Health Hero: Rowie Schulz

For most Australians, ‘working out’ in temperatures higher than 40°C means lifting an arm out of the backyard pool to swat flies. For Rowie Schulz and the residents of Alice Springs in the dusty red heart of the Northern Territory, it means exercise as usual. A 48-year-old single mum, Rowie has spent the past 20 years making the health and fitness of the Alice her business.

After surviving a debilitating car accident at the age of 28, Rowie’s doctors told her she’d be in a wheelchair by 30, so she became a group fitness instructor instead. Ten years later, she runs her own gym, Essential Fitness, with a small and loyal staff that includes her two daughters. To keep her business going, Rowie has to work a second job. The gym is a labour of love; she insists that it remain available to the people who need it—mainly women and older residents. “Most of us in this town have been transplanted here,” she says, “so we have very little family nearby. It’s important to have a sense of community. That’s what our gym can give; the people here feel like family. At times, I’ve thought, I can’t do this anymore, then someone will tell me what a difference we’ve made to their life, and I realise that there are people who’d be devastated if we closed.”

For her efforts in the community, Rowie has been nominated in the 2010 Telstra Business Women’s Awards. meet her and other inspiring women at telstrabusinesswomensawards.com.