The Story of One Life

It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment One Life began — because in many ways, the story started long before the name existed.

When I was 18, deep in the rabbit hole of Bodybuilding.com forums, I was just a kid obsessed with learning everything I could about training and nutrition. I didn't know it then, but I was already coaching — not just myself, but friends, family, anyone who'd listen. I loved it. But even more than the training, what I fell in love with was watching people change. Not just physically, but mentally. That moment when someone realises they're capable of more than they thought — that's what hooked me. That's what still drives everything we do.

The Grind

In late 2014, I moved from the Kimberley to Perth with nothing. Zero money, zero connections, one goal. I worked airport shifts from 3am to 8:15am Monday through Saturday, then attended the Australian Institute of Fitness from 9am to 6pm. It was relentless. But it was worth it. By 2015, I was officially a personal trainer — trading under MRPT, Manu Roberts Personal Training.

For the next several years, I balanced training clients with working full-time at a supplement store. Early mornings, late evenings, barely a gap in between. It wasn't glamorous. But every client, every session, every conversation was laying the foundation for something I couldn't fully see yet.

When Everything Stopped

Then COVID hit. The gym closed overnight. The sessions stopped. Everything I'd built around other people's spaces was gone.

Most people waited it out. I bought a van.

That van became the lifeline. Bootcamps in parks. PT sessions in backyards. Gear sourced from garage sales, gym auctions, marketplace listings — piling up in my garage while my partner watched on with a raised eyebrow and quietly had my back anyway. Whatever it took to keep showing up for the people who trusted me. That period taught me something I already knew but finally had to live by — if you want to build something that lasts, you can't do it inside someone else's walls.

One Life was born from that fire.

Building the Team

I knew early on that I couldn't build this alone. The first person I called was Shane — someone I'd crossed paths with eight years earlier in the industry. A random gym run-in, a coffee catch-up, and I told him everything. He listened, then said two words:

"Let's work."

He helped me see the gaps — not in the passion, but in the systems. We started building something real.

Then came Isaac. In his interview, he asked me straight:

"What do you want me for?"

I told him I needed help building my dream. He was in from that day.

We worked side by side — still training clients, still hunting for a space of our own. We walked through more than 20 locations. Some were way out of budget. Others were technically affordable but so rundown they might've collapsed during a burpee. I vividly remember sketching out imaginary floor plans in dusty warehouses — where the racks would go, where the whiteboard would sit, how classes would flow. We were naive in the best possible way. It was all part of the process.

The Phone Call

Then the call came.

A space was available. We had to move fast. It was over budget — way over. But we found a way to make it happen.

We painted the walls ourselves. Installed the equipment ourselves. Got the doors open in two weeks. Sleepless nights, trial and error, more than a few swear words learning to use tools we'd never touched before. But we got it done.

We opened our doors and welcomed our first members into something that was more than a gym. It was the beginning of what we'd always believed was possible.

Where We Are Now

One Life is growing — member numbers at an all-time high, a team we're proud of, and more on the horizon. But the thing I'm most proud of isn't the facility or the numbers. It's what I hear from members when they talk about this place.

"It's more than just a gym to me."

When I hear that, I know we're doing the right thing.

One of our core values came from a word I saw on a friend's gym wall years ago — Shoshin. A Buddhist concept that translates roughly to Beginner's Mind. Stay open. Stay curious. No matter how much you know, there's always more to learn. I was living by it before I even knew the word for it. Now it runs through everything — how we coach, how we develop our team, how we grow.

What's Next

More locations. More impact. More coaches who get to turn their passion into a real career. More members who walk in lost and leave knowing exactly what they're capable of.

But no matter how big we get, the heart stays the same.

One Life is built on the belief that we only get one shot at this. One life to show up, do the work, and become who we're capable of being.

We're here to make sure you don't waste it.

— Manu

Not sure if we're the right fit?

We don't do free trials — because what we offer isn't free to deliver.

Instead, we start with Foundations Week. One week, fully coached, to experience exactly what One Life is about. You'll train with the team, learn the movements, meet the community, and know by the end of it whether this is your place.