Some of you know how we came to our facility in Adamstown. Back in 2012, Sam and I were working in very different industries. I had a career as a Geotechnical Engineer and Sam worked in the hospitality industry in Newcastle. Sam moved to Alice Springs to work for Crowne Plaza and we eventually joined up in Perth. My life at the time revolved around soccer, work and not much else. Sam was working as a Night Manager at a hotel, and led an unhealthy lifestyle. Soon, Sam made a decision to overhaul her lifestyle and found the Crossfit box. I couldn’t let Sam have all the fun, so I joined the Crossfit box as well! We were both loving our new healthy lifestyles, and were hooked.
Sam started coaching at a local Crossfit box, and eventually started personal training, teaching Crossfit boot camps in Perth. I started training clients as well while maintaining my career as an engineer. Ultimately, we had well paid jobs and a comfortable life. But we wanted more. We wanted to live lives that we were proud of, to make a positive impact. When we have kids one day, we don’t want to look them in the eyes and tell them to follow their dreams when we didn’t try to do the same.
We were in Vietnam on holiday when we heard of a friend who was selling up his gym in Newcastle. Sam and I made the huge decision to pursue our dreams, by taking the leap to move back home to Newcastle, to be closer to our families and open our first gym.
In January 2016, we opened Cornerstone in our first facility in Adamstown. Our belief is that health is more than exercise or nutrition. Cornerstone combines small group, one on one strength and conditioning, functional movement training sessions with quality nutrition, and mindset coaching. With this unique offering and varied programming, we were able to improve our clients’ health and athletic performance.
It wasn’t long until we had to expand and move to a facility that fits with our long term vision for Cornerstone. The move has been a long and gradual one. Over several months, we worked tirelessly to bring our new and improved 600m2 indoor outdoor training space. This space is expertly set up with high quality equipment to cater to our clients, from individuals to professional sports teams. The custom facility and its exciting outdoor gymnasium caters to our workouts and gives our clients the option to train outdoors or escape the weather indoors. It’s the best of both worlds. There is no other facility in Australia offering this type of space and level of service.
We have had so much help from our clients, friends and family to get the facility ready for the Grand Opening. Here are some photos to show you the blank canvas we had to work with and our latest photo, taken two weeks ago! It is amazing to see the changes.
The past 18 months have been filled with hard work, but we have been so fortunate to have amazing clients who have been on the journey with us. There have been some incredible moments, seeing clients that have totally changed their lives while training with us, clients that come week after week to slog it out to build strong and healthy bodies, and clients that have learned to change their negative mindset to a positive one. We have had shy clients who come in with low confidence, and with regular training and encouragement found the confidence to pursue their dreams, quitting their unhappy jobs to find careers that they totally love. We are so inspired by our clients, and hope we can help guide you towards your goals of health and happiness.
We want to thank our clients for believing in us and our vision. We would not opening a new facility without the support of our clients, family and friends. We want to make sure that we keep inspiring you and pushing the boundaries. We will continue to learn and develop new techniques on our intensives, and bring them back to Cornerstone!
Don’t be content with being average. Be inspired to make a change. We are living proof that if you want to be happy, you have to take action and make changes in your life to become the best you can be.
With healthy regards,
Mick & Sam