Eddie Tyquin a primary school teacher, holistic life coach, trained youth mentor and a genuine ray of sunshine! She created Looking for Ladybird, a wellness and motivational program that aims to provide the young, old and everything in between with positive routines and tools that lead to a happy, healthy and self-confident life. We chatted to Eddie about her colourful workshops, her impending motherhood and her favourite Gold Coast restaurant (that knows her order by heart).

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
I moved to the beautiful Gold Coast 3 years ago. I am originally from Brissy and spent a lot of time here growing up. I always knew that I wanted to move to the beach as soon as I finished university. I was in love with the surfing culture and the people that the beach lifestyle attracted.

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
My favourite part about living on the Goldi is being able to surf every morning. I love seeing the Burleigh crew out, cheering each other on waves and referring to 0 waves as ‘donut’.  It’s a great energy out there and something that I love being a part of. The crew has a demographic of 9-year-old groms to 70-year-old men with ‘rash vests’ and bucket hats. The vibe is always great and the best way to start your day! The people that the Gold Coast draws in is truly something magical. Now that I can call myself a local, I feel that the slower pace, calmer people and surf culture has had a unique impact on me and I won’t ever be able to go back to being a city gal!

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am 26, a teacher, soon to be mum (yay), a youth mentor and a holistic life coach! I like to have my hand in a few cookie jars because that’s how my mind works. I am always creating something or working on a new project. I love styling myself and my home and you probably only ever see me in rainbow or something colourful. Fashion has always been my outlet for expressing myself and something that has definitely helped me find my own personality and flare. I struggled as a teenager and since then I have always strived to be in a position where I can lead, inspire and educate young people on the tools for navigating life.

For those who don’t know tell us about Looking for Ladybird?
Looking for Ladybird is a wellness and motivational program. I believe that the key to a happy and successful life is to find the right daily routines that motivate you to get the most out of every day. I like to teach my formula and happiness recipes in the form of one-on-one coaching for teens and adults, community workshops, school workshops and through my new podcast, ‘Does it Come in Rainbow?’, which you can listen to on Spotify!

How did Looking for Ladybird come about?
The program first started as a blog, almost 8 years ago. I started sharing with my community all of the adjustments I was making in my life to help improve my own mental health. I started this because I felt as though there wasn’t a mental health platform that was relatable or had actionable steps for me to take. This has always been a core value of Looking for Ladybird, ‘being relatable and realistic for others.’ By sharing my struggles and then the actionable steps I took to move forward, it acted very quickly as my own personal therapy and in turn started really helping those people around me.

Last year, I decided that I wanted to transition Looking for Ladybird into more than just a blog so I trained to become a youth mentor with Shine from Within and studied to become a holistic life coach through Mind Body Food Institute. I had a dream of hosting colourful and happy workshops for tweens, teens and adults as well as being able to add more mental health exercises into my classroom. There are so many things that I wish I was taught when I was a teenager. At the end of the day, that is my biggest goal; to make a difference to the mental health of our young people.

What is Looking for Ladybird known for and what do you specialise in?
Looking for Ladybird is known for hosting colourful and creative mental health workshops and life-skills classes. I specialise in helping young people create positive routines to help them get the most out of life! Some of the topics we cover are, goal setting, creating a strong morning routine, getting to know your core values, leadership skills, fostering positive friendships, gratitude, nutrition and exercise, building self-confidence and using your brain to your advantage.

The things that I teach tweens and teens are very similar to the things that I teach adults. Learning about mental health and how to care for our brains and bodies is for everyone! The earlier people can install positive routines into their life, the better off they will be! I also love working one-on-one with people because that way we can really work out what is currently blocking them from being the best version of themselves!

What do you love most about running Looking for Ladybird?
What I love most about running Looking for Ladybird is when my clients send me pictures of their morning routine or goals up on their wall. It makes me so happy to see them installing their routines and my teachings into their life straight away.

What should customers expect from Looking for a Ladybird workshops?
Looking for Ladybird workshops are always colourful; the energy is always high and the activities are very hands on. Each individual in my workshops is seen and heard. I like to help each individual personalise their routines to suit their life, their brains and their interests. There is no set formula that will work for everyone so it is really important that I get to know everyone on a personal level so that I can help them individually.

I also don’t like to overcomplicate things so I like to teach my happiness formulas in a way that is fun, creative and memorable. I do however, love data and find people are more trusting when there is scientific-based evidence behind a method (particularly adults). Fortunately, because I am so passionate about mental health, I retain this knowledge very easily and therefore, can share current research with my clients. I believe it is really important to give people the tools but also educate them about their brains and bodies.

The one-on-one coaching works a little differently and is more client driven. Together we unpack any personal blockages and from there we figure out the best methods for moving forward. If you are interested in one-on-one coaching or any of my workshops, please send me an email at [email protected].

What is on the horizon for Looking for Ladybird?
I am having a baby in March which is so exciting! I have already learnt so much from the pregnancy which of course I have been sharing my lessons so far in my podcast… because that’s what I do. I am excited for Looking for Ladybird to transition into things that I have learnt while being a mother and I believe this will bring a whole new audience and network of people for me. I feel a strong connection to the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori so I am doing a lot of learning myself at the moment. I am excited to share these lessons with my community and be able to help a whole new network of people.

What are your Gold Coast favourites…
Café/Coffee spot: Tarte, Burleigh. Their brown sugar, choc chip cookies! I actually went through a phase last week where at 3pm, I NEEDED one of their cookies with my cup of tea. They are perfect.

The Wholefood Pantry- Palm Beach. This is my favourite café to sit at solo and do some work. I order the banana smoothie and toasted banana bread. All of their stuff is made from beautiful, organic ingredients and I don’t know about you but I really feel like I’m kicking life when I sit at an organic café and eat wholesome banana bread.

Borough Café- Burleigh – their acai bowls! I love the Acai Bowls from Borough Café. They put this funky vegan vanilla ice-cream on top which makes breakfast so much more fun!

Restaurant: Montezumas, Burleigh. Me and my partner Drew love Montezuma’s. We get the same thing every time, the lady doesn’t even bother giving us the menu haha! My partner is from California so it is the closest thing to authentic Mexican that you can get! It is SO GOOD.

Rick Shores … you may have heard of it. This year, Drew proposed to me at Rick Shores which makes this place even more special to us now. It’s always a special time when we go there.

Light Years – This one is my fav!!! The eggplant bao buns are my go-to and the vibe is so funky! This is always the spot I choose to have my B’day dinner at.

Bar or place for a drink: Rosella’s in Burleigh has started to become a little tradition of ours. The staff are so lovely and it reminds me of the bars in New York.

Palm Beach Surf Club – if we are catching up with a group of people, the Palm Beach Surf Club is our spot. Prime location and good times!

Beach: Fortunately, I live right next to Burleigh beach so convivence-wise, this is my spot. If I want something a little less hectic, I like finding a quiet zone in Palm Beach.

How do you choose to spend your days off?
If I have a full day off, I like to spend it with myself and take myself on a little date! To be honest, I am always working on something. Even on my days off, I write a to-do list that I like to check off.  I just love projects and ticking boxes! These range from writing (I am working on a number of different books), creating these funky personalised jeans, podcasting, surfing, painting, journaling, cooking and I actually enjoy cleaning and giving my spaces a freshen up (koo-koo).

Keeping yourself fit and healthy has become big business here on the Gold Coast, but you may feel overwhelmed in amongst the swarm of gym-junkies and tricky looking equipment at the chain gyms. There’s something different about entering a smaller studio with regular friendly faces. Being a fitness — and espresso martini — focussed bunch of folks here on the Gold Coast, we have a smorgasbord of fantastic personal studios where you can work up a sweat and get those endorphins flowing. Slip into some lycra and grab your water bottle; here is our take on the intimate studios you need to visit to live your best active life.

Lighten Up
When you enter this Robina-based studio, the intention is set from the beginning: this is your sanctuary and a chance to nurture your body. Thirty-five classes run across the week, and a modest weekly membership fee means making up for all that tequila on the weekend is not only easy but affordable. Once signed up, you can enjoy a selection of reformer and mat pilates, plus yin and flow yoga sessions which give you the chance to completely mix and match the way you break a sweat!
Where: Suite 3, Level 1 Easy T Centre, Robina

Free Living Studio
So much more than just fitness, you’ll find a mindful movement community devoted to health, wellness, yoga, and more at this Palm Beach-based studio. The understanding here is recognising that physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing is all closely connected and each as important as the other. Classes are methodically split under the four pillars of Strength, Burn, Sculpt, and Restore; with a comprehensive schedule of classes and handy membership options, there’s no easier way to get/keep in top physical (and mental) shape.
Where: Shop 1, 32 Brooke Avenue, Palm Beach

Xtend Barre
Located with a leafy outlook on a backstreet of Burleigh Heads, Xtend Barre is the perfect studio if you regularly find yourself around one of the Gold Coast’s most happening suburbs. Workouts have been curated around combining the science of pilates with the dynamics of aerobic dance to thoroughly tone the body and revive the mind. And with the friendliest bunch of instructors you’ve ever come across, it’s little wonder this life-changing workout has been a smash hit with the locals.
Where: 3 Park Avenue, Burleigh Heads

Hustl
By their admission, this ultra-chic studio doesn’t do normal. Located upstairs above the rather epic BSKT café, Hustl is an inspiring minimalistic space with an incredible view over Nobby Beach. What a place to undertake a morning class as the sun rises! Their program cleverly fuses advanced pilates with resistance-based cardio to bring you a workout like no other spread out across two slightly different classes. Suitability is geared towards everyone, fitness fanatic or not. And if you join as a member, you’ll also have access to their sister studio in Byron Bay. (For when the borders open back up!)
Where: 4 Lavarack Drive, Mermaid Beach

Pilates + Co
Starting your fitness journey, or maintaining it, has never been easier than with the team at Pilates + Co. There is a wide selection of classes — with a maximum size of 14 participants — multiple week challenges, and private sessions in place for you to smash your goals and a uber approachable team to make it all happen. Their original location in Burleigh Heads is now joined by a newly opened space in Bundall, and should you find it hard to make it to either of these, they also have a state-of-the-art home workout platform with exclusive videos allowing you to work out on your terms.
Where: Unit 5, 75 West Burleigh Road & Units 8-10, 25 Upton Street, Bundall

Kbod Fitness
Do you love to dance like nobody is watching, but also love the high and good feelings you get from a high-intensity workout? Kbod is touted as Australia’s first dance-based fitness centre and is run by an ex-professional dancer of 24 years. Getting in great shape doesn’t have to be boring — Kbod is the studio where you can achieve a dancer’s physique and have a whole lot of fun along the way. Because the best sort of fitness is the fun type!
Where: Unit 4, 40 Ern Harley Drive, Burleigh Heads 

Words by Alex Mitcheson.

It’s Winter… which usually means it follows with the saying that “Summer bodies are made in Winter”… are we right? Well perhaps not! We recently had the pleasure of getting to know Ash Lane, GC local, Fitness Trainer and Nutritionist, and what we found out about fitness and health is well worth the read. Read on and thank us later!

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
I can’t believe it but it’s been 14 years! My husband and I moved up from Sydney in 2008 and have not looked back since!

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
The people… there’s a much more relaxed vibe that comes with living here that I never found in Sydney among the chaos. When we do return to Sydney we’re blown away by the difference!

Tell us how your successful 12-week program came about.
My business success has 100% come from a combination of my passion and my struggles in my own journey. After spending years going through what I now know to be a typical yoyo binge / restrict cycle – where I would lose weight, only to fall off the wagon and regain the weight. I finally began my journey of further education. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the majority of what social media was telling us we should be doing and how to achieve our dream physique, was not evidence-based (so yes this meant literally most of it was just made up). Things like the 30-minute protein window, and no carbs after 4pm, and fasting for fat loss, and cardio for fat loss and the list goes on! All had absolutely no evidence to back up these claims. Now it’s not easy to find out what’s real and what’s not – unless you go back to the grassroots and start literally reading studies and research papers one by one on each of the topics… which is what I did. Through this process, I was able to discover why so many of the ladies that trained at the cardio class gym that I managed, would lose weight, only to then regain it (myself included). I combined this research with hiring an expert coach, and I had unbelievable success (which included eating more and training less than I ever had).

From there I started coaching ladies that had been exactly where I had been, and were sick and tired of losing weight BUT THEN gaining it all back… I call these ladies ‘BUT THEN’ girls… I lost weight BUT THEN. My tribe of ladies change this to ‘BUT NOW’ girls… I used to lose and regain the same 5kg, 10kg or more, BUT NOW I hit my goal and set a new one! It’s crazy to think that we consider it totally normal to set the same goal over and over! I just want to look how I did during my Bali holiday, or Christmas last year. This is called ‘GROUNDHOG GOAL’. You should be setting a goal, hitting it and setting the next one… Not setting the same goal over and over. Using a mix of this evidence based approach, and showing ladies how to become BUT NOW girls… Very shortly my 1:1 coaching program was full and I was forced to create a group program to run alongside it, which now has over 500 ladies at any one time, going through their very own life-changing process. This group program is called TWA (Train With Ash).

And of course on top of that we have group coaches, other 1:1 coaches and of course I do some very limited 1:1 coaching too! Most of these ladies start by going through my free 5-day challenge, where I give away all of my biggest tips, tricks, hacks and most importantly show them step by step why they are where they are, and why it’s not their fault, and then what they need to do to fix that! I try to give enough information away so that the ladies don’t have to join my paid group. But for the ladies that want a little more support on their journey – that option is there.

What are 5 tips you would recommend to someone looking to be their healthiest self?
1 – Think about what your goal is. Be specific. And then ask whether the track you’re taking is actually the right way to get there. So often I see ladies using cardio for a fat loss goal, which we know while this might be useful short term – it’s not sustainable or scaleable long term, and is one of the main reasons ladies are continuing to start over and over again. AKA – BUT THEN girls.
2 – Place your physical goal first. So if you have a fat loss goal – rather than tackling both fat loss AND nutrition at the same time – let’s tackle the fat loss first. Now often along the way nutrition comes into line too. But attempting to turn your whole life upside down and eating in a way you don’t enjoy can be a big reason for failure. Learn energy balance (macronutrients) and get the process moving first, then let’s tinker with the micronutrients.
3 – Motivation will fade. SO make sure whichever track you take that you’re changing habits as part of the process. Now this doesn’t have to be a huge life change. Even just 1 new habit per month is 12 new habits per year. But that 1 new habit could be the one that keeps you on track when the motivation stops.
4 – Focus on raising the floor rather than the ceiling. Most people plan for their best days… for when everything is going right for them and again motivation is high. But what about your worst days? When everything’s going wrong? And you want to quit? If you can raise the floor just enough to stop you from giving up, then that’s 1000% more valuable than trying to improve on your best day.
5 – Educate yourself. Lots of ladies embark on a journey that has no education involved and where you’re essentially ‘tied’ to that program basically forever (like meal plans for example). What you really want is to be able to do this on your own – and the only way to do that is through education. So hire a coach that you click with and that you trust to help you get there. Don’t be scared that you’re not going to pick the right one – you don’t know what you don’t know and until you try someone you won’t know whether their approach is correct for you.

Can you really eat more but still lose weight – or is this a myth?
As ladies, lots of us have been dieting for years. 5 years, 10 years, some ladies it’s been their whole adult life! I call this group of people ‘lifetime dieters’. It’s a constant cycle of restriction followed by a binge. The length of the diet might vary, but the result is always the same. Binge. Restriction always leads to binge. This constant diet cycle year in, year out, can lead to a downregulation of your metabolism (metabolic adaptation). Which just basically means your metabolism is slower. This is usually where ladies are at in their journey when I work with them. Some ladies wonder whether they’ve broken their metabolism (this is honestly how I felt too). The good news is that no you can’t break your metabolism, and yes you can reverse that metabolic downregulation. Which does mean that over time we’re increasing the amount you can eat and during that process, you’re either maintaining your weight while eating more, or some ladies do lose weight too. This process is called ‘reverse dieting’. And became well known in the bodybuilding community well before the ‘lifestyle training’ community. Most ladies start a new program or challenge in a dieting phase, and often that’s the entirety of the program! Just another diet! If that was going to work then it would have worked by now (yes calorie deficits work – bare with me).

There’s usually a missing piece though. A calorie deficit (diet) is only a part of the puzzle, and it should be the smallest part. Most of the IG models that we might look up to or bikini competitors etc – these ladies, spend the least amount of their year dieting (in a calorie deficit) and the majority of their year either building or maintaining. And that’s where the magic sauce is! It’s not in the diet. Anybody can cut calories in half and lose weight (usually through the latest fad ‘named’ diet – like Keto or Carnivore or Fast 800 or any one of the 1000s of diets that use the same method) but the magic sauce is in the building or maintaining / maingaining phase. This should be step 1. Dieting is step 2. This might sound harsh… But lots of ladies have to earn the right to diet. If you’ve been dieting for most of your adult life – then the solution to fat loss for you isn’t more dieting. It’s time to give your body some love and earn the right to diet.

What meal are you loving at the moment?
I am going to share my fav meals… BUT – it’s important to consider these are my individual favourite meals… They might not be yours. And they don’t have to be! The types of foods we eat should be foods we enjoy. There’s no magic foods when it comes to fat loss. It’s simply total calories in vs calorie out! I hear people talking about bad foods vs good foods and cheat days for example. This is not going to create a good relationship with food. Imagine if we treated our relationship with our partner like we do food? I am just going to have a cheat day from my partner. That doesn’t instill much faith in the relationship. And the same goes with the foods we eat. If you want a good relationship with food, remove the ‘titles’.  There’s no such thing as good foods or bad foods. Unless you have an intolerance, like if you’re lactose intolerant, then yes lactose might not be good for you. But for me it’s fine. Sure – most people could do with more veggies in their life – but if we don’t balance it with both whole foods AND soul foods, then we’re heading down a track of restriction. And restriction ALWAYS leads to a binge (starting to see a pattern here..?) Currently I am loving a simple marinated chicken meal that takes a few minutes to make. I buy a jar of Thai Spicy Satay marinade from Woolworths (brand is Marions Kitchen) mix it with diced chicken, throw in some Jasmine rice and veggies and voila! Dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow!

What does your typical day look like?
Every day is vastly different, as I’m admin, coach, accounting, marketing, etc etc, but this will give you a rough idea.
4-5am: Wake up, get dressed, grab a coffee and go for a Mental Health Walk. This is my favourite way to start the day, the experience of going to the coffee shop and walking up Burleigh Hill to watch the sunrise brings me so much joy to start the day.
6.45 – 7.45 am: I’ll reply to my 1:1 clients private messages that have come in overnight and run through questions in my Train with Ash Facebook group – I call this reactive work.
7.45 – 9am: This is school drop off time (yes school drop-off is just over an hour round trip morning and afternoon)
9 – 12pm: Make a smoothie for brekky & continue on with 1:1 client private messages, Train with Ash Facebook group, Instagram DMs and new client enquiries & emails.
12-12.30pm: Lunch – I’ll either eat leftovers or prepare something new at home.
12.30 – 1.30pm: I will spend 1hr creating content, whether this is for an IG story, an article, or a social media post.
1.30 – 2.45pm: Gym – I train 3 times per week, and 1:30 is my gym time on those days.
2.45 – 4pm: School pick up time.
4-6pm: I’ll do another run-through of 1:1 client messages, Train with Ash Facebook group and if there was any other admin work that needed to be done to close out the day.
6-8:30pm: This is usually dinner and family time, maybe homework with our son, and some downtime too. However, on occasions, depending on the month, the workload will differ and I may dedicate more time here to admin, client replies, programming etc.

Tell us the best piece of advice someone has ever given you and why you consider it the best?
Picking one is hard!! I think that following your passion would have to be it. And that’s because it was a turning point in my life. When I let go of what I ‘should’ do, and started following what I was passionate about, it was so much easier to get out of bed and ‘feel’ like doing whatever I had on my to-do list. I think that the people that are most successful in life (and not just in business, because success can mean different things to everyone) understand their passion and find a way to spend as much time as they can there. Before I ever charged a single client – I gave away everything that I had learnt, for free. And I still do this today (in the 5-day challenge). Because it’s my passion. Find your passion – and follow that road! The rest will work itself out along the way.

What are you looking forward to the most in the next 12 months?
Our next family move! We haven’t revealed just yet what that is (sorry!) but in October this year our whole world is going to be turned upside down and at the same time business will continue as normal (and continue to grow)! Follow my IG if you want to see what this is! Trust me – it’s big!

What are your Gold Coast favourites…
Café/coffee spot: Morning Coffees at Quest Burleigh!
Restaurant: This is hard! There’s so many! Hail Mary, Rick Shores, Light Years. And I can’t miss Pizza Fridays in our house which is usually Dominos Pizza!
Bar or place for a drink: This will be a shock – but I recently discovered a place called ‘The Miami’ that has the best Margaritas on the Gold Coast! Totally unexpected but if you enjoy a Margi then give them a try!
Beach: Burleigh beach – it’s our local and while the sand in my toes isn’t my most favourite thing on earth – walking on the path around the beach is up there!

How do you choose to spend your days off?
With my family! I have a husband and a 9-year-old son. And I read something recently that you only get 18 summers with your children. And that really hit home for me! Especially as half of those have passed already! So when it comes to downtime, it’s going to be with my family and quality time. Honestly, I don’t care where we go or what we do! It could be as simple as walking along the path next to the beach in the afternoon at Burleigh. That family time is my love language and fills my cup!