Testimonials

To Whom It May Concern,

I first met Christine Atkins in 2007 when her business Body and Mind Pty Ltd was contracted to run the workplace gym and co-ordinate rehabilitation programmes for Hydro Aluminium Kurri Kurri Pty Ltd.
As a family member of Hydro staff I and my daughter and son were able to access the facilities and Christine’s expert training.
I have a BA (Major in Sociology) and Master of Human Resource & Industrial Relations both from Newcastle University. I have worked as a Community Manager for Department of Community Services (NSW) and prior to that extensively within Real Estate in many varied roles. I have considerable experience in supervising, supporting, co-ordinating and motivating staff and providing customer service.
My first impressions of Body & Mind Pty Ltd was of an extremely well organised business. I observed good communication and co-ordination between Chris and her staff members in addition to superior written communication and presentations. Chris obviously knew how to promote the services that her business provided and the feedback I was privy to from the people who used the gym spoke of Chris’s dedication and ability to help them achieve their fitness and health goals. These clients obviously had a great deal of respect for Chris. Some of the conversations I struck up with clients at opportune times while perhaps waiting to enter the gym and her clients not necessarily knowing what my relationship was with Chris nor did I deliberately seek information about Body and Mind Pty Ltd.
Some of Chris’s clients were able to achieve their dreams of achieving the fitness and health requirements to gain entry to the Australian Defence Force and NSW Police. I am reasonably familiar with the physical fitness demands of the NSW Police as I have currently and in the past had close members of my family as well as friends as serving members. Chris also helped people who simply wished to lose weight varying from those with obesity to those slightly overweight and again others who wish to competitively compete in sport or simply participate in recreational sporting pursuits. Chris also assisted clients who were diabetic manage the condition without medication. I found Chris’s knowledge of the physical requirements of many different sports and her general knowledge of various sports to be amazing. This amazement also continued as I discovered the widely different activities she had knowledge of and participated herself in either currently or in the past. Chris has a huge repertoire of sports in which she has participated from individual to team sports including rowing, kayaking, sprint and distance running and hammer throw. Chris would organise teams of people at the gym to participate in various sporting competitions with the participants reporting that they had fun.
As a person who has also participated in a large number of sports and been a fairly fit and active competitor only a few years younger than Chris I have a real appreciation of her skills, knowledge, dedication and ability. I believe that Chris’s age has a huge advantage in her coaching and understanding of her client’s needs.
Not only does Chris have all the personal advantages of a woman who has experienced so many of life’s hurdles including work, family and serious illness but she lives the example of what a healthy person can achieve. When Chris was either running an exercise class or muscle building class I was amazed at her own physical strength.
Chris has over 27 years experience dealing with both senior staff and highly unionised blue collar workers in her business and her communication with both groups to me, appears always to be effortless. She also expects the same standards of care of equipment and cleanliness from all people using the gym regardless of who they are and in turn she is respected for those standards she maintains.
I believe that the fitness industry is embarking on a new era due to the ever increasing temptation of refined and poor quality foods together with sedentary lifestyles. In that future it will be even more important for fitness professionals to have abilities beyond that of knowledge about health and fitness. I believe that fitness professionals will need to be able be involved in the motivation and psychology of individuals who need guidance with health and fitness. Chris builds rapport with her clients that allows her to positively and gradually improve their health and lifestyle to gain longer lasting results and imbuing her clients with a level of confidence so that they can maintain and improve those results without always needing a trainer to supervise. In other words Chris has the skills to promote that ‘self talk’ that enables individuals to pursue their goals and prioritise their health.
If I owned fitness business or franchise I would want Chris to not only work with clients but to train other trainers as she has so much to offer other professionals that would enable them to achieve higher standards and success.
The breadth of knowledge that Chris has, including remedial massage and diet has obviously derived from her years working in the field and her desire to always absorb more and new up-to-date knowledge through ongoing training and keeping up-to-date with journals and research.
Chris has achieved much recognition from health professionals such as doctors and HSE professionals in monitoring and assisting injured workers return to work. She employs individual programmes to assist employees return to work in a timely manner which is often ahead of medical prognoses. Not only does this require specific expert knowledge but a great deal of nuanced insight and communication to align and manage all the requirements of the injured workers; health professionals and the employers. Chris has had other health professionals such as physiotherapists and doctors refer injured workers to her because they were unable to progress the person’s recovery.
The areas of the promotion of health and fitness by Chris’s company Body and Mind Pty Ltd which have been observed by me would not necessarily comprise all of the work she does. However during my observation and participation in her fitness training I have observed a very high standard in the areas I have spoken about and especially in comparison with the staff in three gyms with which I have been involved.
I highly commend Christine Atkins as a very experienced and knowledgeable health professional who does make a difference.

Yours Faithfully,
Jacquelene Doran BA, M.HR/IR (Newcastle University.NSW)
0412377831