Project Pink and the Power of One Woman’s Fight to Help Others Rise

When Charlotte Heller started Project Pink, it wasn’t just about fitness. It was about freedom. It was about giving women and children—especially those affected by domestic violence—somewhere to feel safe, seen, and strong again.

Project Pink is Charlotte’s next chapter.

A not-for-profit in the making, it offers  community support, self-defence training for women and girls, and a sense of belonging for those who’ve had to survive more than most.

“I wanted to create a space where women feel safe in their bodies again,” Charlotte says. “Where they feel supported, capable, and connected.

 “So many of us carry silent pain—whether it’s trauma, mental health, body image issues, or the relentless mental load of motherhood. Project Pink is about breaking the silence and replacing it with strength.”

Charlotte’s own story began in the quiet of struggle. After moving to Mackay with a baby and a three-year-old, she found herself isolated and overwhelmed.

“We knew no one. My husband worked long hours. And after some time, I started to really struggle.”

She started working out at home—at first, just to lose the “baby weight.” “The goal was always to be skinny,” she says. But when she discovered the gym’s crèche and started carving out one hour a day for herself, something shifted.

“That hour became my haven. I trained like I’d never trained before. The goal was no longer skinny—but strong. I became calmer, more patient. I could outwork the mental load. It gave me back to myself.”

Her transformation didn’t go unnoticed. Other mums began asking questions—how she stayed consistent, how she found time, how she built confidence.

“I didn’t have professional answers,” she says. “I was just doing what felt good and gave me energy to get through the day. But I knew I wanted to help these women. I wanted to share what I’d found—just in a more intentional way.”

So, Charlotte changed careers, became a certified personal trainer, and began building a fitness community that went beyond workouts.

“I started to create a space for women like me—the ones lost in motherhood, stuck under laundry, carrying the invisible weight of trying to be everything for everyone.”

That space has grown into a full-blown mission. Charlotte now trains women of all ages and stages—encouraging them to take up space, speak their truth, and build physical and mental strength from the inside out. Her sessions are a mix of sweat, laughter, sometimes tears, and always, empowerment.

“I’ve faced massive eating disorders, postpartum depression, people pleasing, low self-esteem… gees, too many things to count,” she says.

 “But I’ve also found healing. Through fitness. Through faith. Through motherhood. And now I want other women to feel that too.”

She’s also raising a daughter—and with her, a different legacy.

“I’m breaking cycles of distorted body image and disordered eating. I’m teaching her to embrace who she’s becoming, to use her voice, to lift others instead of tearing down.”

Charlotte is a fierce advocate for other women in the fitness space, regularly shouting out other trainers and encouraging clients to find the right fit for them.

“The client-trainer relationship is special. I know I’m not everyone’s trainer—and that’s okay. I love seeing other trainers thrive.”

For Charlotte, empowerment is as much about humility as it is about strength.

“Empowerment to me is the ability to understand a person’s own inner strength—but be humble enough to share it, to help raise up others so they can see their inner strength too,” she said.