Specialist pre- and postnatal trainer Claire Payne is passionate about helping mums and mums-to-be exercise safely during and after pregnancy. A mum of two herself, she understands firsthand how confusing and overwhelming the fitness world can be, and she is on a mission to help women feel strong, capable and like themselves again – without pressure or unrealistic expectations. With a holistic, no-quick-fixes approach, she supports women to move safely, rebuild after birth and discover a positive relationship with exercise that actually fits their lives. Offering both in-person and online coaching, she wants to support women all over the world to feel confident, happy and healthy in their bodies. Here, Claire talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind Claire Payne Fitness, the challenges she has overcome, and the pros and cons of running her own business.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I’ve been active my whole life. My childhood holidays usually involved hiking up mountains, windsurfing or sailing. So working out comes naturally to me. When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I felt so completely lost. I had no idea how to safely keep moving and after she arrived it got worse because I had no idea how to come back and get a little bit of the pre-baby me back. I found it really challenging, and everything I read was confusing or contradictory.
When I lost my marketing job due to Covid, I took this as my opportunity to retrain and help other women to not feel like I did. There is also a huge amount of pressure on mums to ‘bounce back’, which is crazy. Our bodies have just been through so much and it’s almost as if we’re expected to look as though we’ve not had a baby, straight after having an actual baby!!
I wanted to create a safe space where women can move in a way that is appropriate to them, where they feel safe and happy. I wanted to help women feel confident and find what health looks like for them.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started out training friends to get some experience, plus networking and just offering free help, support and advice – which I still do now.
I worked out of my flat in London, as I was lucky enough to have a large outdoor terrace, so trained everyone out there (unless it was raining of course). I worked really hard to build a good reputation locally.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
My biggest breakthrough was realising that I was limiting myself with only providing in-person training – not being able to help as many women as I would like. However, with offering online training, I can be there to support so many more and it doesn’t matter where they are either! It’s just an amazing thing!
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
It’s tricky because I want to give both sides my everything. I think it’s important to be there for my girls but also important to show them what hard work can bring. I have set boundaries for my work and outside of those, I try to give the girls my whole self. During school holidays, we block days out where we have one-on-one time with them. I like to take my eldest out for a meal – it makes her feel so grown up and we can have a proper conversation without any distractions.
