Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Gillespie.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tara. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was a dance major in college and had a major knee surgery, this led me down two paths at the same time. First, I left the dance department and studied Arts Management instead. If I couldn’t perform in the arts I wanted to spend my career supporting it. Second, I had to do Physical Therapy post-surgery and started down a path of loving all things anatomy and fitness that helped me recover. Jump ahead post-college, I spent close to a year training to become a certified STOTT Pilates instructor and moved to Chicago where I landed a job teaching at a studio that had just opened. Just a couple years later, I landed a job at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. I was teaching 15-20 hours a week and working full-time for Steppenwolf in their Development Department. I made it five years before I burned out and had to make a choice. I always thought it would be theatre, I had dreamed of working for Steppenwolf since I was 12, but when the time came I couldn’t bear the thought of giving up teaching. So, I left my job at Steppenwolf and decided to teach full-time until I could figure out what was next. I loved teaching, but I also knew that the business, spreadsheet-loving side of my brain would get itchy. Luckily, the owner of the studio I worked at was also itchy and looking to get out of teaching. Very long, grueling story short I found a way to buy the studio. That was just over six years ago, and here I am.
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?
Transitioning to teaching full-time was hard. It’s a little different now that Fitness is big business, but I definitely went through a time when I was embarrassed to tell people I was ‘just’ a Pilates instructor. In retrospect, I find the fact that I was embarrassed truly embarrassing and slightly shameful, but I did get a different reaction when I met people telling them I was a Pilates Instructor vs. an Event Planner for Steppenwolf. The perceptions and stereotypes put on those in the fitness industry are maddening. It’s better, but I still struggle.
The other big struggle was buying the business. In addition to trying to determine the value of a business where the main asset is something so difficult to value – people, being a 30-year-old woman with no debt and spectacular credit apparently didn’t qualify me for a loan. It took nearly a year for the deal to go through and it wasn’t smooth. This industry has changed drastically since I started teaching 15 years ago and sadly it isn’t news to see a new studio open or close on a weekly basis. The struggles I faced in buying the studio have definitely stayed with me over the last six years.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Harmony Mind-Body Fitness story. Tell us more about the business.
When asked, I tell people that I own a Pilates Studio, but we also teach Barre, Bellicon (mini-trampolines), and TRX®. We have classes (very small ones with only four-six people) but are primarily a Private based studio. In addition to looking for a workout or cross-training option, a huge percentage of our clients found us because they were dealing with an injury, nagging issue or were just in need of more specialized personal attention. All of our instructors have extensive experience in working with pre and postnatal clients in addition to injuries and post-surgery recovery including everything from a torn rotator cuff to cancer.
I firmly believe that with Pilates I should be able to do the exact same workout at 75 years old that I did today, and I have the clients to prove it. I love to sweat, work hard and go through a workout that makes me feel like I am going to die a little, but it can’t be the only thing I am doing and think that my body will not eventually revolt. Over the years, I have had knee, wrist, and most recently, major hip surgery. I have had too many sprained ankles and trips to the emergency room than I can count because apparently being a Pilates Instructor doesn’t save me from being a bit clumsy, but through all of it, I have been able to workout and move my body.
Being able to do this for myself and more importantly, for my clients is what I am most proud of and what I believe sets Harmony apart. We take the time to teach proper form and make modifications for the body in front of us. I workout for my brain and my soul much more than for my body, I think a lot of us do. Telling a client they can’t come in because they are in treatment and have a broken foot is insane. Yes, it’s more work, but those are the moments when our clients need us more than ever!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
3 Big Lucky Moments:
1) College ballet teacher, Judy Rice, telling me that I should look into becoming a Pilates Instructor because it seemed to be something that combined my passions. (It was 2002, Pilates was not a part of the mainstream).
2) Harmony’s previous owner wanting to make a career change. Hard at the time, but lucky that someone else’s journey forced mine a bit.
3) Meeting my husband. Owning a small business is HARD, and having the right kind of support is crucial. I met my now husband (of only a month) about six months before this journey started. A year and a half ago, the building Harmony had been in for 15 years was bought and our rent skyrocketed forcing a move. Moving the business was one of the more challenging things I have done in my life and it 100% would not have happened without him.
Contact Info:
- Address: Harmony Mind-Body Fitness
1962 N Clybourn, FL 2
Chicago, IL 60614 - Website: www.harmonybody.com
- Phone: 586-929-6909
- Email: info@harmonybody.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmony_mbf/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harmonybody/
- Other: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/mainclass?studioid=2751&tg=&vt=&lvl=&stype=1&view=&trn=0&page=&catid=&prodid=&date=9%2f14%2f2018&classid=0&prodGroupId=&sSU=&optForwardingLink=&qParam=&justloggedin=&nLgIn=&pMode=0&loc=1
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