Cooper Thompson

But eventually I reached a point where there were only so many people I could help one-on-one. I wanted to take everything I loved about personal training — knowing the person, understanding their goals, coaching them with purpose and helping them achieve the goals and results they came to me for — and bring that same level of care and attention into a group environment where I could help more people.

That idea eventually became First Class Athletic.

Since then, I’ve continued to back myself and take the next step. From opening our first FCA facility to taking another leap into the facility we have today, there have been plenty of risks, plenty of challenges and plenty of moments where staying comfortable probably would have been the easier option.

But when I look back, what makes me proudest isn’t just how much the business has grown. It’s the people who helped me get here and the community that has grown with it.

Mum has been a massive part of this journey from the beginning. She backed me when I was still trying to figure it all out, let me completely take over her garage and turn part of our family home into my workplace for years. More than anything, she continually put us first and gave me the opportunity to chase something I believed in.

I don’t think FCA would be where it is today without that support, and I’ll never forget what she did to help me get here.

Now my younger brother Hunter works alongside me full-time, and I’m incredibly proud to have him as part of what we’re building. He’s carved out his own path in the fitness industry, brings his own strengths to FCA and has become a massive part of the business and the community around it.

To go from sharing Mum’s garage, coaching PT clients side-by-side, to now building FCA together is pretty bloody special.

And there are members who took a chance on FCA in those early days who are still walking through our doors today.

Then there’s my Pop, Wally Warner.

Throughout his life, Pop made an incredible impact on the local sporting community. If you said the name Wally Warner around Tamworth, there was a good chance people knew exactly who you were talking about.

He gave countless hours of his own time to helping others, often asking for nothing in return. As Pop would say, all he needed was “a handshake and a smile.”

I know a handshake and a smile might not quite make the world go around when you’re running a business, but the way Pop lived his life and the impact he had on people has always stuck with me.

It makes me think about the impact I can make in my own way — through FCA, through the people we help, through the community we’re building and through creating something my family can be proud of.

And hopefully, along the way, I can build on a little piece of the legacy Pop left behind and make him proud too.

He’s not here to see what FCA has become, but I know he’d be bloody proud. He really would be.

And that means a bloody lot to me.

When I look at where it all started — a handful of clients, some second-hand equipment and Mum’s garage — compared to where FCA is today, I couldn’t be prouder of how far we’ve come.

But I’m even more excited about where we can take it next, how much further we can grow and how many more people we can bring along for the journey.

As I always say, we’re only just getting started.