- As Rowena grew up, her mother, who suffered body dysmorphia, used to always comment negatively about other women’s body shapes
- At 18, she followed a man to Australia but afterthey broke up, she found herself no money, no job and no one to help her
- She slept on the beach and stole scraps, like sausages, from diners’ plates at a cafe
- Realising how people take food and health for granted, she fought to get her life back on track, eventually joinging the fitness industry and building her empire
- To encourage women to focus on exercise for more than just improving their looks, she launched a fitness event that both helps people get healthy and gives back to women with body image issues
- Rowena calderwood, from Burleigh Heads, Qld., shares how she turned her life around…
My mother gripped my hand and brought her lips to my ear.
“Look at that fat woman over there,” she said.
We were in the shopping centre and a stranger was walking past.
I was only five, but Mum made comments like this all the time to me.
She’d suffered with body dysmorphia for as long as I could remember, living mainly on coffee and cigarettes.
-scaled.jpg?resize=380%2C285)
Read more: Divorced and feeling frumpy, I cycled around Australia
Mum was born to a wealthy family in Iran. Her father, my grandfather, served directly under the king and she was brought up in the palace surrounded by riches.
But when the military staged a coup in August 1953, she was forced to flee with her family to the UK.
She met my father at a party, fell in love and then fell pregnant.
Dad was a tradie and Mum had to get used to a very different kind of life from the one she grew up with, and her mental health suffered.
Things weren’t easy at home, and when I was 15, I’d had enough.
I left home and never went back.
I found work at a florist, then at a bar, and lived with friends or boyfriends.
When I was 18, I met an Aussie on his gap year in the UK and travelled back to rural Queensland with him.
After four years together, we broke up.
I found myself on the Gold Coast with no money, no job and no-one to help me.
Sleeping on the beach at night, I’d try to look for work during the day.
I pawned my watch, which gave me enough cash to buy jam and bread. I ate that for several weeks and I used the beach showers to wash.
One day, I was walking past a cafe with outdoor tables and saw that someone had left most of their breakfast on their plate before leaving.
Sidling up, I reached out and grabbed a snag.
As I ate it on the beach, I realised how much people take for granted.
Food is fuel, I thought, and shouldn’t be wasted.
Then, one day, a man approached me on the promenade.
“Looking for work?” he asked.
“Yes!” I said, jumping up excited.
He ran a call centre selling holiday vouchers. He gave me the job and an advance on my salary.
In time, I had enough money to rent an apartment.
I realised I was missing something, though – exercise, so I started going to fitness boot camps.
I’d never worked out before, but I loved how strong I felt and how it cleared my mind.
“You’re really good,” one of the leaders said to me after about six months. “Have you ever thought of becoming a personal trainer?”
“No,” I replied, honestly.
He offered to sponsor me and within a year I’d become a PT. A few more years passed. I bought my first gym with three other people – I was elated!
I sold it after a year and bought another one, this time a Cross Fit gym.
Whenever I asked new clients their goals, they told me it was to lose weight or tone up.
No-one ever seemed to want to fitness and exercise for their mental health or to improve their longevity.
After all I’d been through, I realised I wanted women to focus on something bigger than how they looked.
So, I came up with the idea of a fitness event, where women team up with friends, who may or may not be the same fitness level – so they have something to train for.
I heard about the Butterfly Foundation, which provides support to those with eating disorders and body image issues, and said I would donate proceeds to them.
I called my fitness event The Butterfly Effect, and held my first one in 2016 at my gym.
Two hundred women turned up and it was a huge success.
The next year, the competition sold out in eight hours; and the year after in three minutes!
Something about women coming together to be strong, whatever their size or fitness level, seemed to resonate with almost everyone.
“I never thought I could do this,” one woman said after the competition. She’d never done Cross Fit before and left feeling empowered, as did many others there.
To me, that was what it was all about.
Over the years, we’ve raised thousands of dollars for the Butterfly Foundation.
In 2019, I met Sharm, 34, at my gym.
We’ve since had a precious boy, Gray, and got married in May 2023.
I’m determined to raise Gray to know that his self worth is not determined by what he looks like.
While I’m in contact with my dad, I don’t speak to my mum.
This year, The Butterfly Effect was held in seven locations throughout Australia and the UK, and more than 1500 women took part.
I’m proud to spread the word that women should celebrate their bodies, rather than feel shame about them.
If you need help or advice visit butterfly.org.au or call 1800 33 4673.
