Esther and I first met when her husband Luke dropped in to train down at Botany.
He listens to a BJJ podcast I do with my mate JT, and wanted to stop by for a roll when they were passing through town.
Lovely family… Esther and their daughter Suki hung out at the gym and watched us train.
I was surprised some months later when I saw Esther had signed up for our Coaches Intensive. Her enrolment wasn’t complete so we jumped on a call to sort it out. Turns out she was a gym manager up in Pottsville and was looking for some guidance on how to be more effective.
‘Potty’ is coastal town 30 mins north of the famed Byron Bay
She was leading a group of coaches and felt like the team wasn’t performing well. Perfect fit for our course, though not commonly what people come for. I was excited to pass onto her the systems we use for coaches development in our gyms.
Esther booked a room at the pub close by to the gym. Turns out the rooms are half decent and cheap, you just have to cop the late night pub vibes.
That same pub was home of the Friday night ‘Schnitz and Tits’ until only recently. A little piece of Botany history for you right there…
She came solo this time and had booked a day either side of the course. I wanted to make sure we got some one on one time together. Everyone comes to the course looking for something different, and I wanted to make sure she got whatever that was before heading back to the Northern Rivers.
The course was a cracker. Heaps of energy, lots of amazing coaches. Even some tears shed during some of the more powerful sections of the event.
Sometime in the course, discussing her job and her dream of someday owning her own place, I jokingly threw out the idea of “Jungle Pottsville”
*a half joke, if you will.
This was the spark.
Esther and I caught up on the Monday morning before she headed back to Potty. We spoke about what she would be implementing with her coaches. Then we spoke about what owning her own Jungle Gym would look like. It was an exciting chat. The idea was still very new for us. I could see she was literally building the gym inside of her head as we spoke.
We stayed in touch following that weekend, and Esther began driving down to Jungle Ballina to train with Tee. She was hungry to get closer to us and our training method.
The conversations about this wild idea of bringing the Jungle to Potty was starting to crystallise. Shortly after she was sending us properties that she and Luke were looking at.
That course was in October 2022, and now, 7 months later Jungle Cabarita Beach is set to open its doors in a matter of weeks (next town up from Potty)
It’s amazing what can happen when the right things come together. As leaders of the Alliance, we couldn’t be happier to be working with Esther and Luke. These guys are bringing something special to the Northern Rivers and we’re going to support them in every way we can.
If you’d like to hear the full story, check out the podcast Esther and I recorded when she was last in town.
Onwards.
PS.
Next Coaches Intensive is coming up on the 27th May. If you’d like to know more about it contact joey@junglealliance.com (or reply to this email).
