Fitness guru, businesswoman, mum

One look at Ceri Roberts’ busy work schedule and you wonder when she has time to draw breath!

Add to the mix that she is a mother of two young children and you can only sit back and admire.

After 17 years as a Powys County Council employee at The Flash, Ceri made the break almost a year to the day and despite clocking up the hours and doing more juggling than a court jester, she is loving every minute!

Her Health & Fitness business – Unique Physique - has taken many twists and turns over the past 12 months, and she has evolved from holding courses at just about every community centre in the area, to centralising herself at the revamped Armoury which has allowed her business to flourish.

“Fingers crossed, so far so good!” said the energetic 35-year-old. “A year ago it was a case of now or never and I am so glad I did it.

“My initial aim was to go out to village halls, build up a client base and see how things went. I needed to find out what people liked and what they didn't. I was really pleased with the turnouts and I built up really good regular clients through fitness classes, personal training and outdoor bootcamps."

At the turn of the year, Ceri realised that demand was starting to outstrip supply with a need for her to offer a much more diverse range of classes using “more equipment than I could load in the boot!”.

“It was at that time that The Armoury approached me about using their facilities,” she said: "It was ideal for me. The facilities are great and it works really well. It has been a huge step forward, as the classes that I offer are all different.”

Ceri currently teaches 10 hours of classes per week as well as 6-10 hours of personal training. On top of that she regularly attends courses and seminars to stay at the top of the industry.

“The actual classes are the fun part but there is also a lot of preparation that goes into them too. It certainly keeps me busy but I am pleased to say that all of my sessions seem popular with Studio Cycling (Spin) always full.”

So full, in fact, that she has purchased four new bikes and her Blast FX, Bodysculpt and Kettlercise classes are filling up the Armoury’s hall.

It is a refreshing success story amidst all the economic doom and gloom and Ceri explained: “Even with the credit crunch, people still know how important it is to keep healthy and exercise so they are willing to allow for it in their budgets. Also I am finding customers exercising smarter, they don't just want a class to train specific areas they want a complete body workout.

“Moving forward, I would like to take on a member(s) of staff to offer more classes on more days and I want to offer classes to specific groups and clients which are not catered for at present. I have loads of new “mainstream” class ideas that I want to introduce but I cannot split myself in two to offer everything!”

Ceri added that her family’s strong support has enabled her to chase her dream and the positive feedback from her clients is a driving force.

To find out more about Ceri’s classes, contact her on 07973856635 or look for Unique Physique on Facebook. For more details on The Armoury, visit http://www.thearmourywelshpool.co.uk/.