Beats, Plates and Baby Bottles: Jamie Anne Bradbury on Sport, Soundtracks and Saying Yes
This is Jamie’s story of graft, music, motherhood, food, sport - and the courage to keep showing up.
Some stories are built on perfect timing.
Jamie Anne Bradbury’s is built on saying yes before she felt ready.
UK and worldwide DJ for 14 years with residencies at Manchester City and Manchester City Women, Founder of Fit Food Media, personal trainer of 8 years, and now, mum to baby Hallie - Jamie’s life looks like chaos on paper.
But underneath it all is something simple, steady and very Not There Yet:
“If you give it 100%, you can never regret it. And if you mess it up, you mess it up. But
you’ll regret not trying.”
Growing Up on Sport and Self-Employment
Jamie grew up in a house where sport was practically a second religion.
“If there was a game on TV, my dad would be standing watching it.”
Sport was everywhere - football, Match of the Day, swimming, school teams - and so was self-employment. Her dad, always present, always available, shaped how she imagined her future:
- Freedom over rigid hours
- Flexibility over routine
- Family-first living
So after a sports psychology degree, she decided to become a personal trainer. Reality hit fast:
“I earned thirty quid in my first month and thought - shit, this is harder than I thought.”
No business plan. No strategy. Just a qualification and rent to pay.
So she built her early career the only way she knew how:
Saying yes to everything.
Sessions. Opportunities. Odd jobs. Quiet mornings. Busy evenings. Anything.
And slowly, it worked. Her client base grew. Her confidence grew. And something else started growing too - a deep love of food.
Fit Food Media: When Food Became a Business
Before TikTok cooking hacks and Instagram recipe reels, Jamie’s clients were asking her constantly:
- “What do you eat?”
- “Can you send me a recipe?”
So she started writing them. First for clients, then for PureGym, then for MuscleFood.
“There were no influencers back then. No TikTok. So I just thought - I’ll make recipes myself.”
When a gym unit near her house closed down around lockdown, she and her dad saw potential. Not a loss - a kitchen studio.
They turned it into Fit Food Media Studio: a huge, prop-filled space for food content creators and brands.
“We couldn’t get studios when we needed them. So we built our own.”
It wasn’t perfect (no heating - Northern problems), but it opened a new lane in her business. A lane built on creativity, practicality and saying yes again.
Leaving the Gym: The Scariest “Yes”
Before lockdown, Jamie was training 30 clients a week in a commercial gym, paying £700 a month in rent.
“I was knackered. Up at 6am, still working at 6pm, and not making enough.”
When everything moved online, she realised:
- Clients still trained well on Zoom
- She still got results
- She no longer relied on gym rent
So she made a huge decision:
“I’d been at that gym eight years, but I just thought - let’s rip the plaster off.”
She left.
It gave her time back, money back, and space for Fit Food Media and DJing to grow. The “big, risky leap” was actually a return to freedom.
From Dissertation Avoidance to DJing Wembley
DJing wasn’t a side hobby - it was born out of frustration with a dissertation.
Jamie loved the nightlife, the build of music, the way a good tune could lift an entire room. She also noticed one thing:
“It was always male DJs. There were no girls doing it. And that just made me want to do it more.”
Her parents weren’t keen.
Their idea of DJing: drugs, chaos, danger.
Her response? Take the train and do the DJ course anyway.
She saved for lessons, booked DJ school… and the teacher cancelled.
So she found another one - in Manchester.
That’s where she met Mark, her now-husband and fellow DJ.
From there:
- She said yes to every gig
- Some gigs were brilliant
- Some were awful
- Some paid well
- Some didn’t pay at all
“I’d be so nervous I’d nearly be sick before a gig. But I’d do it anyway.”
One opportunity changed everything: a DJ friend couldn’t make a Manchester City hospitality gig. Jamie covered.
They kept asking her back.
And then came the big ones:
“The Champions League Final in Istanbul with Man City. Wembley with the Lionesses.
Those moments feel surreal.”
Behind the scenes, it’s hours of prep, testing tracks, creating mashups, curating the atmosphere.
Because music isn’t background noise at these events - it’s the emotional engine.
Keeping Up With Content: Riding the Social Media Wave
Jamie has watched content creation go from a novelty to a necessity.
“Things change so quick now - the sounds, the trends, the style. You’ve got two seconds before people scroll.”
For clients who plan months in advance, that’s difficult. So she pivoted:
- More studio hires
- More flexibility
- More ways for Fit Food Media to grow without her being hands-on every day
This approach became especially important when motherhood arrived.
Hallie: A Baby That Slowed Life Down (In a Good Way)
Ask Jamie about the biggest shift of her life, and she doesn’t say Istanbul or Wembley.
She says Hallie.
“Everyone says life gets crazier with a baby. But for me, it slowed everything down. In the best way.”
Before motherhood, she Jamie at 100mph.
After motherhood, she started seeing life differently:
- Time with Hallie > time chasing goals
- Slowing down wasn’t failure
- Routine felt grounding, not restrictive
- Presence mattered more than “what’s next?”
She also worried about being a mum in a male-dominated DJ world:
“I’d never seen a female DJ go through this. I thought - will I be replaced? Will people still want me?”
Instead, she felt more supported than ever.
“Clients welcomed me back. People were incredible. I doubted myself way more than anyone else did.”
Her experience has now made her the person other women message for advice.
What Jamie’s Journey Teaches Us
- Say yes - even before you feel ready: It’s how opportunities appear, how networks grow, and how confidence builds.
- Let your worlds merge: Sport + music. PT + food. Business + motherhood. No one says you have to choose one identity.
- Pivot instead of starting over: Leaving the gym wasn’t failure — it was evolution.
- Motherhood can be a beginning, not an ending: It can shift your pace, priorities and definition of success.
- Movement is medicine: “The gym is where I reset. I walk in fuzzy and come out fine.”
- You don’t need certainty - just courage for the next step!
Every big moment in Jamie’s story came from acting before she felt fully ready.
Final Thought: The Most Not There Yet She’s Ever Been
When I asked Jamie what “Not There Yet” means to her right now, she didn’t hesitate:
“I’ve never felt more not there yet. Having Hallie feels like starting again - in the best way.”
Maybe that’s the real heart of this story.
Not There Yet isn’t failure.
It’s not “behind.”
It’s a beginning.
A place where:
- The studio has no heating (yet)
- The work fits into nap windows
- The gigs still give her butterflies
- The business is evolving
- Motherhood redefines everything
- And the next chapter is unwritten
If you’re reading this from your own messy middle - juggling jobs, kids, dreams, confidence and self-doubt - let this be your reminder:
You don’t need to be there.
You just need to be here.
Doing the next small brave thing.
That’s where the story lives.
That’s where life expands.
That’s where Not There Yet becomes its own kind of magic.
Listen to Jamie's podcast