This episode I speak to my brother Warren Leppan on his journey from Finance to Fitness. Read below as he talks about his story.
I spent the first ten working years of my adult life, focused on achievements awarded by someone else, and in one way or another, building someone else’s dream. I completed a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2010 before joining the Royal Navy as a pilot. Unfortunately politics and budget cuts drew a premature end to that path, and I left in 2014. After an intensive few months of networking, I started with J. P. Morgan in April 2014, where I worked my way to the trading desk with the physical metals team. It was good but it wasn't enough.
With a brother in Sydney, I decided to roll the dice again and take advantage of a working holiday VISA. So I left my job, lined up a few interviews, and booked a one way flight. At the time I saw it as pure luck that one of the interviews developed quickly and turned into an offer before I even touched down in Sydney. I say at the time, because in hindsight, had I spent a few months there, I may have discovered much sooner what I would take another 2 years to fully realise.
I was in Futures & Options with Macquarie bank for just over two years, following the same path I did at the last bank, before it finally hit me: the shattering realisation was that I did not want to wake up in twenty years’ time doing the same thing. The majority of my young adult life having been wasted building an empire for someone else. Not to mention, it was an industry I really couldn't have been less passionate about. I enjoyed the pace and the problem solving, but my life still revolved around physical fitness; a hang-up from my time in the military that was proving hard to move on from.
I didn’t know what I was going to do when I left, but I knew that every second longer I spent in that toxic environment was another second of my life wasted. And so one day I just walked out, without another job, without income, without a plan. I've always been able to swim, in sink or swim situations, and by this age I'd realised that I swim best when it's deep water and there's no land in sight; it brings out the very best in me.
A few weeks after I left, I spent a week trekking for the RUOK charity between Sydney and Canberra. I did it alone, and walked the 300km carrying everything I needed on my back. I raised $6,000 in the process, but in all honesty, the real personal value was in the sense of escapism it provided. The open skies, the silence, the solitude, the perspective. It's a setting you just can't recreate any other way, and if you haven't experienced it ever, I strongly suggest you do at some point in your life. The ultimate prize however, was the plan I returned with - the plan to my passion into my career.
Throughout every part of my life to date, I have always put fitness first and foremost. And I have loved it in all forms; at University in team sports like rugby, basketball and cricket, as well as individual sports like squash and tennis. I’ve loved outdoor fitness in mountaineering, hiking and kayaking, and I’ve loved outdoor trail runs like Tough Mudder and Spartan. And all of this was before the Military. After passing out in December 2011 as a Sub-Lieutenant in Royal Navy, I was able to push it to another level, obtaining my diving license, climbing mountains in the Alps, participating in Field Gun (possibly the world's most dangerous sport) and volunteering for six months of special forces-style survival training. I even did CrossFit... I’d had a taste of leadership whilst at University with various team captain roles but in the Military I began to fully realise my own ability to lead and motivate others through, amongst other things, my love for fitness and my headstrong attitude to any physical challenge.
Fast forward several years, and it is this love and passion I’ve been able to rekindle as a personal trainer and coach. I pride myself on being fortunate enough to really understand what it means to push the human body to its limit. I know first-hand the impact mental strength can have on physical output. And I know that sometimes even the most unassuming individuals are capable of super-human feats - I've seen it happen many times.
As a coach, my military background ensures I know what the body is capable of and I know the influence the mind has on realising that potential, and my first objective is always to help narrow the gap between the two. And aside from the physical side of fitness, I know that 90% of your results will always come from time outside the gym, and it is here that I find investing time and skills as a coach most rewarding. Practical guidance on mindset, nutrition, correct supplementation, as well as a gradual and strategic series of lifestyle changes are what ultimately make the difference, and set my coaching apart.
True leadership is about empowerment, and that's my MO when it comes to training clients.
As your coach, I will be with you every step of the way. We will achieve the success together at first, but it is my goal to empower and enable you to sustain and develop that success thereafter.
That to me, is the true value of coaching.
Follow Warren On Instagram: warrenleppan
Team Page On Instagram: teamleppan
Website: https://www.leppanphysiques.com/
