Vanessa is a qualified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor with experience across gym settings, outdoor training, fitness kickboxing and self-defense classes. In other words: she’s seen it all, taught it all, and trained every kind of woman walking through a studio door.
Her superpower? Helping people gain control of their health, strength and fitness in a way that sticks. She understands the chaos of adult schedules, the stop-start pull of responsibilities, and how hard it can be to build consistency. Her coaching leans heavily into body awareness, confidence building, and turning intention into repeatable action.
Before stepping into coaching, Vanessa spent more than 15 years immersed in Muay Thai and weight training. This experience shapes her style: focused, tough when it counts, playful when it helps, and always grounded in skill.
Outside the studio, she’s a woman of many active obsessions:
• digging in the garden
• hiking and cycling
• DIY everything
• attempting to stay on surfboards (her words)
She’s the rare blend of disciplined and down-to-earth, someone who can teach you a slick roundhouse and also talk plants, history, and Melbourne’s best burgers.
Beyond movement, Vanessa is deeply passionate about social equality and the stories that shape working-class communities. It informs the way she coaches, connects, and champions the idea that strength training should be accessible and empowering for everyone.
She brings empathy, curiosity and zero judgement, qualities that make her an incredible fit for the 23W community.
Vanessa brings:
• years of practical experience
• a coaching style rooted in skill and self-belief
• a deep commitment to making strength training feel doable and enjoyable
• a fresh, energetic presence that we know members will connect with
Whether you’re lifting for the first time or refining your technique, expect a coach who will challenge you, support you and remind you of what you’re capable of.
We can’t wait for you to meet her, train with her and feel the difference she brings to the mat, the rig and the room.
Ange Drake is a personal trainer, women’s empowerment coach and fitness blogger in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. She is the director of one of the few womens’ only strength training gyms in Melbourne, 23W. Ange helps women to learn how to use strength based training, nutritional strategies and a positive mindset to transform their bodies, relationship with food and mind.
