John Polley, aka JP, is a British born Australian international educator in movement and wellbeing. His courses are sold all over the world, which reinforces his accolades in the industry, which include Educator of the Year from Exercise New Zealand, even though he resides in Perth, Australia. However, he has a rich and interesting background which only brought him to the exercise industry when he was 35 years old.

Back in 1993, he graduated with an honours degree in Sociology from the University of Essex, and spent some years working in sales, before starting his own furniture import and wholesale company in England. After 6 years, he realised the long hours, intense stress and constant feeling of swimming against the current, had left him burnt out. He closed his business, sold all his possessions and did the fairy tale exit to the island of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.

Whilst regaining his mental health and enthusiasm for life, he started doing some part time advertising sales for an ex-pat magazine, then suggested writing articles as he’d always been a frustrated writer. The sales and writing went well, so JP suggested he also take photos of his travels around the island, as he gathered stories for his articles, again because his creativity could then flow through the whole endeavour. Within a few months, he was the sales, article and photography guy, and finally magazine editor of the last edition he worked on in 2005.

Next was the truly life changing experience; JP lost his mother to cancer in September 2005. Then two days after her funeral, his first marriage ended. He fell into a deep, dark hole, moved back to England to spend time with his father and made the decision to take on a career change, and signed up for a Diploma in Personal Training, which included sports massage. After this, he travelled across Australia and New Zealand.

Grounding himself in authenticity, only being with people who resonated with him and doing things he truly wanted to do, JP effectively rebuilt himself, into who he was and who he wanted to be. His first role in the industry was in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he began life with his future (Australian) wife.

He went from Managing Director of his own furniture company, to being a Gym Instructor in a big box gym, helping members, cleaning machines, checking the bathrooms, covering reception and working shifts. And he was happy doing so. The first lesson during that time, was it’s nice to be nice, for the sake of being nice. This couldn’t have been more obvious after 4 months of being a friendly face around the gym, JP got the black tee with the words ‘Personal Trainer’ of the back. The friendly guy suddenly had the reward of signing 7 new clients in his first week and within 3 months, was the busiest trainer in the gym. Being nice – the marketing strategy that came naturally.

After two years in Edinburgh, JP moved to Perth, Australia, got married and continued as a PT in big box gyms for two years, then began a series of mentorships with world renowned industry thought leaders, like Ian O’Dwyer, Michol Dalcourt and Thomas Myers. At the same time, started his own studio and continued to learn, grow and became a master trainer in a number of aligned tools of the trade – ViPR, Power Plate, Sandbells and freeform boards. In 2011, he also started his career in presenting practical sessions at conferences in Australia. By 2013 he was presenting internationally and developing his own down to earth, engaging style of connection and communication, which proved popular.