When we asked studio owners how they decided what to call their businesses, their answers ranged from matter-of-fact to fascinating, profound and sometimes downright hilarious.
STUDIONAME : Kinēsis
LOCATION : Washington DCCO – OWNER
Lissette Valdes When Alma [Ramos] and I opened Kinēsis, we wanted to offer Pilates as well as other services that complemented our client’s wellness goals. We also wanted a name that identified what we were to our clients—positive guidance and motivation—but emphasized that the results they achieved were their own. After hours, weeks, months of trying different names on for size, we kept coming back to Kinēsis, which means: “movement or activity of an organism in response to a stimulus.” The name was apropos to our mission, allowed us to grow as we learned about other services that aligned with our values and our client’s needs.
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STUDIO NAME : Moxie Pilates
LOCATION : Reading Berks County, PAOWNER
Kimm Miller Why did I choose the name Moxie Pilates? The short answer is it perfectly describes how I want people to feel after a Pilates session in my studio: more confident with a little pep in their step. The deeper meaning behind it is that my exposure to the Pilates method initially helped me overcome panic attacks and a diagnosis of PTSD after a near-death experience—nearly drowning while performing in Cirque du Soleil’s O show. The focused breathing of my Pilates sessions helped me during that difficult time. Years later, when I was opening my own studio, I searched for a name that encompassed the powerful healing properties of Pilates. The definition of “moxie” from thefreedictionary.com sums it up perfectly: “the ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.” Moxie also means determination, know-how and fortitude. People have many different goals and the feeling of moxie can help them overcome difficulties in their lives.
STUDIO NAME : Internal Fire Pilates
LOCATION : Mill Valley, CA OWNER
Sharon Gallagher-Rivera When I had a home studio, my business name was Deep Body Pilates, which to me evoked the deepest system of support that we are attempting to organize around. After a number of years, however, I felt that it didn’t quite speak to the vigorous, fully integrated movement experience that I so strongly believe in. (Also, a number of people made off-color references to my home studio name, saying it sounded like a porn title—uhh, not what I was going for!) I love how Joseph Pilates wrote about the cleansing “Internal Shower” and the idea that the cleansing breath is similar to “a good head of steam in your boiler and properly distributed by your radiators.” He also said, “Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit.” From these concepts, I had the image of stoking the “Internal Fire” within us, of igniting deeper strength, better movement patterning, improved self-healing capabilities and playful inspiration.
STUDIO NAME : Empower Pilates Studio
LOCATION : Albuquerque, NM OWNER
Lourdes Avitia Two years ago, when I was planning to open my own studio, I wasn’t sure about the name, so I decided to ask my clients. One of my clients said, “I feel empowered after every session.” So I went with it. I still get comments about the name—in fact, one of my clients called me just because of the name!
STUDIO NAME : On Balance Pilates
LOCATION : Kailua, HIOWNER
Lisa Ortega Loya I began having back pain in my early 20s due to scoliosis. Pilates was the only thing that helped balance my asymmetries. I felt it was a good name for a studio that could help others also find their balance. Whether it is work, our bodies or family, we are always striving to stay “on balance.” A little inside joke is that the word “On” in my logo actually tilts to one side making it “off balance”— and that’s how most of us really are. It’s an ongoing journey, not a destination.
STUDIO NAME : Delicious Pilates
LOCATION : Ridgefield, CT OWNER
Tiffany DeMartin Every year when I was growing up, my grandmother, Kiki, would buy my great-grandmother, Baba, a birthday cake. Kiki was a former vaudeville singer and dancer who wore violets in her décolletage and Spring-o-Lator mules decades after their time. Baba was a feisty, Victorian feminist famous for doing handstands at parties with little to nothing on under her skirts. The cake came in a pink bakery box, it was always covered in marshmallow elephants and we would eat it all in one sitting while Baba and Kiki sang and danced in the dining room. The word “delicious” is everything about that memory: the pink box that smelled of marshmallow frosting, the women who inhabited their bodies so shamelessly and loved movement and dance so completely, and the joy that comes from loving your body. Of course I want my clients to be strong, balanced and disciplined, but I also want them to have fun, to explore, to enjoy the sensations of movement. I want them to feel confident, to make their own rules about their bodies, and to enjoy every step of their Pilates journey. (Whether they do handstands at parties is up to them.)
STUDIO NAME : Pilates
Degrees LOCATION : Libertyville, IL OWNER
Michelle Austin When I was looking to leave corporate Pilates at a major health club chain, I was brainstorming studio names. My stepson Aidan, who was 11 at the time, came up with the name Pilates 212 Degrees, [explaining that] at 211 degrees water won’t boil, but at 212 degrees it will power a locomotive. That one degree of difference makes a huge impact. Now our tag line is “What’s your one degree of difference?”
STUDIO NAME : Pilates Nest
LOCATION : Cedar Park, TX OWNER
Smriti Dhaubhadel I wanted our studio’s name to reflect the nurturing space that is Pilates Nest. I wanted it to be a space where we learn to spread our wings and fly again with freedom and peace, a place where we can step away from daily demands of every day. What starts here at the Nest can change how we live, move and think; then we can take the lessons learned here to our “nest” (our home) so we can enjoy our lives with more ease, energy and joy.
STUDIO NAME : The Movement Factory
LOCATION : Lakewood, OH OWNER
Alyssa Lee Wilmot I named my studio “The Movement Factory” because we are located inside an actual working factory called The Lake Erie Building, also known as The Screw Factory. The factory was originally built to manufacture Templar Motor Cars; our main studio is in the area where they painted cars in the 1920s. I wanted a name that reflected that we were actually located in an industrial area, and that referenced the body as an efficient, effective, industrious machine.
STUDIO NAME : Blueprint Pilates Studio
LOCATION : Walnut Creek, CA OWNER
Janet Eidbo I named my studio Blueprint because I stay true to the original blueprint, or model of the Pilates method, as created by Joseph Pilates. The legacy of Joseph Pilates is that he created an amazing system of exercises that were specifically designed to help his clients with movement in their day-to- day lives, and I have seen amazing results in the lives of my clients through Pilates.
STUDIO NAME : Rebellious Intl
LOCATION : Sandy Springs, GA OWNER
Maria Angelova When I decided to quit my cushy corporate job to start my own lifestyle and wellness company, family, friends and colleagues thought I had lost my mind. After pages of proposed names, I came up with “Rebellious.” It was perfect! I wanted the name to reflect just that—a rebellious spirit—standing against the standards of what one should do and rebelling to do what one loves to do! I am a firm believer that Pilates empowers people physically, mentally and spiritually to a higher, better self and makes them more daring and…well, rebellious!
STUDIO NAME : Ofie’s Elite Physiques
LOCATION : Rancho Palos Verdes, CA OWNER
Ofie Dates I wanted my studio to provide superior Pilates-based fitness training for individuals from the beginner to the elite athlete. I initially was not going to include my name and just call it Elite Physiques. But in creating my logo with Tor Hovind, a professor of art at Cal State University Long Beach, things changed. He suggested that we include “Ofie” because it embraced the essence of my vision: to transform, revive and reconstruct the bodies and minds of those who seek a greater purpose in life.
STUDIO NAME : Pilates Tonic
LOCATION : Chattanooga, TN OWNER
Sydney Craig Originally, I chose the name Pilates Tonic because one of the definitions I found for tonic was “something that invigorates physically and mentally.” For many, this is exactly what Pilates does. As the studio has evolved through the years—we’ve incorporated other modalities, such as Fascial Stretch Therapy™ and Restorative Exercise— the name not only encompasses the invigoration of Pilates, but also the blend of all that we offer at Pilates Tonic.
STUDIO NAME : Pilates Artistry
LOCATION : Chicago OWNER
Erin Johnson My background is in art—I was a graphic designer in my previous career. From figure drawing, I learned to see the body’s shapes, its curves, its lines, the specific shadows and highlights that tell you the texture and depth of the form. I wanted a name that would capture the feeling of energy and invigoration that Pilates brings to the body and the way it feeds the soul. When the article about the Pilatespocalypse came out and the Megaformer trend started, I was reflecting on how some of these new hybrid forms of Pilates took the beauty and intelligence out of the work. It made me sad that a huge number of people would not experience the method in its fullest expression. You cannot be a “fitness tourist” in Pilates. Pilates requires the kind of attention, discipline and dedication that one needs for an art form. We are in a constant state of change and Pilates allows us to take agency in our own metamorphosis.
STUDIO NAME : Somaspace
LOCATION : Austin, TX OWNER
Amanda Vernor When I opened Somaspace in 2009, I was a long-time yoga teacher and a newly certified Pilates teacher. As I was coming up with a name, I wanted to pick something that didn’t hem me in to just one modality or location. Somaspace is derived from the word “somatic,” which is defined as the body, distinct from the soul, mind or psyche. The word also relates to a part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates voluntary movements. So there was this technical aspect of my studio name, but after writing it down, it really stood out to me. I loved that it sounded a little esoteric! I initially included Pilates with it so people would actually know what the studio was about, but have since dropped it since we are both a Pilates and Gyrotonic® studio.
STUDIO NAME : Flying Squirrel Studio
LOCATION : New York City OWNER
Danielle King The reasons for the name are tri-fold: First, I had the honor of raising a baby squirrel many moons ago that forever opened a special place in my heart for the little rascals. Secondly, I first discovered Pilates when I was performing on static trapeze. About five years into teaching Pilates, I developed an aerial Pilates class that I taught at a yoga studio until recently. I had to temporarily let it go when I decided to run a studio, but I wanted to leave the door open to bring Aerial Pilates into my own studio someday. So the word “flying” seemed a no brainer. And thirdly, there is an actual Pilates exercise named “Flying Squirrel” that I attempted to do a few times in my more limber and acrobatic days.
STUDIO NAME : Remedy Pilates and Barre
LOCATION : Scottsdale and Arcadia, AZ OWNER
Kelly Snailum In 2008, when I was writing a business plan for a Pilates studio, I started thinking of names by imagining what the studio would look like, who would come take lessons, even how I would describe what we do. I started searching synonyms for words like “solution,” “repair,” “treatment,” “cure,” etc. The one word that showed up on almost all of the lists was “remedy.” I kept coming back to it over and over. Having a husband in marketing was also very useful. He asked, “What do you want your business to do for people?” My response: “I want it to be the fix they are looking for, whether it’s to fix their bodies or their minds.” So Remedy, “the cure for the common workout,” was born.
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