Handling a full-time job at Catmose Sports Centre, being a dad to his young daughter, and setting up his brand new company Joe's Sportsmassage is all in a day's work for 36 year old local man Joe Nador.

Joe was always interested in health and fitness, but this ambition was only realised when he moved from Hungary to Oakham in 2013 with his wife, Erika. This is when Joe settled swiftly into his role as a cleaner, then lifeguard and leisure assistant, working hard until he earned the role of Leisure Assistant Manager at Barnsdale Hall Hotel, now Rutland Hall Hotel and Spa.

Joe said: "I never felt at home in Hungary. I spoke English already and it is a global language, so it felt easy enough to fit in. I love Rutland. We travelled around the UK and never found any better place to live. Rutland Water is beautiful, the villages are lovely and the people are great. Such a friendly place."

Working at Barnsdale, Joe quickly achieved his Level 3 Personal Training qualification. He said: "England and Barnsdale gave me the opportunity to train. They changed my life and helped me through a lot of hard times."

In early 2019, Joe got a new job at Catmose Sports Centre, where he met many local people and found that he became even more enamoured with the community and way of life that Oakham has to offer. He was working 40 hours per week at Catmose when he decided to tackle the Level 3 Sports Massage qualification independently, working hard before he even began setting up his new business!

Joe began studying Sports Massage in the spring of 2021 alongside this full-time position as a duty manager at the gym, less than a year after the birth of their daughter. He completed the course just before Christmas and set up Joe's Sportsmassage in January 2022, so the company really is in its early stages, with a lot of potential.

Joe said that while the company has all of this potential, "it also takes a lot of work. I am really enjoying it though, and it has been flexible around my current job. I can fit in with late clients, which means that my days are long, but that is how you start a business. You work hard."

On why he chose to take on a Sports Massage qualification, Joe said: "Because I am really interested in anatomy and I really like to help people, this job is the logical next step. It helps people relieve pain and stops suffering, so I find it rewarding. I like helping people."

"It has been odd for me as I have always been employed, so being self-employed is a real change. My father-in-law was always self-employed so that was a good inspiration. My own father was a lieutenant, so that was a very different path. This has been a learning experience for me, but I am excited to see where the business could go."

"I would like to build Joe's Sportsmassage up so that I have a regular client base so that it fits in with family life a bit more. I am also looking forward to being my own boss. I am organised and I am good at relying upon myself, so it is an exciting progression."

In building up this young business, Joe has been offering seasonal offers already. Over Valentine's he created gift vouchers for the ultimate gift, and over the Easter period he will be offering a whopping 50% off of your first treatment.

To book in, Joe can be contact on 07414806859 or [email protected].

Joe concluded: "I am proud of all of the hard work, of working full-time, running a business and not of having a child, but of raising her right. I am proud of who she is becoming. She is clever, she is intelligent already even though she is only going to be 2 in May."

Working 40 hours per week, committing 10 to 15 hours per week into getting his new business on its feet, and being a proactive dad and a husband, you would think that Joe would be run into the ground, but he is lively and positive about the future, both for his work-life balance and new venture.

With his incredible work ethic and family mindedness, Joe is a prime example of immigrants doing their upmost to fit in with the British way of life.

We wish him all the best with his exciting new venture!

To see Oakham's 'amazing people' feature from last week, click here.

If you would like to nominate a local person or business owner to be featured in our 'Oakham's Amazing People' feature, contact us via our Facebook page or email [email protected] – just don't forget to check before sharing any personal details!

We look forward to hearing from you.