Health and fitness has always been a big part of Ben’s life.
Ben was born with a condition called rod monochromatism, a rare hereditary condition impacting the finer details of his vision.
As a result, Ben’s development of his fine motor skills was delayed. However, this didn’t impact his love of sports or physical activity, and from a young age he knew a career in this field would suit him.
“Going through school I always knew I’d end up in some sort of sport and recreation work, it just seems to fit my personality,” Ben said.
After finishing school, Ben studied to be a personal trainer but found working in the field didn’t give him the satisfaction he thought it would.
“I found I was not as stimulated as I thought I would be working with the general population,” he said.
Along with his work as a personal trainer, Ben also kept himself busy with a range of sports and represented Australia athletics, goalball and cycling all by the age of 25.
It was around this age that Ben suffered further nerve damage in his eyes, leaving him with just three per cent vision.
Following the deterioration of his vision, Ben spent an extended period of time working in sports development roles, including in the disability sport sector.
“I saw a need for a better understanding for people with disability in the personal training, sport and recreation sphere.
“That motivation got me back into the PT field and reignited that flame to work directly with people to achieve goals on a day-to-day basis.”
Ben established Progresiv, which specialises in providing expertise in health, fitness and community access through personal training and mentoring for people with disability.
Now fully motivated in his chosen field, Ben feels he’s in a position to help other people with disability reach their physical goals.
“I’ve always been super motivated, I felt I got the most reward through assisting others.
“When I started my business last year, it was an accumulation of everything up to that point to realise what it would take to make a model that helps people and how can I best communicate key message of health and fitness.
“I love getting the best out of people so they can live to the best of their abilities and follow their passions.”
If you would like to reach out to Ben, he can be found at his website. For more information about how Vision Australia can assist you in achieving your goals, please click HERE.