In the early days, Nicole Campbell and Elli Tront would show up to host one of their fitness classes in Dundee – and be the only ones there.
Other times, they met for their new run club, and would be the only ones there. (They went for a run anyway).
But the founders of Strong Girls Club – a fitness-based community established in 2022 – kept showing up.
And their consistency paid off.
Strong Girls Club has connected over 80 women through fitness in Dundee
“We kind of just stuck at it, and we just kept promoting ourselves on social media, just kept posting what we were doing,” Nicole tells me.
“And we’ve become so busy with our exercise classes.
“And we’ve helped women go from not being able to run 100 meters to being able to do a 5k.
“We’re just going from strength to strength.”
There are now more than 80 women who regularly attend exercise classes hosted by personal trainers (PTs) Elli, 23, and Nicole, 32 at Skyaxe Boxing Gym on Brook Street.
Sessions include Hyrox training – a popular global fitness race – and weight lifting.
Strong Girls Club also hosts regular runs, including Walk to Run events for beginners and Run Safe events, which see runners dress up in “rave” gear to raise awareness of women’s safety when exercising outdoors.
The girls promote their events on Instagram – where they have nearly 2,000 followers – and WhatsApp.
How Strong Girls Club was founded
The idea for Strong Girls Club was born when Elli, a beautician at the time, signed up for personal training with Nicole.
The pair – who are now “like sisters” – hit it off.
And as Elli, a former St John’s RC High school pupil, fell in love with fitness, she decided to quit her job at the salon and train to become a PT.
Nicole recalls: “I said to Elli, ‘I think it would be a good idea if we did a group coaching thing together – we could put two heads together and come up with different classes.’
“And then we just came up with the idea of doing Strong Girls Club together”.
The idea, Nicole says, was to help women feel more comfortable in the gym, which is “very male-orientated”.
“There’s not really a lot of space or support for women,” she adds.
Nicole also wanted to help women feel stronger and more confident in themselves.
It is a desire that stems from her own unconventional fitness journey.
“Growing up, I wasn’t really into the gym or fitness or anything like that,” she explains.
‘I was never really the sporty type – I would skip PE in school’
“I think I tried going to the gym once, and it was horrendous. And I also tried running once, and had a stitch for about five days afterwards!
“So I just thought that it wasn’t for me.
“I used to be the person that would say that I was too ill to do PE at school and stuff.
“I was never really the sporty type.”
Nicole left Craigie High School and became a cashier at a bingo hall.
But after the sudden loss of her mum aged 20, and then becoming a mum herself to her two daughters – now 10 and eight – her mental health deteriorated.
“I kind of lost my sense of self,” she says.
Nicole said she also found herself in a “toxic” relationship and struggled to feel like she could “do anything for myself without having a big reason to”.
“The only things I did was go to work or do the food shop alone,” she says.
“Anything else and I’d have my little girls with me.”
How fitness helped Nicole’s mental health after mum’s death
Around this time, Nicole started following fitness accounts on Instagram and felt inspired.
She says: “I’d see these girls go to the gym, and they were weight lifting, which is not really something that people did as I was growing up.
“I kind of thought, ‘Well, if I go to the gym, I’m getting time for myself, and I don’t really need an excuse to do that’.
“I started going to the gym, but it was at like 5am or 11pm.
“I soon realised it made me feel really good, and it just really helped my mental health, and made me feel a little bit more independent as well.”
What kind of women does Strong Girls Club attract?
“We’ve got clients from 18 to early 50s,” Nicole says.
“It’s really inclusive.
“We get girls who have been training for years, some who are postpartum, some who are less fit or maybe just feel like they’re a little bit overweight.
“It’s a one-size kind of thing, which is so nice.”
Women of all ages and abilities welcome at Strong Girls Club
One client, a woman in her late 40s, had tried to get into running for years but never succeeded.
After attending a few Walk to Run sessions, she was finally able to complete her first 5k run.
Nicole says: “It genuinely made her feel really strong and confident. She ended up giving us a really nice gift as well.”
And Strong Girls Club has helped a lot of women to feel comfortable getting a sweat on for the first time.
“We get quite a lot of women coming in who don’t see themselves as fit.
“They’ve not been to the gym in a while.
“They might just feel like they don’t fit in a stereotypical gym environment.
“And they come in and they say to us afterwards, ‘I didn’t feel judged, I felt so accepted’.
“Everyone just has a really good laugh and it’s just a nice environment to be around – it’s super friendly and welcoming.”
What’s next for Strong Girls Club?
Strong Girls Club has fostered many friendships, with members often meeting up for runs and coffee outside events.
Eli and Nicole are also launching online exercise classes for the first time.
They are also collaborating with Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (WRASAC) Dundee and Angus to host training days for survivors.
And they intend to expand their running groups down the line, with an option for those who want to run a half marathon.
Strong Girls Club is also challenging the status quo that personal training is a job for men.
Despite their focus on strength and self-belief, the girls say they have struggled to promote themselves in such a male-dominated industry.
It’s mainly a confidence issue, in Nicole’s opinion. “A man could go in a room and he could be so sure that the sky is red, and he would make everyone believe that the sky was red.
“But a woman would be like, ‘Hmm, what do you think it is?’
‘Men just have this kind of confidence around them’
“Men just have this kind of confidence around them.
“I think as women, even just on social media – I’m going on a bit of a tangent here – someone might put up a post and say, ‘Can anyone recommend any coaches?’
“And I know for a fact that me and Elli would never reply to that and say, ‘Me, I’m a coach’.
“Whereas nine times out of 10 – or even 10 times out of 10 – any male coach that has seen that would reply back with the confidence that he was the best coach in the world.
“I think as women, we’re just a little bit more reserved, which is obviously an ‘us’ problem.
“I think the coaching industry is getting a little bit better for females, but it’s still quite hard to find your feet.”
Elli agrees. “I need to get better at being confident in myself and knowing that I am a good personal trainer and fitness coach.
“Because I know I am – it’s just that confidence to actually go out there and say it.”
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