Meet Rebecca Garrison of Boston Pilates in Jamaica Plain

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Garrison.

Rebecca, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After studying dance my entire life I graduated first from Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Ma and then Boston Conservatory in 2005. I moved to New York to pursue dance and after performing and working there I rapidly discovered that while I loved dancing, I didn’t want the life of a dancer and I didn’t want to live in New York. I decided to pursue Pilates, something that had helped me recover from a debilitating back injury in college. I loved Pilates. I loved that the focus of Pilates was moving in a way that kept my body healthy and vibrant, unlike dance which was movement that was beautiful but often came at the expense of my body. I spent a year studying with Power Pilates in NYC under Howard Sichel, Bob Liekens, and Susan Moran. I am so grateful that I was able to learn Pilates in NYC, where it was created, under some of the best classical Pilates minds in the world.

Three years in NYC was enough and I missed Boston. I wanted to move back here and settle down. I moved back to Boston and began dancing with Prometheus in Cambridge. I worked at Boston Pilates under the previous owner Paula Wood. I loved the clientele. In 2009 I became pregnant with my daughter and found the demands of motherhood and dancing to much to handle. I focused on Pilates, my husband and daughter instead. I was so grateful to have Pilates in my life when it came to rehabbing from pregnancy.

In 2011 Paula Wood decided to move the studio and move out of New England. I stepped in to take ownership. Unfortunately, less than a year later, our land lord, desirous of our space, refused to renew our lease. I was faced with a tough dilemma as a new owner, find a new space in 6 months or close the studio I had just invested in. Luckily, Chris DeSisto of Maplehurst Builders was sure that he had the right space for us. It was unfinished and needed to be built out. But it was beautiful and in a brand new building straight across from the Green St T stop.

Building out a space with a two year old and little experience was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. We love our new home and have been thriving there since 2012.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Having to move spaces after being told my lease would be renewed was terrifying. Having to undertake a build out was very expensive and I didn’t know if it would be worth it. Our new spaces was bigger and more expensive and I didn’t know if we’d be busy enough to support ourselves. I was really worried, not only for the financial fear of it, but also because if I failed, my people would lose their jobs. That weighed very heavily on me.

Please tell us about Boston Pilates.
We are an independently owned classical Pilates studio in Boston. The big gyms, Equinox, LA Sports Club and Boston Sports Club have stepped into the Pilates world with mixed success. I’m proud that it hasn’t hurt our business. In fact, we are thriving. I care about who I hire, where my instructors are trained, how they work with customers and how they treat each other. It took me a few years to rework the culture at Boston Pilates but I’m so proud to say that we all love working with each other and our clients. The women who work at Boston Pilates are wonderful, kind, smart women who know Pilates inside and out. They inspire me every day.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have stressed less. I was so worried about every little detail!

Pricing:

• $20 for Mat Classes
• $85 for a Private Session
• $150 for 5 Group Apparatus Classes

Contact Info:

• Address: 160 Green St, Boston, MA 02130
• Website: BostonPilatesStudio.com
• Phone: 617 524 0118
• Email: info@bostonpilatesstudio.com
• Instagram: boston_pilates
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Boston-Pilates-118986318153789/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
• Twitter: ThePilatesQueen

Image Credit:
Travis Magee