But this isn’t a story about becoming a Gladiator, or being thrust into the celebrity spotlight, this is a story of stamina and the realities of growing as a fitness entrepreneur.

Her journey all started at Elmwood College in Fife where she studied a HNC and HND Sports Coaching. On the side of her studies, she secured qualifications in Sports Therapy, Sports Massage and qualified as a Personal Trainer (PT). She was all set to join Applied Sport and Exercise Science at RGU where she later went on to study a master’s in Health Sciences.

Amongst the growing repertoire of skills, she took a keen interest in CrossFit which soon saw her coaching the sport. She combined her back catalogue of passions under one roof through her fitness brand, Sweatbox.

The fitness, CrossFit and rehabilitation facility based in Dundee which proudly supports its clients to embrace its ‘live stronger, live longer’ ethos – an ethos that very much applies to her staff too. Knowing all too well the financial constraints of working as a Personal Trainer, Sheli wanted to not only hire a great team but help her trainers grow prosperous businesses.

She said: “It was important for me not to go all out and hire a huge amount of staff in the early days. What I wanted to create was a space for staff to build financially stable businesses for themselves. If I were to take on 20 trainers, they’d all end up on minimal part-time hours and would need another job on the side.

“Instead, we work with a handful of trainers who all get five or six classes a week in addition to their PT client hours and allowing them to be a full-time coach. That’s the way I always wanted it to be when I was working as PT for local gyms.

“Having reliable staff that I can trust to keep things running when I’m not here is huge for me. It’s been tough finding the right people but I soon learned that no one will fight for your dream harder than yourself and I had a reframe my thinking when I was building my team. Expecting people to go over and above what I would do as a business owner just wasn’t realistic – what was realistic was hiring people who shared the same passion for fitness.

“Everyone brings new ideas, new ways of working and new skills to the table, and for me, that has worked wonders for Sweatbox.”

She started the business in late 2019 as the sole employee and enlisted the support of Personal Trainer come Accountant, Sam McCluskey, as her business partner – a “no brainer” decision she highlighted.

She shared: “Things were getting busy… like overwhelmingly so. Getting Sam in was a no brainer. I could focus on building the gym brand, cover the class programming and teach the classes while Sam covered the numbers, the invoices, the books whilst working with his PT clients too.

“I think that’s been one of my biggest lessons as an entrepreneur, you don’t need to go it alone. Ask for the help and don’t shy away from it.”

On the topic of lessons learned, we spoke in depth about what it means to be an entrepreneur and, the many misconceptions that come with it – one being, making millions working a straight-forward two-hour day with plenty free time to spare.

“Well, that’s just dreaming!”, Sheli quipped. “Sure, when you hit the big time you might be able to revel in your achievements but it all has to start with hard work and long hours.

“When it comes to the work-life balance as an entrepreneur, the truth is, that equal split you’re told you can have, doesn’t exist.

“But what does exist, is understanding that the balance is never going to be fifty-fifty. Do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done whilst still maintaining some level of social life – it’s never going to be equal. Some weeks is maybe 60% work, 40% social, the other may be 95% work – you have to be flexible as an entrepreneur. It’s not about making sacrifices but creating a balance between business and personal that you’re happy with. Framing it that way allows you to enjoy the free time guilt-free and removes the risk of resentment.”

The achievements of the fitness entrepreneur are impressive and with a business going from strength to strength, some would think the lessons have been learned and it’s feet up for Sheli. The reality, there’s still more work to go but not in terms of business building blocks, but personal development. “Cards on the table, I’m a complete control freak,” Sheli confessed.

“A big goal for me this year is working on freeing up my level of control on the day to day running of the business. Everything pretty much ends with me and I want to empower my team to make business decisions on my behalf. Delegating is just telling someone to do something and I don’t like that. I want to empower my team to take on tasks and allowing them to have autonomy over how they get to the end goal.

“Much like our customers, I love to see my team flourish and come into their own. I’m moving through milestones and I want to pass the baton to the team to carry forward for me.”

The passing of the torch may have come at a good time, as Sheli’s already busy world, got busier at the start of the year when she was selected as a Gladiator in the BBC’s revival of the 90s hit show. But the once in a lifetime opportunity almost never happened.

“I ignored what felt like millions of messages on social media, calls and emails because I thought it was a hoax. I just thought it was too good to be true. Then one day, I finally answered a call and it was one of the casting crew at BBC asking me to audition for the show.

“They flew me down to London for a day of 12 fitness tests, interviews and screen tests, it was quite the audition that’s for sure. There were thousands up for the show so I thought it was a longshot me getting through – I progressed through the zoom meetings and follow up calls that came over the weeks after and then silence.

“I sort of put it to the back of my mind. Ironically, I got the call when I was driving a bus full of eight Olympic-grade Scottish weightlifters to a development camp down in Nottingham. I heard ‘You’re a Gladiator’ and I was completely starstruck.

“Before I knew it, I was passing over the reins to the team to keep the business running while I was gone. Filming was over six weeks so I had to get used to not being in control but I knew it was all in good hands.”

So how does it feel to be a Gladiator? For Sheli, it was something she always was thanks to the athletes who starred in the show that she rushed to watch every week. Watching the likes of Jet, Lightning and Scorpio battle every Saturday night was a highlight of her childhood.

“Me and my mum would watch every week and she always championed those strong women. Their presence on the screen showed me that women can do anything and they were my role models - I hope I can inspire some young girls out there too.

“At the end of the day, I am a coach and trainer. Being a Gladiator is just a small part of my story. I had the privilege of meeting Sara Davies from Dragons’ Den during my involvement in Comic Relief and she gave me solid advice that it’s business first and celebrity second.

“The work I have put in to be the athlete I am today is the reason I’m on Gladiators. Anything that comes after in terms of television opportunities is just the cherry on the top of the cake. Being a celebrity won’t fulfil me, but helping others and making sure that I leave them better than I found them, will. It’s the greatest privilege of all.”