After getting some Pilates experience, my dad started the certification process with STOTT PILATES to become an instructor. By this time, I started nursing school and didn't give any thought to becoming a Pilates instructor. In January of 1999, my dad opened a Pilates Studio in Dublin, Ohio. It was the first in the Columbus area. Once the studio opened it became very popular quickly. I started to spend time in the studio, answering the phones, assisting clients and learning the Pilates routines. I was realizing that I enjoyed helping people. After starting the second year of nursing school and having a job in the hospital, I started to realize I was not interested in becoming a nurse. I wanted to teach Pilates! I went to my dad and told him I was quitting school and going to take the certification courses to become an instructor. He did not like this too much. He wanted me to finish school but I was determined to change his mind. After several talks, he agreed and said he would support it. At the beginning of 2000, I started teaching Pilates full time. At the same time, my dad opened a studio in Gahanna, which is on the other side of town. The Dublin studio where I was teaching had 3 reformers, 1 cadillac , 1 ladder barrel and 1 stability chair. I was teaching private clients along with reformer classes. The studio space was small and there was no room to teach mat classes. So, I went out into the community and taught mat classes at various locations.
In the summer of 2000, I completed the Intensive Mat course with STOTT PILATES in Detroit, MI. That was the closest place to get the training. The next year, I found a studio in Cleveland offering the reformer training. So I completed that course and took my certification exam to become mat and reformer certified. During this course, I became interested in what it took to become the teacher of the certification courses. I have always known I wanted to teach people and help others. The teacher of my reformer course showed me the steps on how to become a STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer (IT). STOTT PILATES headquarters in located in Toronto. I was told I need to go there and complete the rest of my training. I still had to get certified on the Cadillac, chair and barrel and I had to complete the Injuries and Special Population (ISP) course. In the summer of 2001, I went to Toronto for 3 weeks to take the Cadillac, Chair and Barrel course. I went back in March of 2002 to take ISP and to take my full certification exam. I passed and was now fully certified. In the summer of 2004, I was accepted into the Instructor Trainer program. You need to be recommend into the program, go through an application process and be selected for the program. When I was accepted I was very excited. Not only was my goal to become an IT but I wanted the Pilates Studio of Central Ohio in Columbus to become a Licensed Training Center for STOTT. At that time, the closet training center was Detroit, Chicago or Memphis. And in 2005, the studio became a licensed training center.
While all this was happening, in 2003 the studio in Dublin moved to a different location, expanding the studio space from 1000 sq. feet to 2800 sq. feet. The studio was now able to have the space for more equipment and mat classes. Towards the end of the year in 2003, my dad moved to Arizona. So I started to manage the studio. For 7 years, I managed the studio in Dublin with a staff of 10, taught the education courses and taught clients.
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