meet our instructors
Suzanna Luketic
Co-founder / Instructor
Liza David
Co-founder / Instructor
Dance has always been a passion of mine; from a young age I competed in a number of international dance competitions, worked as a Show Girl overseas, a cheerleader, and dance teacher in both Sydney and Brisbane. After moving to Queensland 15 years ago I went on to study an Associate Diploma in Marketing followed by a Post Graduate Certificate at QUT in Business Marketing whilst pursuing a career as a Marketing Manager. I am now a busy mum of 4 beautiful children with a passion and drive for health and fitness, I have always juggled my role as a mother, with work and exercise, which was more for my mental wellbeing sometimes!
After experiencing a neck injury and told spinal surgery was my only option I had to look for alternatives to staying strong and fit without the high impact exercise classes I had become accustomed to. I found Barre, which reignited my love of dance, and Pilates to be the answer to a low impact but highly effective exercise that has helped me not only physically but also mentally.
After experiencing the amazing results myself, feeling the strongest I have ever been and avoiding surgery I left my Marketing career and became a qualified Booty Barre and Pilates instructor and love sharing these amazing workouts with others.
I believe fitness is a life long commitment to being your best self so lets enjoy the process and live the best life we can!
Qualifications
Mat Pilates – Studio Pilates
Ball Bands and Circle – Studio Pilates
Barre – Booty Barre
Reformers – Studio Pilates & Rebalance Yoga and Pilates
Pilates for Pregnancy – Studio Pilates
Cadillac – Tensegrity Training
Jacqui Benoit
Co-founder / Instructor
Health, fitness and wellbeing have always been, and will continue to be, an important part of my life. Growing up on the mid north coast of NSW I was always into sports and activities, taking on everything from team sports to individual pursuits like triathlon and swimming. I spent a lot of time training and competing in aerobic based sports through my teens and twenties often suffering the injuries that come with the territory, always feeling that something was missing from my training. 2 years ago on a break from high intensity exercise I started Pilates and found what I had been looking for! Pilates is the strength, length, stability and mind body connection that is so often missing in our busy lives.
No matter where I am in my life and how much things are changing around me the one thing I have always had is a desire to be fit and healthy, it’s what helps to keep me positive and mentally strong. Health body and healthy mind go hand in hand.
Being able to help others lead healthy lives and find their ‘missing piece’ is what drives me and led me to train as a Physiotherapist and now Pilates Instructor.
My husband and I moved to Redcliffe 4 years ago and absolutely love the peninsula and active lifestyle that we are so lucky to enjoy. We now have a little baby girl (Isobel) who is 4 months old! As I enter a new chapter in my life I am thrilled to be able to include Pilates teaching in this beautiful part of the world at an amazing studio.
Caroline Steer
Instructor
Movement and teaching has always been a big part of my life. I began dancing at the age of 6, training in Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz & Tap for over 12 years. Once I left school I found my passion in teaching when I trained to become an instructor in Ballroom & Latin styles. I have been teaching ever since; while living overseas for several years and through my own business which I started in Sydney in 2008.
I first started Pilates back when I was doing Ballet, around the age of 15, and immediately felt the benefits in my overall strength, posture and balance. I loved that it kept the muscles long and lean and made me less prone to injury. I had breaks over the years but had always found myself coming back to it as a form of exercise, however it was not long after the birth of my second child when I had done nothing for over a year that I discovered Body Reformers and decided to get back into it. I fell pregnant with my 3rd baby not long after and continued training right up until I gave birth, and found the pregnancy and recovery afterwards so much faster. I knew I wanted to get back into teaching and with the support of Suzanna and Liza I decided to do my training in early 2019.
With Pilates, I feel like I have not only found a form of exercise that I am passionate about, but have also found a new career that fits in and around my growing and very busy family. I love that I can still keep my love for teaching while challenging myself with a new form of movement through Pilates and Barre. The physical health & benefits are obvious, but what I find so important are the benefits for my mental strength, and I love that I can share this with our beautiful members at BR.
Nadina Teskera
Instructor
Since a young age I have been an active, sports loving participant. Whatever sport was on offer during my school life… I was in it! This love of exercise and sport led me to study a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science at UNSW. From there I became a qualified HPE teacher and have taught for seventeen years in a variety of schools in Sydney and Brisbane, including the Director of a Talented Sports Program at a Sports Selective High School, a Secondary HPE teacher at an innovative private school in Sydney and part-time HPE teacher in the Girls Sports Excellence academy at a local State High School on the Peninsula.
My previous careers have also revolved around sport and exercise including NRL Schools Development Officer with the Sydney Roosters and Sports Trainer/Rehabilitation Co-ordinator for the Sydney Roosters Junior Representative teams.
Aside from my teaching career I have represented NSW and Australia in the sport of Touch Football. Through this involvement I have been able to travel the world, form lifelong friendships with like-minded people, maintain a healthy, fit, strong body and had the privilege to captain the Australian Mixed Open team at the 2001 and 2003 Touch World Cups.
However, from my 15 years of training and playing Touch at an elite level my body has suffered. I have overcome numerous injuries and surgeries that has left me with arthritis in several major joints which affected the type of training I could do. (Which meant no more running or high intensity exercise classes for me).
I am a mum to two very active children and have a partner who works in the sporting arena.
Our family moved to the Redcliffe Peninsula from Sydney at the start of 2016 and loved the area so much that we built a house here two years later. I have been coming to Body Reformers since they opened their doors and this is when my love affair with Reformer Pilates began. It was a form of training that I could do to stay physically strong and mentally stimulated without the heavy loads placed on my body.
It wasn’t until I went through a debilitating injury with 3 rounds of surgery in 2019 that I decided to gain my Pilates Instructor Certification.
Through Pilates I have strengthened and lengthened my body and my mind. From my past experiences, knowledge and passion for exercise I feel I have a lot to offer to women and men of all ages and stages of life.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science at UNSW
Post Graduate Diploma in Secondary teaching
Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Coach
Level 2 Sports Trainer certification
Certified Mat Work Pilates Instructor – Studio Pilates
Certified Reformer Pilates Instructor – Studio Pilates
Kylie Edwards
Instructor
I love being active (but not all the time, I also love my sleep!), and trying my best at everything I do, whatever that may be. I have always been involved in sports, from running, to weights in the gym, to hockey, and I have always loved challenging my body both physically and mentally while having fun doing it.
After working in the travel industry in an office at a desk for several years, I started my family and have two boys. I then started working a in physically demanding job, and my body started to ache and stiffen. The exercise I always loved doing had started to hurt. My aches progressed to some wear and tear on my body. I tried reformer Pilates for the first time and found that I could get an amazingly effective workout and muscle burn leading to better movement, form, and strength without overly stressing my body and joints. I love the mind-body connection, isolation of specific muscles, controlled stretching and the overall body awareness that I have found in Pilates. After three years as a client with Body Reformers, I started studying with Studio Pilates International and became qualified as a Matwork, and Reformer Instructor.
I am excited about the fact that everyone can do some form of Pilates and benefit greatly from it.
My goal as a Pilates instructor is to help people move with confidence and strength and for them to recognize the movement of their bodies in space, discover how capable they truly are, and be part of the experience that challenges both their bodies and minds.
Clare Tett
Instructor
I grew up on a property in central Queensland and being active has always been a big part of my life – running, athletics, horse-riding, touch football and tennis were my favourite pursuits. In 2001, I moved to Brisbane to study a dual degree – Bachelor of Arts (English, History and French) and Bachelor of Education. It was at the UQ gym that I tried my first Pilates class at 17 years old and was hooked. I loved the control and flow of the movements and the mind-body connection involved in executing each exercise. I was encouraged then by my teacher to do my instructor training but at the time, I was saving to go overseas so I didn’t pursue it, however, Pilates remained a consistent part of my life. I have been a teacher for over 12 years in a large secondary school north of Brisbane and enjoy connecting with students and motivating them to achieve their best. I carved out time for myself through Pilates and running and loved how they complemented one other. After another stint overseas (Germany and Canada) from 2009 – 2011 with my now-husband, I returned to Brisbane and continued working as a teacher. My husband and I moved to Sandgate 7 years ago and love it. We have 2 wonderful children and will welcome a third baby into our family in September. I practised Pilates consistently throughout both my pregnancies and post-partum and that consistency provided huge benefits to recovering my core stability, returning to high impact exercise and moving through the bustle of day-to-day life with more ease.
It was after the birth of my second child, that I reconnected with a goal that had been in the back of my mind since 2001 and decided to take the next step in my Pilates journey. In 2020 and 2021, I completed my qualifications in Matwork, Small Equipment and Reformer. I attended a class at Body Reformers for the first time shortly after completing my Matwork training. Immediately, the passion and expertise of the instructors and the values of the studio made it clear to me that this would be a dream place to be part of.
Pilates is a lifelong practise that is accessible to all ages and health conditions. I love that my 4yr old and 2yr old have fun using my props to do ‘Pilates’ and always want me to show them new exercises and also that I can help my almost-80 year old father-in-law with exercises to prepare for a double knee reconstruction later this year. My goal as an instructor is to connect people’s minds with their body’s movement so that they feel in control of their motion and can apply this to their daily lives to bring more ease and joy. For me, Pilates is about breathing and moving your body to get the most out of your life.
