Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Katz.
Chelsea, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I met my co-founder, Kristi Wood in Pilates class about a year and a half ago. Both of us were commuting into the studio from our neighborhood of Logan Square. In a serendipitous meeting on a Blue Line train platform one November evening, we learned that our previous studio had decided to abruptly close and determined that it was high time for our own community to benefit from having a space to practice Pilates.
As experienced entrepreneurs with a combined 20 years as Pilates students across a number of studios around the city and across the country, we felt well equipped to design an ideal business.
We rounded out our founding team with our favorite instructor, the incredible Aileen May – whose high-quality instruction delivered in a body positive, upbeat, and non-intimidating class environment represented the exact vibe we sought to create in our new studio.
With the support of two other talented neighbors and Pilates classmates, Sonni Delzani and Brandon Larrow — we began building out our vision and brand, put together a business plan with a modest budget and ambitious timeline, and found the perfect location right near the Logan Square Blue Line stop (Spaulding exit).
We were also fortunate to have friends and family members who could help design our new space and bring it to life, including awesome local architect America Garcia.
Just 65 (exhilarating and exhausting) days after that serendipitous meeting, Logan Square Pilates + Core Studio opened its doors on January 18th. We couldn’t be happier to be here in service of our amazing fellow community members!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Opening a business in just two months was a huge challenge – but it was critical for our budget to start generating income as quickly as possible. In addition to the aggressive timeline, all 3 of us had other jobs we were balancing.
Communication and trust were (and still are) critical to ensuring that we could get it all done and stay on top of our full set of commitments. We’re continuing to face challenges and obstacles as we build up our business, but we’ve built a strong foundation that we are able to pull from as we work together to tackle each one.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Logan Square Pilates – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our mission is to ignite confidence and vitality in our community through the principal teachings of Pilates: concentration, control, center, position, breath and fluidity.
For those who aren’t familiar with Pilates, it is the practice of specific controlled movement and breath, with a focus on core and spinal support; – builds strength, flexibility and lean muscle tone. The emphasis is on lengthening the body and aligning the spine, rather than on bulking and shortening the muscles.
We are committed to making Pilates accessible to all bodies in our Logan Square community in an upbeat, non-intimidating, affordable studio environment, where individuals receive the utmost respect and support.
Our goal is to create a structured, focused, and healing environment as you explore the principles of Pilates while developing greater self-awareness of body, mind, and spirit. We foster attitudes of body positivity and self-care. We want to help you feel inspired and centered, both biomechanically and mentally.
We provide skilled, certified, and experienced instructors who meet you on your level, and help you reach goals you didn’t think were possible. We encourage exploration through a variety of group classes and individual sessions, all focused on the core principles of Pilates.
We are most proud of the community we’ve built in just 3 short months. Our instructors are truly passionate about inspiring, empowering, and energizing our clients to achieve their health, fitness, and wellness goals. Our students are an amazingly diverse representation of our community and we are so honored to support them in their journeys.
And finally, we have been able to develop a set of strong partnerships with other Logan Square wellness and fitness-focused businesses, which has allowed us to offer unique referrals and partner programs. These include Five Point Holistic Health (acupuncture, herbal medicine, bodywork), Third Coast Birth (comprehensive birthing, doulas, family support), Unanimous Boxing (private and group boxing and strength training).
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are focused on building on a strong foundation to close out a great first year of business!
In particular, we are looking to expand our class offerings to meet growing demand and the diverse needs of our students. We hope to add in a greater variety of classes and workshops, including prenatal and family classes, sports or goal related workshops, and skill development opportunities.
We are also excited to grow our instructor team and are looking to both builds up the skills and capacity of our current instructors and bring on new talent to complement our existing team. We are planning to build out more instructor workshops and training opportunities in partnership with master instructors in the area.
Finally, we plan to continue developing our partnership and community programs. We recently launched a free monthly Breast Cancer Survivor/Previvor class in partnership with one of our incredible instructors, Angela Luem and the local ambassadors of Bright Pink.
We are also in the process of launching free programming for teen girls and veterans, in partnership with other passionate LSQP instructors and local partner organizations. Using Pilates and yoga to engage populations that could particularly benefit from this type of mind/body movement is a strong motivation for our team.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2771 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
- Website: www.logansquarepilates.com
- Phone: (872) 205-5287
- Email: info@logansquarepilates.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/logansquarepilates/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/logansquarepilates
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/logan-square-pilates-chicago-2
Image Credit:
Caitlin Fitzgibbons
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