my journey

What I've Been Through Made Me Who I Am

I was plant-based from birth, raised in a vegetarian household on Tamborine Mountain. From BMX and being the chubby kid at school, to exercise science, gym ownership and five years as a vegan, that journey shaped who I am and how I coach.

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How it unfolded

Age 7

Plant-based from birth, BMX every afternoon

I was raised vegetarian from birth on Tamborine Mountain, so plant-based food was part of normal life well before it became part of my work. I rode my bike to school and spent my afternoons on BMX. I was active, but I was also the chubby kid, which taught me early how people treat you based on your looks.

Shannon as a kid wearing a blue helmet and orange BMX jersey

plant-based from birth up and down hills early active lifestyle

Teens

BMX became a proper part of my identity

By 17 I was riding semi-professionally and getting paid to travel around Australia. The crew around me was very into sport and discipline, and around that time I also got pulled into church and youth group. That period gave me structure, but it also sparked a deeper curiosity about who I am and what we are all doing here. That curiosity later led me to study neuroscience and the brain in depth.

Shannon riding a BMX bike at an event while a speaker addresses the crowd

semi-pro BMX travel around Australia community and structure

Reset

Injuries forced a different path

I broke both knees, my elbow, my ankle, and fractured my skull in a bad crash. After that, I had to step back and work out what I actually wanted my long-term relationship with training to look like.

hard reset injury recovery new path

Age 22

Exercise science gave me the why

I went to university because I wanted to understand how training works, how it helps aging and strength, and how to build a lean body properly. That was the point where exercise stopped being just something I did and became something I wanted to understand.

exercise science strength and aging the why behind training

Melbourne

PT years, then a gym of my own

After uni I moved to Melbourne, became a personal trainer, and eventually owned my own weight-training studio in Hampton for about 8 years. I lived above the studio, ran classes all day, and learned a lot from training, coaching, and the people I trained with.

Shannon standing with a group of training partners inside his gym

personal trainer gym owner hands-on coaching

Professionals

Training with professionals changed how I see the body

I trained with an osteo once a week for 8 years after my knee injuries, and he taught me how to rehabilitate properly instead of just pushing through pain. He helped me see the body as one connected system, not a bunch of separate muscle bellies, and drilled into the role of the core, the glutes, and the centre of balance. He also helped me filter out a lot of the garbage online and combine exercise science with real training experience in a way that made the body make sense.

rehab done right whole-body training filtering the noise

Behaviour

Understanding behaviour

After working with clients for so long, I wanted to understand behaviour change more deeply and to see what neuroscience actually says about it. Studying the free energy principle gave me a stronger appreciation for how much our experiences and environments shape the way we think, act, and respond. It also reinforced something I see in coaching every day: people are far more likely to change when they have the right coach, the right community, and the right environment around them. To me, motivation is shaped far more by lived experience than by willpower alone.

behaviour change neuroscience community matters

Now

Back on the Gold Coast, running Balance

After moving back to Queensland I built Balance, first as a tool for myself and then as something other people could use too. The core idea is simple: if the environment is set up right, people do not have to fight themselves all day. That is why I care so much about systems, consistency, and making the healthy choice easier to repeat.

Shannon smiling beside his laptop while running Balance on the Gold Coast

environment over willpower Balance app systems and habits

I don't think change is about trying harder. I think it's about placing yourself in the right environment and surrounding yourself with the right people. That's the whole point of Balance, and it guides my coaching every day.

It is the same principle behind Balance, both in the app and in my coaching.

what i care about now

Designing environments that help people thrive.
Plant-based and vegetarian support that feels practical in real life.
Technique and comeback work for people rebuilding confidence.