More About Clint

For most of my life, fitness and confidence didn’t come naturally to me.

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I was obese, struggled with motivation and didn’t see myself as someone who was particularly fit or capable.

That started to change when I entered a workplace Biggest Loser style competition. I began at 113kg and finished at 95kg, winning the competition along the way.

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But losing the weight turned out to be only the beginning.

That experience showed me that I was capable of changing far more than I had believed. It eventually led me to becoming a Personal Trainer and moving to Darwin, where I started looking for bigger challenges.

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One of those challenges was running a marathon.

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Training through a Darwin wet season was an experience in itself. Months later, I stood on the starting line of the Gold Coast Marathon and completed the 42.2km in 4 hours and 7 minutes.

I was proud of the physical achievement, but what stayed with me most was what the training did for my confidence.

I had proven to myself that I could do difficult things.

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Over the years, my ideas around health, fitness and coaching have continued to evolve.

I became less interested in exercise simply for the sake of burning calories and more interested in becoming genuinely capable.

That led me towards natural movement, strength, outdoor activities and eventually Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

BJJ has become a big part of my life.

Yes, it keeps me fit and strong. But the biggest benefit for me has probably been confidence.

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You regularly find yourself in uncomfortable situations. You have to stay calm, think, problem-solve, fail, learn and try again.

As someone with suspected ADHD myself, I also love how completely BJJ captures my attention. There is always something happening and always another problem to solve. For some people with diagnosed or suspected ADHD, activities that are engaging, varied and skill-based can be much easier to connect with than traditional exercise.

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It’s one of the reasons I believe so strongly in helping kids find their thing rather than trying to force every child into the same activities.

That philosophy shapes how I coach and mentor.

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I’m much more interested in helping someone become confident and capable than simply making them fitter.

Sometimes that means physical challenges. Sometimes it means getting outdoors. Sometimes it means learning a new skill, working through a fear or simply having someone alongside you who believes you can do it.

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Over the years, I’ve had extensive experience supporting autistic children through one-to-one support, group programs, nature camps, community activities and events.

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Those experiences eventually changed how I saw my role.

I stopped thinking of myself primarily as a Personal Trainer and started thinking of myself as a coach and mentor.

Because people rarely need just one thing.

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They might need encouragement one day, a challenge the next, someone to listen, someone to wrestle with, someone to teach them a skill or simply someone who genuinely enjoys spending time with them.

Outside of work, you’ll usually find me doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, fishing, camping, bushwalking, kayaking, SUPing, four-wheel driving, woodworking, learning bushcraft and primitive skills, traditional bow hunting, reading, climbing trees or watching movies.

My own journey with confidence is still going.

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I’m not always the fittest or leanest version of myself. That matters far less to me now than it once did.

What matters is being physically and mentally capable, continuing to challenge myself and being confident in the person I’ve become.

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That same idea sits at the heart of what I want Autism & Beyond to achieve.

I want us to build a team of passionate people who genuinely connect with children and help them discover something incredibly important:

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I can do this. I am capable.