22 Nov 2021

Jaiden Myer Success Story

Student Success Story

Tell us a Bit About Yourself.

Hi, I am Jaiden! I grew up in Taree on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

I lived there for 25 years enjoying family and school life while playing Rugby League for the Wingham Tigers before moving to Port Macquarie for a couple of years to play Rugby Union for Hastings Valley Vikings. Straight out of school, I went into a trade to align with the childhood goal of becoming an architect. I am a qualified Draftsman; I worked in the industry for just over 11 years designing Sawmill Layouts and all the relevant equipment inside the mill, plus a lot of work in both Structural and Mining Industries. During that time of being a Draftsmen, I was able to begin my fitness studies. I was close to finishing my studies when I decided it was time to walk away from full-time work, and I started my own Drafting contracting company while I was finishing off my studies. I travelled around the world and gained a lot of life experience, which really helped set me up for the rest of my life.

In 2017 I started my fitness business, Jaiden Myer Fitness. During the first few months, I worked a lot outdoors, having the fitness business on the side while I was mainly focused on my contracting business. In 2018 my partner moved from Port Macquarie to Brisbane for work. I would travel up every weekend for 6 months to see her while I got my affairs before I moved up there with her. I stayed focused on wrapping up my drafting contracting business.

In May of 2018, I made the move to Brisbane and fully committed to making Jaiden Myer Fitness my main focus. I was contacted by Goodlife Health Clubs in Queen Street (right in the heart of Brisbane City), and I have been running part of my business out of the club for 3 years. It has been an incredible experience so far. The amazing people I have as part of the JMF team are what make the journey incredible to be a part of. In my first year, I met and worked with many people who had disabilities or learning issues. This, in turn, took me down a pathway of gaining qualifications to becoming an NDIS Providing (National Disability Insurance Scheme). From there, it has opened me up to a whole new world of people who rely on fitness professionals to live and work. Before the Covid pandemic, I was beginning to explore the world of Online Training, which gave me many opportunities to travel and conduct my fitness business in amazing locations. Covid hit, and all the gyms closed. This was actually a blessing for me and my business, as I was able to grow my business even more by transferring all of my clientele to outdoor sessions or to online training, which was easy to do because it is exactly how JMF started, but this time it was just on a bigger scale.

I also took this opportunity to do some more study and became a Qualified Online Personal Trainer, working with people around Australia and worldwide. The support I get these days from my parents, brother & his partner and my partner are huge reasons I still do this. I really do owe a lot to them for where I am today.

What Made you Decide to Pursue a Career in Fitness?

I have always been an active person, playing both Rugby League and Rugby Union throughout my life. In 2009 at the age of 19, I was seriously injured while playing a game of Rugby League, sustaining Crush Fractures of my Thoracic Spine, my T10, T11 & T12 Vertebrae. The recovery process was extensive; from running around all day, every day, to not being able to move without significant pain through my body was a huge shock. I would have been lucky to be SOkgs at the time of the injury, and with 6 months of little movement, I was able to stack on 20kgs.

My Spinal Specialist & Doctors were both great and helped me out a lot, but when I was in the rehab phase of my journey where things really changed, I felt like I received absolutely no help from my Physios or my other therapists. I made the tough decision to undertake the responsibility of my own recovery. It was a tough journey to get back to what I felt was a normal lifestyle. During the whole recovery process, I began doing a lot of research on how anatomy worked, why my body was always in pain, where and how to attack the process etc. I worked on my rehab with equipment my parents had purchased years ago (which I never touched previously). I still have and will have lasting effects from the injury, but I understand my body a lot more these days because of my training/studying and personal experiences.

It took nearly 7 years for me to take a step forward to pursue a career in fitness, but this accident was definitely the initial driving factor to do so. Subconsciously I wanted to work hard and not let people feel let down the way I was. Fast forward years later, and that same drive is still there, but it has branched off into many different avenues now.

What Course did you Study? Which Gym did you Have your Face-to-Face Practical Assessments?

I studied my Certificate III and IV in Fitness, along with:

Short course in Strength and Conditioning.
Short course in Nutrition.

I undertook my face-to-face practical assessments in an 8-week block at Genesis Health Club in Maitland (Hunter Valley).

Why did you Choose to Study with AIPT?

My decision to undertake my studies with AIPT was a very well thought out one. I researched and made enquiries with AIPT and also other training facilities. I had a list of things I wished to learn, and I knew how I wanted to learn. The main reason I decided to go with AIPT was that they had the opportunities I wanted, but they also were the only facility to actually take the time to contact me back and speak to me about my future learnings. Having the opportunity to study my theory online and at my own pace allowed me the freedom to continue working my full-time job. The face-to-face branch of the studies was an amazing experience to be able to work with my instructor, who had many years of experience in the industry.

What are Your Plans for the Future?

Currently, I have a few big projects in the works. I am working on creating a bigger presence in the online training world by studying more, learning how to create, edit and display my content. I am working with companies who are a lot bigger than I am, learning how and where to input my focus and energy for maximum growth etc. Achieving this will have a huge ROI for my future, allowing me to reach more people in more locations around the country and around the world.

What Would you say to People who are Considering Taking the Leap Into a Career in Fitness?

The biggest bit of advice I can offer to anyone considering making the leap into the fitness industry is not to enter it based on the idea of the "Fitness/PT Lifestyle". When I first began, I heard about the Fitness/PT Lifestyle, sleep in, get up, go for a surf, come back, train a couple of clients for $100's each, and then chill in the afternoon. That is absolutely not how it is. You need to go into this career knowing that it's going to take hard work to get yourself off the ground and gather momentum, then when you think everything is going great, do not get complacent; that is the time to double down and work even harder. There are many things you learn along the way to make your business more efficient and autonomous, but you only get those by putting in the hard work at the start. I still keep in contact with a couple of people I did my original course through, and they are still working in the industry. The rest quit because they couldn't handle the work.

There will be endless amounts of early mornings and late nights, and even a few 24hr sessions here and there. But all that is worth it when you see your business take off, and you continually see your clients and team members achieving amazing results or smashing their goals, experiencing those moments feeds that drive you to do and be better. It's addictive. Also, get around people who have great work ethics, there are so many people in this industry who can be extremely negative, and they want to bring you down to their level, and it is infectious. Don't be that person, be the one who lifts up others. This will attract endless amounts of clients and future business opportunities. The pathways that can lead from you starting a career in fitness are endless.