At Revival Runway we like to support independent and emerging Australian brands. Naturally the majority we come across are fashion and accessories brands, sometimes makeup and skincare brands, and this time we’re looking at a new fitness and wellbeing brand, FWD FORM.
This brand does offer some sports wear, but its main focus is on nutrition for improving performance when training. Founders Elle Nielsen and her partner Scott Madden are two fitness professionals who created FWD FORM after experiencing some problems caused by the arrival of Covid-19.
SOLVING A PROBLEM
“The idea first came to us during Covid lockdown in 2021 when we were forced to shut down our gym for the second time. We were also operating another company, a plant-based smoothie bowl bar at the time, and needed to find a way to bring costs down for one of our most expensive ingredients – vegan protein powder,” explains Elle.
Scott Madden and Elle Nielsen are the co-founders of FWD FORM and have over 17 experience combined in the fitness industry. Image: FWD FORM
“It was a bit of a light bulb moment to be honest! Move into the e-commerce space and formulate something we actually needed. Together, we are a bit of a powerhouse when it comes to ideas and love the startup phase/creation of business, so we knew we needed to make something more of this protein product and set up another company to make it a brand of its own,” Scott continues.
The couple are co-founders of the brand: “We make a great team and balance each other out with our strengths and weaknesses. Scott is really great at visualising and bringing ideas to life, whereas I am great with the marketing campaigns. I love that we can both bounce ideas off each other really well,” says Elle.
Nutrition supplements. Image: FWD FORM
“FWD FORM was a name we chose early on, and no matter how many times we pondered on other names, it was always one we came back to,” Elle explains. “FWD FORM means the continuous improvement of oneself – to continuously push forward, to show up each day and to overcome mental and physical barriers in everyday life. Our brand is for the athlete and everyday person who wants more. We support their health and hustle, naturally.”
FITNESS PROFESSIONALS
Between Elle and Scott, they have 17 years in the fitness industry, including owning a gym on the Central Coast.
“I first became interested in fitness after moving to Thailand and living at a Muay Thai camp. I trained here to compete competitively and as I was training myself, I sort of fell into the role of training others too and ended up loving it and pursuing it when I got back to Aus,” says Scott.
Nutrition supplements. Image: FWD FORM
“I first started out as I had my own transformation, losing 17kgs by changing my whole lifestyle with exercise and healthy eating. I made it to the national stage competing in sports modelling and decided personal training was an avenue I wanted to go down and help others,” Elle says.
“Our passion for fitness comes from experiencing first hand all the positive benefits from exercise and genuinely loving the process of seeing others experience it too and completely transform their lifestyles and views on fitness.”
As for any issues Elle and Scott had to overcome when launching a brand in the middle of a pandemic, according to Scott, the only problem they had was “selling out quicker than we thought we would! So keeping up with demand has been the only issue, but a great issue to have.”
SUSTAINABLE FITNESS
FWD FORM’s products are all plant-based for both environmental and ethical concerns, say Elle and Scott. They choose organic ingredients when possible; use compostable packaging bags for shipping and use recyclable and compostable hex wrap instead of bubble wrap.
According to Scott, the core concept of the brand is to do things differently: “To support the health and hustle of the athlete and everyday person.”
“We are excited to bring our vision to life combining natural – naturopath approved – supplements with high quality streetwear and activewear in the near future.
“We like to think of FWD FORM as a reflection of who we are as individuals – always chasing the bigger goals, living a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle as entrepreneurs and parents,” says Scott.
THE FUTURE OF FWD FORM
Elle and Scott are looking forward to growing their brand, with major new releases for 2023 that will include more clothing.
“Our goal isn’t to be the biggest supplement and streetwear company, it is to be the best and most recognised Australia-wide. We also have an exciting fitness program in the works for 2023 which will allow everyone to get on board, from the beginner right through to advanced, and will focus on health, fitness and community,” outlines Elle.
“We’re just getting started,” says Scott.
For more information about FWD FORM, go to fwdformnutrition.com; you can also follow Elle and Scott on Instagram at @fwdform.
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