By Janine Hill

KATIJA Wilkinson could not find a gym where she could take her kids and feel a sense of community. So she opened her own.

Fit Kat Bootcamp began in a shed at Katija’s home at West Woombye has grown so popular that it moved into new premises at Price Street, Nambour, on 15 September.

The move has allowed Katija to double the size of her gym space and double the size of the kids’ room, which is as important to the mother-of-two as the exercise space.

“I struggled for a long time to find a place where I fitted in before I created my own,” she said. “I took my kids to a gym and they had this tiny kids’ space where I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my kids while I trained. 

“It was such a struggle but I needed to do it for my mental health. Hubby goes away to work and I’m busy with the kids. 

“Every time I moved gyms, there was no community. I’m from Croatia and a long way from home. I didn’t know anybody.”

Katija is proud of the culture at Fit Kat, where the focus is not only on building women who have fit and strong bodies, minds, hearts and friendships. 

“I make them work really hard but next weekend, we’re doing paint and sip together,” she said.

“There’s two ladies classes in the morning and another at 5.30pm so they don’t necessarily see each other so we’ll get together and have a chat for an hour and a few drinks, and the weekend after that, we might do a climb up Mt Coolum.”

The sense of community saw many members chip in to help Katija relocate the gym.

“We had the best class on a Friday morning, and everybody from the gym, all the girls rallied their husbands and moved everything from 10am to 3.30pm when I went to pick the kids up from school,” Katijia said.

“It’s such a beautiful community we’ve got.”

Fit Kat offers weights, bootcamp sessions, yoga, plus occasional workshops on health matters such as nutrition and hormones.

While Katija also offers one-on-one personal training, most of her women pick and choose from a menu of classes at $50 a week.