My Journey
Sharon’s Pilates Training Journey
Initial Inspiration
I began movement at a very early age as a ballet dancer moving through the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) syllabus in New Zealand. However, when I was young, I struggled with Scheuermann's Disease and discovered early the discomfort that can be caused by back pain and the physical toll that dancing had on my body as my spine was growing.
As a 70’s child in New Zealand, there was very little known about how to relieve back pain with exercise prescription and aside from resorting to alchemy, I was left to struggle on with mediocre potions and cure all’s (including sleeping on the floor). My dancing body was supple and flexible, however my spine was strapped with tape vertically to encourage straight back posture, rather than strengthening my muscles to support my neutral spinal position.
Completing the final grades of RAD with distinction, I decided to pursue a fitness passion & university tertiary education instead of a full time career in dance. I enjoyed a part time role fitness instructing outside attending lecture hours at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Graduating with a Bachelor and Post Grad Diploma in Commerce, I began working in marketing/management and apparel production/design roles for different Sports Apparel businesses. I enjoyed working for Adidas NZ as a production manager of the All Blacks and Super 15 Rugby official licensed merchandise and have always enjoyed the sporting apparel industry.
It was by chance that I discovered Pilates. Pilates, like good coffee, was in its infancy in New Zealand with only a handful of practitioners. All were ex patriots having returned from far flung places where Pilates was becoming as big as Rod Stewart. Most of these Pilatenauts were teaching from their attics, spare bedrooms or garages of their homes. A studio was a rare find and Pilates studio equipment an urban myth. I was to be an early adopter and enjoyed quickly responded to the artful discipline of Pilates.
I knew my back was going to be supported & strengthened within hours of my first Pilates session and I have been a devotee ever since.
Whilst working & traveling with Adidas, I studied Pilates instructing certification with Polestar Pilates International. Graduating with Polestar full certification, I worked part-time for Auckland Pilates studios and fitness centres as a passion/hobby outside of my corporate career in fitness apparel.
Soon after I met my husband to be, we built our own Pilates studio in our new home. We had the vision of teaching Pilates from home once we started a family.
I had the wonderful opportunity to purchase hand crafted Pilates equipment from a special Pilates teacher, since equipment was key in delivering a Pilates experience which I valued.
Falling pregnant with our first babe was awesome, I worked up until the final 2 weeks in my corporate role, then enjoyed becoming a Mum and teaching Pilates for a few hours a day. I managed to convince a lovely café owner Wendy to have my business cards on display in exchange for a few private lessons. I also networked with local health practitioners in order to refer clients to each other. The word spread fast and I created a valued clientele that I still have to this day. I created a local professional health network group that has continued to thrive in order to support local health & wellness.
When teaching real people with real strengths/weaknesses/injuries/health histories/personal goals, I knew I needed to continue my education and learn more in order to prescribe the right exercise for the right person at the right time.
I had a passion to learn more and decided to study Pilates further and introduced STOTT PILATES education to New Zealand, which was previously not formally on offer.
Getting a little big for my boots
I was to discover a local appetite for Pilates and after 18 months I had out grown our garage with our strong clientele base and I had also received the gift of having my second babe. It was now time to expand. I bought a second hand STOTT PILATES trapeze from a local physio therapist who had in turn previously bought it from the actress Lucy Lawless! (wow the big time!) I secured a commercial premise near the local town centre and scraped together enough money with a business loan to import 4 STOTT PILATES Reformers, 2 Stability Chairs, 1 Ladder Barrel, 4 Arc Barrels and props as well as fit out the new studio.
Typically, when taking on a lease you come to the conclusion that the more client volume you can generate per labour hour the better your return. However, I wanted to maintain a traditional studio Pilates format and ensure my clients received the same personal coaching they had been receiving in my garage. It is a service philosophy that I have maintained to this day. I limited class sizes. No more than three to a studio class and no more than five in a group reformer class. This gave clients the technical and emotional attention required to provide an authentic Pilates experience. Something I am passionate about and I believe gave me a point of difference to other fitness and therapeutic solutions. A constraint of this business philosophy was obviously low client volume per labour hour and to compensate I needed to run a higher frequency of class’s. It was apparent I needed to hire staff.
The educational constraints were still a block to developing skilled local instructors and I was motivated to solve the labour shortage myself. I had heard only wonderful things about the STOTT PILATES method and its business philosophy was closely aligned with my own Pilates aspirations.
I investigated how to become a hosting site and in 2009 I hosted what was to be the first of many STOTT PILATES courses. In the short term I hired STOTT PILATES Instructors from around the world on yearly contracts and slowly built up further equipment purchases as I hosting more STOTT PILATES courses.
Gradually the number of STOTT PILATES trained instructors lifted and I was in an envious position to hire and train several wonderful local instructors. All the while ensuring that my clients received a market leading Pilates experience with access to not only world class STOTT PILATES repertoire, but the equipment in which to apply it. This effort to solve the service needs of my client business opened up another opportunity, to become the STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer education provider for New Zealand in order to expand the industry and educate more instructors to influence more New Zealanders to receive the wonderful benefits of STOTT PILATES classes.
I was honored to be invited onto the Instructor Trainer program and became certified as a qualified STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer in 2012 and then proceeded to become the STOTT PILATES Licensed Training Centre for New Zealand in 2015, which is the only Australasian Licensed Training Centre for Merrithew Health & Fitness.
In time, “education” became the leading influence in the next evolution of my business. In an effort to reduce overhead, remove the conflict between revenue and service and provide a market leading educational experience, I purpose built a studio on my property, which was our 3rd studio. It was to be larger in square meterage than the commercial premises that I had been leasing and aesthetically it was to compliment the Pilates experience that I wanted to offer my clients.
The larger studio space also saw me extend my client service to include Total Barre. I was lucky enough to be accepted onto the Total Barre Instructor Trainer program with Moira Merrithew because of my dancing background and STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer qualification and became an early ambassador for the globally successful program in the early days of its launch. I have since taught Total Barre instructor courses & workshops throughout New Zealand & Australia which has been wonderfully successful for building business within many Pilates studios and Fitness Centres.
Total Barre allowed me to lift the number of clients per hour within my own studio without compromising the technical aspects of my client’s experience, particularly as many clients would supplement their contemporary Pilates program with a Total Barre class. I experienced revenue growth in my education business, the client services business and improved over all margin as a consequence of reduced business over head with an enhanced student and client studio experience.
In 2017, family lifestyle aspirations lead us to moving to the Hawkes Bay in New Zealand which is known as the fruit bowl of New Zealand, a wonderfully successful vineyard region bursting with relaxed locals and world class vineyards, retail, lifestyle & schooling opportunities.
We discovered a special property with soul and unique qualities to build a new Merrithew Licensed Training Centre for New Zealand. A place where students and local clientele could arrive to soak up a premium Pilates experience.
Be Pilates New Zealand was launched. Be Pilates offers a tailored Pilates experience to deliver what my client’s need on the day to recharge. Sometimes our life journeys require rehab needs, other days we need to restore whilst dealing with personal challenges, other days we need an athletic challenge… I love the realness of tailoring a class for a client’s needs at the right time for them. These skills are what I can proudly say I have learnt from the STOTT PILATES method, creating a toolkit of exercises and techniques to deliver a full toolkit of exercise prescription.
My drive is to teach instructors to influence their communities and grow their businesses and to also teach my clientele techniques and exercises what will enhance their wellbeing.
My message is this:
Ok I think I have done it. I have created a pretty neat Pilates experience… but because this is my baby and I can be a little less than objective, I would love you to try it on, take it for a spin, spill some champagne on it, return it used then let me know what you think?
Be Pilates New Zealand is 22 years of late night learning, elbow deep experience, no brakes growth, dignified falls, high five success stories and thank you bouquets all gracefully brought together under a black barn in Middle Road, Havelock North.
Because we are a lot about you and a little less about us we specialise in tailored Pilates solutions that take you on what I like to coin, a Pilates pathway. Whether you want to strengthen to tackle your chosen pursuit, brace to sustain the rigors of training, rehabilitate to square your shoulders off and get back to it, recuperate to heal or simply maintain the perfect you, we can train, enlighten, guide and support you toward your goal.
We are a traditional Pilates studio format that loves its fans, less the fare.
A little about me … then lots more about you
For the credential lovers out there (and I can be one of them) here’s my stats –
Successful, then broken ballet dancer
25 years of Pilates practice
19 years Pilates teaching and coaching
Polestar Pilates full certification qualified
STOTT PILATES® full certification qualified
STOTT PILATES® Instructor Trainer
TOTAL BARRE™ Instructor Trainer
Merrithew™ Fascial Movement Instructor Trainer
Be Pilates Studio is the official New Zealand Merrithew™ Licensed Training Centre for STOTT PILATES, Total Barre & Fascial Movement Education.
.. (& I toodle around New Zealand teaching many Instructor Courses & Workshops as well)
My favorite band is ‘Fly My Pretties’, I love Whittaker’s original toffee milks and happen to have a dirty Sunday Martini habit.
Most importantly I simply love what I do and who I do it with.
We are, where you want and sometimes just need to BE
If I could possibly distill my commercial learning down to a few points (not easy) for anyone wanting to become a Pilates instructor and/or studio operator it would be to place your client needs for all commercial decisions and this will drive success in all other aspects of your instructing and business endeavors. It will ensure you –
· Invest in the best education for yourself and your staff members
· Invest in the equipment needed to support your client’s needs – save and invest in quality equipment that will present the level of professionalism that you are delivering
· Resist the urge to over invest in commercial premises. A credible Pilates studio does not need to occupy a space on the high street
· Keep your hand in and continue to learn and develop your skill set - keep ahead
· Resist the urge to lift revenue by increasing the number of clients per labour hour in Pilates disciplines that require personal attention and programming. Keep your point of difference and reduce client turn over.
· Value your emotional intelligence. Know when your client’s need to be restored & recharged rather than athletically challenged from the experience you offered the week before. Make a difference in your valued clientele’s lives and you will retain clients long term which is a meaningful experience… it’s a rewarding daily experience to make such a meaningful difference in long-term health & wellbeing of the community around you…
… and remember to love what you do and who you do it with. xx