Why i started BuildaBody!
Allow me to share my story with you.
In my late teenage years and early twenties, I found myself on a destructive path. Struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol, I veered off track, finishing school early and facing the possibility of landing in jail. It was a dark time in my life, but deep down, I knew I had more to offer. You see, I was once an avid sports enthusiast, playing cricket and rugby mainly with cricket at a representative level. But academically, I struggled to commit myself, often feeling like I fell short.
My rebellious nature manifested itself in skipping school and causing disruptions when I did attend. Miraculously, I managed to scrape by until my final year, when I made the regrettable decision to experiment with drugs. That marked the beginning of a downward spiral. I soon found myself dependent on Methamphetamine (P), engaging in criminal activities just to sustain my habits. But before my impending court appearance, where jail time was a looming possibility, I made a pivotal choice.
I sought help and committed myself to rehab, determined to break free from the cycle of addiction. At that moment, I also rekindled a flame from my childhood—a love for sports and exercise. I enrolled in a local polytechnic to study exercise science, fueled by a desire to do better for myself and my family. I was ashamed of the person I had become and knew it was time for change.
Change came in the form of a compassionate judge who recognized my efforts to rehabilitate myself, my admission of guilt, and my genuine commitment to turning my life around. Rather than sending me to prison, I was given community service and placed on probation. During that time, I stayed clean, fully immersed myself in my studies, and worked tirelessly to support myself. Over the course of three intense years, I pursued my education and remained steadfast in my recovery, proudly staying clean from heavy drugs since 2005 and abstaining from marijuana for over 12 years.
As I delved deeper into my studies, my passion for sports was reignited. I resumed playing rugby, ultimately participating in over 100 games and captaining more than 50 of them for my local club, Stokes Valley. As a student, I excelled, earning distinctions and setting the stage for my future career as a personal trainer. I was determined to provide the guidance and direction I never had in my own life until I became a student of exercise science. Every day, I strive to become a better person, coach and mentor.
That's precisely why I founded BuildaBody in 2015—a sanctuary that stands out from the crowd. Tired of witnessing the repetition and lack of genuine care in commercial gyms and among trainers, I sought to make a difference. Our approach revolves around placing our clients' success at the forefront. Gone are the days of trainers solely focused on cramming as many people as possible into sessions without delivering meaningful results. No more exhausting workouts that leave you feeling nauseous or overwhelming equipment loads that hinder your progress.
We started off with one gym back in 2015 and today it has evolved into 3 gyms and an online coaching business. We started with 3 coaches, one who was starting from scratch. Today we have 25 people who work for BuildaBody across 3 countries as well as across the 4 businesses 5 co owners. Our team has evolved into what it is today from a willingness to learn and be better to serve you all to be better versions of yourselves. To this day i still love coming to work and seeing our team who are all family to me. They say find something you love doing and you'll never work another day in your life.
At BuildaBody, we prioritize you, our members, ensuring you work closely with coaches who genuinely care about your well-being and guide you on a path to success. We take a holistic approach, treating each member as an individual with unique needs. We don't believe in the notion that you must push yourself to the brink during every session or follow fleeting fitness trends. Instead, we emphasize building sustainable exercise habits, nourishing your body with proper nutrition, and prioritizing recovery. These elements pave the way for lifelong results.
Here at BuildaBody, we are committed to teaching you how to break the cycle and put an end to the repetitive loops in your life. Are you ready to embrace success, adopt a fresh perspective, and achieve the quality of lifestyle you've always dreamed of? Confidence, great habits, and effective strategies for overcoming obstacles are within your reach. Let us equip you with the resilience necessary to face any curveballs life throws your way. We'll teach you the essential habits, provide you with the tools and processes for success, and offer unwavering support, honesty, and integrity to help you triumph.
Our training and support systems are unparalleled. You'll discover that you don't need to spend hours in the gym; rather, consistent execution of small steps in training, nutrition, and recovery will give you the stability and resilience needed to accomplish your goals. Say goodbye to limitations, niggles, and injuries that hold you back.
If you're ready to take charge of your health and fitness goals alongside a dedicated team, send me a direct message now. Let's embark on this transformative journey together.
I hope this gives you a bit more insight into myself and BuildaBody.
#BuildaBody #EmbraceChange
" Everyone has their individual struggles in life. What separates those who succeed from those that fail is our own ability to identify our struggles and see them as challenges we can overcome rather than obstacles dragging us down "
BuildaBody co-owners Kieran Duffy & Daniel Thompson have been coaching and training in the Hutt Valley for over 10 years. During that time we discovered not everyone is comfortable reaching out for help, for people to really get the results they want they needed to be comfortable the needed to be coached.
We built a unique team training environment, a dedicated group of coaches so every time one of our members walks in the door they are coached & supported, taking a step towards their own goals every day!
We are two very different individuals, with very different upbringings and struggles. Before our paths crossed at small community gym called Uptown Fitness, drugs, alcohol, insecurities, belonging, and dealing with unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others were battles we had begun to overcome. We were ready to forge our own path on our own terms, we just needed an environment that would foster our potential.
In 2009 a local gym owner took a chance on 2 young men both struggling to break through in an industry we loved but also did not naturally fit into, a couple of misfits bucking the trend of the flashy trainers jumping on board the latest weekly trend, what has now been replaced by gym selfies and social media influencers, a world we still do not fit into. Over the better part of 5 years we built a sense of belonging, a knowledge base and a culture that would shape the foundations that became BuildaBody. Even though our paths would eventually separate, the bond created at that pokey, run down, hole in the wall gym would last with us much, much longer.
In 2013 when Uptown finally shut its doors and a larger commercial group came in we instantly noticed a shift in focus and a change in culture. Uptown was no longer a home, people became faces, faces become dollar signs. Trainers who were often poorly qualified or not qualified at all, lacking basic understanding and caring for their clients in favor of just destroying someone because that’s what they thought was a good training session was a rude wake up call and exposure to what we knew the industry had become but had isolated ourselves away from the state of the fitness industry in New Zealand.
BuildaBody was born to stand out, born to flip the middle finger to this crazy world of social media fitness influencers, to bring a higher level of skilled and experienced trainers together to deliver an experience each and every time someone walks in our doors, we wanted to restore integrity and confidence back into the industry, most of all we wanted to build a home for everyone who doesn’t fit into a mold, everyone looking for somewhere that sees them, their needs, is tired of globo gyms who just treat you as another faceless member… just the way we had experienced it growing up at Uptown. Over a decade of training we have taken our experiences and built firstly an environment that nurtures habits and builds confidence in people. A method of getting results built on smart training principles, we call it the B.A.B METHOD.
Success stories
Lower Hutt
Upper Hutt
