An ex-bodybuilder turned holistic health coach has been recognised in the ACT 2023 Telstra Best of Business Awards.

Recently, 39-year-old Jenifer Lee won the gong in the Accelerating Women category for her Fyshwick business, Wildly Strong – “and I didn’t need a six pack to do that”.

Jenifer joined the fitness industry at just 18 years old, in part due to her own struggles with body image.

As a full-time personal trainer, she was introduced into the world of bodybuilding and powerlifting. Her books were quickly filled with female clients who wanted a similar physique.

Jenifer was fully submerged in the world of body transformation until she was hit with chronic fatigue syndrome in 2014.

“I couldn’t train, I was allergic to everything, I couldn’t sleep,” she says.  

“Getting unwell made me realise that bodybuilding is very all or nothing.

“A lot of people with disordered eating or body image issues will be attracted to that culture, because they think that by changing their body, they’re going to feel better about themselves.

“But they never do. They get all the way to the end of a comp and are still unhappy. And so was I. I noticed it in me, and I noticed the same thing in my clients.

“I was like, ‘Alright, there’s something else going on here’.”

Today, Wildly Strong takes an alternative approach to women’s health. Jenifer offers online and face-to-face coaching to educate women on deprogramming from diet culture, and instead focusing on the foundations of health: strength, nutrition, and mindset.

While many clients first come to her seeking a new diet to try, Jenifer often finds that the first step is pulling them off diets.

“Women are chronically dieting, and it isn’t good for our health,” she says.

“The constant calorie cutting, being afraid to eat, limiting yourself to about 10 ‘clean foods’, and viewing everything else as ‘cheat foods’; it takes disordered eating and puts it in a different form.

“It does feel good for a while, so they like it. But they can’t maintain it. You can’t go through life just eating chicken, rice, and broccoli. It’s not realistic.”

She explains how diet culture self-perpetuates.

“Women who are always trying to lose weight often end up gaining weight, because chronic dieting damages your metabolism.

“Diet culture doesn’t make us feel comfortable with ourselves. You feel weaker, more tired, more stressed out because now you’re scared of food.”

Jenifer explains what ‘accelerating women’ means to her: “Helping them overcome themselves, and all the things that get in the way of being their best selves.

“If they’re constantly caught up in how they look, they see it as a barrier to potential success, so they won’t travel, won’t go for a job interview. I used to do that as well.

“I care so much because I spent 20 years trying to change my body, and not actually getting on with my life.

“Women are capable of so much more than what they believe. And they really have to take a look at what holds them back. Their bodies are not a determinant of their success or happiness, but it feels that way,” says Jenifer.

“I won a Telstra award for working in the fitness industry, and I look like a normal person.”

The award comes as a welcome reassurance that Wildly Strong is on the right path.

“I always feel like I’m not doing enough, or that I’m not a real business because I’m doing my own thing,” Jenifer says.

“In the fitness industry, the main goal is making people ‘hot’. I did that five years ago and it didn’t help anybody.

“The biggest challenge has been trusting myself because I am on a different path … but I know the direction I’m heading in is in service of women.

“To be recognised as an actual, proper business gives me more confidence to build this even bigger.”

Anyone needing support with eating disorders or body image issues is encouraged to contact the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 334 673 or visit butterfly.org.au. For urgent support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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