“Humble” is the first word that comes to mind when describing Sunraysia business-owners and sweethearts, Daniel Coghlan and Bianca Romeo. The pair met five years ago in Melbourne where Daniel was playing at the VFL AFL level for Essendon Football Club, and Bianca was running a successful personal training business back in Sunraysia. Since then, their worlds have collided significantly with a number of goals already ticked off the list and a special milestone fast approaching. Lauren Adcock sat down with Daniel and Bianca at their Irymple property to chat about their remarkable achievements and what’s to come. Pictures: Ben Gross
DANIEL and Bianca hardly have to think twice when finding a mutual definition of what “home” means to them.
For the pair who reside and work on their sprawling Irymple property, the “white picket fence” dream is an everyday reality.
“To me, living in Sunraysia means being a part of a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone,” Daniel says.
“One thing I definitely don’t take for granted is that feeling of coming home. You just don’t realise coming from Melbourne with the traffic how good it is to be close to everything.”
“I love everything about this place from the space, being so close to family, 10 minutes from town and of course the warmer weather,” Bianca agrees.
The saying “two is better than one” matches Daniel and Bianca to a tee, with the pair meeting by chance in Melbourne about five years ago.
“We met on a party bus through mutual friends, which is pretty unique because neither of us are real party people,” Daniel says.
“I was living and working in Melbourne while playing footy when Bianca and I met.”
“We did about a year of long distance before deciding to take the next step,” Bianca adds.
That next step saw Daniel moving to Sunraysia, where two worlds finally collided as the pair began designing their dream home and expanding Bianca’s fitness business.
“Because we were doing long distance, we had to decide pretty early on what our goals were for the future,” Bianca says.
“I’ve always been into fitness so there was always the appeal of expanding my business when Daniel moved here.”
“For me personally, I was between so many things at the time,” Daniel says.
“I was working in the city, but footy was really important. I was kind of at a cross road with needing to move out of a house I was living in with a couple of guys and looking for a new job.
“But I summed everything up, bit the bullet and eventually moved up here where I knew I’d have the best of both worlds.”
When asked whether the building process was “smooth-sailing”, Daniel and Bianca agreed the journey was lengthy but “worth it”.
“In the early stages of our relationship, I was in the process of deciding whether I stay or move, and this property was one that I really wanted because of the location,” Bianca says.
“There was a house already on the land which was getting renovated that we removed and completely cleared out to build the design we wanted with a gym and a house.
“Everything did go to plan for the most part, but it just takes longer than what you’d think.”
“It was a mess, you wouldn’t even recognise it,” Daniel adds.
Bianca had a list of non-negotiables when designing the home, while Daniel says a simple backyard shed was on his wish list.
“I’m pretty cruisey when it comes to design and colour. That’s Bianca’s area,” Daniel says.
“I wanted a white, open-plan home with a walk in kitchen and bedrooms close together,” Bianca says.
“We both wanted it to feel cozy and to be a place we looked forward to coming home to.”
Since meeting, Daniel and Bianca have celebrated a number of milestones together including; launching their successful business 141fitness, building and moving into their dream home and welcoming Border Collie Rover into the family.
But a particularly special goal was ticked off last month as the pair sealed their commitment to one another after a beachside proposal.
“When you try and plan something timed with going away, it doesn’t always happen the exact way you want it,” Daniel says.
“Our plane flight was delayed a couple of hours so we missed the sunset which was when I planned to propose to Bianca.”
“It was dark, but we were in a beautiful setting on the boardwalk in Noosa and he still got down on one knee,” Bianca adds.
“We waited until we got back from Noosa to tell everyone and that’s when we started planning which isn’t easy when you want to do it soon.”
Daniel and Bianca will get married in March next year in a garden setting surrounded by friends and family.
“It’s going to be a fun wedding. We just want everyone to enjoy themselves,” Bianca says.
“Our vision is for it to be really relaxed with lots of dancing, food and wine.”
And in the meantime while counting down for their special day, Daniel and Bianca will be kept occupied with their ever-growing business.
“We want people to understand that fitness is a priority, not just for leisure. We love having people of all ages in here and we’ve created it to be a real family environment,” Bianca says.
“There’s a big education component too. It’s OK that people come in here and may not know how to lift weights or box for example. There’s always someone willing to help out,” Daniel says.
“We want it to be a safe space where people can come and feel like it’s their second home.”
e missed the sunset which was when I planned to propose to Bianca.”
“It was dark, but we were in a beautiful setting on the boardwalk in Noosa and he still got down on one knee,” Bianca adds.
“We waited until we got back from Noosa to tell everyone and that’s when we started planning which isn’t easy when you want to do it soon.”
Daniel and Bianca will get married in March next year in a garden setting surrounded by friends and family.
“It’s going to be a fun wedding. We just want everyone to enjoy themselves,” Bianca says.
“Our vision is for it to be really relaxed with lots of dancing, food and wine.”
And in the meantime while counting down for their special day, Daniel and Bianca will be kept occupied with their ever-growing business.
“We want people to understand that fitness is a priority, not just for leisure.
We love having people of all ages in here and we’ve created it to be a real family environment,” Bianca says.
“There’s a big education component too. It’s OK that people come in here and may not know how to lift weights or box for example. There’s always someone willing to help out,” Daniel says.
“We want it to be a safe space where people can come and feel like it’s their second home.”
