September 20, 2017

Meet of Purely Pilates Center in Southlake

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to .

Thanks for sharing your story with us . So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in New Orleans. There are many small business owners in my family, including family that owns gyms in the New Orleans area, so I guess it’s in my blood. My undergrad degree is in Exercise Physiology; I worked throughout college as a personal trainer until I had the good fortune to take pilates at a local gym. Two weeks into taking classes, I was like “this is definitely for me!” and I enrolled in teacher training. Back then pilates was still relatively new, so I had to drive several hours away to learn pilates. I was blown away by how much skill and body control pilates required, and also how I got much faster muscle tone practicing it than lifting weights. I ultimately planned to become a physical therapist, but during my first week of post grad school, Hurricane Katrina destroyed my school, my home and everything I knew. What seemed at the time like a great misfortune was in fact a blessing. I was in Houston taking my final test to become a pilates instructor on August 29, 2005, the day Katrina made landfall. I watched on the news from a Houston hotel as my home was swallowed by water. This forever changed the course of my life, but it also solidified that pilates would be a career path. Out of need to get working straightaway, I began to teach pilates within a chiropractic office, which provided a rich environment to learn and studio the body and spinal conditions. I ultimately moved to Texas and worked as a pilates instructor in Austin. I moved to southlake in 2013 to work as manager of Purely Pilates and then bought the business in 2015. There have been so many changes in the business since then! The studio has now expanded twice, doubled its class offerings, added new faces, and gained a reputation for being therapy focused with new class offerings such as Perfect Posture ELDOA, a revolutionary system that works on the fascia to decompress the spine. I’m so excited to share my passion for pilates movement and all of its therapeutic benefits. This is true to my roots.
From its beginnings in 2009 until late 2015, pilates was still new to north Texas, and I quickly realized that and if I wanted great instructors I would have to create them myself. I started my first in-house comprehensive pilates teacher certification last year to provide a place for local students to learn and study the art of pilates. As many new studios open in the SL area, the mission and my studios stays firmly grounded in a “client first” mentality.
Purely Pilates distinguishes itself by catering to the local community, providing a high level of hand-on customer service. We really get to know our clients. Class sizes are small and this allows us to be very hands on and focused on safety. The studio has a community feel—we know your name and we know what ails you. The attitude of the studio is more comfy and relaxed than high-fashion. Purely has a reputation for catering to those recovering from injuries—many of our referrals come from spine doctors, chiropractors and other PT’s. When a patient is released from PT, they are often told “go do pilates”. We work to earn their trust by providing the safest and best instruction anywhere. My instructors are handpicked for having both teaching experience and advanced certifications and degrees. We really encourage the consumer to ask questions when choosing a pilates instructor as their level of training varies widely from a few weekends to several years of training. Working alongside our certified pilates instructors we have 2 physical therapists that provide “therapeutic pilates” along with more traditional physical therapy. This bridges that wide gap of “I’m released from PT but not quite ready for group classes. Now what?”. Purely Pilates is a great place to practice pilates in all stages of life, from the teen athlete to the aging baby boomer, and everyone in between. We believe that if you treat your body well, it will return the favor.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
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Purely Pilates Center – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
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What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is helping my clients to live fuller, richer lives because of the physical practice of pilates. Founder Joseph Pilates deeply desired that his students live out their fitness outside of the studio and “off the mat”. We do some deep digging into goals before starting the physical practice. It’s not enough to say “I want to tone up”. Everyone has a WHY. It is far more meaningful to me to help someone get stronger so that they are able to be a better parent, or to gain enough mobility so that they can walk through the grocery store confidently. This just moves my needle much more than trying help someone fit into skinnier jeans. The more I understand the underlying “why”, the better I am able to serve my clients’ real needs.

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