Meet the people behind eight of SA’s independently-owned gyms
From broke, near death experiences and new careers, meet the South Australian gym owners who shed their old life and built their own empires.
Lifestyle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
From starting out earning just $30 a week to rebuilding after losing everything in a fire, South Australia’s independent gym owners have turned a passion into a profession.
These business owners have come out on top – shedding blood, sweat and tears along the way.
Meet 11 of the owners behind eight of SA’s gyms.
Poppy and Ollie Atkinson Perillo
Gym: 360 Fortitude
Location: Edinburgh North
For the last 10 years, fitness freaks Poppy and Ollie Atkinson Perillo have centred their lives around “the gym” and now they own one.
360 Fortitude is located close to the RAAF base, where 26-year-old Ms Perillo serves in the Australian Air Force while her husband serves in the Australian Defence Force.
The military couple have lived long stints apart and last year decided to plan for a future as civilians.
Both have competitive fitness backgrounds so opening a gym was an obvious choice.
“We thought, ‘what do we love?’” Ms Perillo said.
“We started looking around at warehouses and saw this one and just thought, it’s now or never.”
VOTE FOR SA’S BEST GYM OF 2024
The full time defence workers and parents to a five-year-old and a nine-month-old credit fitness to saving their 10-year marriage.
When Mr Perillo, 27, was deployed for 11 months during the pandemic, the couple felt their relationship had hit an all-time low and were unable to reconnect.
“We were parenting, we were going away – we were spending so much time apart from each other, from our kids,” Ms Perillo said.
“We needed something we could both do together – so we put about $20k into building a gym in our garage and fitting it out.
“Every night we would put the kids to bed and it would be, ‘see you in the gym’.
“We unplugged the TV for six months because we were in the gym every night, from 7.30 to 10pm.
“It was incredible for our relationship communication-wise, it’s really been a lifeline for us.”
Six months into their business venture, former bodybuilder Ms Perillo said the majority of their members are local and “brand new to fitness” – a different clientele to the athletes she expected would walk through their doors.
Formerly affiliated with CrossFit the gym has now gone independent with Ms Perillo handling the programming and Mr Perillo leading the recovery side of training, including stretching and mobility.
Josh Trinchini and Will Trengove
Gym: Three Pillar Coaching
Location: Glynde
They grew up living and breathing footy but Josh Trinchini and Will Trengove have found a different way to test their competitive natures.
Campbell local Mr Trinchini, and Hills-native Mr Trengove, now a resident of Magill, first met years ago as fitness trainers working for once popular franchise F45.
Now 27 and 26 respectively, they co-own Three Pillar Coaching.
“We loved the group fitness aspect of it, but it didn’t have the strength side of things,” Mr Trinchini said.
“We didn’t think people were getting enough out of the workouts – we thought we could do more, we wanted to do more.”
Mr Trinchini said they didn’t have a lot of money to begin with and started out renting a space in a physio clinic.
“It was about a quarter of the size of what we have now,” he said.
“That was in 2018 and we stayed there for 10 months, growing our membership base.
They signed a lease for a new, bigger building in 2019 and haven’t looked back creating larger class sizes and fitting it out with strength equipment.
There’s even often a coffee cart parked in front of the Glynde gym on Saturdays.
“The social aspect is one of the biggest factors – people come here because they enjoy it,” Mr Trinchini said.
“They get to know us really well but they also get to know each other really well, so the gym becomes a social place where friendships are fostered.
“It’s meant we’ve been able to do really well with our retention and members sticking around.”
James Newbury
Gym: Soul 365
Location: Adelaide
James Newbury is considered a celebrity in the fitness world.
He’s a former semi-professional rugby player in Queensland and in NSW, a Crossfit superstar finishing almost every Pacific and Australia regional event he has entered in the top 10, named Australia’s fittest man four years in a row and the fifth fittest athlete in the world.
The fitness icon owns Soul 365 in the CBD alongside new co-owner Duncan Gordon.
Mr Newbury is also a model and co-founder of swimwear brand Le Boiz but he’s not the face of his own gym and doesn’t publicly endorse or advertise Soul 365.
Five years ago, the self-proclaimed vegan athlete broke two bones in his back after riding a mountain bike into the base of a tree and ploughing headfirst into it, cracking his helmet.
He broke two ribs, punctured his lungs and suffered T2 and T3 spinal fractures.
As a full-time professional athlete, the injury could have meant the end of his career.
Disheartened at the thought of not competing, he resumed his training and finished the 2019 Busselton Ironman five weeks after the crash.
Scott Thomas from Tough Fit
Gym: Tough Fit
Location: Mount Gambier
Scott Thomas built his own gym in South Australia’s second largest city in 2012.
Having grown up in a “typical Australian” family, the Mount Gambier businessman said sport had always been the ideal escape from the daily grind.
A country footballer and cricketer, Mr Scott said he played team sports until injury prevented him from competing.
That was the start of his pivot into the “controlled” environment of the gym.
Mr Thomas launched Tough Fit – an industrial-style gym – and sees his mission as helping people to better their physical and mental game by overcoming their barriers and focusing on self-belief.
Aaron and Jade Ramsay
Gym: Bowden Gym Collective
Location: Bowden
The day Aaron Ramsay started working at a gym he knew he wanted to own it.
For 15 years he did the hard yards at North Adelaide Fitness Centre before buying the gym, now named Bowden Gym Collective, seven years ago with wife Jade Ramsay.
“I started working when I was 18 and I made it very clear I wanted to own the business from day dot,” he said.
“Now I’m more running the business from the back-end, managing the trainers, I still do some of the programming.
Wife and co-owner Ms Ramsay is a research scientist by trade but works at the gym teaching reformer pilates. They also have two children, a daughter aged four and an 18-month-old son.
With 1300 members, the gym has been going strong despite a fire which did $500k worth of damage in their early days.
“We had only owned the business for a year, so we didn’t have a lot of backdated financials, we had insurance, but we didn’t get as much as what we should have,” Mr Ramsay said.
Callan Prider
Gym: Threshold Performance
Location: Prospect
Callan Prider knows the pain of wanting more from himself without knowing how to get there.
“I started in the gym 10 years ago training myself, trying to find a way to make a skinny, short basketball player semi-athletic,” he said.
“That led me down a rabbit hole of training – I became more interested in helping others achieve their goals.”
Now Mr Prider owns Threshold Performance – an elite performance gym designed for athletes competing or preparing for competition.
He launched the business after studying in the US and realising Australia’s “huge lack of athlete support for kids wanting to take the next step”.
Mr Prider said he understood the grind an athlete is subjected to, the commitment it takes and the agony of defeat and injury.
“In the life of an amateur athlete, every day is a battle,” he said.
“We’ve created a sanctuary where athletes can find the support and training they deserve.”
Shane Hryhorec
Gym: Co-Able Fitness
Location: Port Adelaide
Shane Hryhorec suffered a life-altering accident in 2007, which has left him immobile from the waist down.
“After I broke my neck, I didn’t feel comfortable joining a traditional able-bodied gym,” he said.
“I dreamt of a gym that allowed everybody to feel comfortable.”
The former nipper and life saver said accessibility should be a fundamental right and that his new gym – Co-Able Fitness – was born out of necessity because there just weren’t enough inclusive fitness options.
“One day it’s my goal that every gym has a model much like this,” he said.
“Where adaptive equipment is the norm and where people with disabilities and able-bodied people can train together.”
Shelley Jarrett
Gym: Adelaide Hills Womens Fitness
Location: Mount Barker
Shelley Jarrett had no back-up plan when she launched a female-only gym in the Hills.
She was only bringing home $30 a week, but the now 40 year old business owner said failure was not an option – she had to make it work.
Ms Jarret had previously worked in hospitality, tourism and IT but fitness is her passion and after becoming a personal trainer she launched Adelaide Hills Womens Fitness in Mount Barker.
“We are a private, home-based studio for women only – no mirrors, no judgments,” she said.
“I bloody love the life I have created and wake up every day super grateful for my crowd,” she said.
“We all cheer loudly for each other.”
Married with two sons, aged 10 and 12 Ms Jarrett said she had made it work thanks to the amazing community of women in the Hills.
More Coverage
Originally published as Meet the people behind eight of SA’s independently-owned gyms
I found the Cook Islands’ best-kept secret
Rarotonga’s untouristed interior reveals a paradise that is lost on most travellers.
I flew 1600km for love and got ghosted at the airport
Model River Blake flew to meet a man she had been chatting to online for three years, only to be left stranded at the airport.