The Booth Juice

Ep11 - Building Community Through Fitness: The Basement Way with Indi & Bethan

• Maker Port Douglas • Season 1 • Episode 11

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 52:23

From South Australia to the tropical north, Indi and Bethan share their journey of taking a leap in their 20s to start a small Pilates studio and turning it into something much bigger. Today, Basement Fitness & Pilates is two thriving Pilates studios, a full gym, and a dedicated recovery room, built on a foundation of community, creativity, and doing things differently.

In this episode, we dive into their story: the early challenges of moving interstate, finding their unique approach to fitness and how they’ve built a welcoming, results-driven space for people of all ages and abilities. They also share insights on growing a fitness business, staying motivated, and keeping community at the heart of everything they do.

Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast, entrepreneur, or someone chasing a dream, Indi and Bethan’s story is full of inspiration, grit and practical takeaways.

@basementtfitness @basementpilatesstudio

App: Basement Pilates

www.basementpilates.com.au

SPEAKER_00

All the juice straight from the makeup booth. Welcome to the Booth Juice. Welcome back to another episode of The Booth Juice. If you are watching on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook, you will notice that we have moved out of the booth for today's episode thanks to the good old reign of Norel. But I am joined by two very special people who I am very grateful to call my pals. They are a powerhouse bestie teen who are changing the game in fitness. Please welcome Indy and Beth in from Basement. Well thank you so much for letting me record in your gorgeous gym today. Thank you for coming. For those who don't know the basement world, can you give them a bit of an idea of what goes on around here?

SPEAKER_04

Um so we have basically a fitness trilogy. We've got um two Pilates studios and then we have a gym. Sorry, we've got more of a four four thing going on, but we've also got a recovery room. Uh so basically we opened a Pilates studio four years ago now. Four years ago. Um started off something a little small and a little shed in town. And then last year we expanded our Port Douglas location out to this gym where we built our uh Pilates studio and extended onto the gym. And in the midst of all that, we also opened another studio in Cairns. Crazy.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Can you tell us how? Let's go right back. How did you two first meet? Yeah. When did the idea of hey, let's run a business together, or hey, let's move to Port Douglas also?

SPEAKER_02

Um, so we went in school, Indy was a boarder, and I was a day student back down in Adelaide. Um, we weren't really that close in school, I would say. We shared a friend. We shared a mutual friend, yeah. It was the culture in the school that we went to that the borders and the day students were very separate.

SPEAKER_00

They were scrags.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, borders runs a bit of a rivalry.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, borders, borders look down on day students, they were scrags. Right. But I sort of went against the grain in school. I actually got um That doesn't surprise me. Yeah, I got an award once that was um which border is most likely to become a scrag.

SPEAKER_00

Oh well there you go to me.

SPEAKER_04

Um but yeah, we weren't really that close in school.

SPEAKER_02

Um we just kind of after school that we started doing flates together. Literally, we connected over like because we like to do the same things. If you if we would like to describe our perfect date, they would be the exact same.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, fitness, you know, looking after ourselves. Yeah. But yeah, our girlfriend Shay, Bethany was best friends with Shay growing up, and then I met Shay before I moved to schools, but um then through her we sort of you know became mutual friends, and then after school, yeah, just started doing yeah, fitness stuff together, and then um we decided to do our Pilates course together, like become instructors, and that's where we became super close. Um, yeah, we started noticing the thread that all the Pilates studios looked the same, all the vibes were the same, and in our opinion, that just wasn't extremely welcoming to the girls who m were more like me, who weren't, you know, the the aesthetic of what a normal person would be like. So that's when Beth and I decided that was our gap that we were gonna create a studio and a space that felt completely different to every other studio you'd go into. Um, and that's sort of how basement was created.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like there's like well, it it's it's a little bit changed now, but back when we were doing our course, I felt like Pilates Studios, like if you were to make like a meme about a Pilates studio, it would be a bitchy instructor that doesn't talk, everyone walks in, they're judging everyone. It was very like clinical, clinical, like very bitchy, very everything looked the same.

SPEAKER_04

It was all white and uh like bright lights. That's why, sorry, as in like bright natural light, yeah. That's why when you walk into basement, and that's where also the name came from, was more of a grungy, like deep sort of below the normal surface. That's where basement was um sort of the idea of that came along. But if you were to walk into any studio six years ago, it would be yeah, all white interior, beautiful white curtains, you know, and not that that's you know, it's gorgeous, and we also love going to studios like that, but we were like, no, we're gonna create a space that makes people feel a little less seen. You can sit in front of your own single mirror, it's a darker room, you can't you feel like people can't see you as much, so therefore people felt more comfortable. And it was funny that that was our idea, and we've yeah, we've really nailed it perfectly. In our studio, you walk in and you have one reformer to one mirror, so it's you looking at only yourself. You don't have to worry about a shared mirror that oh, she's looking at me, or you know, and every girl thinks it, every girl feels it.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04

So that was something that really played in our minds when we were designing and creating the idea of basement. Yeah, I think we've really held to that well. Absolutely. And then as far as um landing on Port Douglas, um our best friend Hannah, she is a broken hill girl, that's where I'm from. She moved to Port Douglas seven years ago, and um we used to come up on holiday a lot to visit her. I think it was longer than that. It's longer than that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Because I used to work with with Rattle Pub.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Hannah we've got this plug, by the way. So yeah, Hannah moved up here. Um, and it's like I met you before we even moved here. We were sort of running all in the same circle. God, that was fun. Yeah. Before life was serious.

SPEAKER_05

Good time.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and I remember distinctly the holiday that I left here visiting her, and I went back to Adelaide. It was COVID times. I had just dropped out of university and I was feeling so lost, and I didn't have a job. I was so depressed, like genuinely so depressed. And I remember calling my mum one day and I was like, I wish I lived up there. And my mum said, No offense, but what else are you doing with your life? Like, you're not actually doing anything. If you want to go, go. What's stopping you? Yeah, and I was like, fuck, so true. Yeah, like yeah, a little bit different for Bethany's case. She was, she she stayed out of unicorse. She didn't.

SPEAKER_02

I um yeah, uh while Indy was doing all this, our plan was I think to move, I can't remember what year it was, 2021. 2022.

SPEAKER_04

The year after COVID, literally just the year after COVID stopped.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so like 2022, I think. 2022 was the year that we said, okay, we're gonna move, we're gonna try something else. And I don't even know if I feel like us as people aren't big planners. We kind of just like everything we spoke about was like hypotheticals, you know, this would be great, this would be great. And then our plan, our plan was to move to Port Douglas and just like whether it be that we have even, remember, we were kind of like wherever we land, we land. Yeah, it was like we'll have because we had this dream of opening our own Pilates studio, and we were like, whether we go and spend some time somewhere else and then come back to Adelaide and settle our roots and lock in, yeah, or we go somewhere else and it just finds us that we'll stay there. And then I remember one day I was like almost done with my uni. I'd spent like five years at uni just studying the wrong things, bouncing between degrees, and I was like finally coming to the end of my degree. I was like, I really want to see this out just so that there's like hundreds of hundreds of background as well. And what did you study in the end? In the end, I studied a Bachelor of Health Sciences and I mastered in um occupational therapy. I can't even remember. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_04

Seriously, but I think this also comes to like show, and I think it's important as well for like I think these days it's a little bit more common, but like when we were all of us at the same age, I do believe that when we were of the age when you finished school, you you went to university. Yes, and that was. Even if you didn't know what to do, you just went, yeah, and just studied something. And like Beth and like she said, she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on degrees, and like you know, it ended up being yours also correlated with what we do now. Yeah, yeah. But like it was so common that yeah, you felt like you had to. It's like what I mentioned before about how I felt like I had failed, and I remember letting mum know that I was dropping out of uni, and I felt so embarrassed because everyone went to uni. And I was like, if you dropped out of uni, you were dumb. If you didn't go to uni, you were dumb. And obviously, my ADHD, I've I I literally hated it. I hated studying, I hated the go-to-go thing, but I think it just goes to show, like, you know, Bethany with all of her degrees, and then me that dropped out, but then look where where we are, where we are.

SPEAKER_02

There are so many more like options and and I feel like now, like this next generation, even like the girls now who are coming to our studio and are like, oh maybe I want to be a Pilates instructor. And it's like you don't have to all go down one path, you don't have to do a certificate or a degree. You can find something that you love and turn it into a career. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04

Especially there's so many options now, especially like with social media. I was watching this thing the other day that was saying we're finally living in a generation that people are making more from their phone than people who are like surgeons, lawyers, you know, and it's just like if you were to have said I know we're not even that old, but if you were to have told us, all of us, yeah, you know, seven years that that was the case, you'd be like, fuck off. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

Like, absolutely. It's just so insane. I was the same, my parents were like, when uni kind of went a bit pear-shaped in COVID, and I had the idea of makeup, they were like, Well, you're gonna learn a hell of a lot more doing that than you are doing anything else.

SPEAKER_04

100%, and like it's the things that you're not taught, like you would be the same, and even Donna and Jeff will be the same, right? Like, obviously, Jeff's got his um what's it called? Trade. Jeff's got his trade. But like, yeah, my mum is the same as your mum. Like, I would consider my mum to be such a successful woman, business woman. She dropped out of school, and oh my god, this sounds like I'm promoting my education. If you're in school and you're on uni, good on you. But I'm saying for the flip side of it, yes. Um, my mum dropped out of school in like year nine. Yeah, and went and did a hairdressing apprenticeship. And I remember that's super successful. Yeah, and I remember that day I called her and said I was dropping out, and I was so upset. And she was like, Well, do you think I'm successful? It's like, of course. And she said, Well, I didn't go to uni, I didn't even really go to school. Exactly. You know, anyway, this is really gone. This like no, that's okay. To reverse back to when we first were opening the studio, funnily enough, and I was actually really excited to tell this story on the podcast. When I first moved to Port Douglas, I really, really wanted to keep working either as a fitness instructor or a Pilates instructor. When I came here, I remember I applied at a Deep Yoga studio for a um job, and I ended up talking to Michael at the time, and it just shows the time of the like where we were at as a town at this period. And he said, Unfortunately, I'm not busy enough, like it's too seasonal, and I don't have the work for um another person to be here when we just you know it's the ebbs and flows of Port Douglas. And I was like, all right, so then I got a job in Cairns and I started travelling every day to Cairns, teaching pilates in Cairns, and then it got to a point where I was just obviously hating it, the drive, the commute back and forth. And I rang Beth and I said to her, screw it, let's just do it here. And that day I remember going for a walk and I stumbled across our Warner Street studio, the OGs know. And I yeah, and I just remember we looked at it and I was like, fuck, it's cheap. And like we because we had no idea if it was gonna work or not. Like we said, we had the dream, but you know, wanting something and actually being able to put it together are two very different things. So Beth and was like, Well, I still have to finish this degree, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So I was like, well, I was like just almost finished. I reckon I had like maybe three months left of studying. So I was like, Indy called me and she was like, I think we need to like do this now. It's like you know, this is the perfect thing. I feel like it's good for us. And I was like, Oh, okay, let me like organize my life. So, like, I think within two weeks I'd managed to convince my uni professor to let me do it online, yeah. Like, finished the course online, drove down to Port. I didn't even have a it's so funny, like thinking of this. When I got in the car to drive, if anybody lives in Port Douglas, you know what the accommodation is like. It is the most challenging thing to find a rental. I was living at Elise I was living at Elise Bolero's house. Yeah, I was um, yeah, I remember getting in the car and I was on my way to Port Douglas. It's like a three-day drive, and I had nowhere to live when I arrived. But I was like, that is just like us, like we're just like, it'll just stress me. I'd packed up my whole life, got driving in the car, and I literally didn't have a destination to go to. Indy was like living with one of our friends at the time. She was like, You could probably sleep like you know, on my floor until we figure something out. I was like, cool. Got in the car, packed up, drove all the way there. And then it was a it turned out to be a like really stressful six months, but then it all just kind of was wild.

SPEAKER_04

I ended up I ended up giving up my room at Elisa's house to you. Yeah, and I literally just been ponging around the place. Like, I'll be fine. But honestly, it like Beth said, it was stressful, but at the same time, I it was very formative.

SPEAKER_00

It was like I think you have to go through things like that. Like that, don't you?

SPEAKER_04

Just to build that resilience and go, well, if we did that, we've been we actually have been through the shit with like places to live. Beth and lived in a one-bedroom unit once, and I'm I lived there with her. We shared our double bed. That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_02

It was a king bed, two dogs, it was a studio apartment. Let's just get this right and running a business together. Yeah, great. But you know what? We we didn't. We did that too, yeah. Like at the very start, we worked, this was our life, and we look very fondly back on this period of our life when we very first opened our first studio. Yeah, we worked at Choo Choose together. While we were running basement, we still worked at the time. Yeah, so we were friends with the manager Beck. Shout out Beck. And she would let us let one of us work so say like Indy would work on Choo Chews on a Monday and I would work at the studio on a Monday. We'd rotate, so I'd work at ChooChoes, Tuesday, she'd work, and then we'd just do that day in, day out until we just wow, you know, until we actually got to the point where we're like, fuck, this is a legit business.

SPEAKER_04

Like we're we can we're ourselves. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Don't wait. And I was there for like three years, and I was like, cool.

SPEAKER_04

But ours was like, it happened pretty quick. We just weren't willing to let it go because we were having so much fun, like genuinely fun. So much fun, and then it got to like the financials were really good, and we were like working at Choo Choose for like hundred bucks. We're like, we would do it. Yeah, probably, yeah, we had our time in the business. We had like my stepdad, he's like been so amazing, but I remember him saying to us, like, what are you doing? You need to be working on your business. While you're working in someone else's business, you should be working on your business. And we're like, we had fun.

SPEAKER_02

We're serving Katie Perry.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, we could.

SPEAKER_02

But um, yeah, at the start, we oh and I feel like that's something that we could probably touch on. Like we live together, we work together, and before doing this, I feel like the narrative is when you start a business with your friends, it's like, oh, you know, be careful, be careful, it could change things. And I feel like for us, kind of sometimes, and then this is speaking to the two-ju's thing, it kind of flips the opposite way. People were like, Oh, it's gonna affect your friendship, it's gonna do this.

SPEAKER_04

If anything for us, we'll be like, Okay, let's meet and we'll do this, and then we'll meet and we'll do something completely different, and we'll just like book a trip or like talk about stuff that's going on, and it's like, but I think that also comes down to the people we are, like we always say, like a lot of people always ask how it works, and we can so confidently say, like, we are very similar people, but we're also polar opposites, yeah, and we both completely have strengths that are completely different, yeah, and like we just play our roles, like Bethany is like the queen of anything on a computer, like she's so smart and like she's able to, yeah, right. And I'm the once again ADHD, I would never be able to finish a task that involves me behind a computer. Yeah, whereas like I will do like a lot of the face-to-face stuff, but that's like you know, we just know that that's what works with one another, and like it's nice to know that if I if I ever tried to do this on my own, it would never have worked because you need I don't have what Bethon has, and Bethon doesn't have what I don't have, and we just know that together, yeah, that's right, we've got we don't need to have it all, you know. Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's important, and that maybe where people do go wrong is like they think they do and they don't need this, you know, but like it's never and I also think we to like speak to that is to be like we don't take ourselves too seriously.

SPEAKER_02

You know what I mean? Like it's like if if things go wrong, it's you know, it's not water off a duck's back, but it's like okay, we can do that again next time a little bit better. And we don't like take and I think also that's kind of what our clients love about us. Like you would walk into one of our classes and you would never know that we're the owner because we're just not serious.

SPEAKER_00

But I think that has been such a strong point of your business too, because the fitness world is already so daunting. Speaking from a person who, yeah, I grew up being quite active, but I was never like one to go to the gym or go, you know, you want approachable people, you need to like going into that environment is already daunting enough. But then having these like two familiar faces who are just absolutely having a laugh and yeah, not taking themselves too seriously, and having a go themselves and not you know standing there looking you up and down or anything like that, you're like, hey, come in, you're already covered in sweat, you've got the tunes going, and then that's just fun.

SPEAKER_04

That just reverts back to like what we touched on first, is being that point of difference that we are those people. Yes, yeah, you know, it's not just the studio looks a certain way, we are a certain way, yes, and yeah, but like what Bethany said before, if you were to walk into, and I think it's happened to me countless amount of times, people are like, Oh, you're the owner, yeah. I'm like, Yeah, you know, like, and you're right, like, and I do believe that is why it has worked so well for us from the day do is we have just been completely who we are, and you know, we are those sort of people that you can feel confident in front of, you can feel comfortable, we'll never judge, and that's why it does work so well, you know. I always and I've I love this, this is my probably my favorite part of the gym and the Pilates studio. Uh, when people leave our space, whether it's the gym or the Pilates studio, I always get text messages saying like thank you. And you know, and to me, like it's not ever anything that's had to come anything but from like a natural like instinct. Like, yeah, since I was little, it's actually funny. I've asked my mum recently what I, you know, when you're younger and you say what you want to be, yeah, and by asking my mum what I wanted to be. Mum said I always wanted to like help people, but when I was younger, I used to set up like stations at the back of my house. I used to have like a basketball court at home, and I used to bring my friends over, charge them ten dollars, and then make them do like literally a child. I used to charge my friends to come over and like do skipping, and I used to like yell at them to like run shuttle runs, and I would have been like 11.

SPEAKER_00

I used to do that with photo shoots. I'd make my friends model and then charge them. Good business skills. I do admire that.

SPEAKER_04

But like, and then like it's just so funny because then you look at what you do for a living. It's funny.

SPEAKER_00

I just think it's a natural progression of your personality or you know, your interests and it's like you know that thing that's like Maddie always knew what she was from a very early age.

SPEAKER_04

That was the to me commandoing other kids in my backyard and like a child. You were born for this, right? But then like I adapt it into like I've played sport my whole life, I was a captain of my footy team. I like since I was young, I loved bringing people up. Yeah. And I think that's what makes the gym so amazing is that you know, no matter who you are, no matter your work, like your fitness ability, this or that, you're gonna come in here and you're going to feel that sense of like community. Yeah, and like, hell yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

I just, yeah, I just I love it. I love it so much. So you started off with a Pilates studio going into a whole gym, which is huge, by the way. This place is huge, which is big, with another, oh no, sorry, this is the one that moved, but then you've got another Pilates studio in Cairns. Yeah. Were you guys like going in with that same sort of blind optimism when you first opened your first studio with these ones, or were you like a bit, you know, it was a bit scary.

SPEAKER_02

A bit different, yeah. Yeah, yes. I think the Cannes studio was scary for different reasons that this was scary. I feel like Cannes was scary because it was a whole new territory. I feel like what what we do in Port Douglas is widely supported because we've got such a great group of clients that believe in us and that will, you know, if we open something else, they come and try it too. It's just it goes back to the community. Yeah, yeah. But um, so that was scary in that way. We knew that it was going to be a lot more hard work, which we were ready for at that point because we felt like we'd, you know, we did what we needed to do, yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

Um also probably more competition. In in Cairns.

SPEAKER_02

Well, at that point, northern suburbs, not really, which is why we felt the need to do it. Now there is a couple more studios in the northern suburbs. Which is healthy. Yeah, totally. We love the competition. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's good.

SPEAKER_02

We do. Yeah. I feel like it keeps things exciting and it pushes us to add new things.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Absolutely. And speaking on that, because as I said, like coming into this environment, you do feel like a different, it's it's it's got a different energy. Like it's more fun. Like, how do you guys stay inspired to keep making it fun and coming up with different like I know that you guys do some challenges throughout the year? Do you still do those?

SPEAKER_02

So with Pilates, do the Mayhem. Yeah, we do a yearly challenge called Mayhem, which is like it started as like kind of like a mid-year, like everyone starts to get into a bit of a sum. It's not quite high season just yet. But it's funny because obviously living here, seasons are reversed. So it's winter, but it's high season. Whereas back in Adelaide, high season is like December. Yeah. Um, so I guess that kind of was born to like get people like they're in they're ready to come to India high season. Um but yeah, Indy runs challenges as well in the gym. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So as it's not really as such like a challenge, it's more um, I program blocks. So it's just an opportunity for our members, clients to get a good gauge of where they're at. I am a very strong believer and I'm very vocal about it that you're um you shouldn't be watching the scale to see your progression. This sort of training we do, we train to create strong bodies, confident bodies. Um, so the only way to really scale that is to see yourself getting stronger weight-wise and feeling fitter and getting quicker times and things like that. That's the purpose of what we train for in this gym. So when we create a 12-week blog, the way it works is that um rain comes in, she's like, I want to do blah blah blah blah blah blah because hopeless and needs to get a buttons off the wet trip. But um, so like yeah, Rain comes in and she says, like, I want to get a bit stronger, I want to get a bit fitter, I want to get it quick, but get a bit quicker. Cool. She comes comes in on a Tuesday, we test her lower back squat, and then for the next 12 weeks, we program within 10. So then for the next 12 weeks of training, we're targeting that specific muscle group, we're targeting that specific movement. 12 weeks' time, rain tests again. She has improved and she's lifting 10 kilos heavier than what she did 12 weeks ago. Now, if we didn't do that, that makes me want to come to the show.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Now, if we didn't do that training block, it's a little bit harder for rain, not just rain, I'm just using her as an example, but it's a little bit harder for her to see that progression because you're sort of thinking, like, am I getting stronger? Am I getting this or that? Whereas, you know, the proof's in the pudding when you do something like that. And it's really, really important for our members to be able to see that their hard work's paying off. That's the whole purpose of the 12-week blocks, and people freaking love it, honestly. Even our coaches, like, we froth it, like it's it's the whole thing of it. And you know, this 12 weeks, we're actually up to week 11 this week. So next week is testing week. And you know, all the coaches are always hitting me up saying, like, wow, people are already breaking their records in the middle of a random class, amazing, and it just shows how much the programming is working. So I think it just keeps people excited and it keeps yeah, it just gives them something to look at that isn't a scale, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's yeah, really important. I also feel like you guys play into keeping your mental health healthy as well, not just the physical aspects of fitness. Yeah. Do you is there anything that you guys do in particular to sort of do that? Or maybe yourself, like, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I feel like our we should probably could diversify on more. We always talk about things like this, and like we coming down to as far as far as resources, we don't actually have that here, but it's something we would love to do. Um, we're really big on obviously just I know this like sounds so cliche, but I sort of said it before, but we have the space that you know it's not a frightening space, and when people come in here and when they walk out, they feel less heavy. And that's a common thread that we always hear, whether it's a woman, whether it's a man, you know that there's always going to be someone in this class that's going to be like, Hey mate, how are you? Yeah, you know, and it's not really the depth of getting into the core of you know, maybe asking, How are you really? Yeah, but it's the sort of space that you know that when you leave, you feel that little bit lighter. And like we're days where you don't feel that great, you'll know you're always going to leave here feeling better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But to touch on that community of people too, like even if it's someone that doesn't have a massive social group, they know that hey, on a Monday and a Wednesday and a Friday, I've got this group of people who, if I really need to, I can reach out to as well.

SPEAKER_04

And as well, like the fact, like, I'm and this isn't even us, this is our members. You can always count on this a few specific people, like Kat Weber, for an instance. Every Friday she'll ask every single person in the room who wants to go for a coffee. You know, and like it sucks now that we're out and whoop-whoop. But when we were in town, it was very common that people would do that. And I think that's what's so special about the gyms that are in town is that it's a social thing that you go for a coffee after. And you know, that little coffee may not, sorry, may just be a coffee to some people, but to touch on what you said, that one coffee can be someone's life-changing coffee. They're so like experience.

SPEAKER_02

And we do see that a lot, which is like almost been our thing from the start, right? Like, we wanted to do things a little bit differently. We wanted to like build a culture where people actually talk to each other when they come in, they know each other's names. We would know literally almost everything about like our long-term clients that have been coming here from the start. Like, we'll come, they'll come in and it won't be, oh, how's your dad? It'd be like, Oh, is it has your husband back from work yet? Or how's your dog feeling after it's surgery, or literally like anything? Like, it's and because they come through the door and we are asking those questions, they then ask those questions in themselves, and oh yeah, you know, how is that? It creates conversation, yeah. And it's yeah, it's yeah, we it's not specifically like us sitting down and like running seminars on mental health or anything like that, but it's like our aim to just provide kindness and conversation.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and I think that's the most powerful thing about fitness, whether it's the Pilates or it's the gym, like the whole point of a community is for that sole purpose. Like, it's that's why group training is group training, exactly. If you go to a solo gym on the odd occasion, someone may be like, hey, yeah, all right, and you know, whereas like when you're training in a community and an environment like this, you know that's what you're gonna get, and that's what makes it so special. And just to sort of reiterate what Bethany was saying just before, how um we really have tried and put in the effort to get to know everyone very personally. If you look at the Christmas party we hold, we host, sorry, I feel like we were sort of one of the first to yeah, we were sort of the first to do it. And do you know what we find really exciting is everyone does it now? Yeah, yeah, and you know, we say like, oh my god, it must be like it's appealing to other people that run businesses because they're like, oh, that is cool, we should do that too. Yeah, it's like, yeah, it's just so, and it became a special thing that we do, and everyone used to always say to us, like, as if you do that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

But we're like, it's the one time that we can give back and say thank you to the people who are you know, spend their hard-earned dollars with us and help us.

SPEAKER_02

Especially.

SPEAKER_00

So someone that doesn't know what a basemess is can you sort of give them an idea?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I feel like it's really evolved over the last our first ever basement. It's basically a Christmas party. We hold an annual Christmas party for our clients and our instructors and coaches. Um, our very first baseman was a bit of a disaster. We tried to hire a space and then it just didn't work, so we ended up like just getting like four tables out the front of a pub and just like making it work. We all dressed up and got our nice dresses on and we had about our cakes with nowhere to put them. Yeah, and that's there was like maybe 20, 30 people there, which was so special to us.

SPEAKER_04

And we got photos, like we thought it was epic. We had we had 20, and most of you girls were like, some I think some people that came weren't even coming to Pilates, they just came for a piss up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we got photos with everyone, and we're like, so awesome!

SPEAKER_02

And then um the second year we did level up. It was second year bow house. Yeah, yeah. Second year, um, some of our friends had just they were wedding planners and they'd just gotten this new venue, and they're like, Oh girls, have your basements there, and that really leveled things up for us. They like did all the decorating, and we had like maybe 100 and 100 people there. A lot of people in that one, yeah. Um, and then this last one we held at the gym, and that it was just epic. We got like a dance floor in here, we got no, it was like a wedding. Yeah, it really was.

SPEAKER_04

We we literally hide everything from the wedding hire place. We got dance floors, DJs, lights, we had it all. At least you got your own venue now. Yeah, totally. The power kept tripping. There was it was honestly a disaster. But we had something. We had a lot of things. So much fun.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it was so we honestly we had these huge plans to do like trivia, and everyone was just having so much fun talking. We were like, let's can trivia and just let everyone just partner.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely, seriously, yeah. But I think as well, that just um to like rabbit hole back, that just comes down to like, and it's something that we should be more proud of. Yeah, totally. Is the community that we've created, yeah. You know, it's not just you know, yeah, you come in here, you leave here. Yeah, it's like yeah, the place that creates conversation, it's uh yeah, and like we've seen so many friendships and relationships form through just conversation here, and that's like we always like will screenshot. Say if like me and you met each other here and we like and Beth and see and us hanging out, we'd screenshot and send it to each other and be like, oh my god, look at this! Like, wow, this isn't that. Yeah, but like it's like the most proud feeling. It's like yeah, it feels like one of your children have like gone and done something so incredible, and it's like without this, that doesn't happen. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

And it's just and you provide that, like, as I said before, but on another, you know, anyone new to town to like advantage, that's your ticket to like, hey, you want to meet people, go to go to the basement. It's so welcoming, everyone knows each other, you'll find someone that you gel with, yeah, just go and have some fun.

SPEAKER_04

And do you want to know something so crazy? I remember two Christmases ago, I was in Adelaide with my girlfriend Eliza, and we just had merch made. And my girlfriend Eliza, I don't know if she was wearing a basement shirt, or I feel like she was, or she was having a conversation with the shop assistant. I was around the corner and I heard um one of them be like, Oh my god, is that that basement Pilates in Port Douglas? And I was like, and I was sort of sitting behind the rack and I'm like looking like the fuck. Yeah. And she goes, That's so cool. I really want to go there. If I ever visit Port Douglas, I'm gonna go to basement. And I remember I was behind the thing and I was almost crying. I was like, what the hell? Like up here, it's kind of like you know, and it happened to Hannah once as well. She had we do you have your water bottle with a sticker on it? Nah.

unknown

Nah.

SPEAKER_04

We got these little stickers made, and um Hannah had it on her front green, and she was working in Broken Hill at the hospital, and this girl was like, Oh, like, do you go to Basement Pilates in Port Douglas? And Hannah was like, Yeah, my best friend's owner. Hannah. And it's funny because we always joke that like Hannah's like, she should be sitting here.

SPEAKER_02

She is there for every event unofficially behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_04

When we opened the Cannes studio, we like there was videographers and photographers there, and it honestly looked like Hannah was the third girl. And recently Eliza again called me and she was like, hey, weird one, but does Hannah have anything to do with the ownership of basement? And I was like, no one's gonna be able to do that. And she goes, Oh, someone just flagged it with me the other day because you know you guys uploaded a photo saying like the women that keep it all together.

SPEAKER_00

Hannah was yeah, it just like the most wonderful supporter.

SPEAKER_02

Seriously, even when we very first started, we were in this muggy little shed in Water Street, yeah, and she was there putting the machines together, like hardly.

SPEAKER_04

She was there for emotional support. I think she painted the desk once. Uh but she was there every single day.

SPEAKER_00

She was there every single day. Yeah. Now I wanted to ask, how many members do you guys have now? Maybe like 250?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, between like cairns and maybe 250. But you want to know what's so wild is obviously that's a lot of people, and we are so proud of that. Yeah. But we were in Sydney on the weekend, and um, we were talking to the owner of a gym there, and he was like, Yeah, blah blah blah, and he goes, We've got 1300 members.

SPEAKER_02

And I looked at Bethany and I was like, um, also, I think the population this is actually like unfolding right in front of us, things that we do, and we need to like, we've actually never like when these big things happen to us and we like we forget to celebrate. We forget to celebrate. We always say, like, oh yeah, well, let's go, like every Christmas party we've said, let's go have a drink beforehand, just you and me, and sit down and just talk about it. It never happens, and we really do. Yeah, even to make more time for like just being proud of ourselves.

SPEAKER_00

250 people, that's like the same as the primary school.

SPEAKER_04

I think that just like comes down to like you forget the scale of like where we live. And it's pretty incredible the fact that yeah, if you do the if you do the numbers of like population to members, and like you said, that's that was actually what I said to the blog when he said it. He was like, We've got 1300, and I was like, we've got and then actually no, he said he was like in Port Dazu.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, which is amazing because every second well okay, that's probably not true, the math, but every second person it feels like every second person you chat to has some sort of association, whether it be they come or their husband or wife comes, or it probably would be every second person. It's awesome because most people that you chat to, hopefully, if you're not living under a rock, you obviously have heard of basement, but um yeah, it's just it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_04

Do you remember when um Roy, the she owns Toast, she was saying that everyone at the hospital once was saying, I feel like we need to go to basement, like it's like a cult, and like I feel like we're not a part of it. And Roy was like, Yeah, you have to come to basement.

SPEAKER_00

I come to basement. So you have about 250 clients. So how many staff do you have to run all of these classes?

SPEAKER_02

Well, in the Pilates studio, so we have uh five instructors in our port studio and ten instructors in Cairns. Wow, yeah. So we've got a big group of instructors, and they are so great. Yeah, they are what makes it. How do you go managing so many staff as well? Because like that's honestly the hardest part. Love them so much, but it is really the hardest part. Like, obviously, life comes up, and also for instructors and coaches, it's not their primary job, yeah. Like sometimes life just gets in the way, and it's like obviously yeah, um, and also Port Douglas is very transient, so people come in and out a lot. It's been our biggest struggle finding now what we have as a core team because people are so in and out, and it obviously takes us a long time to train train people to teach the kind of class that we want our clients to experience. So up until like maybe last year, Port Douglas was like adjusting an idea pretty much that like we would take the majority of the classes because we just we couldn't have we didn't have the manpower. Yeah, we just couldn't find the right people, but yeah, I feel like this past year we've really solidified such a great team in both locations, yeah, which has been life-changing. And we lost, we had um an instructor Elmy.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, she was fantastic, and when we lost her, we took a big blow because she was always wanting to work, she loved working, she taught exactly like she was we taught her from the beginning all the way through. Yeah, so she taught exactly the same work. She lives in Ellie Beach, by the way. She hasn't passed away.

SPEAKER_02

Opening her own um studio. No, I'm not sure, but yeah, she is opening her own, which is just fantastic for her because she was such a great, she's gonna do very well, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

But also, like, um, it was beautiful because Elmy was always saying, like, you know, she looked up to the way Beth and I ran things, and you know, it's nice for us because we've got people like that in our life too. Like, there's a girl that I'm good friends with, her name is is Lisa, and we call her Geds, anyway. She owns the gym back home where um we used to train, and she was like, I idolized her so much, I still do idolise her so much as a business person, like in the way she trains, the way she holds herself, her beliefs, everything like that. And to think that you know, someone looked at us the way that we look at her, and it's like, wow, isn't just so funny the cycle of something like that. But and then over in the gym, I've got um Michelle and Jamie, and they're absolutely incredible, literally, absolutely incredible. We all have a very different um coaching style, which is a little bit different to Pilates. So Pilates is very much so we all sort of come under the same banner. Obviously, we have our own like teaching techniques and cues and this and that. We follow a very similar class flow. We like our classes to be, you know what you're gonna get when you come into a basement Pilates class. Whereas at the gym, I think it's a lot easier for a coach to have a little bit more of a different approach in the way that they coach people. Yeah, and um, we've definitely got the diversification in here. Michelle is such a hardener, like she is really nothing gets past Michelle. Nothing gets past Michelle, yeah. Um, she's like, that's and like people know when they book into a Michelle class. They're gonna work hard. That's right. They know, you know.

SPEAKER_00

It's good because you've got different people with different goals and what they want out of a class.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and like it's just nice. Like, you know, someone said once, wouldn't it be great if you could just have 10 U? And I was like, fuck no. No, no one wants that. No one would ever want that. You can't let even when like Beth and before was when her and I were doing all the classes, it almost feels stale sometimes when it's just not stale, but like, you know, people aren't always gonna love you, and they're not always gonna love Beth and they're not gonna love us, and then you throw in, you've got like Sol, she's amazing.

SPEAKER_02

Kiana, we've got yeah, and they're all so different, like just like Indy was saying about the gym instructors, the Pilates is the exact same. Like, Soul is very, she comes from a clinical background, so she's very clinical. Kiana loves yoga, so she's like putting yoga in. It's like yeah, across the board, across the gym and the Pilates studio, diversification of the classes are like the most important thing, yeah, and it's so good.

SPEAKER_04

And then just to give Jamie um Jamie some flowers, yeah. She is only new to the fitness scene as far as a coach goes. But fitness has been her whole life for a long time. She was a professional netbowler, freaking great footballer, great sports person. I know that, that's cool. Yeah, she's you should watch her play sport. She is incredible, and you can really tell.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and you know what I'm gonna play footy.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, what became very special with Jamie, um, and I feel like she'll get very emotional listening to this, and um, this is something that we find that we hold very close to our heart, is this is Jamie's first sort of career and um like her own walk outside of being a mum. And it's so funny because to us, like, this is so normal, this is our business, this is just so, and then to have Jamie be so vocal that like this has given her something else, and obviously she loves being a mum, it's the most amazing and important thing to her, but then this has just created a whole nother life for her that she is so good at, that she is so passionate about, and it's like a walk that's something for herself, and that's just like yeah, it's just amazing to see that that's created something for someone, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Go strong women and go strong. Honestly, oh you should have watched seen me watching the Matilda's last night's crazy. My friend Winnie goes on the screen above. Oh yeah! Oh my god, oh my god, she's gonna come on when she's home.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Winnie Tracy when she's here, and actually, funnily enough, she was in a class once, and there are a heap of boys in the class and they're very fit. Winnie kicks their frickin' ass, like literally kicked their ass. And I remember um one of the boys Bill running in and he was like, Who is that girl?

SPEAKER_00

Like that's getting annoyed in there because I want I've gone for being someone that doesn't watch sport whatsoever. To be the phone like to the point where I had my phone at the pub last night. I was like, come on, talk to me, I'm not watching Winnie. Send her like what I'm like, send her screenshots of her on the TV, or if I'm at home and take photos of the TV and I record stuff and you're like, Winnie and Hootley's got the ball, and I'm like sobbing in the back. We're Winnie. But yes, I uh just you telling that story about Jamie is just awesome because it's so special and cool watching someone else live out things that really make them tick.

SPEAKER_04

Like the again, and like her like discovering a dream that she didn't even know she had. Yeah, it's so awesome. And she does it really well as well. It's a testament to you guys and it's the space that you guys have created. We love our we love our team. It's like, yeah. Most we couldn't do it without them, literally. Literally. Yeah, we literally couldn't.

SPEAKER_00

Please don't leave us here. Speaking of team, that kind of extends to your partners as well, I suppose. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. We um we're very, very lucky. So have to acknowledge this. When we um first got the gym, my partner Tommy was living in Adelaide still. And Beth and partner works away, and he was away some where was he? Oh middle of nowhere. Yeah, middle of nowhere. And uh yeah, we came and had a look at it and we got it. And then the like the real estate were like, sorry, the commercial real estate were like, you need to start paying rent, blah blah blah blah. And we were like, Oh, we need to do a big fit out, and they're like, Yeah, you've got four weeks, and we were like, oh and we just booked a trip to Bali in three weeks, and Breton and I were like, This thing blew my Yeah, and we were like, Do we keep do we like still go on a trip? Oh, and also two weeks into that, we were also going to Brisbane for Drake.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we had two holidays or pre-booked, but we are just like, and the boy it's so funny because we are like, yeah, we'll be able to do that. Uh the boys were like, Will you will you be able to do that? They're very logistic, they're like, okay, Kelly's, but what's the plan? And we're like, it'll be fine. And also knowing that we say that they're the ones that are gonna be.

SPEAKER_04

They were Daniel and Reef. No, Reef, seriously, Reef was here every single day. Every day. And actually, Marley came actually, yeah, a lot of people. We had a lot of people here, again, community. Crystal and Shannon, they were here every single day, and then I remember, yeah, Reef. He just called past one day and he's like, What the fuck are you doing? And I was like, we got the gym, and he's like, sick.

SPEAKER_02

We used to have this video demolished everything from literally day one to the last day.

SPEAKER_04

What about when he drove me? We didn't can't say when we were building the Pilates studio, so even it wasn't existent. We were building the studio, and we were like, This is how like not organized we are. I was like, fuck, we open, we go to Bali in four days, yeah, or something like a week. I was like, we go to Bali in a week, and then we open two days after that. So we've got a week and two days to do everything. He's having a heart attack. Yeah, and I remember ringing Reef and I'm like, I need to get to Cairns to get all these um timber to build the studio. And he's like, okay, and I'm like, well, can you take me? And he's like, Yeah, alright, I'll have to go after work, but like, yeah, what day? And he's like, Friday, and I'm like, cool, that gives the board that gives Harvey two days to build it. Yeah. Easy done.

SPEAKER_05

I'm real.

SPEAKER_00

And um, yeah, from my brief and I hoonin' dander cans and back. I remember a video being sent from Indy, and the two of them are bickering like brother and sister. They Indy and my brother bicker more than me and my own brother bicker. But it's hilarious because they're like twins, and our mum's essentially like Indy's like another sibling. Yeah, I could be Indiana ward at this game, right? We got there in the end. The boys are doing yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_02

Shout out to those boys because they do just get in there. They are voices of reason, they come up with most of the work and the plan. We couldn't do this without them either.

SPEAKER_04

And even like the Tommy, he's a Sparky, but before he was a Sparky, he was a um Jiprocker. And he swore, he sw he swore. Actually, he's gonna hate that I've said this because like once he did the studio, people hit him up to help, and he was like, There's a reason I'm not a jip rocker anymore, and I'm a fucking Sparky. He's like, it's the worst job ever. But you know what? Like, and it just is a testament to who both our partners are as people. They were here at 6am till 8 pm every night leading up to that holiday. And I remember we went on the holiday with the boys, and we were like, holiday, holiday, and they were like, What the fuck, girls? We have two days from the the night we land back in Port Douglas. We have two days till you open, and we were like, eh, it'll come together. And you know, that's just once again us as people. Yeah, and then yeah, from the that night we landed, skinny Beth and partner was in there doing the floors, we were painting the walls, you know, we were here. Brent's family, Brent's family also came and helped to lots of showers. There was like, they were literally like all hands on decks, and nine o'clock the night before we opened, we were like, We did it. Yeah, we did it, and you know, we did that at our cans opening too. Yeah, it's all it's always very last minute for us, but we just get it done. And it works. And it works. And we're not promoting not being we're not promoting not being organized. Once again, it just works for us, and I think, yeah, the messaging behind that is like we're just not trust your gut.

SPEAKER_02

And like don't be so serious or something doesn't have to be perfect for it to work. Yeah, you can I say this all the time just start and make it better looking for it.

SPEAKER_00

But just start, that is actually even like that's the fuck, put that on a t-shirt, seriously. I've been thinking about it. Just start.

SPEAKER_03

But it's like that with anything in life, right? Not just business, but like the gym, Pilates, or like it doesn't even have to be that, go for a walk. Like just start.

SPEAKER_00

Do something and then make it better later. Take that step, like just start. I love that. It's probably a great place to wrap up, actually. Just start. Is there any other advice that you could give people, whether it be starting a business or getting into fitness, or is there anything you wanna end on?

SPEAKER_04

Don't be afraid of taking that partnership with a friend. Some even people are afraid of a husband and wife duo. Like, I think it can be messy the thought and the perception of two people working together. But if don't be afraid of that, you gotta trust your gut.

SPEAKER_02

Um yeah, just trust your intuition. If you think something's gonna work, just go for it. Don't let anyone like that.

SPEAKER_04

That happened, that actually happened to us in the sorry, I know we're wrapping it up. But when we were first vocalizing to our friends that we were gonna open a studio and we were gonna, you know, we had such big dreams, and like I I always believe like if if you say you're gonna do something, like there is nothing stopping you. Like, I truly am so passionate about that too. Like, you are capable of anything. And I'm just yeah, I'm a big, I'm a big, big believer in literally anything, almost ridiculous sometimes. But we were like, we're backing ourselves in on this, and when we started telling our friends, so many friends were like, Oh, I don't think you should do that. Like, do you know how much hard work is involved in that? Do you know the risks? And we were like, shut up, nothing clear ever comes out of sitting back and going.

SPEAKER_00

No, and like it might not work. Yeah, you can't. Yeah, what do you want to kick back and kick back and be the run of the meal? No, thank you.

SPEAKER_04

No, like exactly and look, yeah. You have to have a bit of insanity to risk is better than regret. That is that is the that is the best saying. I've got a that's actually my phone screen, I've got it printed on my vision boards. Risk will always triumph regret. Yeah, you would rather risk everything than regret not doing it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. And another good quote to finish on is success without fulfillment is failure. Yeah, you have to be fulfilled to be successful. So just do whatever you love and make a career out of it.

SPEAKER_00

Like you do. Seriously, look at this. Well, thank you. Yeah, you you right now are making my heart fulfilled, so it's very nice. Um, so for people who are looking for you, where can they find you? If they want to join in, up, join up in, join in.

SPEAKER_03

Join in, join up, sign up, anything.

SPEAKER_04

We have got an app, it's called Basement Pilates, that also falls under the banner of the gym as well. Um, otherwise, we've got our website, which is basementpilates.com.au.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, Instagram, basement Pilates Studio, and Basement Fitness.

SPEAKER_00

Fantastic. Oh, thank you so much for letting me record in your fabulous gym today. First one, it is my first one! First one out of the booth, but um I feel very inspired and I do feel like I need to get off my butt and come back. I used to do Pilates, but I just have been stuck the last couple of years. But I um I'm we're back on. Had to start podcasting at a business sorted and get married. Yeah, just a few things, but yeah, no. Um, but thanks so much for tuning in, everybody. We will have another episode very soon. Um, and please, if you're looking for a very amazing space to come and meet a cool community or just make yourself feel a bit better, just please, please get in touch with the basement girls.

SPEAKER_02

We'd love to see you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, have a great day, guys. Bye.