Pilates Life Palm Beach Gardens

Today we'd like to introduce you to Danielle Armstrong.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Danielle. So, let's start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in a small town in Western New York. My mom decided to sign me up for dance lessons at a young age because I was clumsy. Looking back, I don't think my parents thought I would end up pursuing a career as a performing artist or become a business owner for that matter.

I was first introduced to Pilates at the Conservatory of Dance at State University of New York at Purchase College. I graduated with my BFA in Dance Performance as well as a BA in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Communications and Media Studies. Upon graduating, I moved to New York City, got a job as a hostess in a restaurant to help pay the bills, started teaching dance and took a class at an amazing dance school in Union Square. I quickly met a crew of dancer friends and I started working on my own choreography. I attended auditions for modern dance companies. Often, I would make it down to the final few dancers but never got that "big break" I thought I wanted. Instead, I continued working on my own choreography and applied for every festival and performing opportunity I could find. Soon we were performing all over the city from Times Square to Riverside Church on the Upper West Side.

During my time in New York City, I was really enjoying the hustle and bustle of the restaurant business and worked my way up to becoming the Maitre D' in the Flatiron District for a celebrity chef. Taking on this new role I had very little time for staying in shape and taking dance classes. My roommate at the time was studying to be a Pilates instructor so I became her guinea pig. I would get home from work late at night, sleep in, take Pilates, teach dance and then head back to the restaurant to start the cycle all over again. It was hectic but I loved it! As time passed, I started seriously dating my now-husband, whom I met at my very first restaurant job in the city. He was a sous chef at the time, working crazy hours and I assumed that two people working in the busy restaurant business wouldn't be conducive to getting married or starting a family… it would turn out that I would be wrong in my assumption.

At that time, I decided to begin my Pilates crusade. I vigorously tried to complete my 75 prerequisite hours to audition for acceptance into a certification program with Joseph Pilates' protégé Romana Kyrzanowska. That evening after my audition, my chef boyfriend took me out to celebrate my new career path and asked me to be his wife. And so it began, I spent 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Midtown at the Pilates studio with Romana and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Upper West Side studio; taught dance from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Union Square and off to the restaurant to work from 6:30 p.m. to who knows when, all while planning a wedding. I ended up completing over 600 hours of practice, teaching and workshops. It was an amazing experience to learn from someone who trained with Joseph Pilates himself.

After September 11, 2001, we said good-bye to New York City, moved to Connecticut, bought our first home and had our first child. I worked at a wonderful Pilates studio in Greenwich, CT where I had a lot of private clients and sometimes I would teach in their homes. It was the perfect job since I could bring my infant son with me on my home visits; it gave me the freedom to work and still be with him. I decided to open my own Pilates studio in Norwalk, CT but after only being open eight months, my husband whisked us off for a new adventure to Charleston, SC where we had our second child, a daughter, we opened up a restaurant and I managed a Pilates studio, and then ultimately landing in our hopefully final destination in Jupiter, FL.

Arriving in Florida with a four-year-old and a nine-month-old was tough. We quickly found a support system and I was back in the studio teaching Pilates and Modern dance. After many years of living in Florida, my passion for the restaurant business was rekindled when my husband opened up his own catering and meal-prep/delivery service, The Hybrid Chef. I often have the opportunity to watch him work at private functions together and at our storefront retail space located in the Abacoa neighborhood in Jupiter. I take pride in wearing many hats, one of them being Mrs. Hybrid Chef. You can only imagine the hustle and bustle of being two business owners with two kids, but I wouldn't change it for the world!

In 2012 my dream came true. I opened up a Pilates studio inside a dance school where I was teaching. My two worlds had finally come together. I could not have wished for a better situation until one evening I was closing up the studio and in walked Lolita San Miguel, one of the last living elders who trained with and was certified by Joseph Pilates the last year of his life. She was searching for a studio to host her Master Mentor Program and to launch a teacher training program. After several meetings, we became partners. I enrolled in her Master's Program, and became a Second-Generation Master instructor in 2014. I immediately began training to become an educator and I now teach Lolita's Legacy, her teacher training program. I never would have imagined that I would train with not only one but two people who had such close lineage to Joseph Pilates himself! I am immensely blessed to say the least.

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?
I think as a business owner our work becomes our "baby." I know I struggled and still do with finding balance in my life. Joseph Pilates said it best, "Life should be a balance of work, rest and play." With starting any business, it takes time to build clientele, find trustworthy staff, and most importantly love what you do without getting burned out. Here in Florida, it is very seasonal, which poses a challenge in the slower summer months. If I were to find a silver lining for my business, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it forced us to be creative and launch an online platform. Now our "snowbirds" can enjoy Pilates Life virtually from their homes here in Florida or back in their off-season homes. Another struggle was finding qualified instructors to work at the studio. For the longest time, it was only me working and trying to take on every new client that came in the door. Once Lolita began the teacher training program, we were able to create such a talented staff for the graduates of the course.

We'd love to hear more about your work.
The studio started out as Classical Pilates, but I decided to rebrand it a few years ago to make Pilates more all-encompassing. We are now Pilates Life, not just using Pilates as a workout but bringing it into our daily lives. In South Florida, a number of our clients are 60 plus years old. In building a brand, we want our clients to keep doing Pilates for the rest of their life. It helps with everyday activities like bringing in and putting the groceries away, getting up and down off the floor while playing with grandkids, and most importantly improving posture and balance – something that we tend to struggle with if we don't work at it, at any age. I have always wanted Pilates to be as accessible as possible to people. Not just for our affluent clients, but for our young dancers to help prevent injury and provide longevity in their dancing, helping get our new moms back into pre-pregnancy shape, and helping our seniors recover from ailments such as a hip replacement.

Our studio is fully equipped with state-of-the-art Pilates equipment with brands such as Balanced Body and Gratz. In addition to teaching group Equipment and Mat classes, we teach Private and Semi-private sessions along with our new Virtual private and class platform. Coming soon, we will begin an on-demand feature where our clients can access us anytime, anywhere, by purchasing a video from our Pilates library. Our studio also offers Lolita's Legacy, a comprehensive teacher training program. I have been so fortunate that since becoming a Pilates instructor, I have never had a hard time finding work and making a living, all the while being a mom. It has been the most rewarding and gratifying profession for me. I love mentoring my students and showing them everything the method has to offer, not to mention working with my clients who have become like family to me.

One of the things I am most proud of is the camaraderie and the sense of community we have established at Pilates Life. Although it has taken time, our clients and our staff are the BEST around.

What were you like growing up?
I have an incredible support system and amazing role models in my life. My parents always encouraged me and although I know my father secretly wished I did something a little more conventional, like becoming a school teacher, I know he is proud of me and the successful business that I have created. I am the oldest child, I have a brother who is six years younger, and I loved mothering him during our childhood. I realized through answering some of these questions that I have always liked to be "large and in charge." From being a choreographer rather than a dancer in a dance company, to becoming a business owner rather than an instructor in a studio. I was obsessed with dance, it's all I wanted to do and the discipline I learned was exactly what I needed to help pave the way for where I am today: a wife, a mom, a business owner and always a dancer at heart.

Pricing:

• Mat Classes $15 single/$120 10 sessions
• Equipment Classes $30 single/$250 10 sessions/$500 22 sessions
• Privates $85 single/$800 10 sessions/$750 10 sessions 3x plus a week
• Duets $55 Single/$500 10 sessions
• Virtual Class $12/$100 10 sessions/$180 20 sessions
• Virtual Private Equipment Single $45-$65/$400-$600 10 sessions

Contact Info:

• Address: 4100 PGA Blvd (Located inside The Florida School for Dance Education)
  Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
• Website: www.pilateslifestudio.com
• Phone: 561-288-8151
• Email: pilateslifeflorida@gmail.com
• Instagram: @pilateslifeflorida
• Facebook: @pilateslifeflorida
• Other: www.lolitapilates.com www.lolita-pilates-online.com www.thehybridchef.com

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Source: http://voyagemia.com/interview/meet-danielle-armstrong-pilates-life-palm-beach-county-palm-beach-gardens/

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