Sonya Barber…
GOES SILVER
BLUEY’S FORESIGHT
JOHN FORSYTH
In 2017, fitness industry stalwart, Sonya
Barber, celebrated 25 years on the job.
Over those years, Sonya has witnessed
some dramatic changes in the industry as it
develops.
“Fitness is all I ever wanted to do. Although
my parents had concerns originally about it
not being a ‘real job’,” Sonya giggles.
As an Air Force family, Sonya’s family
relocated often. To integrating into each
new community, her family would join
sporting clubs in the respective towns. This
exposure to a wide variety of different sports
fuelled Sonya’s desire to be part of it. “I saw
first hand the benefits that sport brings to
communities.”
At 18, Sonya began studying fitness at Gold
Coast TAFE, emerging twelve months as a
qualified fitness leader.
FITNESS IS ALL I
EVER WANTED TO
DO. ALTHOUGH
MY PARENTS
HAD CONCERNS
ORIGINALLY ABOUT
IT NOT BEING A
‘REAL JOB’
By 19, she was a group Aerobics Coordinator.
By 20, she was managing the gym.
She was a natural.
“I was in charge of twenty staff, including
child carers, group exercise leaders, personal
trainers and I had to do sales and marketing
and memberships. I loved every part of it!”
“Back then, it was so basic. The guys did gym
and weights; the girls did aerobics,” Sonya
explains.
“All of a sudden there were different ways to
become fit and healthy.”
“The girls hit the gym and started lifting
weights, the guys joined in group exercise. We
stopped calling it ‘aerobics’ and instead called
it ‘Pump’ and ‘Group Exercise’,” Sonya recalls.
In 1997, Sonya along with a group of local
women competed in Hawaii at the Hekili
Outrigger World Championships.
That same year, aged 23, Sonya started her
own business, Better Bodies. “Better Bodies
was about trying to be a little bit better than
you are now.”
Personal trainers were in high demand in the
gym scene, and not just for the affluent.
Australia, the industry association.
“I brought PT to the mainstream in Cairns. You
could pay $30 and have personalised training,
and before long, I had so many clients.” “It was the absolute highlight of my career,
travelling all around Queensland helping
fitness instructors, trainers and gym owners
to be better in their fitness business.”
“I would be up at 4:30am and coming home at
9pm. I was training people in their garages,
whole families in their pool, dragging people
up the red arrow and along the Esplanade,”
she fondly remembers. However, with a young family at home, the
travel requirements of the role became too
restrictive, and today Sonya is back teaching
as part of the Sports Science School at
CQUniversity.
Answering a call from Ergon Energy in 2009,
just after the birth of her second child, Sonya
took a new direction in the world of Health
Psychology, by designing a Men’s Health
program delivered to their 4500 strong
workforce. Looking forward, Sonya sees an even brighter
future for her beloved fitness industry, and for
us all over the next twenty five years.
The next stage took Sonya back to the
classroom, but this time not as the student.
After more than a decade in an educational
role at TAFE, Sonya was appointed as the
Queensland State Manager for Fitness
With her trademark smile and energetic
voice, she repeats that now is the time to
get moving. “We’re spoilt for choice; we have
something for everybody. All ages, all abilities,
all cultures and we are doing it smarter”.
Here’s to 25 wonderful years, Sonya!
Be well, Bluey.
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