Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Swieczkowski.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Back in the mid ’80s at the beginning of the fitness craze, I was a married part time ballet teacher with 2 young children who unexpectedly became a divorced single Mom with myself and kids to support. I worked 3-part time jobs as a Gymnastic, Fitness, & Ballet instructor and started my own company, F.U.N. Fitness Systems, certifying & testing Group Exercise Instructors – collaborating with Joyce Ward and husband, Dr. Bob Ward, who at the time was with the Dallas Cowboys as the NFL’s first Strength & Conditioning Coach. I remarried, moved to Florida when my husband was transferred with JCPenney where we had 2 boys of our own so with his adopted sons, that made 5 kids! While in Florida in the mid 90’s, I was introduced by a fellow Ballet teacher who was from NYC to the Pilates Method of Body Conditioning. My friend, Maggie had just opened her first Pilates Studio in Sarasota: “Dynamic Fitness”: No one was “allowed” to use the word “Pilates” back then – one guy in NYC said he owned the rights to the name -until the Class Action Lawsuit was won in 2001 saying that “Pilates” was a generic word designating a fitness program like Yoga and could be used by anyone. In 2001, our family was transferred back to JCPenney corporate in Plano and I discovered that Group Exercise Instructors were paid $40+/hr. vs Ballet Teachers at $18 /Hr. so I updated all my Certifications and reinvented myself as a Health Club Group Exercise Manager and landed a job at a prestigious Health Club in North Dallas. Pilates was as hot, hot, hot as the latest and greatest fitness craze- so I collaborated with Power Pilates -NYC and opened the Classical Style Power Pilates-Dallas Training Center within Signature Athletic Club and completed my Comprehensive Certification & Apprenticeship (All Equipment/All levels: Beginner- Super Advanced+ Special Cases). The Club was bought out by LAFitness in 2004 and they had no need for Pilates equipment so I bought it all for a dime on the dollar and moved out to Frisco to start my own studio: Get ReFormed – located inside a spa in 250 sq. ft. I was the FIRST fully equipped Pilates Studio in all of Collin County and I grew staff & clients rapidly, moving into several larger spaces before relocating to my 3,000-sq. ft. “dream” double studio in the fall of 2009. I had introduced thousands to the powerful authentic NYC Pilates style and trained many individual Elite & Pro Athletes and teams like the Texas Rangers MLB and Sidekicks Indoor Soccer as well as the soccer moms & clients with special spine & medical issues. Here comes the “life was great, then…” part of the story: In September of 2010 our 19-year-old son was diagnosed with terminal rare sarcoma cancer. Our Get ReFormed Pilates community supported us in every possible way during his just over 2-year battle, A year plus later our family decided to close the big commercial studio, remodel our home and put in a 2 room – 3 Client Pilates Studio in the front of our house – that was April of 2014 and I haven’t looked back since. My youngest son, Charles Stefan, who is also a Pilates Trainer shares the teaching load and I love the more personalized and private aspect of teaching without the stress of the high overhead. I am able to continue train NFL & MLB, MLS Pros in privacy and ALL my wonderful clients enjoy the much lower rates I am able to charge – almost half of what a charge for privates & semi-privates! I have more time to reach out to the crazy Frisco Sports Community I live in (Hello Cowboy Star!) Youth, and all of us “aging” folks with the benefits of the incredible Pilates system. I am grateful, thankful & Blessed despite all the heartaches and challenges I have been through.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Of course not! After my divorce while I was a single Mom working the 4 jobs- unknown to me, my children and I were stalked for 9 months by a serial rapist who saw me doing a Nutcracker presentation on the local news and eventually, broke into my home in the middle of the night and assaulted me with a deadly weapon. Though emotionally difficult, I survived but during the attack I was severely injured in my hip -muscles were torn and later I had to quit Ballet and finally get that hip replaced years later at 50 and then the other one two years ago. Because of my Pilates training background, I was able to rehab myself quickly and I missed very little time off of teaching and the experience has given my expertise in helping many of my women clients who have hip issues (most of them!). The other challenging point in my journey (besides the obvious one of losing a child & closing down the big studio) was when my Health Club was bought out and I lost my manager job and the Pilates Studio/Training Center overnight…there was a 1 hour meeting that night and BAM! you’re out. That is when I decided to not be an employee of someone else, to own my business, decide my own future with God’s leading. That hard decision to pick up & start over after 50- get a $4,000 business loan from a client to be able to buy Pilates equipment and move our family to Frisco was tough, but who would have known that now in 2017 I would be in the epicenter of the mega growth of business, sports& fitness in Frisco, Texas?!!
Please tell us about Get ReFormed Pilates.
My tagline is “Good Pilates will change your Body. GREAT Pilates will change your Life. Choose GREAT!” I aspire to use Pilates as my gift to change people’s lives. My other motto is “Movement Heals” …. I know from experience, it heals you physically, emotionally and even spiritually …movement & Pilates has kept me going through all my years of challenges so now I seek to share with others… “To Educate- To Encourage- To Inspire” that’s what Get Re-Formed is all about, WE are a family owned business and we give personalized Pilates training— the best authentic NYC classical style-with current sports science techniques.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I guess nothing because it is all part of your “story” – the learning curve – the Journey—-
Pricing:
- Intro Private Pilates All Equipment Sessions: 4 Privates/$200 ( regular price $60 )
- Semi-Privates ( Duet-Trios) are $30 per person
Contact Info:
- Website: www.getreformed.com
- Phone: 469-964-8481
- Email: rebecca@getreformed.com
Image Credit:
NoreenAng.com
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