I was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1982. When I was six years old, my mother parked me in front of the TV after I disturbed her from doing chores. There happened to be a cooking show on. I watched and, from then on, I was hooked on food and everything about food. I wanted to explore different tastes and cooking methods. This fuelled my desire to be a chef.

At around the age of 9, my parents and I moved to a farm where we settled until I was 17. The farm was 30 minutes out of Oamaru, a small town in the South Island. On this farm, I started developing a passion for plants and gardening.
After I finished high school in 1999, I moved back to Christchurch and proceeded to start my studies in cooking. From there, I worked in various hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars. Because of the nature of my work and the workplace I was in, I became morbidly obese. I drank and smoked too. However, quitting vices and eating less did not seem a viable option for me. 
The way I was treating my body and beating myself up physically for working extremely long hours in the vicinity (80 hours a week) was a sure-fire way for my health to collapse. Indeed, these resulted in a physical meltdown and health issues like irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue that all prohibited me from working. My days consisted of lying on the floor screaming in agony or visiting the toilet up to 20 times in a day.
It took some time for me to realise that I wasn't going back into the hospitality industry anytime soon because of my condition. I then started changing my focus to gardening. This craft had a huge therapeutic benefit to me—it helped me start my healing process. So, I decided to pursue a diploma in horticulture. I worked on people’s lawns and gardens.
This venture became successful until the 2011 February earthquake, which destroyed not only all of my belongings but also those of my clients. Hence, all in one day, I literally lost every client because of various problems associated with the earthquake.

How My Life Changed
To reduce anxiety and stress, I started meditation and other spiritual practices. Not long after this, I felt that there was the need to study again.
I moved to Auckland in 2013 to study natural medicine. My four years in school had its ups and downs, highs and lows, and massive changes. I learned how to love myself, which I have not done before. I quit smoking, started exercising, cut back on alcohol and lost over 40 kg. All of this happened while studying a very demanding degree, completing my bachelor’s degree in 2016 and becoming a certified personal trainer.
As you can see, my life has been a long and hard journey. My tough experiences brought me here: to help you achieve your own dreams in relation to health and fitness.