Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Rockwood.
Ashley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a professional dancer. I still say “am” all though I am retired from the super rigorous stuff. But being a dancer isn’t just something you stop. If the right call comes, you may just catch me. I performed with Giordano Dance Chicago for most of my career. Along the way, I also worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, my fave industrial and aerial company C5, oh and Beyonce! Yes, that Beyonce. Essentially, I retired to have a baby. Who is now a wildly awesome 2 year who I adore?
I have since made the transition to the other side of the arts. I care deeply about people, community and sharing my creative art with the world. In 2016, I started the organization Dancers Awareness Project inspired by the act of “giving dap”. We create opportunities for dancers to connect and make meaningful content for our community; the world. I love the work that we do, and we have produced some pretty awesome experiences along the way.
I’ve always have had a desire to provide some sort of space for people to gather. Ask my friends, some of them have been dragged to raw, and very raw warehouses and read through many-a pitches. I contemplated many areas including coffee, donuts, fitness, performance, co-working, dance. The list really does go on. And then I thought, but what if space was transformative and label-free. And it could be whatever it needed to be upon request by the people. And there you have the birth of the first pop up Free Mvmt Shop.
Free Mvmt Shop is such a joy for me. I am having so much fun building this business, creating the aesthetic, meeting new people and doing what I truly love – moving. We provide unique approaches to movement-based fitness and pride ourselves on thinking outside of the box and encouraging adults to play. There is rarely anything we won’t try. For example, our specialty Star Wars themed Move Like A Jedi class with fight training, lightsabers, and BYOB. IT WAS SO AWESOME and we are for sure putting that one on again. Our daily lineup of classes doesn’t shy away from the fun either. Love & Hip Hop, Ballroom Bash, Ballerina Burn, Abs on Abs, Arm Candy, Pwr Hour, Pilates Thanks A Lot-y to name a few. Our new studio (opening July 1 in Lincoln park) expands both physically with more space to move and operationally with our MOVE YOUR MIND programming. Co-working days with mid day workouts, wellness events and startup minded experiences. We air on the side of avant garde. Non-traditional pairings. We don’t want to give too much away. But just you wait.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth is an interesting term. I don’t know of any entrepreneur who explains their journey as smooth. For Free Mvmt Shop, I found the space and 1 week later the lease was signed and we had 30 days before we needed to open our doors by January 1. Oh, and did I mention the space we took in the Southport Corridor was a disgusting old dirty dry cleaners! I took it because I got a steal deal to take it “as is” before they tore the building down for new construction.
So, it was a 5-month lease which if you know in Chicago is unheard of. Which is why our first studio was a pop-up. It was a great way to as my husband says, product market test. So anyway, there was an insane amount of transformation and sweat equity but it happened. More on that here – https://www.freemvmtshop.com/fanzine/inthemaking, The month of December, I managed to set up a business with the city of Chicago, market, recruit teachers, schedule classes, and events and get people to the door. That was A LOT of work. Long long long hours. And, I would do it all over again. And in fact, we are.
Please tell us about Free Mvmt Shop.
I think I went into a lot of that previously. I am most proud of the creative edge to our company. How many people have a keg-erator (for coffee or beer) in their fitness studio. NOT MANY. We like to have fun and not take life too seriously. Once you have your first kid, you realize that time flies. You might spend an entire day playing dinosaurs and that kid is HAPPY. Adults need to play with dinosaurs. We are not trying to compete with all of the workout heavy fitness studios. And they are most certainly doing that quite well, you know who you are. High five. We are cultivating a community of people who dig our “break your routine” vibe. It is certainly something special.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
CAN’T – no use in speaking to this. I have learned so much. But some of those things are best learned with a little “sink or swim” just go for it. The old don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness.
Pricing:
- You’re First Class is always $12. (Single Class $15)
- 5 Class Package – $67
- Co-Working/Workout Day 10a-5p (includes a 30 minute mid-day class) – $20
Contact Info:
- Address: 1777 N Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60614 - Website: www.freemvmtshop.com
- Phone: 773-857-1283
- Email: info@freemvmtshop.com
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
