Why I created the Lift, Create & Thrive Day
Why I created a day that combines lifting weights with making a rosette (yes, really)
Let me tell you something I've noticed after years of working with women over 40.
They are brilliant at showing up for everyone else. Their kids, their clients, their colleagues, their partners, their parents. Absolutely brilliant at it. But when it comes to showing up for themselves? Really showing up, not just fitting in a quick workout between everything else? That's where it gets tricky.
I've felt it myself. That creeping sense that your needs have somehow ended up at the bottom of a very long list. That a whole day just for you sounds indulgent, maybe even a bit selfish. (It isn't, by the way. Not even slightly.)
That's where this day started.
What I was seeing in my clients
I've been a personal trainer and strength coach for a few years, and what I keep noticing isn't a lack of motivation. It’s not laziness. Its disconnection. Women who've lost touch with what they actually enjoy. Who start exercising because they feel they should, not because it will make them feel good. When I started, I worked with individual clients, women who trained alone, quietly, and went home again without ever talking to another person who got it. Sure, we have giggles together but they’re isolated from others who are like them and wanting to explore a healthier lifestyle and a different way of thinking.
What they needed wasn't another programme. It was a proper day. A full, real, you-have-permission-to-be-here-all-day kind of day.
Why creativity is part of it
Before I was a personal trainer, I was an art teacher. And one thing I carried with me from that time is how powerful making something with your hands actually is. There's something that happens when you're absorbed in a creative task: your nervous system settles, your inner critic quietens down, and you stop thinking about your to-do list for five minutes. It's not woo. It's just how brains work.
So the collage manifestation and the rosette making aren't random. They're deliberate. They're there because creativity and movement together do something that neither does on its own.
Why connection is the whole point
A couple of years ago I went through a bit of a wobble around friendship. That feeling that everyone else had these easy, deep connections and I was somehow on the outside of it. I put myself out there, I made the effort, and in doing so I also got really clear on something: you can't force connection. You can't make people bond by standing them in a circle and asking for a fun fact.
But you can create the conditions for it to happen naturally. In the little moments. The "oh my god, me too" when someone mentions something they've been too embarrassed to say out loud. The laughter when you're all struggling through the same exercise and someone catches your eye. The conversation that starts over lunch and goes somewhere completely unexpected.
That's what I wanted to build. A day where connection could happen without anyone having to try too hard.
What the day actually looks like
The Lift, Create & Thrive Day runs from 9:30am to 5pm at The Luna Shala in Ilkeston on Saturday 25th April. There are just 10 spaces, which is deliberate. Small enough that everyone feels seen.
The day includes mindset work, dynamic movement, a nutrition session, collage manifestation, a weighted strength session, rosette making, and a proper sit-down plant-based lunch together. You'll go home with a goodie bag that includes one month's app access, an at-home dumbbell programme, and daily group check-ins to keep the momentum going.
It's £85 for the full day.
Who this is for
It's for you if you're a woman over 40 who's been meaning to prioritise yourself and keeps not quite getting there. If you want to feel stronger but also want to actually enjoy the process. If you'd love to spend a Saturday surrounded by women who get it, without anyone forcing you to network.
You don't need to be fit. You don't need to be creative. You just need to show up.
