Rhiannon is 24 and currently lives in South London with her fitness-enthusiast boyfriend, Tom Trotter. A performer, model, personal trainer, social media content creator and now part of the TPW Tribe, it’s safe to say Rhiannon is juggling a lot of plates.
But let’s rewind. Because life isn’t a bed of roses, and this woman has had her fair share of challenges to get to where she is today. Growing up, dancing heavily influenced Rhiannon’s passion within the fitness industry, her childhood heavily revolved around her love of dancing – she even represented England in a variety of disciplines such as contemporary, tap, and jazz – impressive, eh? She dedicates a lot of her persistence and grit to the discipline of dance, but what she didn’t know, was that in time, those very qualities where what she’d need off the dance floor rather than on it.
At a critical point in her dancing career, at just 16, Rhiannon hit a wall. Due to overtraining, she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her lower back. She was presented with just two options. Stop dancing completely or have a major, risky spinal operation. Looking back now, the decision at such a young age was a huge one to make. But passion kicked in and in weeks Rhiannon was on the operating table taking the biggest risk of her life, to persue the love of her life, dancing.
The recovery was long, isolating at times, but helped Rhiannon built a mental fortitude. 6 months into rehabilitation and she stepped back onto the dancefloor.
The fortitude she’d build up during recovery pushed her to achieve more. But it was tough as the injury set back her confidence. Months of strength training paid off. Against the odds, she was accepted at one of the top dance schools in London. She describes this as her ‘Halleluiah moment’ in her typical upbeat style, but to say that this was vindication for her decision to go under the knife all those months before, would be an understatement.
The euphoria spun a short life though. After pushing it to the limits her back gave in again and at the age of 20, she was right back at square one. With no choice this time, she underwent the same pars fracture procedure on the opposing vertebrae. The dream at this point? Over. She was out of dancing for the second time, and deferred down a year at college.
A fit young girl, with tonnes of promise and a passion for dance, found herself two back operations in, facing another year of rehabilitation.
Throughout her recovery the second time round, Rhiannon’s way of coping was to write blogs. It gave her a way of expressing how she felt, and a way of channelling her emotions without having to speak aloud. It was this raw honesty and some would call, rally cry for support and need to inspire though her story that set her off on a career dedicated to combining her natural love of fitness with her passion for creation.
Rhiannon puts her ‘failures’ in life as key moments that have shaped her as a person and made her the woman she is today. From these experiences, she’s developed great mental strength, not allowing anything or anyone stop her from achieving her goals. The ruthlessness of the dance industry itself has also given her a bigger backbone (literally), allowing her to cope with rejection in a positive way – roll it in, roll it off!
Rhiannon’s multifaceted life keeps her very busy, but also keeps her creative, versatile, and inspired. Whether it be dancing, TV/film work, fitness modelling, fitness & nutrition blogging or being the Co-Founder of Yuk Yard Fitness, she enjoys all aspects of her life and never thought she’d be where she is now.
Her biggest goal in life is to live without regrets and be happy. And that’s what she continues to do in whatever pathway she goes down.
Now then, when we met Rhiannon, we weren’t looking for a partnership let’s say. But what we found in this woman is something we love – it’s the story of an underdog, a fighter and with her down to earth approach, her wit and cheekiness we simply had to shuffle up and make room for her in the TPW Tribe! Welcome Rhainnon!
So, now what’s next? Well, we’re dedicating all our partnerships to real talk, from real, relatable people about real life. Hit our instas page and follow Rhiannon too and you’ll be getting real practical advice on fitness, food and life as well as some laughs along the way as we make content to keep you inspired, energised and educated!
Rhiannon’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhiannoncbailey/
Yuk Yard Fitness Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yukyardfitness/
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