As part of our new #WEAREAUSactive campaign, we are showcasing the inspiring journeys and achievements of our AUSactive members across Australia. 

At 19, Christian was deeply inspired by a personal trainer's incredible life transformation and passion for her job, which motivated him to pursue a career in fitness. After completing a degree in communications, he decided to pivot and study to become a personal trainer. Since then, he has built an impressive career, mentoring clients through life-changing results and managing high-performing Vision Personal Training studios. Now the proud owner of Vision PT St Ives, Christian specialises in client transformations, mentorship, and fostering a strong sense of community through fitness. 

Christian’s passion for people and commitment to growth and continued education inspires both clients and trainers, making fitness a life-changing journey for all involved. 

Meet Christian de Stoop

How long have you been a member with AUSactive?  

I have been an active member for going on 15 years now. 

What motivated you to pursue a career in the exercise and active health industry?

I was inspired by first personal trainer when I was 19. I joined the gym for the first time and was approached by trainer who offered to help me. This trainer had lost an incredible amount of weight, utterly transformed her life, and it was 

so obvious to me how much she loved her job. I was inspired to love my job that much. I was studying a communications and literature degree at the time and wasn’t sure if I saw a future for myself in that or not. So after I completed my degree, I 

enrolled to complete my personal training qualification and truly haven’t looked back. I’ve had many other personal trainers or people in the industry I consider mentors since her – but if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be in this industry. 

What qualifications do you hold?

Unrelated to fitness: I have a degree in Communications and Literature, and an NLP Practitioner Certification. I also have my Cert III and Cert IV in Personal Training, and have completed courses in Spin instructing and Boxing. I’ve also completed a large number of certified in house courses within the Vision Personal Training network. 

What has your journey as an exercise professional looked like so far?

My whole gym experience prior to becoming a personal trainer was inside a small-ish community gym, where there was a huge community focus. When it came to seeking a job as a personal trainer, I wanted to find somewhere that I could have the same experience. I didn’t want to be in a large gym. I knew I wanted to have my own business one day, I knew I needed to be challenged and pushed. I had a lot to learn and required mentoring. After seeing a number of career presentations by people from the Vision Network, it really felt like a no brainer. I just didn’t realise at the time that I would one day own a Vision PT business! 

My career in the fitness industry and with Vision has been wild. Across over 14 years, I have literally trained hundreds of people, achieved some top performance accolades and met some amazing and incredible people who have achieved some seriously inspiring results. I’ve challenged my own fitness levels, running in countless events and competing in state level bodybuilding competitions, I’ve been a full time personal trainer, have been a mentor, and business manager to two top performing Vision Studios, and now own one of those studios! 

What accomplishment are you most proud of, personally or professionally?

As a trainer: It completely fills my cup to know that I have been a part of someone’s life-changing transformation. 

Not everyone realises that when a person loses 20-40 kilos or more, and keeps it off, they are literally no longer the same person. For some people, it might not even be 20, it could be 10kilos. If that’s not transformation, then I don’t know what is. I’m proud to have been a part of that process with people. 

As a business owner: Owning and running a business is hard. It’s full of challenges, and for a business that is entirely people-centric, well… people are complicated! Despite all the challenges that running a business presents, I’m proud of my team and my trainers and the culture we’ve created. I’m proud of what our Vision studio achieves for our community. 

What has been your biggest challenge as an exercise professional?

As a young trainer starting out in the industry, it was cultivating a mindset that everything is a lesson. 

You didn’t get someone a result? There’s a lesson in that. You had a client leave you for someone else? There is a lesson in that. You didn’t convince someone to let you help them, when you knew you could? There’s a lesson in that. 
The more it hurt, the bigger the lesson. 

Our job is to influence and inspire people to change for the better, and if that’s not happening, then we need to look inward. This same principle became a powerful lesson in business and people management as well.  

How did AUSactive help you overcome this challenge, if applicable?

Not entirely directly, but one thing I do appreciate about AUSactive is the continuous learning and necessity to stay relevant. AUSactive at least mandates this so people do learn and grow. 
Ultimately, it’s the same principle – if you’re not constantly learning and developing, someone else is. 
If you’re not learning and growing, you can’t help as many people (which is the whole reason why a person becomes a trainer). If you’re not learning and growing, your business is failing, while someone else’s is growing. 

What would you advise for someone thinking about a career in the exercise and active health industry?

It’s an amazing and very rewarding industry to be a part of, but like any other potentially life changing decision, it’s wise that first and foremost you have clarity around what you want from your career in the industry. It’s also important to set goals for yourself – your career will either fuel your life goals, or it will hold your lifestyle and goals back. 
Being an online trainer may show potential for a very flexible lifestyle, but can be a competitive and fickle space. 
Being a sole trader gives you total autonomy, but you’re trading your personal time for money. Working for someone else can provide incredibly valuable mentorship, but you may have to follow their set processes and systems. Being a business owner allows you to leverage time back, but the size of your responsibility and leadership grows as your business does. 

Every coin has two sides, and I personally feel that when people leave the industry, a key contributing reason is they don’t have clarity and partnership between what they want for their life and how their career can fuel those goals. 

 What is the favourite part of your job?

The people, definitely the people. (Which ironically is the most challenging part about our job, too.) It can be really difficult trying to learn how to inspire and motivate different people to achieve their goals – it’s not easy. 

But that’s also the best part! Developing the relationships, the laughs, the good times, the bad times, learning what makes our clients and our trainers want more for their life and helping them grab it. 
It’s the people that makes my job never feel like a job. 😊 

Check out Christian's AUSactive profile here.