Shivani Gupta

Hello everybody and welcome to the AskShivani Podcast. I'm so excited to have Sam Mathers here. I had an opportunity to meet Sam on a wellness retreat for a better word last year where we were doing ice baths and all sorts of interesting crazy stuff. But, let me tell you a little bit about her before we dive into some questions with her. She was always pretty active as a child. She is now a mom herself to two daughters. And one of the things she wanted to do was consciously create and be a role model. So that she can raise her daughter's, but also help a whole heap of other people around their self-image, their confidence, setting goals and being healthy and fit. And she is the business owner of Fitter Futures, which we'll find out about more. There is a very large CV in all the different things that Sam has done, but I think we will just dive into the questions with her in a moment. Welcome, Sam.

Samantha Mathers

Thank you for having me, Shivani. I'm chuffed to be here.

Shivani Gupta

Oh, I'm so excited that you were able to come on. And so, Sam, you've got all these different things that you've done. So, it's not about a recap of just everything that you've done. But the first thing that I'm always really interested in is what has been some of your highs and lows in your life, to get you to where you are today to get you to these transformational moments today. So, tell us a bit about you. And about that journey and all the amazing and the rubbish stuff that gets you to where you are today. So, we just have a bit more insight into you.

Samantha Mathers

Yeah, sure. I think I've had, I guess, three changes of career in in my time so far. So, I started out as a corporate lawyer went into management consulting now, I'm you know, owning Fitter Futures. I think, you know, if you talk about highs and lows, I've had a pretty blessed life, like I had a great family life and really supportive parents. But if I think back even to some of those formative years in high school, you know, I had some pretty rough years where, you know, I guess there was a bit of bullying going on, and things like that. And I look back at that time now and think that, you know, I was probably in grade nine or 10 at the time. And I think I learned a lot actually in those years without realizing it about resilience and, you know, being bit tough. And, you know, I was lucky, I had parents who were really supportive with that, and a bit of tough love from them as well. So, I think that kind of like, really shaped me a bit as an adult. And then I guess, you know, in terms of highs and lows, there's always that sort of, I guess, the fear of the unknown, when you're, when you're contemplating a career change, or something like that, where you have that some of those doubts around, you know, Can I do it? Am I good enough? Will I be able to sort of, you know, will I be successful, you know, turning your back on something that you've done for a really long time, and that you're really good at, to try and to pursue something else is, you know, takes a bit of courage, I think, and I guess what I've learned from that more than anything, is that you've really got to back yourself.

And even when other people maybe might have some doubts, from or from like, a, you know, coming from a good place, whether it's your parents or your family or whatever, saying, oh you know, is that a good idea? Like, you've worked so hard to get to where you are? You know, I think you've really got to listen to your gut. And, and I guess, you know, having those career changes a few times has proved to me that, if you if you really believe in what you're doing, and that it's the right decision for you. It doesn't mean it will be easy. But if you're if you're determined, and you're driven, and you're prepared to sort of put in the work, then that as possible.

Shivani Gupta

Amazing, that's amazing. And so, I'm so sad when, you know, like one of the things I'm really fascinated about is when challenges come your way, right? And sometimes people have like a process or a system or a ritual, some people bury their head in the sand, like, do you have like when stuff comes at you? And I know now you're running your own business. And you you're a mom, and you're doing a lot of stuff in the community. So, when they come like how do you go about working through them? But what's your process or ritual or plan of attack?

Samantha Mathers

Yeah, I think it's a good question. And I think my answer will be different depending on which environment I'm in where that challenge comes from. So I guess from a personality point of view, sometimes I can be a bit reactive, you know, and sort of I can be spontaneous with different things and certainly, if we're talking about a challenge that comes up in the home with family or you know, frustration with whether it's your kids or, or other things then you know, I Have to be careful not to just sort of have that knee jerk reaction. I absolutely don't behave that way when I'm in a professional context. And if anything, I think also being a lawyer too, gives you some really good skills around how to handle pressure. And you know how to solve problems and kind of work through in a quite and analytical kind of way. So, yeah, I guess it's probably, it's not a straight answer, because you know, depends on a few factors.

But I have, I guess, people I'd call my trusted advisors, and people close to me who if I need to sort of talk through a problem or a challenge, I'll do that - my husband is probably my number one, or he is my number one, on that sort of thing. And he's a really good listener. And can provide a different context and a different, you know, just a different perspective, which I respect, and I listened to. And, yeah, I think, you know, sometimes you just have to take a few deep breaths. And I have been a few positions where I've kind of written an email response to them thought night, now's not the right time to send that I need to just give myself a bit of time to cool off or come back to that in a few hours and see if it's still, you know, if it still resonates or whatever.

And I guess the other thing too is with challenge from a business point of view, I'm just really conscious that me being the leader in the business, when those challenges come up, and COVID was a really good example of that. Your team looks to you for the answers, and you've got to front up and be there and, you know, reassure them that everything's okay, even if behind closed doors, you sort of you know, it's a different story, you might be sort of, you know, treading water frantically, but I think it's really important for the people who depend on you to have that calm, cool head about you, and to have a plan. So COVID was probably, you know, with closures and things like that was a very stressful time for us. And, I had a team of seven people, and they, you know, only one of them qualify for job keeper. So, I felt pressure to look after them as well. And so, it was pretty much about formulating a plan and reassuring people that we've got this, and this is what we're going to do. And I think that's just people need that in those kinds of situations they need that sort of reassurance. And to know that, you know, someone's steering the ship.

Shivani Gupta

Yeah, absolutely. And it's a whole new ballgame isn't? talking about COVID, one of the things you speak about Sam, is your exercise is your mental health plan. Can you dive into that a bit more and talk about how that works for you? And obviously, you are teaching a whole heap of other people? You know, we've been talking more and more about mental wellness and tips and strategies on this podcast. So, I'd love to hear your personal stuff. When you say, you know, I know, you wrote a comment to me saying, my exercise is my mental health plan. How do you do that for you, but also then for others as well?

Samantha Mathers

Yeah, absolutely. Look, I've been fortunate in that exercise has been part just a lifestyle for me from a very young age. So, you know, I lived it, I played all sorts of sports and was busy every day of the week. And that's just the way life was and then stayed active through my teenage years. And as an adult, I say, it's my mental health plan. Because, you know, the main reason for me to sort of find that time every day to move is because of how it makes me feel, and I feel I'm happier, I cope with the stress better. Even my kids know, I'm a much nicer person to be around after I've trained. So, they don't, don't question anymore. If I'm sort of taking time out to go and you know, exercise, I've got a space at home or if I'm going to the gym. No one asked to ask because everybody knows that it's, you know, it's important to me.

And I think that's, you know, one thing I feel most proud of Fitter Futures is that being able to pass that on to other people, whether I'm talking about a teenager or whether it's an adult, helping people understand that connection between body and mind and how, you know, if you look after yourself, from an exercise health point of view that everything else feels becomes easier. And you feel better for it. So I think probably one of my favorite moments, I guess, was when I was talking to a mom who had a 15 year old boy and he just missed out on being picked in a rugby team he really wanted to play in and he was also having a rough time at you know, at the time as well with depression, which the family didn't actually know about, but he was sort of struggling. And he you know, he had this disappointment missing out on the team and his mom picked him up from school and said, you know, - Do you want to just go home? He said, no, I want to go to see the Fitter Futures because I now feel better after I've trained. And I, to me, that's like, the best gift that I can give someone is for them to understand. And even better if they make that connection when they're, you know, as a teenager or younger. That, you know, my mood will be better. I'll feel happier. Things won't feel so bad. After I've moved my body, so yeah. So important.

Shivani Gupta

Yeah, that's a beautiful example, isn't it. And unfortunately, with some of the statistics, which are pretty horrifying, knowing I've got one teenager and one about to become a teenager, and the youth suicide continuing to rise in our country, it's pretty quiet sad. And so, I think the fact that a 15-year-old can make that connection and, you know, almost help him snap out of that. That is incredible. And so, what about you, what are your some of your future aspirations, and they may be business related, they may be personal related, they may be family related, or as a lot of people I'm speaking to at the moment they have been travel related. So, tell us a bit about your future aspirations, you know, and year out or 10 years out? What sort of things do you want to do in the next few years?

Samantha Mathers

Yeah, well, I love travel. I love skiing. So, I'm looking forward to getting back to that at the end of this year with my family, that's kind of my happy place. bigger picture stuff, like I think, you know, I really kind of just want to, I guess, leave a bit of a legacy, I want to feel like I made a difference doing this what I'm doing. And that's the main reason I left the world of corporate and started doing this because I, I wanted to continue to make an impact. On a more fun level, I was lucky enough to go Heli skiing about five years ago. And I met this lady who was skiing with us, and she was in her 70s. And she was backing up day after day, and she was fit as a fiddle. And she was full life. And I was like, I just want to be like you when I grow up. Like her name was Elaine.

So that's the kind of future I want to have, my kids tell me that they think I'm kidding when I say I want to do cartwheels and handstands when I'm a grandmother, but I'm actually not kidding. Like, I do still want to be able to do those things. But yeah, from a business point of view, you know, we've got big, big plans for growth. And it's all I think the 2032 Olympics coming to Brisbane is really exciting. And I'm looking forward to sort of being part of that journey for a lot of kids who've got aspirations to do that. But I just think that sounds like a pretty good time to sort of, maybe switch gears for me and exit the business I'm in and, you know, hopefully help some other people, you know, have some success in their business. And, yes, sit back a bit and enjoy. Yeah, enjoy life.

Shivani Gupta

That's amazing. That's awesome. I love that example of Elaine; she sounds like a trooper in her 70s. And being able to do that, and it's good when you come across people like that, particularly when you love skiing, as you said to be able to have that sort of role model. That's awesome. And, and separate apart. Like, do you have philosophies, obviously, different people have different philosophies? Do you have life philosophies, leadership philosophies, things that you kind of live by, that are really become part of your values? And who you are? If so, what are they? tell us a bit about them?

Samantha Mathers

Yeah, I guess from a values point of view, personal integrity is something that's for me, it's just a nonnegotiable kind of thing. It's, you know, probably the most important thing to me. That sort of trumps everything. But in terms of like, from a leadership point of view, I think, you know, I've always believed, I guess, I saw a lot of this in my consulting world where the team wasn't right, they didn't have the right people in the team. And so, when we started for Fitter Futures, I knew from that get go, that having the right team was paramount. So, I'm a big believer that you can't do things on your own, you're only as good as your team. And you've got to look after your team. So, I guess that's a big one. Another one, I think, I guess I've always had a bit of that high achiever sort of streak in me even at school, so I don't really tolerate mediocrity very well, I have highest expectations of myself, and I guess with my team and around how we do things. So, I'm always a big believer if you're going to do something, do it, well, don't have to do it. So that's probably another, I guess, another thing that I live by.

And I think the other one too, is just about owning, you know, just owning your mistakes and you know that the buck stops with me. So, I think if something's not working for you, whether it's in your personal life or in your business life or whatever, nothing's gonna change unless you do something about it. And so, if something goes wrong at work and you know, mistakes happen, I'm the first person - I'll look to me say - Well, is there something I could have done better or differently to sort of stop to prevent that from happening? Maybe I didn't communicate it as well, maybe we don't have a system maybe, you know, but I think, that goes for anything in your life, if you're not happy with what's going on, whether the way you feel or the environment you're in or whatever, then it's up to you to do something about it. So yeah, I think that's something I'm trying to get my kids to understand, too. I've got a teenager who likes to, it's everybody else's fault when we can't find things in the morning or whatever. And I'm trying to sort of like, run that home to them. Because I think it's really important that they grow up understanding to that. You can't blame other people for you know, your circumstances. If it's not, if you're not happy about it, it's up to you.

Shivani Gupta

Yeah, that's amazing, isn't it? I think that's almost three lessons for teenagers around that, having one as well. And then you talked a bit about exercise being so important, almost like your mental health plan, you're obviously pretty dedicated to it yourself, you obviously teach that and help others along with it. So, are there things like other rituals you have for the wellness and mental or emotional and physical? What are some of the things you might do daily or weekly or yearly? Like? What are some of those rituals? Tell us about those for you.

Samantha Mathers

So, my week is always different week to week. So, I have to look at my schedule every week and figure out when am I going to find the time to fit it in. So, it's not like I can just rely on being able to do some stuff at the same time every day. So, I guess the ritual for me is probably the night before, I'm looking at my calendar to figure out when will I have time to train tomorrow?

Like where do I fit it in? And I treat that as pretty sacred time. So, if someone would have asked me to meet with them, or something at that time, I'm just not available. So, if that's about making time for the things that's important to me, I'm also very conscious that I'm not very good at switching off in terms of mentally with work, and especially owning your own business. I feel like those lines are really work around separation of family time and work time. And that's something I'd like to get better at.

But I do know that there are some things like I really enjoy - saunas, so we've got an infrared sauna. So, I'll try and get into that a couple of times a week, or more, if I can I find, I've made myself a rule that I'm not allowed to do any work in there that it's that's, you know, chill out time. So, I might listen to podcasts or put some music on but that's, that's something that I do to help sort of, like, down regulate my sort of nervous system and just decompress a bit. And, yeah, I think it's you know, they're probably my two biggest rituals, but I am trying to sort of work on some skills around, you know, feeling like I'm not getting pulled in all directions each day that I'm in a lot more control of where I'm spending my energy and what I'm sort of getting what I'm achieving in a day.

And I feel a little less, what's the right word - chaotic, because of that, like, I feel like I've sort of got back a bit more control of that, which is nice. But I do have, I did a bit of goal setting at the start of the year, and I read a book and it was like they pointed out that we often make business goals. We all have annual plans for our business, but not we don't always have annual plans for ourselves. And I thought I that's true of me. So, I sat down and wrote out what my five priorities are for the year and only two of them were related to my business and the other three were not business related at all. So, it was one of them was about having more fun. So, I felt I felt like the last few years has been all work and no play and I thought I need to change that. So, I'm finding finer to my week and making time for that whether that's catching up with girlfriends or taking myself to the movies a few times by myself, whatever. And the other one is just trying to be more present when I'm with my kids and with my family. And my friends for that matter. I found myself a few times over the last couple of years being at a dinner or whether it's family dinner or dinner with friends and really not being present. You know, you're sort of just you're thinking about something else. And I found myself talking about work a lot and I thought that's not good. I need to be talking about other things.

Shivani Gupta

That's really interesting, just being able to go, you know, that's kind of almost that feedback that comes from other people or myself going, wow - Okay, I just seem to be speaking about one topic here. In terms of, you know, what you do. So, you have quite a few interesting rituals, you know, like in terms of, I just love the idea of going off to the movies by yourself, because I know, I wanted to see a movie last week that nobody had any interest in saying, and I was like, I should just take off by myself and just go and watch it. So, I love that I might adopt that out of our conversation today occasionally.

Samantha Mathers

I'm happy to come with you.

Shivani Gupta

Two people that are gonna go to the movies, we can almost see the part if we needed to right.

Yeah, Sam, if people want to find out, one thing I want you to tell me is your vision for Fitter Futures. I love that when I first met you, can you just talk about a bit of vision for that, and then we'll talk about how people can contact you.

Samantha Mathers

Yeah, so I guess, I mean, I can see the impact that we're making. On the people who we coach, my vision is to make that more accessible to more people in more places, and we've only got one location interrelate at the moment. So, the vision is to have a bigger footprint, that could look in a number of different ways. But essentially, you know, Fitter Futures being in a lot of different places. So that and you know, to be the sort of to be known, as you know, the experts, I guess, when it comes especially in the youth space, around new fitness, and it's not about, it's not just about helping kids who are athletic kids succeed, we help a lot of people from very different backgrounds, some who've never set foot in a gym before, kids who don't like team sports, kids who are really struggling with self-confidence, body image, all sorts of things. And, we have like, just amazing success with turning that around. And that has a beautiful ripple effect in other parts of their life. So that kind of stuff, really, I love the physical stuff that we do, like, yes, we get people fitter and stronger. But the stuff that really lights me off is when I see the transformation up here, and people realize that - hey, I feel so much better. And now I can do these things I couldn't do before. And I never thought I'd be able to do that, then they have this whole new perspective on life and what's possible. And, you know, we talk about, we just want you to be able to live your best life, we don't want your body to be an inhibitor to that if you want to go and try and I speaking to someone today whose husband tried snowboarding for the first time ever, in his 50s on the weekend, and he would never, he would never have done that. If he hadn't been training with us last year. So that sort of stuff is really cool. And I just think everybody deserves to live their best life and we can help people do that.

Shivani Gupta

That's awesome, Sam, and how do people contact you and find out about more of your views and thoughts? You know, Fitter Futures? Where can they find you?

Samantha Mathers

Yeah, sure. So, we have a website which is https://fitterfutures.com.au/ and you can always email me as well I’m [email protected] and yeah, I've got a mobile number too, happy to put it in the notes there Shivani. So, yeah very happy to have a chat to anybody about any of this sort of stuff. And if we can help then, fantastic.

Shivani Gupta

That is awesome. It's been so fantastic having you on. Thank you.

Samantha Mathers

Thank you very much. See ya!