Rosie Stockley

Tell us a little bit about yourself and the journey you have gone on to get to where you are?

I'm Rosie, and I have always been interested in movement. I trained as a dancer back in the day, then became a dance teacher and choreographer. I kind of moved around the world doing that for about 10 to 12 years. I was always interested in fitness. I did a course and a qualification, and realised I didn't know much about it, so it was good to get properly qualified. I was still teaching dance but moving into this fitness area. I moved to New York with my husband, and at that point, I decided to pursue learning more about fitness training. So, I did that and got a job at a gym there called Equinox. While I was there, I also did my pregnancy and postnatal qualification and then I fell pregnant. I was sort of my own client and also had all the women in the gym. When I moved back to London, I had my baby, and got a couple of clients. There were lots of postnatal yoga and pilates out there, but I found my clients were asking for something a little more high-energy. So, I formed a boot camp in my local park and called it MAMAWELL. 

Since then, I've grown my Instagram community and have done a lot more online. I have a programme called The MAMAWELL Method, which was postnatal, and now I've just launched the pregnancy version too which was inspired by my own pregnancy. It's just about moving safely, learning what goes on in your body, not ignoring it, and sort of empowering yourself to work through any challenges in your pregnancy and thereafter. It’s all about staying fit mentally and physically, which can really help you with your birth, but also help you feel prepared for life after with the baby.

Is there a specific part of your job that fulfils you the most? Why?

I love meeting new people, as I do get my energy off people. I really enjoy working with clients or a group or even through doing lives on Instagram, with people chatting and saying "Hi". I think it's really nice to be present in someone's journey. I’m really passionate about women's wellness. This pregnancy and postnatal thing is quite intense, and a lot of women go through it. So, it's really nice to support them and give them a community to be a part of. There is also so much misinformation, and it does women a disservice. I'm able to give my information, as well as give really good links for physios, GP’s, and many other experts in different fields who I can tap into to help them.

What is the toughest part about what you do?

It's actually really fun, I love what I do. But when you work for yourself, you have to be extremely self-motivated. And it's hard to say no to things because everything could be an opportunity. It can be tough, especially when you're going through a challenge, like last year for example with lockdown. Figuring out what to do, do you stop working or pivot? It can be exciting, but also, you’ve got to have the motivation to be flexible.

Is there anything you suggest for people struggling to find their career path 

I would say it’s a combination of finding what you are passionate about and what you're currently doing. If you can, but that is quite a luxury as well. If you can analyse your strengths and weaknesses yourself or get someone to help you, I think that's helpful with career path. We want to be happy; I mean, life is long. So, if you're not happy, then keep trying something else. Don’t wait until the breaking point to be like, “Oh my god, what's happening?”. So if you can be a little self-analytical, month by month, check on what's good, what's bad, what could be better? I think that would help you to know if you might want to make a change.

How do you balance career and motherhood?

It’s really hard. I just had my second baby, and it is a lot of juggle. But I do think if you want to have a career, it’s helpful to have some childcare in place, if you can. And that has a lot of guilt with it. The other thing I found really helpful is just getting my partner on board with you. Share the responsibility together if you can. Lots of women take on it all themselves, and that's not fair. It’s all about balance. There's sometimes where work is really important, and then other times where my baby needs me the most. So it's just balancing that if you can. I'm in a lucky position, that I can do that.

How has Covid been? How has it impacted you? Whether it be career wise or personally.

Covid is obviously been a huge impact for everyone this year, even if you feel like it's not been. I've been lucky, I've not been sick, and none my family have been. And we are in a nice position where we're in a comfortable house, we both kept our jobs, and we had our baby. So that's been a highlight to celebrate, obviously, I went through the whole pandemic pregnant and, and now postnatally, we're in lockdown. So I'm just trying to make the best of that. As for career, I decided to go more online. And actually, that was good for me career wise. It grew my engagement loads on Instagram, made people more aware of me, and also was just really good for me mentally and physically. It also helped develop what I was going to put into my pregnancy programme. Then when we were allowed to do small group classes, I went back to doing them with my boot camp in groups of six, which was just lovely while we could in the summer. So, I think you know, I've been really lucky. It's been quite good in a way just to help me realise different ways I can work.

Favourite place in the world/your happy place?

We have a family beach house in New Zealand. It is just a very simple old sort of 70's house by the edge of the ocean in a beautiful area where it's all green forests going down to the edge of the water that overlooks the sea. There is a little ferry that goes past twice a day. It's absolutely stunning, you could stare for ages, and so quiet other than the peaceful sounds of the birds.

What are your favourite activities? Can be anything.

Well, I love to do yoga and I love cooking. I'm not you know, necessarily Michelin, but I just love chopping everything up and cooking something. I find it really satisfying and relaxing. I also like listening to music. Really just any kind of homey time. And before when we could travel, I love countryside walking, not climbing mountains or anything, just going to visit new places and being outside.

What is something you do to relax/care for yourself?

I'm a busy mom. So really, the little things can be quite big. Like having a shower, with a really nice shower gel or a bath with bath salts and just taking half an hour there. Even half an hour doing anything alone, like having a nice glass of wine and reading a bit of a book or magazine. It’s the little simple pleasures.

What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone for 2021?

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and look after yourself. 2021 is the year we're coming out hopeful with the vaccine and all that stuff. The first lockdown everyone was like “Oh we have to bake all the time” and this and that. People were stressing themselves out, particularly moms. So I think to just go with the flow.

What is the piece of advice you yourself hope to follow for 2021?

I want to grow my business more. I've got a lot of developments I'm doing. I'm just hopeful I'm going to continue to have energy to work hard and look after my family. So just to find the balance is really important for me. And I know there'll be times where it's really hard because the baby will need me way more than the work. So it's having the strength to know when to switch.

What’s next on your journey? Any goals you’re focusing on?

I'm trying to reach more women with my workouts and advice. I want to create a bigger community, continue to work and partner with nice brands such as Pocket Sport, and just get my name out there and make MAMAWELL even bigger! So that and of course to be happy, energised and healthy.