Bio's

Imagine this: you are estranged from your adoptive mother after a childhood peppered with emotional and physical abuse. After years of tireless searching you are joyfully reunited with your birth mother, only to lose her within months to a tragic and unexpected death.

To top it all you find yourself a single mum to a boisterous and beguiling son whose Asperger’s Syndrome goes undiagnosed for the first five years of his life despite your best efforts. You’re obese, you’re alone and you’re running out of options to create the extraordinary life you want to be able to give your son, complete with all the love, security and opportunity you never had.

What do you do?

Well if your name is Ajay Rochester, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and shed half your body weight. You keep a brave, bold and beautifully human diary of your weight-loss lessons and transform 130kgs of depression, eating disorders and damaging yo-yo diets into a story of such courage, determination and success against all odds that your book Confessions of a Reformed Dieter flies off the shelves.

You become a role model for women everywhere struggling with obesity, wellbeing and self-esteem issues. You establish a thriving member-driven online community called Healthy Body Club, write regular columns for popular magazines, accept channel 10’s invitation to host their flagship television show, THE BIGGEST LOSER…while still finding time to walk the Great Wall of China for charity with none other than Olivia Newton John and lavish your son with all the special care and attention he needs. Phew!

And if all that sounds impressive, you’ll be blown away by the fact that as far as Ajay’s concerned, she’s only just getting into her stride! With a book about raising a child with Asperger’s in the pipeline and a lot of interest in her creative talents from TV bigwigs in the states, Ajay’s star is set to continue its meteoric rise.

But what really makes this chick such a stand-out is her ability to remain grounded, relatable and honest, no matter what. Through inviting early readers of her books to contact her by email and replying personally to as many as possible, Ajay inspired a thriving online community which has blossomed into the hugely successful www.healthybodyclub.com.au - now in its third reincarnation with a brand new website…and a whole new philosophy to help as many women as possible to “Get REAL”.

Ajay is a vocal advocate of positive body images for women and cares passionately about the women whose lives are interwoven with her own through the highs and lows of shared experience. Of creating Healthy Body Club, she says:

“It is a unique space filled with REAL women all working towards and achieving their goals. If you’re having a bad day, log in to find instant inspiration. If having a great day, share it and let us be motivated by your success. Healthy Body Club is women empowering women to be the very best they can be.”

Ajay’s milestones

2004

Loses over 40kg in the first of taking a new, healthy approach and keeps a remarkably brave and honest food diary about her weight-loss journey;

2005

Confessions of a Reformed Dieter is published as a result and becomes an instant bestseller through word of mouth and www.healthybodyclub.com.au is born;

2006

Ajay’s second book The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Losing Weight and Getting Fit is another success and Ajay becomes the host of channel 10’s THE BIGGEST LOSER; Yvette Gent comes on board as Healthy Body Club‘s development partner;

2008

Ajay joins Olivia Newton John and friends to walk the Great Wall of China to raise money for cancer research;

2009

The third phase of www.healthybodyclub.com.au is launched…and now the sky’s the limit so watch this space! :)

After graduating from drama school in 2001 with a flourish, the irrepressible British-born Yvette Gent threw open the doors to her very first business while still a jobbing actress herself.

Setting the tone for all subsequent endeavours, she embodied her uncompromising commitment to “do what I love and love what I do” by creating Key Stage Drama, a school providing professional drama training to disadvantaged children. Still thriving today, the school sees more than 100 boisterous and talented kids through its doors every week in the UK.

In 2005 Yvette emigrated to Australia and stepped straight off the plane into her most challenging role to date: that of taking a start up recruitment company with no brand recognition or client base from zero to over $1 million in personal billings in the first year alone - with no previous experience. Like something out of Working Girl, Yvette skyrocketed from the clueless office actress who thought her computer hard-drive was a footrest, to the company’s most successful shining star, rising rapidly through the ranks and meeting husband Andy Gent en route.

In 2006 Yvette brought her showbiz pizzazz to the corporate world, combining her passion for empowering people with her personal experience and entrepreneurial savvy to establish two highly successful organisations in two very different industries: love* Recruitment - providing office support staff for funky like-minded brands such as Virgin and The Sydney Theatre Company); and the second phase of the Healthy Body Club’s evolution in partnership with Ajay (at that time operating as a solely online support network).

Of connecting with Ajay and becoming involved in Healthy Body Club, Yvette says:

“It is quite literally a dream come true. I used to struggle with yo-yo diets and eating disorders as a teenager. The pressure to look a certain way to get cast when I became an actress only made it worse. I used to hope that something good would someday come out of all the stress and unhappiness I was going through.

“Then I moved to Australia and read Confessions of a Reformed Dieter and something just clicked. I had the same reaction as so many other readers; I felt like Ajay had crawled inside my head and written about my own story of battling weight-gain and negative body image.

“I remember turning to my husband right then and there out of the blue and telling him that I just knew I was going to create something amazing with Ajay (who I’d never even met!) to help other women everywhere feel inspired and empowered. Andy just shook his head but the universe is a magical place we should never underestimate! Within a few weeks and purely by ‘coincidence’ Ajay and I were seated next to one another at a benefit dinner for the Eating Disorders Foundation we both support. We got on like a house on fire…and the rest is history!”

Yvette’s latest business venture is another blend of living, loving, learning and empowering people everywhere to step into their brilliance. In partnership with the talented Australian actress, coach and NIDA graduate Kim Taylor, her new company CREATE LIFE promises to revolutionise corporate life as well as the education system.

After a successful term in office organising educational events for Australia’s brightest business minds, Yvette resigned as Learning Chair from the board of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization in April 2009 to concentrate on evolving Healthy Body Club and getting CREATE LIFE whipped into shape ready to launch in later this year.

Yvette is also developing an exciting new philanthropic venture in Zimbabwe, in partnership with her father Brian (watch this space!).

Yvette’s milestones

2001

Graduates from drama school in the UK and establishes Key Stage Drama while working as a jobbing actress;

2005

Emigrates to Australia and makes her mark on the Sydney corporate scene by going from zero to over $1m billing in less than a year without prior experience;

2006

Starts her own company, love* Recruitment, reads Confessions of a Reformed Dieter and has a vision of working with Ajay;

2006

Sits next to Ajay at a charity fundraiser a few weeks later and partners her in taking www,healthybodyclub.com.au to the next level;

2008

Sits on the board of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization as Learning Chair;

2009

Resigns from EO in order to focus on evolving of www.healthybodyclub.com.au and laying down the foundations for two new ventures, CREATE LIFE and Rebuild Zimbabwe