Born and raised in the Netherlands on a dairy farm near Arnhem, Lianne Tiemens studied “Commercial Design” at The Hogeschool van Arnhem & Nijmegen and completed the Propaedeutic Certificate “Communication Science” at the University of Amsterdam. Lianne worked in various Marketing-Communication and office positions for small ICT businesses as well as Shell, Gemini Consulting and Politie Utrecht.
In 2006 Lianne and her partner, now husband, Martijn moved to Australia. Following an introductory road trip through Australia Martijn and Lianne decided to settle in Sydney. After the birth of their eldest son in 2010 Lianne traded her corporate career at J.P. Morgan for a career in fitness, reigniting her passion for group fitness. Lianne feels strongly about group fitness. Her motto: “fitness is for everybody and every body, the go-hard-go-home method isn’t”. Instead, she strives to work towards everyday greatness with real people and real fitness options. Driven by a desire to connect people through fitness. Inspired by the everyday heroes in her classes.

Group Fitness Instructor
Lianne has been a Group Fitness Instructor since 2001, instructing a large range of formats which include Old Skool Aerobics & Step, Aqua Fitness, Les Mills Body Pump, Basic Training and Active Adults. For the past 9 years Lianne worked for Fitness First Australia. As her fitness career evolved, she presented at FILEX (the leading and most long-standing annual fitness convention in Asia Pacific) in 2019 and was due to present at FILEX 2020. She is an awardee for the 2020 NSW AUSTSWIM WETS Aqua Instructor and received the 2019 Q3 National Group Fitness Instructor of the Quarter Award by Fitness First Australia.

Facebook Live Workouts
During the lockdown in NSW earlier in 2020 Lianne was selected by Fitness First Australia to be part of the Virtual Trainer’s Team to develop and deliver Facebook Live workouts. These workouts plus many others have been recorded and are available on Facebook free for everyone to use. Go to www.facebook.com/FitnessFirstAustralia and search "Lianne" to access these workouts.

Adelaide
In July 2020 Martijn, Lianne and their two sons moved to Adelaide. In Adelaide Lianne continued her work as an in-demand instructor. She was recently appointed as the Group Fitness Coordinator at The Gym Glenelg, whilst she continues to deliver virtual HIIT workouts, runs circuit training sessions from her backyard gym.

Mature Age Fitness Article
​As an advocate for Aqua Fitness, Lianne joined international Aqua Fitness trailblazers in social media campaign H2Ignite. In an effort to promote and encourage fitness at any age, she teamed up with Sydney based Exercise Physiologist Leigh Sherry to write a two-part article about mature age fitness published by the Australian Fitness Network in their quarterly magazine. Contact Lianne, if you want a free copy of the two-part article about Mature Age Fitness.

Contact
​To connect with Lianne - and get free workout inspiration – go to the socials:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lianne_tiemens_group_fitness/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liannetiemensgroupfitness 
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liannetiemens 

Lianne can also be contacted by email: ljatiemens@hotmail.com

​Gerard Berndsen (born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands) and Seshnie Taylor (born in Durban, South Africa, grew up in Ipswich, United Kingdom) arrived in Adelaide in October 2020. Before coming to Australia, they both lived in China for six years.
Their reason to come to Adelaide was thanks to well-considered lifestyle design. Both have enjoyed the hustle and bustle of big cities such as Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London, Ningbo and Shanghai but were happy to settle down. Adelaide is the perfect city for them.
 
Gerard's background
Gerard moved to Shanghai in 2014 to study for a Master Degree in Economics. As a board member of the Dutch Association Shanghai, he coordinated events for up to 450 Dutchies. The events included Sinterklaas and comedy-nights (flying in Guido Weijers and Howard Komproe). As a board member, he also met His Royal Highness King Willem-Alexander in 2016. And he co-organised the political trade mission to China in 2018 with four ministers and 165 organisations. Before he left China, he was the Business Development Manager at the British   DS Smith Packaging. He managed the sales team and various Automotive and Electronics clients.
 
Seshnie's background
Seshnie studied languages (French and Chinese) and obtained a Masters degree in International Relations. Seshnie worked for a global charity in London, after which she decided she wanted more adventure and speak her languages daily. She started her own language tutoring company in Shanghai, providing curriculum and private teachers for hundreds of Chinese students from 3 to 65 years old.
 
Moving to Australia
Seshnie and Gerard left China at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After two weeks of self-quarantining in the Netherlands, they arrived in Australia at the end of February. But they got stuck in Mildura due to the lockdown. This lockdown turned out to be an excellent opportunity to gain new skills and create lifelong family friends.

After the restrictions lifted, they went on a brief road trip in NSW and enjoyed Sydney and other unique places. During this road trip, they confirmed that it was time to settle down in a quieter area with a better lifestyle. They choose Adelaide because the city allows for personal and professional development, while the cost of living and the amount of green is unmatched. And they are still relatively close to their family-friends in Mildura, by Australian standards.
 
Careers
Gerard works for XMPLIFY Technology Services since December 2020 as a Project and Business Manager. XMPLIFY helps organisations integrate and automate Data, Applications, and the Cloud.
 
Seshnie started in February 2021 at Young Change Agents. This not-for-profit promotes social entrepreneurship for 10-to 18-year-olds to help Australian youth see problems as opportunities. The organisation provides youth with the tools to think creatively, build communication skills, and empower them to believe that they are good enough to be entrepreneurs, leaders, and world-changers.

Both Seshnie and Gerard would love to get in touch with you to learn more about like-minded people in Adelaide.
You can contact Gerard and Seshnie via LinkedIn or meet them at the DutchSA Drinks.
linkedin.com/in/gberndsen
linkedin.com/in/seshnie