KATIE BULMER-COOKE: If you want it, go and get it!

I’m certainly not the biggest football fan in the city, it’s been ages since I’ve been to the match but I do love seeing the club do well.

Not only that, you can’t beat the buzz it gives the city and how happy a win at the stadium makes everyone, and included in that is my husband, Simon.

He was ecstatic after the Everton game and was still beaming the next day. In fact he was so happy that when he went to a customer’s house in Consett to fit their new boiler, he’d only just stepped foot in the door when the customer said ‘there’s nothing worse than a happy Mackem’, so he must have still been looking extra happy.

In other news, this week I took the first step to starting my new hobby.

It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages and it’s nothing to do with fitness...wait for it (and don’t laugh)...I had my first DJ lesson.

I absolutely love music and as it’s such a big part of the fitness classes I teach I’ve always been fascinated with how tracks are mixed, so I’ve thrown myself outside of my comfort zone in order to learn this brand new skill.

Now of course when you learn something new, you need a good teacher and boy have I got a brilliant teacher.

I’m very fortunate that one of my very good friends is a DJ, in fact he’s an amazing DJ. If you’re familiar with Jive Bunny Records, he is THE bunny and the way he can mix music is off the map, so it’s fair to say I was feeling the pressure to not be completely useless.

As it turned out I did a canny job, so maybe, after some more practicing, you’ll see me on the decks in a local club!

As well as scratching a few beats (I’m still trying to learn the DJ lingo- and getting it badly wrong I expect), I’ve also been across to Northern Ireland to deliver some training for the lovely instructors who teach my fitness programme Good To Glow in Coleraine, Port Stewart and Port Rush.

It was ace to hear now well received the class has been and that it’s developing a really strong following.

It was always a big dream of mine to grow the business internationally and seeing it doing so well in Sunderland and beyond makes me feel dead proud.

I think it just goes to show that shy bairns get nowt and if you don’t give it a go you will never know.

Of course there will be knock backs and hard times, but riding it out and not giving up is well worth all the effort.

I often hear people saying, when they talk about starting a business or doing something new, that they are worried about what other people may think or say about them.

I totally get this, and I used to feel the same until I realised that other people’s opinions won’t pay my bills or help make my dreams come true.

If you want it, go and get it, you can do it!