New beginnings
Yvonne Wake was the master of reinvention, long before portfolio careers became ‘a thing’
From teaching dance to running a kids’ summer school, managing a gym and lecturing in nutrition, I’ve racked up quite the CV. My first foray into the world of work was a Saturday job waitressing at Joe Lyons in Hackney, which was fun, even if balancing trays was not my forte. I didn’t start out with big plans, but somehow I ended up a career chameleon. I married a Frenchman at 25, and lived in Paris, doing various jobs, including teaching swimming and English to children. But not long after having a baby, I realised my thenhusband and I wanted different things. He had a very traditional view of what a woman ‘should’ do – stay at home, cook and clean. I wasn’t made like that. So in 1980, I returned to London, moved in with my mum, and started life as a single parent.
I’d always enjoyed exercise and loved to be active, so I started going to dance classes. Before long, I had become completely hooked on the whole concept of movement to music. Back then, the aerobics boom was just beginning – it was an exciting new concept. One day, I remember having such a feeling of euphoria after doing a class that I realised I wanted to teach others and help them feel the joy I’d felt.
1981
A friend told me about a course in Los Angeles where you could learn to be an aerobics teacher (at the time, there were none in the UK), and I jumped at the chance to go. It meant leaving my son, who was then two years old, with my sister for two weeks – it was a huge wrench, but I knew it was something I had to do. So I flew out and completed the aerobics training programme under Jane Fonda, the fabulous game changer who opened up the world of fitness to women.
1984
I arrived back in London and burst onto the scene with my aerobic classes at Pineapple Studios and The Dance Centre in Covent Garden. People would come from all over the country to attend my masterclasses – it was one of the happiest periods of my life. I felt that I had found my calling. Three years later, in 1984, I opened and ran the first women-only health club in the world – The Gym at The Sanctuary in Covent Garden. It was a bold move, as I didn’t have any managerial experience, but I booked myself on a short workshop for managers and listened to lots of motivational speakers, which helped give me confidence. It was all about learning on the job – fortunately it was a big success. I ran the gym for 10 years before opening a second women-only club in Kensington, The Phillimore Club.
Changing course
By then I’d married again and had two daughters. That’s when, aged 38, I did something completely different, opening a summer school for three to 12 yearolds in Lo
