Kathy the owner seems like a lovely person. She has a lot of experience coaching fitness at a Private School; only a few years of Pilates and teaching (she got her certification 2018/19, and opened her doors about 3 years ago.)
The studio is (by her own admission) small, with 3 pieces of main equipment. A garage converted nicely into a small workout space. It's pretty, tidy, clean, and the independent AC seemed adequate, though not as cool/strong as you might find in a real studio with central AC.
The equipment is Stott, which is the more modern version of the traditional wooden equipment, which might create a challenge if one is used to the full, more high-end cadillac, chairs, and reformers (some examples of the differences: less bandwidth for pegging out in general; narrower 'beds' and no pegs for holding straps; less movement on some excercises due to parts of equipment built too high).
My first session we had decided would be more of a meeting/testing settings and such on the equipment.
One thing that was a bit jarring: there are no mirrors running along the length of the reformer and semi-cadillac - which was a first, given that Pilates of course is about proper alignment and posture. I kept glancing to look at my posture, and there was just closets. There is one mirror at a small distance that was hung so you see yourself 'head on' while doing arms - but that doesn't help with the main point of them: posture of shoulders, back, arms, etc from profile, which is the more important.
Kathy graciously took my feedback (or gave the appearance of doing so) as it seemed to have not yet occurred to her.
It was not completely 'private' - she likes to leave the garage door wide open for air circulation, which was a bit uncomfy - didn't quite feel safe/private. Also, her husband (a very nice person) wandered in at one point to grab a beverage from the fridge. True, we were not having a full session, but still... Kathy explained he normally doesn't do that.
Priced reasonably; approximately 70$ / session at time of review.
After this first session she said she'd be very happy to move forward; and we scheduled a session for the following Sunday. She also offered a Package deal if I purchased 10.
Oddly, she did not have the compassion or professional etiquette to call to share that she had overnight changed her mind, she simply texted she was not going to move forward and when I tried to at least learn what had changed (as she had expressed only delight and keen interest in moving forward) - she chose not to respond.
My best guess is her lack of experience and the challenge with the studio set up lacking mirrors et al led her to feeling ill-matched for someone with traditional Pilates training used to a more pro studio set up. She had admitted thus far her clients had been fellow parents from the school she taught at, or friends. Perhaps my pointing out where things could use some help frustrated her.
Either way - doing a complete 180 like that - especially given all her compliments of my own Health Journey - was a sad way to handle a new customer - even if the choice was that it wasn't a good fit, a courtesy call with some indication of what had changed so abruptly would have been better.
Thank you. Consult / 1st session was Sunday 8/14/22 at approx 5 pm. I unfortunately was running a few minutes late - stopped to pick up smoothies as a thank you for her time leading up to session, and also had to take call from surgeon due to recent surgery. She was gracious about lateness
"Kathryn" Cory B. read more