FLYE's Team

FLYE's founders

“For Eliza Jiang and Upekha Senaweera, two young female professionals working and living in Hong Kong, a mutual passion proved two people with starkly different backgrounds can bond over some of the most basic human interests –music and dance.

Chinese-Panamanian Jiang is a lawyer who grew up dancing to salsa, merengue and reggaeton in her birth city of Panama. Jiang moved to Canada to obtain her bachelor’s degree and then later New York for her master’s in law before finally settling in Hong Kong. 

Senaweera hails from Melbourne, Australia and has been a registered physiotherapist for over 10 years but what first brought her to Hong Kong was dancing –ballroom dancing to be exact.

“The first time we met was at a salsa club in Hong Kong,” says Jiang. “Upekha loves to dance, I love to dance, and we met through a common friend who is also a dancer.”

Combining the dancing duo’s backgrounds and interest in the fitness industry, the two launched FLYE…This concept fitness class infuses divergent musical genres and varying dance moves in a party style setting meant to attract the young professional who knows exercise is important but who doesn’t necessarily want to spend [all of their] time in a gym.”

– SCMP, How two music lovers started a class mixing dance fitness and friendship in Hong Kong, [read full article here]

ELIZA

Chinese-born, Panamanian-raise, and Canadian-educated, Eliza, is currently an international arbitration lawyer by day and FLYE's co-founder by night. She is passionate about creating this new fitness concept for like-minded busy professionals & fitness enthusiasts. She grew up in Panama with "rhythm in her blood" dancing to all Latin musical genres, and found cardio dance workouts the only kind she could stick to. She is a ball of energy and brings her optimism, cheerleader attitude and warm Latina vibes to her classes to motivate her crew to push harder.

FLYE's my baby, so of course it has my unconditional love! ❤️ I enjoy seeing people come to the classes to t-werk their stress away, let go, and get that endorphin high to feel great all whilst their hearts are getting stronger, fitter, and happier by the second. I love that bonding experience where you are in sync with the rest of the FLYE crew jumping and moving to every beat and travelling to exotic destinations through music and dance. 

People who create their own equity. Gritty and resilient dreamers who build great & responsible companies with positive impact. (I'm aspiring to be one of them! :P)

Can't choose one, so here are three (in no particular order) (1) equal access to quality education for youth as the ultimate equaliser between the rich & poor, (2) promoting entrepreneurship (be the boss!) as a mean to lifting people at the bottom of the wealth pyramid out of poverty, and (3) enforcement of the triple bottom line upon companies to remedy many of the world's (social & ecological) grievances (responsible money!).

Whoaaa -I really can't pick just one! My musical taste is too eclectic! (Who came up with this question, anyway?! LOL)

Karo

Sweet & Psycho, Karo is a clinical psychologist (specialized in eating disorders) who is "crazy" about dancing. Also a Zumba Instructor, this sweet little cat can also be a lioness when it’s time to workout !

After a master in clinical psychology and an internship in a dance therapy practice, Karo can confirm that mind and body are closely linked, her motto : Mens sana in corpore sano ! A great and fun workout will bring a healthier body and a happier mind; her goal is to see her students happy and that’s why she will push each of them beyond their limits to see them cheerful and proud of themselves. 

Dancing is a passion, for her, everyone can dance because it’s not about technical skills but about the positive energy and these strong feelings everyone can have when they are dancing… FLYE draws this perfect mix between exercising and dancing, enjoying and feeling the moment. Each class is a new experience of body and mind feelings and also a fantastic moment to share with her students. 

Karo loves "FLYE-ING" because it’s a way to feel free and to be yourself. 

300 : marked by the "Spartan Mind" which makes me realize that the most important part of what we do is in our mind because the body will follow a strong and fierce mind. 

Song : L’histoire de la vie (The Circle of Life) –The Lion King 

Walt Disney : "If you can visualize it, if you can dream it, there’s some way to do it". He has proved that there is no limit of what we can do. With tenacity and lots of work everyone has a chance to improve, to get better or to reach a dream. Nowadays, he is still bringing magic and happiness into people’s life which is a strong power. 

Making people smile and happy generally makes me proud. When I was studying, I used to work at Disneyland as a character, I saw many people enjoying themselves but there was one very special smile that I will never forget. One day, this little girl who had a critical illness asked to see Minnie Mouse, so I came as Minnie Mouse and she was extremely chuffed, she hugged me and forgot all her medical devices for a few minutes, and I will never forget this moment because I could genuinely feel her happiness.

FLYE is growing!!! If you are a dancer, performer, instructor, videographer, social media savvy bad-ass AND have a passion for fitness and our vision, then fill out your deets below and get in touch. We would love to hear from you!