Beyond the Reformer
Welcome to Beyond the Reformer, the podcast where Pilates professionals and enthusiasts come together for thoughtful conversations, genuine insights, and inspiring stories. Join Nic every Monday morning to feel more connected, inspired, and empowered in your Pilates practice, teaching, and beyond…
Beyond the Reformer
Building a Reformer Pilates Studio on Your Own Terms with Kia
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"Pilates isn't about that for me, you know? It's about really going deep, connecting these people."
In this episode, we are joined by Kia, a classically trained Pilates teacher based in Los Angeles who built her entire studio out of a backyard gazebo during COVID, and has kept it that way ever since. Three reformers, a Cadillac, a tower, a wonder chair, and a waitlist - entirely by choice.
They explore what it actually looks like to build a Pilates career rooted in passion rather than pressure, from how a single mat class on a hotel trip changed the direction of Kia's life, to why she completed a 650-hour classical training program and still goes back to those books today. They talk honestly about what new teachers struggle with most, why doing your own Pilates practice every single day is non-negotiable, and how to find your own voice in a method that has no single rulebook.
They also get into the harder stuff - the moment at the Pilates Expo where Kia sat alone and questioned whether everything she had built was enough, the industry's money-driven boom and what it is doing to teaching standards, and why she started the Pilates Roundtable to fix the teacher loneliness nobody talks about. Plus Kia shares how she blends sound healing into her sessions, her post-client reset ritual, and why she thinks Joseph Pilates would have changed his own method a hundred times over by now.
Timestamps
00:31 How COVID accidentally created the studio
02:23 Why Pilates felt different from anything else
07:47 A 650-hour classical training program
09:57 Why teachers must keep doing their own Pilates
13:03 Safety, social media, and different training backgrounds
14:50 What new teachers struggle with most
17:32 Learning more from clients than from any course
26:23 The 74% studio boom and what it means
29:27 When investors and money drive the industry
35:59 Blending sound healing into Pilates sessions
40:01 Advice for teachers chasing trends
43:40 How to find your own voice as a teacher
45:25 Would Joseph Pilates have evolved the method?
50:46 Why continuous learning makes better teachers
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On this week's episode of Beyond the Reformer, I'm joined by Kia Immendel.
SPEAKER_01These investors have money. They want to make money. They've created this piece of equipment that is literally like garbage.
SPEAKER_00There's a 74% increase in the number of studios in London. 74% increase in 18 months. It's very money-driven.
SPEAKER_01And everyone is after money these days. The younger generation are very fad-oriented. They go where everything is happening. There's nothing happening within themselves. Sometimes I question myself, should I have done that? Should I have stuck with Zoom? Where would I be now? My mind plays tricks on me. Pilates isn't about that for me. You know, it's about really going deep, connecting these people.
SPEAKER_00I'm Nick Lenny. I'm a studio owner, a Pilates teacher, an educator, and your host for these conversations exploring the people and ideas shaping the Pilates world. In today's conversation, it's one that I think will resonate with a lot of the teachers out there because it's really about creating a career that feels authentic to you. We spend so much time in this industry talking about exercises, qualifications, and teaching. But what happens when you start to ask bigger questions about the kind of life and business you want to build around your work? Kia has created something that feels incredibly personal. Through Pilates, sound healing and a beautiful outdoor studio environment, she's built a business centered around connection, well-being, and helping people feel better in themselves. What I found particularly interesting was hearing how her work has evolved over time and how she stayed true to what feels really important to her rather than just following the trends and the traditional path. So whether you're a teacher, a studio owner, or simply someone curious about where a career in Pilates can take you, I think there's a lot to take away from this conversation today. Before we jump in, I'd just love to ask you if you're enjoying this podcast, please take a moment to follow, subscribe, leave a review, share with a colleague. These are small things that you can do, but they really help to grow this community together and share our message all over the world. Okay, let's get into today's conversation with Kia. Kia, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having me. I am honored to be here. Well, if you're watching on video, we're on, I think, Spotify video and YouTube video, you're clearly in a beautiful space. And I'm really excited to talk to you about the studio you've created, the community you've created, because you've done something a little bit different. It feels like it's not the cookie-cutter Pilates studio that we're seeing more and more of. Was that always intentional? Great question.
SPEAKER_01I, this is all about this is created by COVID. Before COVID hit, I was part of a big, huge studio that I had just started working in. And when COVID hit, it was all about being inside. And we had a family in the house, and I would come out here. We have this little gazebo in the backs back of my home. And I would just come out here, throw my mat. I didn't have a reformer yet. I didn't have anything. And I would just work out out here and get like some air out from being at home with the with the family every day. And then eventually a a friend joined me and I we started doing mat here. And then eventually I started doing Zoom. And, you know, I think this whole thing just was created organically. It really just went step by step with what I needed, with what everybody liked and what everybody wanted. And eventually I bought a reformer and then the studio completely closed. I went in and I bought all of their equipment as much as I could from all the money that I had accumulated from the Zoom classes that I was doing during COVID. And now I have this whole thing here. I have three reformers, a Cadillac, a window chair, a tower. It really was not intentional, but it was very passion-oriented.
SPEAKER_00And I love that. I mean, I you don't see very many of those. You know, the a studio that's in an outdoor space, if you watch the video surrounded by greenery, it must just be the most lovely space to work out in.
SPEAKER_01It truly is. And everybody really enjoys having the greens around and just coming here and getting a little bit more nature in before they go in for their work, you know, as they come in to work out. It really is very zen. It adds a great, great addition to Pilates itself.
SPEAKER_00Well, let me understand a little bit more about you. What was your life like before Pilates and how did Pilates come into your life? Oh my God.
SPEAKER_01I was a mom working as a mom. I had a full-time job being a mom, and my kids got a little bit older, and I was always the workout girl. Growing up, I was at the gym. I was always trying different types of modalities and workouts. And Pilates just really stuck with me, or it made my body feel really, really good every time I did it. And it was mostly matte. I was at the gym, and one of my friends was like, This class is amazing. This girl does Pilates, come and try it. I did one Matt class and that was it. I was sold. And as I started, you know, in my Pilates journey, we were at on a trip to Aruba. This is a cool story. And I was always like running, getting my mat and going down to the gym and working out. And my son, who was eight years old at the time, this was like 2000 maybe 12. He's like, Mom, I want to come with you to the gym. And I'm like, all right, let's go. I would love it. So I took him to the gym down in the lobby of the hotel and I did a full hour working out with him. I was like, oh my God, this feels really good. I love it. I want more of this. It felt so good to bring somebody in and move their body. And so the kids were older a bit, and I was like, okay, what am I going to do? I I love moving. I love movement. I love fitness. And so I looked at what really works and what my body loves, and it was Pilates. So I went back into that and it just stayed with me.
SPEAKER_00You know, you mentioned that you were a big mover. You loved doing that already. And then a friend said, come and try this Pilates class, and you just loved it. What was it that made you love it and that felt different from what you'd been doing already?
SPEAKER_01I think my body reacted to it differently. It responded differently. It felt good mentally, physically, and I just wanted more. It felt like more of a mind-body connection for me. Really, like everything else at the gym would always bulk me and this would elongate me. I felt more feminine. I felt more stretched. And also like my body responded in ways that I had nothing else had ever done to it.
SPEAKER_00So And we hear that a lot as teachers, don't we? We, you know, you must now hear that where people say that, like, this seems to do something that nothing else has ever done it for me before. Isn't that amazing how everyone has the same response? It's incredible. And people always talk about this kind of the physical benefits, yeah, but often they talk about their mind and they're like, it just made me feel so good. I'm not sure there's anything else that quite does it. There's some sort of magic within it, don't you think?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And I I have yet to find someone that comes here to the studio, tries a whole session, and doesn't want to come back, or doesn't love it, or doesn't send a friend or a family member, or brings their husband or their wives. It's just like it's addictive, really, in a way, and everybody just wants to feel it. Yeah, it's it's incredible. It's no, it's it's no shock, really, that these days Pilates has blown up so much. When I first started, nobody even knew what Pilates was, you know? And now it's like it's all over, and I'm loving that.
SPEAKER_00So you you were loving Pilates, you you were doing it a bit with your kids, you thought, okay, this could be something. So what was your journey like then to becoming a teacher?
SPEAKER_01As soon as I decided I wanted to teach people how to move, because I am a teacher. I was a teacher before I had kids, always been a teacher. And I started looking into programs. And I was like, should I do a personal training program? Should I do this? I started looking at different modalities and it always came back to Pilates. And believe it or not, I had never done a reformer or any type of equipment private session or reformer on any of the equipment pieces, the Pilates equipment pieces, until the first day I went to start my teacher training. Because I was always Matt, you know, it was always about Matt for me. I was always doing Matt Pilates at the gym, taking classes, following people online with Matt. And I was looking into programs, and the one that I found was near my home in Westlake Village. And it it there was a Saturday morning where they had an intro to Pilates. And I went in there knowing that they have a Pilates training program. I was like, okay, let's look into this. This is the core, this is what I love. Everything comes back to Pilates for me. Let's see how it goes. So I went into my first class. It was a very small, this was like early 2000s, very small little Pilates studio. There was like four performers, and they had a little intro to Pilates. There was jump board involved, all of the, you know, a full classical Pilates session. I fell in love with the whole thing. It was just the whole thing was different. It was something I had never done. My body felt great. I loved the energy of it. I loved the way the equipment was made. And right then and there I signed up for the teacher training program.
SPEAKER_00And so that's so interesting. You'd like done maths, but you were like, okay, I'm gonna do. And so what was that program? It had equipment in it.
SPEAKER_01Every single Pilates equipment, 650-hour training program. It took me, I think like almost two years, or maybe a year and a half to finish it. And it I got certified back in I think it was like 2015 or 16. Every single Pilates equipment, reformer, Cadillac, wanda chair, pedopull, all of it. And it was pretty rigorous. My teachers were I had three teachers. One was Fletcher background, one was Romana background, and the other was physical, physical therapy background. And the the three of them just have put together the most incredible program for Pilates.
SPEAKER_00And it's interesting how you'd gone to sort of try out a studio, fell in love with the studio, and then very quickly, you know, wanted to do the teacher training there. Nowadays, there are so many different trainings, and I think it could be quite confusing for people to pick one that feels right. And often what I say to them is just go to classes by some teachers trained by them. And that's kind of what you did, and actually that, you know, really guided you into a training that felt really good for you. And it sounds like it'd be really interesting to have those different influences coming through.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I always go back to my training and I realized that I had the most incredible training. It was so detailed. And I mean, I have books and books that I still go back to. People these days, you know, we have social media that look into different programs and different things you you want to do during your sessions. I have to, I usually just go back to my books and there's so many details, the breath, you know, all of the springs to use, which muscles you're using, which exercise goes with, you know, all of it. It was just so incredible. And I I did it with so much passion. And I think that passion just continued and continues to add on to the studio and to my to my career. Every day I'm learning, every day I'm a student. I feel like one of the most important things that a Pilates teacher should do is work out and do Pilates every day. I think that's what really makes a good teacher. Work out, do the moves, continue your journey, have a teacher. You know, learn and start and continue to grow because once you're a teacher, that is not the end. It's the beginning for you. Every year that goes by, and the more clients I have, the more I learn about myself and more and more about Pilates.
SPEAKER_00It's it's endless. And Key, you say such good things. I think so many of us fell in love with Pilates as clients that we decided to be teachers, and then we can be a little guilty of forgetting to do it for ourselves, which has so many benefits. And I also loved how you said about you kept going back to the work, you know, the books that you got from your training. I think today I feel blessed that I there wasn't a lot of noise from when social media video didn't even exist when I graduated. So I only really had my training, which meant that you would go back to it and look at it differently, or how you remembered that being taught on the course, suddenly five years in, you look at it again. Even now that I'm educating, I look at the work again, I think, oh god, I'm thinking of it differently again. And you realize there's so much depth to the content that's the standard kind of content that you learn on the course that you don't always have to be looking for something brand new, that there's ways to go back to what we've learned and play with it and think about it differently and think about how to cue it. So I love that you know, you still feel passionate about doing that.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I get a lot of calls from new teacher trainers or teacher trainees, and they would need a space to practice. And so I've opened up my space to all the new teachers or the girls that are being certified in different places around my home. And I I always bring them in and I say, ask whatever questions you have. I'm here for you. And if I'm home, you know, because I my my studio is right outside of my home. If I'm home, I'll come out here and I'll work out with them. I'll have them, you know, do practice on my body. And they have so many questions, you know, and it really just goes back, goes back to the classics. It goes back to the foundation of what Pilates really is. And sometimes, like when I'm working, I'll get really creative because I love getting creative. I will add a spring, I will take off a spring, I'll play with the springs. And when they come here and they practice with me and they take me back to the classics again, it always blows my mind how hard the pure classical Pilates is. Just the pure, you know, no modifications, no changes, no variations. The pure uh setup and the pure repertoire is just gold. It's the hardest one that you could ever do, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it really is. And it must be so amazing for people to be able to come and use your gorgeous studio and kind of be there. Do you see if if people are coming in here and they're they're coming from different schools, do you see that essentially they're teaching similar things or do you see big differences out there?
SPEAKER_01For the most part, the uh students that come to me are more classical. I would say classical, but also contemporary. And they they they are all a little bit more like based to what they're learning. So everything is still like to the books. And I always try to tell them, you know, don't be afraid to change things up. Don't be afraid to add a spring. Don't be afraid to look at the body and say, okay, you know what? She could handle another spring. Let's see how it works. Let me take off a spring. It's really just about looking at the body. So they'll come to me with different things, and I always remind them, focus on what you're looking at, you know, in front of you, and you'll know exactly what to do. But yes, to answer your question, there are a lot of different variations and different kinds of Pilates out there, and I feel like they're all great. I can't say that I am very rigid about a specific way of Pilates. I think it's all great as long as the body is safe, right? Keep the body in alignment. Make sure that you're, you know, your anatomy, make sure that you know the movements, keep the body safe, you know. Of course, out there in social media, we're seeing crazy moves that are not safe. And that's like what kills me. But I really think that as long as you keep the person safe and you're listening and you're watching the body, that's all you need to know. That's all you need to do.
SPEAKER_00And do you see sort of things coming up in the questions that they're asking you that that that they're struggling with? I always think like I get quite a lot of messages from students at the moment. And I just think it's it's interesting. Do you do you hear kind of common things coming through the questions that they're asking you?
SPEAKER_01I think it all has to do with their with their old with their own confidence, from what I'm observing when they come here. They are they are a little bit fearful of things. And I would say that they need a a lot more like practice, like one-on-one practice. So a lot of times the spring questions, there's alignment questions, there's like, how do you do do that? They they have a hard time with like flexion and extension. And so I think it has to do with their own practice and each body's response to Pilates, if they're having a hard time with flexion, then they'll have a hard time with all the exercises that include flexion in their repertoire, whatever it is that they're being trained with. So I think for me, the experience that I've seen with the new teachers, if they're having a hard time with an exercise themselves, they have a hard time teaching it or learning it to teach, right?
SPEAKER_00But it's hard. If you can't feel it in your body, then it could be hard. Although I do always think the ones that you struggle the most with, you become the best at teaching them because you've had to figure them out. Whereas the what the exercises that your body could just do, like it could just do it, then if you come across a client who can't do it, sometimes you're like, oh, like I how do I get you to do this? So I think yeah, it can be quite interesting, can't it? But it's interesting around, yeah, hearing kind of that and how we support people with that, because I think another thing that I see a lot of is we're often only teaching other people on our course who usually are pretty decent movers by that point. And then of course you get the challenge of teaching the real life person who, as you said, can't do certain movements, and you're thinking, okay, well, how do I do this then?
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people come to Pilates with things that they need that make them feel good, you know, and that's what pulls them in. Uh, yet some people have a hard time bending into the thoracic spine, some people have a hard time with their cervical spine. And yeah, those are the things I think that over the years, as you work with clients, you learn more and more. I I have yet to have a client walk in here that has perfect form, you know, have zero things going on in their body, a full balance, you know, things come to me every day that surprise me. And those are the ones that are always like the most challenging, but also the most, I would say the things that I learn more from, right? If a client comes in here and it's like the perfect body and the perfect, which honestly never happens, it's it's it's easier, isn't it? It's it's like you learn more from a body that has more limits.
SPEAKER_00I think you always learn more from your clients than you ever did from a course. Like the course absolutely teaches you, you know, the base level. But if you let your clients teach you, you know, if a if a teacher comes to me and asks for advice with somebody with something going on with them, I'm able to give it from the amount of times I've worked with a you know client or clients that had that. And I'm like, well, typically maybe look at this or do it this way or think about this. But yeah, I think it's to to understand you certainly don't know it all.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, it it really like right now I'm at my maybe like I think 12th year into teaching. Honestly, I feel like there's days that I am still learning from my clients. And I'm like, oh my God, this light bulb goes off. And oh that's what it is, and that's what I could say to make it feel better. And for me, it's like the best challenge every day to come in and learn from them. I'm I'm making them move or I'm bringing them closer to their own body and letting them feel inside their body. But what they're doing for me is also so powerful. And I absolutely love it. I have I have yet to come to a new client and be like, okay, this is it. I know exactly what's gonna happen. It's always evolving. It's always like hour by hour, client by client. It's it's it's like an endless journey of learning for me.
SPEAKER_00And I love it. Tell me about your studio now. What does it look like? Is it just you there? Have you got anyone working with you?
SPEAKER_01I have had opportunities to hire people in, and I recently just did, only because when I travel, I want to keep the space moving. And that's been the hardest challenge for me. I love having just myself here because I feel like that's like the stress-free type of career and life and work that I want. I've always thought about opening up a studio, maybe leaving this space, making it bigger, teaching or hiring teachers in. I always come back to it being like the smaller the better. I have three, three reformers, class of three people max, you know. But recently I hired somebody in for the times that I travel, and we've been practicing, we've been trying, and we're slowly getting to it. But as of now, it's really just me. It's really been just me. I love watching people and uh see their uh studios grow and they travel here, and their studios are still going. And sometimes I call my friends or I call DM someone. I'll be like, what do you do with all your clients when you travel? Or like, what do you do with all your clients? Like for you, Nick, right now, when you're doing your podcast, there's gotta be a whole team running your studio, right?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think what happens is the teaching gets cut. Like, I don't teach nearly as much as I used to. I certainly won't be teaching as much as you, but like I have a team of 31 people who are. Dependent on my studio running well. You know, I was just before I came online to you, I was in a five, six hour meeting about marketing and sales for the month. Like it becomes a different beast. And I think I when I'm guiding our graduates, I'm always saying, like, there's there are benefits to having something smaller, like you've got, you know, a space at home. There's benefits sometimes to being a teacher in a studio because you get to kind of turn up and do the teaching, and then everything else is kind of managed for you. And then, of course, there are benefits to being a studio owner, but it is a it's like a whole different profession. And for a long time, I was like you. I this I had one space and the studio, you know, I was teaching probably 35 hours a week, which is probably too many. And then similarly, I then was like, Well, who could I have in for the times I'm not teaching? So that's kind of how it started, a bit like yourself. And then it kind of grew a little bit from there. And it was really then when I had my children, and suddenly I was like, Oh, I kind of can't work now in the same way. How do I do that? So, but then I think they're the kind of it's the balance that you're trying to work on. I love the challenge of getting the studios to work. But when people say, you know, do you want 10 more studios? I'm like, no, I think I've had it, I've got enough now because it be you become a manager of people. I didn't, I left the corporate world for that reason. So, you know, I think there's sort of pros and cons, aren't there, to bigger, smaller, medium, all the things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I struggle with that a lot because I feel like my business has come into an autopilot situation where, you know, there's always people coming, there's always go people going. My my days are full with clients, you know, everybody's happy. I've built a beautiful community of people that know each other. You know, when we have someone that has done five to ten of their privates and they graduate to a class setting, everyone gets excited to see them in. You know, it's like we clap, we congratulate them. It's a big deal. We work hard here. And it's like it's like my baby. I've I've created this baby, and people are always like, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna hire more? Are you gonna expand? I think about like building out into my backyard and making it bigger. I think about maybe making some space in my home, uh, you know, part of a part of the studio. I mean, all of these things are always going through my head, and who knows what's gonna happen in the future. But right now, I'm good. I have a really good thing going, everybody's happy. I mean, I've got really good feedback. If I want to leave and go out of go out of country and go to go out of town, I'll just close shop for a week or two, you know, and that's right now where I am, but I'm always open to growing. I think I'm I'm struggling with that a little bit. Like, where do I want this to go? What is happening? At the same time, I've got like two kids. One is just graduating from high school, the other one's second year in college. I don't want to miss out on that either, you know? So this is giving me a little bit of it all, and right now I'm happy.
SPEAKER_00And I think this is the challenge. Like, we have so many opportunities in what we do, which is incredible, and I'm definitely really guilty of this, that we can forget that sometimes there's there's a real sort of sense in the ability to be happy where you are and to just enjoy it and take it in and enjoy the life that you've created and not constantly be chasing more, more, more, which I think we can all be a little guilty of, and then we we end up in burnout or we realise this is not really what I thought I was doing. And you know, so I think it's it's it it's it's lovely to sort of see you recognizing that and being like, you know, I've got this beautiful space, I've got clients, I get to teach, you know, the overheads are lower than if I was because that's suddenly like you know, you take out a space, it's a whole different beast, really. So I think there's a real skill key in the ability to look around and be like, I am happy where I am right now.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, I think I always come back to that, you know. I went to the expo, the Pilates expo a few months ago, and it was just me. I went there by myself and I sat there and I watched all these people on the panel, you know, doing all these things online. And for a moment I got taken aback. I was like, fuck, I'm not doing enough. This is not enough. Like all this that I've created is not enough, you know. I went there and I came home and I sat with myself. I was like, actually, no, I'm good where I am, you know? But it really took me back. And I was like, in my head, I was like, oh my God, what am I gonna do next? I gotta do this, I gotta get online, I gotta do this, I got, and so like it, it it can really get to you if you let it, you know. Then I have to come back to myself and say, okay, no, I've got this little thing going, everyone's happy, I'm making enough and I'm making good money where I could still be, you know, uh stress-free and happy in my life, travel, be with my family. And so, like, it does play with my mind, I have to tell you, a a lot of times it plays with my mind because I'm like, I'm not even online here. Like, I've we we started with Zoom. I had like, when we first do that started the Zoom thing during COVID, I had a hundred people in my class. Okay, and this was like by donation only, and I would make like a thousand dollars in one hour. And so when, and and you know, having all of that online, the first moment I got my reformer, the first moment I had a human being here that I could work with, touch their body, feel their body, I geared away from the Zoom. And sometimes I question myself, should I have done that? Should I have stuck with Zoom? Where would where would I be now? You know, my mind plays tricks on me, but I still come back to the like one-on-one human, touch, human. I feel like there's so much of the online things going on right now when people come here, it brings them into themselves. And I want that not just for me, but I want that for other people too. How many more hours can you be on the computer every day? How many more hours can you be online? Let's like connect. And so that is what keeps bringing me back into this space.
SPEAKER_00There's two things you said there that I want to touch on. One was you went to the expo, I was there as well. I felt the same. I think it's very normal to be. And we had a guest on a few weeks ago on the podcast who was talking about this. You know, you suddenly, it's not to dislululemon, by the way, but you're like, why are they a Lululemon ambassador and I'm not? Or why are they doing this and I'm not? Like, and I and I do think more than ever, there's so much noise out there. I was recording in person in London this week, and I was recording with the an owner of a big group of studios, and she was saying, in the last 18 months, there's a 74% increase in the number of studios in London. 74% increase in 18 months. Like that's a a lot of physical space, but also then they're all online, they're all talking. So I think we can all be a little guilty of being like, I'm not doing enough, and I should be doing more. And it's great to go to these events and feel inspired. But it feels like what you did was you went home, you got yourself grounded, you were like, Who am I? What am I? What do I enjoy? And it you can be inspired, but also be like, that's okay, that's not for me. Which I think you need sort of a good energy in you to be able to do that, really. And I was also like you in COVID. It was like, you know, I just had a baby, so I I could have done online better. We did it, but I certainly wasn't getting, you know, to have some people in the class or whatever. But when the studios opened, I was similar to you, K. And in the UK, we were closed for a long, long time, 18 months. I realized I love people. I love touching people, I love the energy of people, I love the space that we're creating, and I love in-person experiences. And so whilst we do do a little bit online, I was like, I don't want to make my business online. And and you get people around you going, You're crazy, why are you not doing it? And I was like, because I don't, I don't, that's not who I am. So I think it's really nice maybe for people listening to think about like who are you? What refills your cup? What do you enjoy? Like, what kind of teacher do you want to be? Because then I think you can go to these events and listen and be inspired, but also be like, that's okay, that's not for me. That's not what I believe in, that's not who I am. Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's it's it's growing really quickly. And I think a lot of it is just financial benefits. You know, when I look, I drive down my Ventura Boulevard. I am telling you that every other block, they haven't even opened yet. It says Pilates this, Pilates that, Pilates this. And I'm driving around and I'm looking, I'm like, how are these people going to maintain this? And how long is it going to stay? You know? Because what the coming back to it again, it's it's all about financial benefits. I got a call a few months ago, which I regret, and I don't regret too many things. And it was of what this production company that wanted me to come in and do consulting for a program that they were recording for a reformer that they had created. And, you know, me being here every day and working here, I was like, okay, this will be a little, you know, breath of fresh air, change, change it up and see how it what it is. I go there. I mean, I'm not going to name any names, and I don't want to be like an opinionated person. But dude, the the type of equipment that they had created instantly like shit like clicked in my head. These investors have money, they want to make money. They've created this piece of equipment that is literally like garbage. And they want me to consult the person that's on their equipment because they're recording Pilates exercises that they don't even know what it is. So they need a Pilates teacher to come and tell the person that's on the equipment they're recording what to do to sell their product. So really it just has to do with financial benefit. And for me, like yes, I could have been on Zoom and made a thousand dollars an hour, but like Pilates isn't about that for me. You know, it's about really going deep, connecting these people. Like when I see these people's faces walk into the studio in the morning or at the beginning of their hour, I know that I'm gonna have to do something on this machine to make them feel better before they leave. And for me, that's what's important. And when I see them leave with like a better energy, like more relaxed, coming in on their phones from their work or in a meeting or something that happened with their family or, you know, that to me is what I love. And that's what I want. That's what I want to work hard for. And that's what I want to see more of. And so, like when I when people, when I go on my Instagram page, people are like, why don't you post more often? I'm like, because I'm working. Like, I don't have time to to post. It's like a whole nother career for me. And so I'll I'll post once in a while because I just want to have a vibe of my studio is, but like, there's enough education out there. There's enough talk about Pilates, what's the right Pilates, what's the wrong Pilates? I'm just going to do Pilates here. And I'm going to bring people in and I'm going to make them feel good. And when they leave, they'll remember this hour. And for me, that's what's important right now in my life, you know?
SPEAKER_00Was community important to you? You know, is it the community within the classes, or is there a community kind of more than the classes themselves? Like I feel like that's what you get with that in-person experience.
SPEAKER_01Oh my God, yes, yes, yes, yes. The people that are in class here, we have become like friends. Everybody knows each other, everybody loves each other. We all talk about our lives. For me, the community with my clients is great. Like it's happening, it's on, I love it. What I really, really miss is a community of colleagues for myself as a Pilates teacher. Because originally when I first started teaching, it was like, I think two or three years. I'm really bad with numbers. But as soon as I started like growing into the, into the community of the studio I was in, COVID hit. And that just took me out into my own on my own. And my teachers and the community that was part of my training kind of like dissipated, you know, and everybody was busy trying to figure out what the hell are we gonna do? It's COVID, like we were our studio is closed. What are we gonna do? So everyone kind of dispersed. And I feel like nobody has come together. And I constantly am trying to put together things to bring people together. I just created this new thing. It's called the Pilates Round Table. So what I gather, I call all the sp all the uh Pilates teachers that are around my area and we gather together. And I call it the Pilates Round Table. And each time we go to a different studio, we sit and we just talk Pilates, we talk business, we talk life, we talk, you know, burnout, all of these things. And it's become, it's, it's really nice, and I absolutely love it. It's hard work for me to make sure it's all happening. You know, I got to get everyone together, invite, make sure they're here. Where are we gonna meet? But the one thing I really need more of is community, for sure.
SPEAKER_00And I think that's such a great point you make. You know, we think about the community of our clients, but it's the community as us as teachers, and then the community for those of us who are studio owners. I was speaking at an event this week in London, and someone else was speaking at the event who is in theory one of my competitors, but we get on very well, and they have a very different kind of remit to us, so it kind of works really well. And we said at the end we had such an open and honest, frank chat about some of the challenge we were having, and I realized she was having similar challenges to me and vice versa. And there's something really lovely about that. Like I came back to the studio just a lot calmer and being like, okay, well, this is clearly a landscape issue, not an us issue. Let's think about how we do that. And we actually said, let's set a target of like once a quarter where we will meet up. But to actually do that in a more formal way and a bit wider than that, I think I wonder sometimes, Kia, if as an element of like as women, we are maybe a little inherently like what's mine is mine, and like keep it to myself. And instead of being a little bit more open and sharing, because as soon as you share, you realize it's just nicer. I had so many people come up to me at this event and say, thank you so much for the podcast. And if that was you, by the way, thank you for coming up because you made my day. A few of you said it. And they they were teachers and they said, you know, I can feel quite lonely. And listening to these conversations is helping me feel less lonely and helping me feel less like I've made a mistake on this. And so it's great that the podcast is doing that, but I really love that actually in your community you're doing that in person with peers, which is a really nice idea. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_01And I was just shocked at how what feedback I got from everybody. They were like, yes, let's do it. We, you know, everyone's just waiting for someone to gather them together. We're all busy working. And I got such good feedback from people. I even had requests to do it on Zoom for people that were in different parts of the world. So who knows what's gonna happen with this thing? I'm gonna need a whole new team to create all of this, but I'm really excited about bringing people together, exactly like you said, business owners. Let's talk. Like what I have a client, let's say, that is having this issue. What do I do? What is your advice, you know? And then we also have like a very, you know, promised land within us that we will, you know, send a client over to you if we think that you're the right person for them. Or, you know, if if if if a client, if I'm out of town and I need her to stay in her rhythm or him him or her to stay in her rhythm, I'll send them over to you, but don't take them, you know, let them come back to me. So it's like a really nice little agreement that we have going on here, and I'm excited about it.
SPEAKER_00Am I also right in thinking you are a sound healer? Correct. Yes. And have you brought that into your Pilates work? Has it felt like it kind of works alongside what you're doing in the studio? Oh my God, it's been incredible.
SPEAKER_01You know, at the end of the day, we're all human, right? Like we come here to move, but there are days where we need certain things. Like you can plan out an hour. A client comes here and says what is going on in their day, and that's it. Your plan is out the door. You got to start over. So absolutely, like it has it, there are people that ask for it. They're like, can we do 15 minutes of sound at the end of the session? You know, I'm really feeling stressed today. So I always offer that to my clients. It's been a really good combination. And again, it's just like something passionate that I have. I actually teach a Matt class once a month. And we do 25 minutes of Matt Pilates and 25 minutes of sound bath at the end of the hour. People love it. The class is like full every month. It's waitlisted. People want more, people want more. Yeah, it's a time in our lives that we need more grounding, you know? And I'm happy to offer that. It's been amazing.
SPEAKER_00I absolutely love a sound bath. I love it so much. I even do one online that works really well, but it's obviously so much better in person. We get all the vibrations. And I've been thinking for a while, Kia, about exactly that. Like, could we have like a class that's split in two, like half Pilates, maybe like the 8:15 p.m. class, you know, at the end of the day, and half of it sound. I think that would be so nice. I would love to do that. And so it's amazing to hear that the feedback's been really positive, like if those classes are busy. Everyone loves it.
SPEAKER_01You know, I mean, what better time is it to meditate? When you've worked out, your endorphins are high, you've got all of these, you know, blood flowing in your body, your body is ready to settle in. And I find that after a nice, you know, good workout, allowing your body to just, you know, drive back down, letting your heart rate kind of slow down and falling into your body, it's the best time for you to dig deep. And I always get people come to me after class, like, that was amazing. Like, I did I had this happen, I had that happen, this came out, I was crying, I fell asleep, you know. So it's it's for me, I like the biggest pleasure is seeing how other people are affected by these, not just me because I know I love it, but when I see other people get affected, it's like, yes.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think so often in our work, we can often be this kind of first opening into the world of wellness and well-being. You know, people come and they think, oh, I know what Pilates is, and it's quite scientific. And then you get this opportunity to maybe open them up to different ideas and different ways to look after themselves. Are you seeing that, you know, in the time that you've been teaching, that there's, you know, it's a busy world out there. I think people often need slowing down and helping with more restorative practices. Are you seeing that in your studio too? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I think the vibe out here kind of calms people down. Oftentimes people come to me, they're like, I just, I just want to sit here and just lay down. Let me just take a nap. I'm like, bitch, you're paying for an hour of Pilates. Let's get to work. You're like, no, I just want to lay and relax. So, yes, having this a this space itself like calms people down. You know, movement in itself obviously brings us into our bodies. But more and more and more I see people like just needing more grounding, needing more grounding for sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I think it's interesting that the boom in Pilates at the moment is almost the opposite of that. I that's what I see in this country anyway, very fast-paced, you know, not much unraveling, not much slowing down. And yet I think often when I'm talking to people on the podcast, it's the slowing down and the connecting to yourself. It's not that we don't work out, by the way, but it's it's we do it in quite an interesting way in Pilates. And it can feel a little bit like some of that is getting a bit lost. Are you seeing that? I imagine in California, this has been around longer than we're seeing it in the UK, this kind of switch.
SPEAKER_01No, absolutely. You're absolutely right. It's very money-driven. Like I said, it's money-driven. And everyone is after money these days. You know, what can I do to make more money? What is happening right now? And then I do think that like the younger generation are very fad-oriented. They go where everything is happening, you know, there's nothing happening within themselves. So they see a nice big hype right now in Pilates. They want to go there, right? They all want to go there. More and more and more. I get calls from people doing training, teacher training. Which one should I choose? Which one do you think is best? Which one is best in my area? You know, because and more and more and more I see people, the younger generation, training to be Pilates teachers. So, you know, it's it's it's a lot about social media, you know, it's uh they want to be a certain way and they see certain things they want to be a certain way. I really wish and and I would advise, like any new teachers that are just starting in their Pilates journey, just dig deep within yourself. Find what it is that you like. Why are you doing this? You know, it it and and then go there. It's always like there's there's a vision that you want to you want to reach, but until you're grounded in yourself, it's not gonna be easy to find, you know, it's not gonna be, you could be driving towards that for so long and you'll never find it. So the younger generation, especially, like just dig deep, you know, find yourself and then move forward from there for sure.
SPEAKER_00And I think having already experienced Pilates and knowing what you love will help support you with picking a course that feels right. Because I think, like I was on a panel this week, and one of the things we're trying to explain, like not all courses are equal. They can be very different. They can be different in the amount of hours that's in there, but definitely from the amount of styles and the kind of ethos that goes into it. So yeah, I think if you come from a place that's this is what I love, this felt so good in my body, it's gonna help you a lot more with picking the kind of course that you might resonate the most with.
SPEAKER_01I was just gonna say that, you know, I think one of the most important things that I see with my own clients and new teachers that come in, a lot of times people want to be like the teachers, you know, like you are the one that's inspiring your clients. You are the one. So it's a big responsibility to take as a Pilates teacher, you know, like everybody kind of wants to do what you're doing. And a lot of times I will do, I will work out with my clients, you know. We love working out together. Honestly, sometimes if I don't throw myself in a class, I won't do my workout. So I always schedule myself in sometimes. If it's not Full and I have an open spot, I'll throw myself into a class. But you know, it is really about like what are we representing and and and that the type of people that you attract into your space, you know, the vortex that you've created, it it is about everyone coming back ultimately to you. Yes, of course, Pilates speaks for itself, but it's that relationship that you create with your clients, right? It's that relationship that your clients want to come back to. It's that connection that you create. And I, yes, more and more I feel like it's harder to find that online, you know, you feel lonely. It's like a lonely feeling for sure.
SPEAKER_00Okay, you've mentioned a few times today different things that sort of show that you feel, you know, quite closely aligned with who you are. So if a new teacher is listening and thinking, you know, I want to understand who I am a bit more and how can I create a path that's aligned with who I am. Do you have any advice for them?
SPEAKER_01Continue to go to every single Pilates studio on the planet and study yourself. What do you like? What makes you feel good? At the end of the day, you're gonna do what makes you feel good the best. And that is going to transfer over to your clients. It's a it's kind of like a mirroring effect where people want to feel how good you feel. So if you're doing it and you feel good about a certain way of exercising or a certain way of doing all these movements in a certain way, that they're gonna feel that coming from you. So at the end of the day, it's like, what do you like? What find what makes you feel good, not what everyone else is doing. You know, I was interviewing teachers to hire, and there was uh an older woman that came in, was absolutely amazing. And her training is from a long time ago, you know? And I myself, I play with the springs, okay? Like I will play with the levels, I'll play with the exercises, I will dissect them, throw them, like I will turn them into a hundred pieces before we're done with one exercise. And she was just blown away by it. And I was like, don't be afraid to change your springs. Like, do everything on a blue spring, you know, do everything on a really heavy spring. Challenge yourself to different things. And it's like you don't have to stick to a certain way. You can create your own way. Just keep everybody safe. You know, keep the body safe and play with it. Go outside of the box, find yourself what makes you happy ultimately is what everyone is gonna want to feel.
SPEAKER_00And it's about finding your way, isn't it? It's not trying to be a carbon copy of somebody else you've seen or what you've been, you know, taught necessarily, but actually going, This is who I am, this is what I feel passionate about. Because then I think clients really pick up on that, don't they, as you said?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like if you think about it, there isn't, if you think about yoga, there is a very specific method, right? Like everybody's is kind of the same. Pilates never really had that. There's there's there isn't, if you think about, there isn't like a base that everybody is like legally or not legally or just ultimately supposed, so everyone is kind of moving in all these different ways. And in a way, I feel like if Joseph Pilates was alive, he would have changed Pilates a hundred times over by now, right? Like he wouldn't have kept it the same. He was so innovative. And so, yes, because we don't have that like base, we might, but we also don't have it. There's so many ways that you could go through and different ways of creating it. And I feel like Joseph Pilates might have actually really loved that. He would have, he would have loved that, you know, to see all these different things. I don't know. What do you think?
SPEAKER_00Do you think he would like it? I definitely think he would have evolved. There's no doubt about it. He was so ahead of his time. And yeah, I think, you know, and I think it's like you said, it's it you've already had that experience of having an ed, you know, having educators that had already had their own different influences. So, you know, I think it makes sense that Pilates continues to be influenced by different things. To end our conversation today, Kia, I'd like to ask you some quickish fire questions if I can. What is your favorite Pilates exercise and why? Oh my God.
SPEAKER_01Every time I teach an exercise, I'm always to my teaching to my clients, I'm like, this is my favorite one. They're always like, every single one is your favorite one. But okay, so I think that I absolutely love tree and semicircle. It's I don't know, there's always always changing based on what my body is doing, but I I absolutely love all of the rounding and all of that work in semicircle. And I love tree because it's everything. It has everything in it. I love everything in it. Yeah, I think those would be my two favorite things. And what's your favorite way to unwind, to refill your cup? I will lay here on my reformer, the middle one, most of the time, at the end of the hour, and I will just like sit and watch the trees, watch the birds, and just like wind down because I'm always talking, right? It's like talking all day long. Had there a lot of energy. I will lay here for a good 10-15 minutes and then I'll start cleaning up and moving out. And I always burn Palo Santos in the studio. Everybody loves my Palo Santos. I'm always burning Palo Santos.
SPEAKER_00I think we have on our course, we have like an energy module, and one of the things we talk about is like the energy of the space. So, you know, do you have essential oils that you're burning, or do you clear the energy of the space with like Palo Santo, or you know, do you smudge the space? It's quite an interesting thing, is it? Because you know, you are bringing, and for you, especially, I think if you've got a home studio even more, like when it's a home studio, making sure that energy doesn't seep into your home.
SPEAKER_01It's important. I have a very important ritual. After every hour, I go into the bathroom, I wash my hands. I have a little spray I spray on, I light a candle, I do some Palo Santos. It really helps me. Like if I have like back to back all day, it really helps to refresh me, bring me back to myself, like clear myself for my next hour. I find that washing hands, burning a candle, and spraying myself with some rose water is really what my ritual is. And it it really works.
SPEAKER_00Truly does work. It's so great that you share that because I think, you know, we can all be a little guilty of like two minutes on our phone and then we're back into the next client. You can't do it. You burn out without even knowing it, don't you? You just, you know, whether you know it or not, you pick up the energy, you maybe transfer the energy to the next client. So yeah, I love that. I even just say if you can just wash your hands, like that makes a big difference. But to have a little ritual like that, I imagine is such like a little, you know, there's a conscious kind of grounding practice there, which must be really powerful for you.
SPEAKER_01It took me a moment to figure it out. You know, I've I've all these workshops, I'm always taking workshops and I'm always taking in here from this, from that, from that. And I was at a Reiki training one year and and and she told me, I asked her, I go, this is my situation. Like I've got all this uh energy coming into me every day. She goes, create a ritual for yourself after each client, wash your hands. You know, she told me what to do, and I actually did it. She said, say a prayer, you know, like come back into yourself so you could be there 100% for your next group or your next crew or your next person. And so I tried it and it worked.
SPEAKER_00You know, it worked. I'm a Reiki master, but I also got into Reiki because I was just I I needed to learn about energy. You know, you're around energy all the time in this work. I knew there's a reason why I liked you. I knew there was a reason why And I, you know, that's why I said earlier about like Pilates can often be our first for clients too, like our first entry into understanding yourself more and being maybe opened up. And for me, that certainly was true. Pilate it was Pilates for me. And then, you know, I got into Reiki and got into lots of other things and trying to like understand yourself more. But I think these are sometimes as well, it's is to understand as a teacher, maybe it's not just doing courses in Pilates that helps us be better teachers. Like you've done sound, you've done Reiki, I'm sure you've done other things. Like they also help you in your teaching journey, don't they?
SPEAKER_01Oh my God, it's so, so, so important. I'm always looking for another workshop. I'm always looking for another way to fill my cup, you know? That is the only way I could be present and be here to create all of this for all these people that come to me. It's a big responsibility. And not just for them, but I do it for myself too. Yes, I'm always hungry to learn. And if you, if you just, I mean, I worked for a studio before, a Pilates studio before I started my own. I literally learned what not to do from that person because she was just like running around every day, all day with clients. And I swear she never worked out one time. And I was just like sitting there watching, because I was, I was the receptionist. You know, I just sat there and watched how she ran the classes, every, and I I learned what not to do from her. And one of the things was to just take a break, take a breath, create a rhythm, do Pilates, okay, every single day. And and and it's it's really just like a continuous journey of learning for me. And also I think having a teacher of your own to watch your body, like you can't, you don't know if your hip is in the right alignment. You don't know if your knee is in the right space. I have the most incredible teachers I work with every week. I learn so much from from them every day. And I'm I I make time to have a Zoom, you know, to so that they could watch my body because I don't want to leave my space. I'm like, I want to be here for my next hour. I want to be present for my next client. So I zoom a lot like we do two, three times a week of Zoom just for myself.
SPEAKER_00And when I'm mentoring people, I often am asking, you know, what are you doing for yourself to look after yourself? And you know, we'll talk about nearly always the answer is I think you need to do some more Pilates. Like, that's why you fell in love with this. So I love that you're sharing that. Kia, this has been such a great conversation today. I know so many people are gonna get so much out of it. Thank you so much for joining me. It's like 6 a.m. where you are. You got up very early. The sun is coming out, finally. In your beautiful space. So it's been an absolute joy to talk to you. Thank you so much for coming on Beyond the Reformer this week. Thank you so much for having me. Come by if you're in LA, I'd love to have you. A huge thank you to Kia for joining me for this conversation. Super early where she was. She woke up early in California to join me here in the UK. I really enjoyed this conversation because I think it's a great reminder that there isn't just one path in the industry. We often spend so much time looking at what everyone else is doing that we forget. We can build something that reflects our own values, our interests, and our own personality, which I think is just super important. If there was one thing I took away from today's conversation, it's that people connect with people. Whether you're teaching one client, running a studio, posting on social media, or building a business, authenticity. It really still matters. Be yourself. As always, I'd love to hear if today's conversation resonated with you. You can find me over on Instagram. I do read and reply to all the comments, the DMs. So please let me know what your thoughts, what action you might be taking from today's conversation. Do share it with your colleagues, your friends, anyone interested in Pilates. Like I'm so grateful to you. I keep meeting lots of the community where I'm at events that I'm being lucky enough to speak at now. So it's been amazing to build this community with you. And I will see you next week for another episode of Beyond the Reformer.