.laurafairfitness.co.uk, and if you’re interested in fitness classes in the Manchester area, it’s @thephysique lab_.”
Catch the Full Episode!
This was just a snippet of my conversation with Laura! You can download and listen to the full episode by following the links below:
- Podbean: S5E1 – Quitting the day job to start your own business, with personal trainer Laura Faye
- Spotify: S5E1 – Quitting the day job to start your own business, with personal trainer Laura Faye
- iTunes: S5E1 – Quitting the day job to start your own business, with personal trainer Laura Faye
Never miss an episode by subscribing to ‘Lily-Jo Presents: Eavesdrop’ on Podbean, Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Further Resources on Resilience, Change, and Self-Care
If you found this interview helpful, check out these additional recommended resources on resilience, change, and self-care.
- The Lily-Jo Project’s article, Continuing the Fight: 6 Practical Tips for Building Resilience
- The Lily-Jo Project’s article, What it Means to Be Resilient
- The Lily-Jo Project’s article, Embracing Change: Navigating a New Normal with Grace
- The Lily-Jo Project’s self-care resource
- Resource from Mind, Managing stress and building resilience
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