WEBVTT
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You were 30 years in the Special Forces.
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Did Pilates teach you something different about strength and about movement than all those years of fitness training?
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It's that gender stereotype that you have to dress a certain way in your matching set, drink matchulates, and it's all female.
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One of my friends had a bad hip, bad back because of his injuries.
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After about six weeks doing the mat Pilates for Millie, he danced around his room.
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Whereas before you get like an old man, I'm about as alpha male as it gets.
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I come from 30 years in the special forces.
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I wish him 20 years ago said, hey mate, go and do some Pilates, because you're almost bulletproof for your body.
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Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of Beyond the Reformer.
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I'm Nick Lenny.
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I'm a studio owner in Bristol in the southwest of the UK.
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I'm a Pilates educator and I am your host for these conversations every week, looking at the big wide world of Pilates.
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At the time of recording, I am just back from what was supposed to be my big summer break.
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Although, if I'm perfectly honest, it didn't quite feel like a break at all, didn't really go to plan.
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We had some major family illness.
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We had holidays that we had to cancel, and then in the middle of it all, my gorgeous dog Charlie Beagle died.
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He was 13, but you know, it was really sad and it's been a tough month.
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So I have slightly crashed back into work without feeling particularly rested, which is kind of funny, isn't it, when you think about it.
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Because as teachers, we are very good at telling everyone else how to listen to their bodies, slow down when they need to, and look after themselves.
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But then we're not always very good at taking our own advice.
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Well, I'm certainly not anyway.
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Anyway, I'm just saying that out loud, partly to remind myself, and actually flying to New York, I'm going to meet some really interesting people, visit some studios, and I'm going on a training course with one of our recent podcast guests.
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So, as always in my life, there's a lot happening, but I'm really excited to be back recording again.
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It's lovely to be with you.
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And today's conversation feels like a really fun one to come back with.
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My guest today is Tim Goff, one of the founders of Vagabond Pilates.
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And when Tim first approached me about coming onto the podcast, one of the things that really caught my attention was when he said he was on a bit of a mission to get more men into Pilates.
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And I thought, yeah, I would really like to talk about that.
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We actually tried something at my studio this August a couple of weeks ago that made me think about this even more.
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Because every year, during the last week of August, which is for us typically one of our quietest weeks in the studio, we often run a referral or a bring a friend offer.
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And if I'm honest, it creates a bit of activity, but historically, these people don't typically tend to convert into long-term clients.
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But it's a nice opportunity to give our members the opportunity to bring people.
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So this year, I decided let's do something a little bit different.
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We called it Bring a Man to Pilates.
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I wasn't sure how that was gonna land, but you know, I often joke that some of the male clients in our studios are actually some of honestly our most loyal, most committed, some of our highest spending, and often some of the most joyful clients to have around.
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I absolutely love their company.
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But almost all of them had the same origin story.
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Their wife brought them, their girlfriend brought them, their sister brought slash dragged them because basically a woman dragged them through the door.
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It always kind of feels like that.
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We often joke about it with those clients.
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And what was really interesting was that this campaign created a huge amount of buzz.
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We had lots of men coming in, I think 84 booked in, and we have already had several of them go on to become members because they were like, this is great.
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So I thought this was a perfect moment to have this conversation with Tim and just get his viewpoint on all things about men and Pilates.
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Because I want us to go broader than just how do we get more men into Pilates.
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And as always, if you're enjoying these conversations, please help me out by liking, follow, subscribing to wherever you're listening or watching.
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Share the episode with someone you think would enjoy it.
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Come and find us on Instagram.
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I genuinely love reading your comments and hearing what you think.
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All of these things make a huge difference to little old me sitting in my office.
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Here I am in my office, coming up with these episodes every week.
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All right, that's enough from me rattling on.
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Let's dive into today's conversation with Tim.
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Tim, thank you so much for joining me on Beyond the Reformer today.
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Hi Nick, it is a genuine pleasure to be here.
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First ever podcast.
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I love it.
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And if if you're watching on YouTube, your beautiful studio is behind you, and uh you'll be able to see it if you're watching the video.
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And we were going to talk a lot about your studio, but I wanted to kind of just kind of get straight into it, really.
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You were 30 years in the Special Forces, and you know, when we think of special forces, we think of all the fitness training that you do.
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But when you then looked at Pilates, and we'll look at how you got into Pilates, but when you looked at Pilates, Tim, did Pilates teach you something different about strength and about movement than all those years of fitness training?
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Yeah, I think it did.
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It's it's a lot more controlled when you do your practice doing Pilates.
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There's a lot of crossover actually from my previous career to where I am now.
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Before I was I was 12 years in the Marines and then 18 years in in the special boat service, and you're full throttle the whole time, physically, mentally, doesn't matter what you're doing, training, operations, etc.
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You have to control that to a certain extent, but a lot of it's aggression that gets you through.
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To come into a studio and actually practice my own Pilates, it has been it's been eye-opening to what I can do, and I have the control there as well.
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Mind, body, spirit was something that Joseph Pilates said, and I didn't really cue into that until I started doing the Pilates.
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But again, crossover.
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That thread goes all the way back through my entire career.
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You haven't got the mind, body, and the spirit, you're not gonna do it.
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It's as simple as that.
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So it's been eye-opening, the journey to get here, and it's a journey, right?
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It's it's never ending, which is what what I think I like about it as well.
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You're always striving for that next, you know, the next next big thing.
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Me too.
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I love the fact you don't just know it all.
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You know, we're I mean, it's why we spend a fortune on C and D.
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We're always learning.
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So tell me, Tim, how did Pilates then come into your life and you know get you to where you are today?
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So my wife, Millie, she started doing Pilates a long time ago.
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She then got cancer in her knee, quite a rare form.
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Had a couple of operations to take it away, and then used Pilates as part of a rehab so she could bend her knee again.
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So I watched her go through that.
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She then trained as an instructor, and I was away at the time for a six-month tour.
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And where I was, you were either working or you were sleeping.
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There wasn't much anything else you could do where we were.
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So your physical exercise took a back seat because you couldn't do it.
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We Skyped most nights, and she said one day, do you want to do some matte pilates with me?
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And I was like, Yeah, go on in.
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It's better than that.
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That sounds great.
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Better than do nothing.
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So I screencast I went to a big TV, and the best point for the Wi-Fi in the whole area was right in the middle of the corridor between the rooms.
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So it's massive TV, Minnie's massive face on the screen, taking me through a Matte Pilate session.
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After about a week, some of the guys walked past and um they sort of stopped mid-was mid-flow and they said, Uh, what are you doing?
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I said, I'm doing Matt Pilates with my wife, who's the instructor.
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And they sort of looked at each other a bit sheepish, and then one of them said, Um, can we join in?
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I was like, Yeah, full of your poops, of course you can.
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Grab a mat, we'll go for it.
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Millie, this is so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so.
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And after about uh two weeks of doing that, I then got us a room.
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We had a dedicated Pilates sort of studio where we were, and Millie would take us through a session most nights.
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And the best thing about that story is one of my friends, he was shot a couple of times when he was away previously, and he had a bad hip, bad back because of his injuries.
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Didn't tell us about it at all.
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I didn't know about it either.
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After about six weeks of doing the Matt Pilates with Millie, he said uh he'd get up in the morning and he danced around his room, whereas before he got like an old man.
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And he said, If that that for me was the impact that Pilates has on people's lives, and that really sparked my interest in how how how we could use this um in our day-to-day.
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It's so interesting.
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So, in a pre in a previous life, I was an Air Force girlfriend, and uh when I was training, I used to train my boyfriend, like lots of the friends, you know, they got interested in it.
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You know, the guys were like, Can I come and do it?
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And it was it was really interesting because you'd see them going through all their fitness drills, which is so different though, very much like you said, like lots of momentum kind of carrying them through.
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And then they would find it so humbling to, in a good way, though, and we'll talk about this, like, because I think there is something out there about let's make Pilates really hard for men, and let's discuss that in in in a moment.
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But you know, for you, and I I always think the same is that isn't it amazing that you can have the tiniest amount of space and you can do a movement practice and you can bring Matt Pilates anywhere, so I love Matt.
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But how was it for you?
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Like, yes, it got your body moving, but did it do more of that?
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I mean, you're in a very high pressure situation over there.
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Did it help you?
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Did you kind of notice other changes beyond the physical?
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Yeah, I did, yeah, because you've got that mind-body connection.
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It was just it was an hour of Tim Tha how I used to say it.
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It it was it was an hour with my wife, which I loved anyway, it was great.
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But she was taking me through some something which took my mind off of the here and now, all the pressures, the danger that's in the area.
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You just sort of leave it behind, you go into your into your practice, and then you zone in on practicing what you're doing.
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And it's it's probably as close to meditation as ever I've ever come.
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Just concentrating on doing one thing, fighting gravity the whole time, and she's a cruel mistress, uh, but you're concentrating on doing that with your body.
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So it just focuses you.
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And I've I found that really sort of I'm not spiritual at all, but really uplifting.
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So I finished my practice hour with Millie and thinking, I feel on top of the world right now.
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I feel taller, which is nice anyway, because I'm only five foot eight.
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So to feel tall is a good thing.
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And I feel on top of the world, right, back to work, what's coming next type thing.
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So yeah, definitely.
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Yeah, it wasn't just the physical aspect of it, it's certainly the mental side of it as well.
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And we see that in the studio, people come in and they say, right, this is my 50 minutes, it's for me.
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I'm gonna walk off and then go back to the real world.
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But this 50 minutes is just for me.
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And it's I think it's a nice thing to do.
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And I think for me, that was similar.
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It was such an important part of this.
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It was the thing that slowed me down.
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I did feel like it was meditation.
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I always think if you're a really busy person, it's like meditation, mindfulness.
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Yes, it's strength and toning, but also, you know, rehab benefits as well.
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This is a damn good use of an hour if you're really time poor.
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But it's really interesting to see, and it's interesting to see how that story of, you know, you were doing it in the corridor because that was the best Wi-Fi you could get, and suddenly people watch it and then they're like, oh, actually, what you know, and did they did those guys enjoy it?
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You know, the you had you told about the guy who obviously he's like you know, he felt so much better, but the other guys as well, they obviously wanted to come back and do it again.
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Well, everyone came back every day, and so yeah, they've got a lot of enjoyed it.
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I don't think it was because there was a lack of anything else to do.
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I think it's because they actually enjoyed it.
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Um and then the word spread really quickly around the around the whole bunch of guys I was with uh that hey, Tim's doing Pilates with his wife.
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And you're gonna get people that's gonna go, oh, that's not for me, it's just a bit of stretching.
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And that's just an education thing on on us as instructors and people who are passionate about Pilates, say it's not.
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Come and have a go.
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I'll take you through it and show you what it's actually all about.
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But yeah, to answer your question, the guys loved it.
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Absolutely lapped it up.
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It was great.
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And when you wrote to me, Tim, you said, you know, I'm on a bit of a mission to get more men to do Pilates.
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And I do think that's such an interesting thing because it's so interesting that it's created by a guy.
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Sometimes you say that to guys like, is it?
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And yet this is a very female-dominated space, both from uh the instructors that are out there, but definitely from a studio perspective.
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Why do you think that men aren't coming to Pilates?
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I think that it's that gender stereotype that you have to dress a certain way in your matching set, drink matchilates, and go in and it's all it's all females.
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And some guys don't like training with females, and I get that.
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I understand that.
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I don't simp I don't um empathize with that, but I sympathize with it.
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Some people don't like to be shown up, and then that's fine.
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We can offer all male classes, but it's breaking down that um that gender stereotype that it is just for females.
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Look, it was invented by a bloke, four blokes.
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It's just that women are quick enough and clever enough to think this is great, and blokes are a bit slower on the uptake.
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We're starting to see it creep into Premier League football, NFL, a big into it as well.
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So it's coming, but it's really, really slow.
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And it's something that I'm quite passionate about to break down that wall and say to some of the guys, hey, come and have a go.
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It's really good as an addition to your regular training.
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I mean, I lift, I climb, mountaineer, do marathons, but I still do Pilates as part of my practice as well.
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And I think it's a sweet spot.
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It really, it really does help you out in prehab and rehab as well.
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I always think it's really interesting, Tim.
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I'd love your thought on this.
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So what I typically tend to see in the desire to promote Pilates to men is groups of men, usually on reformers, they can't do it.
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They think it's, you know, they're finding it hard because they can't do it.
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And it's one of my bugbears generally in life.
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Like, if you can't do it, I'm not doing a great job as a teacher.
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Exactly.
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Do you think that that's what guys want?
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They're desperate.
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Because it feels like there's a feeling out there that it's trying to be promoted in a similar way to maybe like what gym is or Hyrox is or things like that that tend to be quite male-dominated spaces.
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And it feels like there's a sense of marketing for men that is let's show how hard it is, and that's what will get people in.
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Is that do you see that working, or do you see that they just need to understand it more?
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I think it's probably a mix between the two.
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So if you say your average guy who goes to the gym and lifts, he does that because it's hard and it hurts his muscles to do that.
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So you obviously change your muscle groups throughout your week routine to not train the same muscle groups every day.
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And guys like doing hard things.
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So uh it's probably a mix between the two.
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The message needs to change that it is for both genders, it's not gender for gender specific at all.
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I don't think we should go down the route of saying, look, this is super ninja hard, come and give it a go.
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And you see the Instagram reels, which I love, of like Aussie Rules football teams going onto um a reformer and getting absolutely smashed by an instructor and they can't do it.
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They're like shaking dogs all over the place.
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And I thought A, it's funny, but B, it puts out there, look, this isn't easy.
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You've got to have the technique properly.
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And you're right, if you're your people can't do it, as instructor, you've probably gone wrong somewhere, you've pitched it too high.
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So rein it back in and start baby steps, go from there.
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And I think as soon as people start queuing onto fat, this is really good for you, it'll become bigger and bigger and bigger.
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So I think the message you needs to change that yeah, it's hard, but it doesn't start off that way.
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And it's so unbelievably good for your entire body, and a bit of mindfulness chucked in there as well.
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And often I think, Tim, that it Pilates is hard in a different way to what the gym is hard, or Hyrox is hard, or HIT is hard, or running a marathon is hard.
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Like it's got a subtlety to it, and most of us find the subtlety quite hard, the slowing down quite hard, the being connected, the feeling, the noticing.
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Like that in itself is hard.
00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.480
But that's not very Instagrammable because usually people look quite meditative and like they're really concentrating.
00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:50.559
I always joke to my new graduate teachers, like the resting Pilates face looks quite grumpy because we're so concentrating.
00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.159
We don't look very happy at all.
00:14:52.399 --> 00:15:03.919
And so I sometimes wonder like, then is there a mismatch between because don't get me wrong, I could absolutely take a group of any gender and give them lunges and planks and you know, heavy, heavy, stronger things.
00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:07.360
And that exists on the reformer and on all the other pieces of equipment as well.
00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:10.720
But then often they come to class and it's you're a beginner.
00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:16.159
So, you know, you might be, you know, I've worked with top-level athletes that I know you have as well.
00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:22.559
And even though they're, you know, the world number one at their sport, they're a beginner at this, so they kind of have to look at the beginner stuff.
00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:29.360
And so sometimes I think, you know, is there a mismatch in that it's this big hard shake, can't do it?
00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.519
And then you come in and you're kind of potentially met with the subtlety of Pilates.
00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.120
And is there a mismatch there?
00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:41.759
Or should we be giving those bigger type of moves earlier on if we're teaching a male population?
00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:46.159
I think that's uh that that's the messaging thing, and maybe an education piece as well.
00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:48.799
Because answer your last questions first.
00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.320
I don't think we should be chucking people in a deep end and getting them to do control front straight away.
00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.240
I don't think that that has to weigh ahead at all.
00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:55.519
You end up hurting people.
00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:03.919
There needs to be that baseline of your understanding of the repertoire and understanding the muscle groups you're gonna use and then the breathing as well, which is so important, in it.
00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:08.559
So as long as the education is there to say, hey, come on in, it's gonna start fairly easy.
00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:22.639
We'll make you shake because we can, but we're gonna teach you and teach you and teach you, and then all of a sudden you get it's gonna it's it's gonna it's gonna click, and then we can start pushing the repertoire going into the advanced, going upper intermediate into the advanced.
00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:24.240
Um so I think it's an education thing.
00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:32.720
But no, I don't think we should be bringing people in and say, right, I'm gonna make you shake like a dog for 50 minutes, you're gonna hate every second, sweat's gonna be everywhere, and then come back and do it again.
00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:34.639
Because I don't think people come back if I'm honest.
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:41.759
No, I don't think they do, and I don't think we're doing our jobs right because I think the the method that exists in Pilates works for a reason.
00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:46.879
And and I think, and it's lovely to hear you do too, because I'm always like, have I got this wrong when it comes to male clients?
00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.240
You know, that actually the method doesn't really change.
00:16:50.399 --> 00:17:06.720
But I do think your point that you made earlier about sometimes men don't like being in female spaces, and I personally don't know if it's the female space or it's the fact that usually the females are much better than them, maybe because they've been doing it longer, and so they don't like they're like, why is this so hard?
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.039
Everyone else seems to be able to do it.
00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:14.000
And I think about back in the day when we had female sections of gyms, and that's gone now, hasn't it?
00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:15.039
Where we're all kind of together.
00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:22.480
But I, you know, you have created some men-only classes, and has that felt like a really nice space to bring some guys in.
00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:30.079
Yeah, we started doing a class called Broforma, great name, and it lasted for about a month, I suppose.
00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.880
And then the guys who trained with me came into the mixed classes, which was I was all for it.
00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:40.319
I was happy to drop bro forma and just teach regular classes of mixed, and it didn't bother me in the slightest.
00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:46.880
Those people that did that, I think, were a bit broader-minded, and they said, Look, this lady next to me is better than me, but I'm gonna learn from her.
00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:51.200
I can watch her while I'm doing my own practice, listen to the instructor as well, and I'm gonna get that good as well.
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:55.359
It's that growth mindset, I think, that that sort of stands that person apart.
00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:00.079
How we conquer mankind in one go, I I honestly don't know.
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:01.599
I'm not sure what the answer is for that one.
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:03.680
Certainly, like I said, the education thing.
00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.759
And I I can't I can't imagine a gym having two sections.
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.680
To me, that that just blows my mind completely.
00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:10.640
I don't understand it.
00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:11.519
I don't get it.
00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:15.039
I get why guys don't want to train with females because you might get shown up.
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.319
I can like I say, I understand that, I don't, but that's not me.
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:24.559
There's a little bit of humbleness on the individual, I think, in order to come in and accept you're not gonna be the best in the class.
00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:29.920
And that's why we actually did we at the end of August, we always do a bring a friend week.
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.920
It's a referral week, it's a way of us driving.
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.559
And you know, the members love it, they get to bring people.
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:37.839
If I'm honest, we don't tend to convert very well out of it.
00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:42.720
So anyway, this year we thought, let's do a bring a man to Pilates.
00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.039
It's funny that you then wrote to me afterwards.
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:50.720
Um, because I some of the male clients that we have are the loveliest guys.
00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:53.119
They are so fun to be around.
00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.440
They love the detail of this work.
00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:08.480
They're some of our most loyal members, our biggest spending members, but all apart, I think one, all of the rest of them, and there's a lot, they were all brought by their wife, girlfriend, sister, slash dragged, if I'm honest.
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:12.559
So we kind of did it as a bit of a tongue in cheek, and we were like, I wonder like how this would work.
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.400
Well, 84 came, 84, and quite a few have signed up.
00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:25.440
And it was really interesting to kind of think about how we do that, but also think about to your point earlier about how do we market it, how do we educate?
00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:29.279
And I think part of it is around the aesthetics of your studio as well.
00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:34.160
And like we, when we do photo shoots now, we're always saying we need a man in the shoe.
00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.400
I mean, it's easier for you because you know, you're there, aren't you?
00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:37.920
You can be in the shoe, I guess.
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:42.240
But you know, for us, we are a we've got one male instructor, which is an interesting thing.
00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.079
You know, there's there's not many around.
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:49.440
So, you know, thinking about how you can even in your photography see that because you're right.
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:54.319
I was at the gym this morning, and it was pretty much nearly all women there actually at that time of day.
00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:57.759
And I've been there other times where it's, you know, a mix, and it's lovely.
00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:58.640
I really enjoy it.
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:07.920
I can't imagine there being separate spaces, but of course there was for a while, wasn't there, where it was felt that women didn't feel like they would feel self-conscious, I guess, in the weight section of the gym.
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.119
So they had their own section.
00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:13.039
And I suppose we've we're kind of going through a similar space, maybe in that now.
00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:19.519
And it's about how do we, as you said, get those men into the mixed ability, into the mixed gender classes as such.
00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:26.319
I think that's the interesting point about um having those um those those separate gyms, male and female, because females didn't feel comfortable.
00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:29.279
It's maybe putting that same analogy onto Pilates.
00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.640
Get guys in, make me feel comfortable, and then it becomes the norm.
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:37.119
It becomes norm for people to say um down the pub, yeah, I've been to Pilates for an hour, absolutely brilliant, loved it.
00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.599
Got smashed, sweated, shit like a dog.
00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:40.240
It was great.
00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.319
And then that that word then spreads, doesn't it?
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:43.440
And it becomes normal.
00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:52.240
And what was really interesting about our bringing man to Pilates is I had so many conversations with our male clients coming up to me in the corridor, being like, Nick, I'm so excited.
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:53.519
I've got all these guys I'm gonna bring.
00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.799
You know, they were really excited, as you said, to ask other people to come.
00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:13.200
And it got me thinking, actually, from what you've said, is I wonder if it's not about like you have a permanent men-only class every week, but maybe every now and again you run a workshop or a three-week or six-week block of them just to kind of encourage them to come in.
00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:15.039
Because it's true, isn't it?
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:23.680
We if you feel uncomfortable in any situation, that's any of us, it's harder maybe to really feel and see what something is about, whatever that might be.
00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:34.880
So I think if you just kind of get rid of some of that and you accept that I always think it's interesting how any new client coming into your studio, Tim, you forget how nervous they are.
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.960
Male, female, any age, right?
00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:42.400
You forget until maybe you go and do something new and you turn up and you're like, where is this?
00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:43.440
How where do I go?
00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:44.480
Where's the front door?
00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.519
What do I wear?
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:46.400
All those things.
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:50.480
And of course, with the gender thing, I guess you've just got that on top of like, am I gonna feel uncomfortable?
00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:51.680
Am I gonna be rubbish?
00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:59.759
Whereas at least if they look around the room and everyone else is a little bit stiff and tight in certain areas, then you know, off they go and you kind of realize, oh, I'm okay actually.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.799
Actually, this is it.
00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:05.039
So that's kind of a nice idea, actually, maybe to think about that might be how you do it.
00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:05.759
I like it.
00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:07.920
I think it's an important part of our job as an instructor.
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:17.200
You're obviously the instructor to take the class, but the one of my most important things that I do is make fit people feel comfortable and welcome, which is why we designed our studios like they are.
00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:18.640
They're not all neutral colours.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:20.319
You don't have to have a matching set to come in.
00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:22.720
Come in as you are, and we'll meet you where you are.
00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.599
That that's our mantra of how we do things at Vagabond.
00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:26.720
And it's worked really well.
00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:34.319
And what's heartbreaking is you get a message sometimes from a from a curvier lady saying, um, is there a weight limit on the reformers?
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:39.680
And that genuinely breaks my heart that people think they're too big to come and train with us.
00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:41.920
So we write back straight away, no, don't worry about it.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:42.480
Come on in.
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.279
We will absolutely meet you where you are and get to your goals.
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:46.400
And I found that heartbreaking.
00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:49.200
You could probably put that analogy on on males as well.
00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.799
Get a message from a male, I'm really nervous about doing this because I won't be any good at it.
00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:54.480
Don't worry, mate, I got you.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:55.680
Doesn't matter at all.
00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.720
I started off, I was like a pretzer when I first got on the reformer.
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.920
You should see me doing mat palates, pretty useless.
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:12.960
But you go through that journey of becoming good at something, then you want to instruct it, and it's it's that never-ending um striving for excellence that fires me to do it.
00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:18.480
It's just firing out other people, I think, as well, and getting them on board and saying, look, come and have a go, you'll be good one day.
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.319
And clients love hearing those stories that you've gone, you know, you've been on your own journey.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.240
I think sometimes we're so many years down the line, we forget what what our story was like at the beginning.
00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:28.480
I was absolutely useless at this when I started.
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:28.880
Of course.
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.279
You know, and I as I say to my kids all the time, of course you're not good at this.
00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:34.720
You've never learnt yet.
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.400
And Pilates, tennis, you know, it doesn't matter what it is.
00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:39.119
It's the same.
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.240
I don't, I can't just suddenly put on a pair of skis and I can ski.
00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:43.519
I've got to learn to ski.
00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:45.599
And I think Pilates is a skill, isn't it?
00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:49.119
It's kind of it's more than just coming in and being like, well, I'm not fit.
00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:55.279
It's got lots of movement patterns in there that, you know, your body might not be used to anymore.
00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:57.599
So you've got to come in and have that.
00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:59.920
And it's it's that it's a how do we make them feel welcome?
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:03.599
Who, you know, male, female, old, young, big, small, whatever.
00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:06.160
Because what you said, I hear those stories as well.
00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:07.599
And it's awful.
00:25:52.080 --> 00:25:56.560
It's a nice thing that I can do, and Millie and Molly do as well, is to write back and say, what?
00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:58.080
Don't worry, come on in.
00:25:58.240 --> 00:25:59.279
That's a nice thing we can do.
00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.040
You if you feel good about doing that.
00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:07.120
Yeah, but I don't know how to get more blokes into Pilates.
00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:09.360
I mean, I'm about as alpha male as it gets.
00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:11.120
I come from 30 years in special forces.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:12.720
It doesn't come much better than that.
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.800
People will disagree with that, but I don't think it does.
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.440
And I now teach Pilates and I absolutely see the benefits.
00:26:17.600 --> 00:26:18.960
I wish I started earlier.
00:26:19.120 --> 00:26:23.600
I wish Tim 20 years ago said, hey mate, go and do some Pilates, can I square your way?
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:25.600
Because you're almost bulletproof for your body.
00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:29.519
And then to put yourself through the courses that I've done and the career that I've had.
00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:35.279
So I was a man for leader in the Marines, I was a sniper in the Marines, I then went and did 18 years in special boat service as well.
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:40.960
So all those courses put together, I would have been better off doing Pilates as an addition to my training.
00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:50.240
If I can get that message out to guys and say, look, I've done these courses, help operate at this pretty elite level for 30 years, and I've had two broken ankles, and that's pretty much about it.
00:26:50.320 --> 00:26:51.360
But I've been lucky.
00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:58.240
But it proof your body, get it done now, and that will serve you into old age, and you're still being doing it with you loses when you're 85.
00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:08.240
And I think that's what I often see, Tim, is that what the guys who come in, often something has happened in their body that makes them think, I need to do things differently.
00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:11.120
And I think that opens them up to having a different approach.
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.600
And Pilates, I think that's what is hard about Pilates.
00:27:13.840 --> 00:27:20.480
I think it is that it's a different approach to what we're used to, to a lot of what's marketed out there, like harder is always better.
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:23.519
Actually, Pilates is there's a real subtlety.
00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:28.000
Done well, Pilates has such a subtlety to it that nothing else really does.
00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:34.080
And and often it needs, doesn't it, somebody to, you know, to something has happened.
00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:34.720
I mean, me too.
00:27:34.800 --> 00:27:35.440
I hurt my back.
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:36.240
That's how I got into it.
00:27:36.320 --> 00:27:37.680
It's you know, very common.
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:42.000
Whereas it's interesting hearing your story because you I think the same.
00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:46.720
I always think Pilates is like the servicing of your body, it's what keeps it going.
00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:55.600
Whether that's just to get into old age or whether that's to keep doing the things you love, whatever that is, whether that's sport, whether that's music, whether it's walking your dog, playing with your kids, it's that.
00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:59.920
And I similarly am on a bit of a mission to be like, I wish I'd learnt about this earlier.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:05.279
I would have not got myself into such a pickle and had to kind of undo it.
00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.800
But I do think, you know, and I I guess it needs to have stories like yours.
00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:11.600
People hearing that and thinking, okay, maybe.
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.960
And also, please come to more than one session.
00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:18.160
Because one, you might be like, I don't get it.
00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:20.640
That's usually I think that's quite common for guys.
00:28:20.800 --> 00:28:23.840
And runners, female runners seem to be the same, right?
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.840
They're used to push, push, push.
00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:33.680
And they're like, it's a bit slow, or it's a bit meditative, or it's a bit like I I feel you need a few, don't you, to kind of get a sense of it.
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:40.560
And I always say that to people, friends of mine, I'm like, can you just commit to at least three or four sessions and then make your mind up?
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:42.400
Because I think you need more time.
00:28:42.560 --> 00:28:46.400
If something feels different, it can feel uncomfortable before it feels good.
00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:47.360
I totally agree.
00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:50.240
We have a saying in the service that two is one, one is none.
00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:52.000
So what's the point in doing one session?
00:28:52.080 --> 00:29:03.920
You you're right, you get a decent workout, you have a basis of what's going to happen, but you've hit eight or nine of the different things you can do in Pilates on any piece of equipment in a 50-minute session.
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:07.840
So that's not really a broad outlook on it holistically.
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.279
Yeah, so you need a lot more than that.
00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:11.120
Yeah, how do you get people in to do that?
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:11.680
I don't know.
00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:16.880
Special offers, I suppose, uh in your studios, we do a three for 50 if you come in for three sessions.
00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:20.480
And normally after that, um, people are like, okay, I can see the benefits to this.
00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:25.279
I run an athletic class a couple of times a week, which is faster, a bit more furious.
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.759
I speak a bit faster, if that's possible.
00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:30.880
And it becomes very military because that's my background, right?
00:29:31.040 --> 00:29:33.680
But people are lapping it up, and that is just a sweat fest.
00:29:33.840 --> 00:29:39.440
But then going back to the actual dua pilates that I that I really enjoy teaching, you need those sessions to come through.
00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:42.960
Because otherwise you might get you're getting a taster, and that's pretty much about it.
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:43.759
Yeah.
00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.120
It's an interesting question.
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:46.800
How do we break down that stereotype?
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:47.360
I don't know.
00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:54.400
So, Tia, if you think of the guys that you've got in your studio or your friends who, you know, who did the math classes, I guess, back in those days.
00:29:55.040 --> 00:29:57.120
What is it that's made them stay?
00:29:57.279 --> 00:29:59.920
What what are what are the things you hear from those guys?
00:30:00.080 --> 00:30:01.360
Why do they love this work?
00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:07.920
Have one guy come in and he X4 Marine and he he couldn't bend down to do up his shoelaces and it was heartbreaking for him.
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:09.440
So he came in and he's been with us.
00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.519
The first time he came in, I took him for his first session.
00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:13.040
So we immediately had that common ground.
00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:16.160
We end up talking for most of it, um, spreading stories to each other.
00:30:16.320 --> 00:30:22.160
And then he came back and came back and came back and came back, and he is an absolute diehard vagabond now.
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:23.759
Won't miss a single session.
00:30:23.840 --> 00:30:27.440
And it's story, if you can get stories like that out, brilliant.
00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:28.880
Absolutely fantastic.
00:30:29.040 --> 00:30:35.920
Um, so I think the way we the way we teach it, certainly the inclusivity that we have, I think that brings people back.
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:40.000
And then somehow we've created this community around the studio.
00:30:40.080 --> 00:30:41.920
I don't know how it's happening because we didn't sound to do it.
00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:43.040
It's been really organic.
00:30:43.120 --> 00:30:47.600
But you can have five or six people who don't know each other from Adam coming for their first session.
00:30:47.840 --> 00:30:51.840
I'll take them through it, and then I'll chuck in a verbal hangar in at the end and say, hey, what's everyone doing tonight?
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:52.880
What's everyone's plans?
00:30:53.040 --> 00:31:01.440
I'll step back, start cleaning things down ready for the next session, and I'll just watch them and they start talking and then they're exchanging numbers, then they're going to a cafe for a latte.
00:31:01.600 --> 00:31:04.400
So it turns out Pilates and lattes is actually a thing.
00:31:04.560 --> 00:31:07.600
But uh that's happened really organically, and it's such a nice thing.
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:09.360
They come in now, best of friends.
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:12.240
So there's that community thing as well, which again brings people back.
00:31:12.320 --> 00:31:13.759
But it's a bit shed endeavor.
00:31:13.840 --> 00:31:17.759
They're doing some quite hard exercise, but they're doing it together and they enjoy it.
00:31:18.080 --> 00:31:19.200
I absolutely agree.
00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:24.560
I've just done an episode which will have gone out just before our episode, actually, around these conversations.
00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:30.880
I think a huge part of the success of a studio is how do we facilitate these conversations?
00:31:31.040 --> 00:31:34.560
Yes, for you to get to know your clients, but for them to get to know each other.
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:40.720
Because I'm still friends with my Pilates friend from like 20 years ago who doesn't live, you know, every now and again she'll message.
00:31:40.800 --> 00:31:42.160
We don't live near each other anymore.
00:31:42.320 --> 00:31:51.120
But we became friends through Pilates because it does tend to bring in lots of like-minded people, similar approaches to life, similar things, and they get on really well.
00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:56.240
And it makes me so happy to see those kind of friendships that are happening then outside of the studio.
00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:59.440
Like you said, they go for coffee afterwards, they go for a glass of wine.
00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:06.000
A group of them come on retreat with us, but they never they didn't know each other before they came to the studio, and now they're the best of friends.
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:10.240
And I think us as instructors, that is our job to facilitate.
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:17.759
Like you said, you know, you ask an open question like that, it doesn't always happen, but sometimes you get that kind of organic thing.
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:19.120
Oh, I didn't know you did that.
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:20.240
Oh, I go there and da-da-da.
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:21.920
And then it just suddenly becomes that.
00:32:22.080 --> 00:32:29.040
And that makes people, it goes back to what you said earlier about how do you make people fundamentally feel really comfortable and want to come to a space.
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:31.120
And I think that is a big part of it.
00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:32.080
I think so, yeah.
00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:35.920
Certainly when they walk in, you brought up a point earlier, people are nervous when they first walk in.
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.400
And it's my job to say, what are you nervous about?
00:32:38.560 --> 00:32:39.279
I'm a human.
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:43.279
I'm gonna take you through a certain set of exercises and um we'll go from there.
00:32:43.360 --> 00:32:45.360
And we will, I will meet you where you are.
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:46.880
I'll adjust the weights for you.
00:32:47.040 --> 00:32:57.040
I've got an older client who comes in and um, she reminds me of my Nan, uh, who's no longer with us, but she's brilliant and came in with a bad back, hadn't slept for about three months because her back was that bad.
00:32:57.120 --> 00:33:05.279
She came in about three or four weeks after I started working with her and said, uh, for the first time I've slept through the entire night, and it's all down to all down to coming here.
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:14.880
But I'll get her on the on the reformer, I'll adjust her springs for her, I hand her a pillow, I help her off the reformer, and it's having that sort of, it's almost like a personal touch, which I really get a kick out of doing anyway.
00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:16.480
I like it because I like to look after her.
00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:25.440
She's not the only client I do that for either, but um, it's making people feel welcome, making people think it's a friendly space and a safe space, more of the point.
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:31.279
I remember when Minnie first started working at our first unit, which was at home in our conservatory that I converted for her.
00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:34.240
She was half plotties instructor, half counsellor.
00:33:34.560 --> 00:33:38.240
And people come in, and because they're doing exercise, it sort of breaks down barriers.
00:33:38.320 --> 00:33:40.320
I don't know what it is, but it's something that breaks down a barrier.
00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:43.600
All of a sudden, they'd be in floods of tears, telling her their entire life story.
00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:50.640
I get a signal like that from I was in the kitchen, so I make a cup of tea, bring a cup of tea in, and we just sit and shoot the breeze for a bit.
00:33:50.800 --> 00:33:54.560
It was a really uplifting experience for me to see that happen.
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.200
It was cool.
00:33:55.360 --> 00:33:57.519
And I looked in, because I was still serving at the time.
00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:03.360
So I looked in at what Millie was doing and then what Molly was doing when she joined Millie in Vagabond and thought, yeah, I want in.
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:04.240
That looks really cool.
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:06.000
We can start helping people out here a little bit.
00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:09.279
I mean, that side of the work I find so interesting.
00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:16.159
If you are a teacher doing privates, especially if you can teach privates in a space like you had where it's just you and the client in there.
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:19.360
We have one of our studios is really small and it still happens there.
00:34:19.759 --> 00:34:20.880
People do, don't they?
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:22.400
They do tell you everything.
00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:25.440
And it's an interesting thing because people go, Oh, it's not really your scope of practice.
00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:31.039
Listen, my view on it is I'm not there to counsel them, but I can listen, I can hear.
00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:34.079
And sometimes I think people just need space, but there definitely is something, isn't there?
00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:40.400
When you get the body moving, it seems to release emotions and energy, and you've just got to kind of just be with it.
00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:44.159
So, you know, when clients get teary and say, like, oh my God, I'm so sorry.
00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:46.639
I live, I'm like, this is really good.
00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:48.639
It means something has moved.
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:52.800
And especially if you're a client in chronic pain, that probably just needed to move.
00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:55.039
It's it's just a cool experience.
00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:01.279
We've had clients come in and say, You've literally saved my life, and it doesn't get much better than that as an instructor.
00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:02.400
Didn't set out to do that.
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:03.920
I just took you through a party session.
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:08.719
But it's become part of your daily routine, part of your weekly routine, and we're here for you.
00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:11.279
And that's um, I don't take that lightly either.
00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:16.239
I think that's really special that someone's happy to open up about that to me as an individual.
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.000
And it but it shows the trust, doesn't it?
00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:19.599
It goes back to everything we've been saying, actually.
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:20.239
It shows the trust.
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:21.279
They feel safe with you.
00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:27.119
And I, you know, always feel passionately that if we can help clients feel safe, their body will do anything.
00:35:27.279 --> 00:35:31.519
The reason their body isn't doing something is because it doesn't feel safe somewhere along the line.
00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:33.119
Their body is communicating to them.
00:35:33.279 --> 00:35:34.159
No, don't go there.
00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:35.279
That doesn't feel good.
00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:37.119
So it's part of it, isn't it?
00:35:37.279 --> 00:35:37.840
It's part of it.
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:43.759
And it kind of that vibe then transcends into whether it's group classes or privates, you know, it's there.
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:49.920
And back to thinking about men, thinking about it, like I I, our studio, we do a lot of rehab type work.
00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:56.559
So we have people then that move to group classes and they will say to me, Oh, Nick, God, the amount of things you had to adjust.
00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:58.399
And I say the same thing to every client.
00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:05.199
You have no idea as a client how many people in the room were doing variations on things, right?
00:36:05.279 --> 00:36:06.239
You'd agree to him, right?
00:36:06.319 --> 00:36:09.839
Everyone in the room's kind of having their own workout, but nobody sees it.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:18.000
So if you're the guy there thinking, oh God, I was rubbish, I was tight, I was stiff, nobody has noticed except yourself.
00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:27.039
Like you didn't notice that someone over there had to do a completely different exercise because they couldn't do that one, or the person over there couldn't lie on their back, so they were lying on their side.
00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:30.399
Like everyone in the room is having their own unique experience.
00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:34.960
And I think that's also such a wonderful thing, even in groups that we're able to facilitate.
00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:35.839
I think so too.
00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:42.639
I think it goes back to that whole mind, body, and spirit thing because people are doing their own practice in their own bubble, for one of the better expression.
00:36:42.799 --> 00:36:44.319
So they're concentrated where they're doing.
00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:46.399
What everyone else is doing is completely irrelevant.
00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:52.319
And as the instructor, you'll know this more than I because you've been doing it for longer than I have, but you never make a song and dance about changing something.
00:36:52.399 --> 00:36:57.039
You just walk across, go and do it, tell them what to do, let them crack on, keep your BDR on them.
00:36:57.119 --> 00:36:58.239
And that's the way it should be done.
00:36:58.319 --> 00:37:04.079
It shouldn't be a all right, wait, everyone stop because so-and-so over here has got to get an adjustment.
00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:05.359
It's just not the way it's done.
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:06.879
And it shouldn't be either.
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:08.960
You should be victimized because you couldn't do something.
00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:10.239
That's just that's just not on.
00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:12.799
For me, that's a very important part of our studio.
00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:17.519
Tim, I'd love to ask something that always, you know, I'd love to ask your advice on something, really.
00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:21.599
Those people, I thought you're the person to ask about this.
00:37:21.839 --> 00:37:22.159
Right.
00:37:22.399 --> 00:37:25.839
Those people in life that love pushing hard, right?
00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:28.799
You, your whole career was built on this, your previous career.
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:32.960
You know, there's a mentality, isn't there, that you can push, push, push, push, push.
00:37:33.279 --> 00:37:35.279
And runners can often be.
00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:37.679
The marathon runners can often be these people, right?
00:37:37.759 --> 00:37:40.719
They're so used to they can push and they can turn something off.
00:37:40.799 --> 00:37:46.639
I well, I think they can turn something off that stops them feeling how much pain their body might be in.
00:37:46.879 --> 00:37:58.639
And sometimes I hear from a lot of guests, and we have it in our studio too, that when those people come to our work, sometimes they can struggle to understand maybe what Pilates is.
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:00.799
And you mentioned you've kind of got an athletic class.
00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:06.719
And is there an element of let's meet those people where they're at and let them do this work but in a more athletic way?
00:38:06.879 --> 00:38:11.119
Or do you have you learned any, you know, tips or tricks over the years of how you get those people?
00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:19.679
You know, you talked about some ex-military guys that you've been working with to come into this and do some of the softer, more mind-body element of this?
00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:27.440
So the athletic cast that I run, it's probably about a 60-40 ratio on pure repertoire and then other things that I've adapted.
00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:41.679
So I is uh it's all from the uh from the the repertoire, but I've just adapted things make them slightly harder, maybe up the springs, um a little bit more on the reformer, put a bit more weight on, maybe get them to do a few more reps as well, just get that uh get the muscles burning where they normally wouldn't do.
00:38:41.839 --> 00:38:48.159
Um so it was all based around pure Pilates, but the way I run it is slightly different, and I think that appeals to the people.
00:38:48.319 --> 00:38:52.799
I have an ultrabund that comes in and she absolutely loves her classes, can't get enough of them, it's brilliant.
00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:54.159
I love training with her as well.
00:38:54.399 --> 00:38:57.920
You get those people coming in and all of a sudden they're addicted, which is really cool.
00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:06.319
And it's it's almost like they get the same sort of endorphin rush from doing a session like that as they do for going out and doing a two and a half, three hour run.
00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:08.480
To your point on pushing yourself.
00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:13.759
I don't know, uh I did a um I did an ultramath and it was a few years ago.
00:39:13.839 --> 00:39:15.440
There's a 50 miner in in Cyprus.
00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:22.239
We lived out there in the True Ross Mountains, and I I gave myself kidney failure doing it, but I wouldn't stop.
00:39:22.399 --> 00:39:23.759
There was no way I was gonna stop.
00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:29.199
So I don't know if that's a unique thing that some people have and some people don't, or it's just stupidity.
00:39:29.359 --> 00:39:30.559
I'm not entirely sure what it is.
00:39:31.279 --> 00:39:32.159
Well, I don't have it, Tim.
00:39:32.319 --> 00:39:32.719
I don't have it.
00:39:32.879 --> 00:39:34.159
I'm a terrible runner.
00:39:34.319 --> 00:39:37.279
I get to about four kilometers, I'm like, I'm dead.
00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:38.000
I'm done.
00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:47.519
But I have recently, this last year, I've taken up strength training and I've loved that because it's kind of got the detail I love about Pilates, but now I'm loading my system.
00:39:47.839 --> 00:39:58.239
But I really wouldn't have been able to do this work without all the Pilates I've done because I'd had so many injuries, I had so many kind of inefficiencies in my body that as soon as I loaded it, I would just be injured again.
00:39:58.319 --> 00:40:02.000
So, you know, it goes back to what you said earlier about this the work goes hand in hand.
00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:03.839
It's not necessarily one or the other.
00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:07.519
You you need Pilates alongside other things that you do in your life.
00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:15.199
But from what I'm hearing from you, is kind of your approaches, maybe meet these people a little bit more where they're at and don't take them too slow.
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:17.679
Maybe they'll ask to go there later.
00:40:17.759 --> 00:40:25.519
But I've been thinking about through all the strength work I've been doing, I've been thinking about similar to what you've been saying, could we load someone a bit more?
00:40:25.599 --> 00:40:30.319
Like I see all the cable work at the gym, and I think we could do that in Reformer.
00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:36.639
And I find it weird at the gym that when you do cable work, it doesn't get heavier because in the reformer it gets heavier as you pull it, right?
00:40:36.799 --> 00:40:38.000
The spring gets more load on it.
00:40:38.159 --> 00:40:51.279
So I was like, oh, you could be interesting, but a lot of that work, I think, has where we've blended it has maybe lost some of the nth, that the essence of the detail and the controlology and all the things that you were saying earlier about Pilates.
00:40:51.599 --> 00:41:00.480
So I think there are ways that we can bring the repertoire in and play with it and not lose the essence of what it is.
00:41:00.799 --> 00:41:01.679
I think absolutely right.
00:41:01.759 --> 00:41:02.799
I've I've been in the gym.
00:41:02.879 --> 00:41:06.079
We're a studio here where we are now is next door to a gym, which is really good.
00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:07.279
So I go there to train.
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:16.879
And I've done sign-kneeling um arm series, but with a free weight instead, just standing in front of the mirrors, and I watched people watching me and I watched another lad pick up a weight and do the same sort of thing.
00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:18.000
So it's infectious.
00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:20.879
You can see something, and your muscles are straining when you're doing this.
00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:30.639
You transfer that back into a Pilate studio onto a reformer, and you can lower the weight and get the exact same essence of the move with a lower weight, and it feels harder.
00:41:30.799 --> 00:41:37.119
Because A, you're putting that spring, so you've got more resistance behind it, but secondly, you'll concentrate the muscles you need to concentrate on as well.
00:41:37.359 --> 00:41:40.079
I think you're hitting the sweet spot of your training.
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:43.839
So strength training, osteoprocess, older age, joint congruency, etc.
00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:45.519
And then you're doing your Pilates as well.
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:50.159
I think personally, Tim's opinion on the world, that is the sweet spot to be training.
00:41:50.319 --> 00:41:50.719
I think.
00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:51.759
I've loved it.
00:41:51.839 --> 00:41:54.239
And uh I also I love the rest breaks.
00:41:54.399 --> 00:41:56.079
This is my favourite bit of it.
00:41:56.239 --> 00:41:59.279
I have to spend two minutes doing nothing.
00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:01.359
This is really hard for me.
00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:05.279
I have no, I have no issue with the motivation and doing that, but I like I just want to get on to the next thing.
00:42:05.359 --> 00:42:07.679
And my trainer's like, no, no, no, you have to do nothing.
00:42:07.839 --> 00:42:08.319
We just chat.
00:42:08.399 --> 00:42:10.079
She's like, This is when I message you, Nick.
00:42:10.159 --> 00:42:11.279
She works in my business as well.
00:42:11.359 --> 00:42:12.480
She's like, This is when I message you.
00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:14.239
I'm like, oh, right, okay.
00:42:14.399 --> 00:42:18.399
And I've loved it, and it's been it has been really interesting to see my body shift.
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:22.000
And I'm lucky my my gym actually has a couple of reformers in.
00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:26.719
So I need you always end up going on the reformer at the end because you're like, you kind of miss all the spine movement.
00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:31.039
Listen, Tim, I'd love to talk to you about your studio Vaccabon Pilates, which is in the background.
00:42:31.119 --> 00:42:32.079
Tell me a little bit about it.
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:37.920
So your wife was the teacher first, and you had the studio in your conservatory.
00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:39.199
Kind of what happened?
00:42:39.279 --> 00:42:40.799
How have you got to where you are today?
00:42:40.879 --> 00:42:42.000
Tell me a little bit about that.
00:42:42.319 --> 00:42:45.039
It got really big, really quick, really by accident.
00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:46.799
So I said Millie had cancer.
00:42:46.960 --> 00:42:52.719
She was in the Air Force at the time and she was a very successful sex officer in her own right, uh, 21-year career.
00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:57.839
But on the back of the cancer, successful operation, etc., um, she lost her career through medical discharge.
00:42:57.920 --> 00:42:59.279
So, like a double whammy, really.
00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:02.639
I was in a fortunate enough position to say, look, I've got you.
00:43:02.799 --> 00:43:08.639
Take six months, take two years, take whatever time you need, go and find something that fills your cup, and we'll go from there.
00:43:08.799 --> 00:43:10.799
And Pilates filled her cup.
00:43:10.879 --> 00:43:12.559
So she wanted a studio at home.
00:43:12.719 --> 00:43:14.159
So I said, okay, we'll do that.
00:43:14.319 --> 00:43:18.239
We'll warm roof, warm wall the conservatory, we'll make you a Plate studio at home.
00:43:18.399 --> 00:43:20.239
That got really big really quickly as well.
00:43:20.399 --> 00:43:24.719
And about that time, a lady called Molly came along, and she was doing her postnatal journey with Millie.
00:43:24.799 --> 00:43:26.079
They got on like a house on fire.
00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:29.199
Two ferociously intelligent, really driven females.
00:43:29.359 --> 00:43:30.879
They got on really, really well.
00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:33.440
And so Millie said, Look, this is getting too busy for me.
00:43:33.519 --> 00:43:35.119
I need someone else on board with this.
00:43:35.279 --> 00:43:38.319
So she approached Molly, who snapped her hand off and said, Yep, I'm in.
00:43:38.399 --> 00:43:39.199
Let's do this.
00:43:39.359 --> 00:43:45.359
So Vagabond Plate started with Millie and Molly and Tim on the outside looking in, thinking they're doing something really cool.
00:43:45.519 --> 00:43:46.239
Where can I help?
00:43:46.399 --> 00:43:48.000
The wait list got ridiculous.
00:43:48.159 --> 00:43:49.279
We needed a studio.
00:43:49.519 --> 00:43:52.879
So Minnie and Molly um found us a barn.
00:43:53.279 --> 00:43:57.679
So I walked into the barn, having already said that I'll do it for you, I can do that sort of thing.
00:43:57.839 --> 00:44:03.119
And the roof was falling down, there was a wall in the wrong place, there was a door in the wrong place, there was no door and a ship and the door.
00:44:03.199 --> 00:44:05.519
And I was thinking, what the what have I done?
00:44:05.679 --> 00:44:07.519
What have I done by volunteering for this?
00:44:07.679 --> 00:44:15.440
So with the help of some builders who were really, really good, my dad, and pretty much the village turned up to help us, which was so unbelievably cool.
00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:17.279
We got our first studio up.
00:44:17.599 --> 00:44:20.960
At that point, I was, like I said, look over the fence, thinking they're doing something special here.
00:44:21.119 --> 00:44:23.519
I had about finished my time in the service.
00:44:23.679 --> 00:44:24.719
I didn't really want to continue.
00:44:24.799 --> 00:44:25.359
I'd had enough.
00:44:25.599 --> 00:44:26.879
I already had a CV written up.
00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:30.480
And our usual pathway when we leave the special forces is to go onto what we call the circuit.
00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:35.599
So close protection, VIP, VIP uh protecting, or um go and do some military consulting somewhere.
00:44:35.759 --> 00:44:38.000
It's not to read something that's ever photo my boat.
00:44:38.159 --> 00:44:44.079
So I approached Million Molly for a very stilted conversation to say, look, I want to join you in vagabond Pilates.
00:44:44.399 --> 00:44:46.719
I want to be an instructor, I want to help you with the business.
00:44:46.879 --> 00:44:55.599
So they asked for my CV, which was humbling, and then had a 40-minute interview with two fierce people, and they absolutely grilled me.
00:44:55.759 --> 00:44:56.239
Yeah, yeah.
00:44:56.399 --> 00:45:00.960
They wanted to make sure that I was as passionate about vagabonds and pilates as they were.
00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:07.279
They didn't just want me coming on for an easy ride, grabbing all the coattails and thinking, well, this would be an easy transition out of the military into something else.
00:45:07.359 --> 00:45:11.679
I didn't want that either, but I had to actually tell them that that wasn't the case.
00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:15.039
So I became part of the business before I became the instructor.
00:45:15.119 --> 00:45:16.639
But instructing has always been my passion.
00:45:16.719 --> 00:45:18.079
I've done it throughout my entire career.
00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:21.839
I've taken recruits who basically training at Limpston in Devon.
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:28.079
I've taken, I did two years up at the Special Forces training command, taking people through the special forces selection pathway.
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:38.719
So teaching people, instructing them, and getting them from week one to the sixth month point on selection was probably one of the most fulfilling things I did in my entire career.
00:45:38.799 --> 00:45:41.039
It was a real privileged position to be in.
00:45:41.279 --> 00:45:43.920
And I see guys in the squadron, and I thought, yeah, I knew you guys.
00:45:44.319 --> 00:45:45.119
To pass day one.
00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:48.559
And it's great that they had the willpower to do that.
00:45:49.279 --> 00:45:51.440
But that brings it back to Pilates again, right?
00:45:51.599 --> 00:45:56.879
So you could in put Pilates in selection because we're after Land Rovers, not Ferraris.
00:45:57.039 --> 00:46:02.639
You see people turn up and they're a three-time combined services CrossFit champion, they'll be gone by day two.
00:46:02.799 --> 00:46:06.719
And it's little guys like me who can take a knock and crack on that will pass.
00:46:06.879 --> 00:46:09.519
And Pilates will help you bulletproof your body to do that.
00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:27.599
I've digressed there slightly, but No, and I was gonna say, like, it feels you know that the the way, you know, what it what it means to be a teacher, what it means to teach people, and and I'm passionate about we're teachers more than just instructors, in the sense of we teach people how to do this and to get better.
00:46:27.759 --> 00:46:34.879
And just like you did through that six-month selection process and getting somebody to the end line, like they have to improve and they you have to progress them.
00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:38.799
And I think as as Pilates teachers, we have to be doing that too.
00:46:38.879 --> 00:46:40.559
We can't just keep people at the same level.
00:46:40.719 --> 00:46:41.839
We have to get them somewhere.
00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:43.279
That's what makes them stay with us.
00:46:43.440 --> 00:46:45.759
Like I've got clients who've been with me 10, 11 years now.
00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:46.399
That's why.
00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:47.679
Otherwise, you'd be bored.
00:46:47.839 --> 00:46:49.599
You'd be so bored if it was the same thing.
00:46:49.759 --> 00:46:55.440
And I think that's why people really love Pilates because it it you know, it's not just doing the same workout over and over again.
00:46:55.679 --> 00:46:56.159
No, you're right.
00:46:56.239 --> 00:46:57.679
It's it's progression of practice, isn't it?
00:46:57.759 --> 00:46:59.039
And it's a practice for a reason.
00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:00.639
That's why it's called a practice, right?
00:47:00.799 --> 00:47:01.839
Yeah, I totally agree.
00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:03.519
You don't keep all the people at the same level.
00:47:03.599 --> 00:47:08.799
You don't push them the same respect that I used to push people when I was taking them through selection because that just wouldn't work, they wouldn't come back.
00:47:08.879 --> 00:47:14.480
But you you push them, you meet them where they are, and then you take them a little bit further and you say, Look, you can do this, you've just done it.
00:47:14.639 --> 00:47:15.039
Good job.
00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:16.239
Right, on to the next thing.
00:47:16.399 --> 00:47:21.759
And that Cheshire cat grin that I get off someone when I've taken them through a move, they couldn't do, couldn't do, they've nailed it.
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:23.119
That for me is the juice.
00:47:23.279 --> 00:47:24.239
That's why I teach.
00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:25.519
I absolutely love it.
00:47:25.759 --> 00:47:28.159
And tell me about that studio ownership journey then.
00:47:28.239 --> 00:47:33.440
So you you come into the business, you've had your interview, you've, you know, you go and do your training, obviously.
00:47:33.679 --> 00:47:38.879
What have what have been the things that have surprised you about studio ownership and the challenges around it?
00:47:39.039 --> 00:47:42.960
Because you know, you've had, you've led a life that's full of pressure.
00:47:43.199 --> 00:47:45.920
But what has been the difference with studio ownership as such?
00:47:46.239 --> 00:47:48.960
I think when we leave the armed forces, there is an adjustment period.
00:47:49.039 --> 00:47:50.879
And I I paid lip service to that completely.
00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:51.679
I thought, nah, that's fine.
00:47:51.759 --> 00:47:52.719
I've made my peace for the fact.
00:47:52.799 --> 00:47:55.199
I'm leaving the service, I'm gonna be a sibi, that's great.
00:47:55.359 --> 00:47:56.239
And it's really difficult.
00:47:56.319 --> 00:47:58.480
And what you need in your life is a sense of purpose.
00:47:58.559 --> 00:48:02.559
And Vagabond has given me that sense of purpose that I didn't really know that I needed.
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:05.279
It's like a second chapter that's opened up.
00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:06.639
It's been challenging.
00:48:06.799 --> 00:48:13.039
There's certain challenges that are there, but certainly that that that sense of purpose is why I get up in the morning.
00:48:13.119 --> 00:48:17.039
I get up in the morning, I put on my Lulus and I go to the studio and I teach.
00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:18.399
And that is my sense of purpose.
00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:18.960
I love it.
00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:21.279
Then back home and work the back end of the business stuff.
00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:21.920
It's cool.
00:48:22.159 --> 00:48:23.359
And how is it working with your wife?
00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:24.480
I also work with my husband.
00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:26.879
I have not managed to convince him to be a Pilates teacher yet.
00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:28.719
He is in the in the background.
00:48:28.879 --> 00:48:30.000
But how how does that work?
00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:31.679
Do you have to have some set rules around?
00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:36.000
I was I caught myself having a chat about 9.30 the other night that went on till 11.
00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:37.599
I said, I've broken my own rule.
00:48:37.679 --> 00:48:38.559
I'm so sorry.
00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:39.599
It's hard, right?
00:48:39.839 --> 00:48:41.599
Do you have some boundaries around that?
00:48:41.839 --> 00:48:43.119
We'd love to, but no.
00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:45.679
Is a short answer to that?
00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:48.799
Definitely if it's both of you, but regardless, like this is your life, right?
00:48:48.879 --> 00:48:50.799
I've running a studio is my entire life.
00:48:50.960 --> 00:48:53.839
There isn't a conversation that happens that doesn't revolve around the studio.
00:48:53.920 --> 00:48:56.639
So even with my friends, half my friends come here anyway.
00:48:56.879 --> 00:48:57.519
It's a funny one.
00:48:57.599 --> 00:49:04.239
Working with your wife, who's also your best friend, is there's a challenge there, certainly, because it redefines the boundaries of your marriage, right?
00:49:04.399 --> 00:49:06.799
Then you couple that with the fact we've got Molly on board as well.
00:49:06.879 --> 00:49:10.879
And as I said before, they're ferociously passionate about vagabond.
00:49:11.440 --> 00:49:15.199
My biggest concern in joining was that I wouldn't do them justice.
00:49:15.359 --> 00:49:17.759
They're they're the genesis of vagabond, right?
00:49:17.839 --> 00:49:19.920
And I didn't want to come on board and be a handbrake.
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:21.039
That that's not what I wanted to do.
00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:24.079
I wanted to support them as best I possibly could.
00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:26.559
So my biggest fear is I don't do enough.
00:49:26.719 --> 00:49:30.319
And in doing that, I'm trying to do too much because of the character that I am.
00:49:30.399 --> 00:49:31.920
So I try and take on board too much.
00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:33.119
And there's been an adjustment period.
00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:38.319
There's another girl who worked for us called T-Jan, and she's the business manager and she's the glue that holds it all together.
00:49:38.480 --> 00:49:46.159
And we have a weekly Monday morning meeting around my coffee table, and the three girls will say half a sentence to each other, then nod, and then start writing some notes.
00:49:46.319 --> 00:49:52.879
And I was sat there thinking, right, they'll catch me up in a second, or there'll be an action point, I'll write something down, I'll go and do that.
00:49:53.039 --> 00:49:53.679
It never comes.
00:49:53.759 --> 00:49:55.519
I still haven't got to the point where that happens yet.
00:49:55.599 --> 00:49:59.199
And then about 10 minutes later, I'll put my hand up and say, Hey gang, have you thought about doing this?
00:49:59.440 --> 00:50:03.839
Now T Jim will give you the loveliest, sweetest smile as if to say, ah, bless.
00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:11.759
Moni rolls her eyes at me, then looks at me to see if she can laugh at me, and then Millie just looks at me deadpan and says, catch up, and then goes back to writing her notes.
00:50:11.920 --> 00:50:16.079
So working with um those three desperately intelligent people, that's a challenge.
00:50:16.159 --> 00:50:18.159
And uh and a surprise, if I'm honest as well.
00:50:18.239 --> 00:50:20.960
I thought I'd be up there at the same level as them, and I'm not.
00:50:21.199 --> 00:50:23.359
So, but hey, it's a constant journey.
00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:26.079
I'm getting better and getting better, but it's not been easy.
00:50:26.399 --> 00:50:39.119
And I it just made me think about you know, you've got the adjustment of coming out of the military anyway, but then you've also got the going from a very male-dominated environment to now actually a very female-dominant environment, whether that's your colleagues, but you know, your clients as well.
00:50:39.199 --> 00:50:41.279
And I guess that's that takes some adjustment too.
00:50:41.599 --> 00:50:42.879
I think adjustment's a good word for it.
00:50:42.960 --> 00:50:43.759
I'd say education.
00:50:43.839 --> 00:50:49.359
I've I've gone from working in small teams with all guys, no females at all, to working for an all-female team.
00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:50.639
I am the only guy here.
00:50:50.799 --> 00:50:52.239
And yeah, it's been educational.
00:50:52.399 --> 00:50:55.440
I'll leave it there, let you let you let your mind do the rest, but it's been educational.
00:50:55.519 --> 00:50:57.199
Sometimes they're worse than a bunch of Marines.
00:50:57.279 --> 00:50:59.119
But yeah, it's it's just fun.
00:50:59.279 --> 00:50:59.759
It's fun.
00:50:59.839 --> 00:51:03.599
I've got those three girls to work alongside, which is a privilege.
00:51:03.759 --> 00:51:06.960
And then the rest of our team of instructors who are all top-notch as well.
00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:07.679
It's great.
00:51:07.920 --> 00:51:09.119
Life doesn't get any better than this.
00:51:09.199 --> 00:51:10.079
It's um it's awesome.
00:51:10.319 --> 00:51:12.239
So, how has the team expanded as you've expanded?
00:51:12.319 --> 00:51:14.879
Like you said, you've got more instructors, you've got a business manager.
00:51:15.039 --> 00:51:18.159
What kind of team members have you needed to bring in to support the three of you?
00:51:18.399 --> 00:51:21.759
So, we definitely need T-June on board because, like I said, she's the glue that holds all together.
00:51:21.839 --> 00:51:26.639
Things we can't do, haven't got time to do, um, don't know how to do, she does for us, which is which is brilliant.
00:51:26.719 --> 00:51:31.199
And I get usually get a a um a WhatsApp first thing in the morning saying hey Tim, have you done this, done that, done that?
00:51:31.279 --> 00:51:32.559
I'm like, nope, I'm on it now.
00:51:32.639 --> 00:51:33.039
Thanks.
00:51:33.359 --> 00:51:34.639
We all need one of those in our lives.
00:51:34.719 --> 00:51:36.960
I need, I need she needs to come and work for me.
00:51:37.359 --> 00:51:39.679
Don't pinch her face, she's brilliant, we'll fall apart.
00:51:39.920 --> 00:51:43.839
My poor Asana has to ping me messages every day, being like, Nick, have you done this?
00:51:43.920 --> 00:51:44.879
I'm like, no, no.
00:51:45.039 --> 00:51:45.679
That's funny.
00:51:45.839 --> 00:51:46.319
I like it.
00:51:46.480 --> 00:51:52.159
And then to have that all female team of of top-notch instructors who all have we've got each other's backs as well.
00:51:52.319 --> 00:51:55.039
So if someone's having a bad day, it's a WhatsApp message.
00:51:55.119 --> 00:51:56.079
Can you fit them for my class?
00:51:56.159 --> 00:51:57.199
Yeah, I can, no problem at all.
00:51:57.359 --> 00:51:58.079
Just change it over.
00:51:58.239 --> 00:51:59.279
And it's really nice.
00:51:59.359 --> 00:52:01.679
And we all teach differently because everyone does.
00:52:01.759 --> 00:52:03.599
And that gives the clients variety, right?
00:52:03.759 --> 00:52:05.039
And they seek that sometimes.
00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:09.039
It's it's it's a it's a unique experience, certainly in my my life.
00:52:09.119 --> 00:52:10.319
I've never done anything like it before.
00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:14.399
And how how has it been finding instructors where you are in in the world?
00:52:14.639 --> 00:52:15.920
Not too bad, to be honest with you.
00:52:16.159 --> 00:52:17.679
We're all we're all stock trained.
00:52:17.759 --> 00:52:21.440
It's a accreditation that we decided to go down predominantly because Millie was stock trained.
00:52:21.519 --> 00:52:24.639
So I thought, right, I'm gonna do what she does because it looks really intense.
00:52:24.799 --> 00:52:25.440
It looks hard.
00:52:25.599 --> 00:52:29.359
And that appealed to my appeals to my sense of let's make it as hard as I can.
00:52:29.599 --> 00:52:31.039
So yeah, not too difficult.
00:52:31.119 --> 00:52:34.159
We there's got quite a few instructors who used to be clients.
00:52:34.319 --> 00:52:36.879
They've now trained as instructors and now work for us as well.
00:52:37.039 --> 00:52:38.799
And that's always such a nice journey, isn't it?
00:52:38.879 --> 00:52:40.719
We have as well, and I absolutely love it.
00:52:40.879 --> 00:52:45.920
They're the best teachers because they they they have lived and breathed your ethos.
00:52:46.159 --> 00:52:48.159
Because that I think that is one of the challenges, isn't it?
00:52:48.399 --> 00:53:01.359
You want everyone's individual teacher personality to come through, but you also want there to be a level of consistency in terms of the ethos and beliefs and the feels, and you know, like you said, even the way you welcome clients and chat to them, they're all such important things.
00:53:01.519 --> 00:53:04.159
Do you do you have to do work on that with your team?
00:53:04.319 --> 00:53:07.920
Or has there because if they've been clients, maybe it's sort of in them?
00:53:08.159 --> 00:53:10.480
So Mili does some mentorship with them, certainly.
00:53:10.639 --> 00:53:17.119
We have a lady, um Lucia, who comes in uh once a quarter, and what she does about Pilates writ large isn't worth knowing about.
00:53:17.440 --> 00:53:26.480
So we all come into the studio up here, she comes in and takes us through a masterclass for three hours, and we ping our questions beforehand to say, look, I need to know more about this, I need to know more about that.
00:53:26.559 --> 00:53:29.599
And she comes in loaded with that, takes us through a masterclass.
00:53:29.679 --> 00:53:34.879
So there's there's always that sort of constant striving to be the best that we can be, and that feeds quite nicely into that.
00:53:35.119 --> 00:53:38.960
Yeah, and I was doing a talk recently, and that was the question that was asked actually, it was around mentorship.
00:53:39.039 --> 00:53:42.719
You know, what if your team isn't not saying yours isn't, but like you say, your team isn't experienced enough.
00:53:42.799 --> 00:53:47.679
And I was like, You you've got to have it in your budget to bring somebody in because that's what the top studios do.
00:53:47.839 --> 00:53:50.719
And also it means that you keep really good teachers, don't you?
00:53:50.799 --> 00:53:51.519
Because they love it.
00:53:51.599 --> 00:53:52.639
Because and we all love it.
00:53:52.719 --> 00:53:58.559
Like you said right at the beginning of our our talk, you never know all this work, and that's why it's fun.
00:53:58.799 --> 00:53:59.359
So it's great.
00:53:59.440 --> 00:54:04.639
So and you're doing that kind of quarterly, which is a great commitment to the teaching team and to your clients to do that.
00:54:04.960 --> 00:54:09.359
I think Richard Branson said if you um look after your staff, your staff look after your clients.
00:54:09.519 --> 00:54:10.559
So that's what we do.
00:54:10.719 --> 00:54:16.159
Look after yourself, and that translates then into how they teach, uh the way they teach, and how professional they are as well.
00:54:16.239 --> 00:54:20.799
I think Millie's had a big hand in how we are as people in the studio.
00:54:21.039 --> 00:54:26.319
I distinctly remember my first lesson that I taught, and Millie was sat in the back because I enjoy a bit of instant feedback.
00:54:26.559 --> 00:54:29.119
And Millie gives it to me straight away, which is fantastic.
00:54:29.279 --> 00:54:29.839
I love it.
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:33.440
And the first lesson I ever taught was I run it like a range package, more or less.
00:54:33.599 --> 00:54:38.079
It was very much right, get down, lie down, put your hands in straps, put your feet in the footbar, off we go, type thing.
00:54:38.239 --> 00:54:39.759
And there's no finesse in there at all.
00:54:39.839 --> 00:54:41.839
And I thought I nailed it, thought I crushed it.
00:54:41.920 --> 00:54:42.559
Everyone loved it.
00:54:42.799 --> 00:54:44.159
Smiles, sweat everywhere.
00:54:44.239 --> 00:54:47.359
And Millie's first point to me was, you can't teach like that, mate.
00:54:47.519 --> 00:54:48.799
It doesn't work this way.
00:54:49.039 --> 00:54:51.519
So I've had to adjust the way that I teach and instruct.
00:54:51.599 --> 00:54:53.440
But there's a lot of Millie in how I teach.
00:54:53.599 --> 00:54:54.879
Molly's an awesome teacher as well.
00:54:54.960 --> 00:54:56.079
She's got her own way of doing things.
00:54:56.159 --> 00:54:59.199
But everyone has their own little way of doing bits and bobs, and that's what I like about it.
00:54:59.359 --> 00:55:00.719
And like you said, clients love that.
00:55:00.879 --> 00:55:02.000
They love that, don't they?
00:55:02.159 --> 00:55:05.119
And tell me a little bit about the mix of your studio because I'm looking behind you.
00:55:05.199 --> 00:55:06.559
So it's not just reformer.
00:55:06.960 --> 00:55:09.839
What tell me about what you're offering there at your studio?
00:55:10.239 --> 00:55:13.679
Um at Blamford, where I'm at the moment, we've got it's a full equipment studio.
00:55:13.759 --> 00:55:16.000
So there's a Cadillac, you can't see it's behind you there.
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:18.879
We've got towers on six of the reformers.
00:55:18.960 --> 00:55:22.159
There's two maritures in here, and then um uh lines.
00:55:22.239 --> 00:55:26.719
Uh, we've got ladder barrels, uh, we've got chairs and a spine uh spine extender as well.
00:55:26.799 --> 00:55:36.239
So it's it's gone full equipment up here, which is which is really exciting as well, because we can offer a lot more than just reformer and there's a mat extenders, so we do mat classes in here as well.
00:55:36.319 --> 00:55:41.039
So we're trying to bring the whole methodology in one place, not just offer a single thing.
00:55:41.279 --> 00:55:42.719
And how do you bring that methodology?
00:55:42.799 --> 00:55:45.599
Do you do it in a group class and how does that group class run?
00:55:45.679 --> 00:55:52.079
Because I think, you know, we we do too, and I think it's it's a really interesting point to start teaching clients about the system.
00:55:52.639 --> 00:55:53.279
I think so too.
00:55:53.359 --> 00:55:53.519
Yeah.
00:55:53.599 --> 00:55:57.279
So I do a class called roulette, and no one knows what's gonna happen until they turn up.
00:55:57.440 --> 00:56:02.000
So it could be just reformer, it could be a tower, it could be Matt, it could be chair, it could be all four.
00:56:02.239 --> 00:56:04.000
So you've got enough chairs for everybody as such.
00:56:04.239 --> 00:56:04.639
So it can be.
00:56:05.039 --> 00:56:05.279
Yeah, yes.
00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:07.920
Six reformers with towers, six chairs.
00:56:08.079 --> 00:56:08.159
Okay.
00:56:08.639 --> 00:56:09.279
Exactly right, yeah.
00:56:09.359 --> 00:56:10.480
And no one knows what's gonna happen.
00:56:10.559 --> 00:56:12.399
At least of all me when I turn up to instruct it.
00:56:12.559 --> 00:56:15.679
So I've obviously programmed something out and it changes week by week.
00:56:15.759 --> 00:56:19.920
Um, and that just introduces people into look, Plate isn't just a reformer.
00:56:20.079 --> 00:56:22.319
It's got so much more to add to it as well.
00:56:22.399 --> 00:56:24.000
And by the way, get on the tower.
00:56:24.079 --> 00:56:25.519
We're gonna have a go at that now as well.
00:56:25.679 --> 00:56:27.519
And again, people love it because it's something new.
00:56:27.599 --> 00:56:30.000
It's shiny, it's got springs, etc.
00:56:30.239 --> 00:56:32.159
And they really enjoy get getting a feel for that equipment.
00:56:32.399 --> 00:56:40.480
Yeah, we have a one my smaller studio, it's just got kind of well, it's got two reformers, but one piece of each of equipment as such, and we do some small like little circuit classes on that.
00:56:40.639 --> 00:56:43.759
And sometimes people can be a bit like, oh, it's a bit slower than reformer, granted.
00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:52.719
But once they've done a few classes of it, they start to realize like each piece of equipment brings something else, lots of similar patterns of movement, but it feels very, very different.
00:56:52.879 --> 00:56:59.039
And I've been thinking about like how do we bring maybe more chair in alongside reformer as well as maybe tower work as well.
00:56:59.119 --> 00:57:02.000
Because I think it's a really, you know, it's a cool, but I like that roulette idea.
00:57:02.159 --> 00:57:03.119
Also nice for the clients.
00:57:03.199 --> 00:57:05.759
You're like, you know, it keeps it fresh, doesn't it?
00:57:05.920 --> 00:57:08.319
You're like, I don't know what I'm gonna turn up to, which is really nice.
00:57:08.639 --> 00:57:09.679
It's keeping interest going.
00:57:09.839 --> 00:57:13.759
Not that I think we'd be thinking need to, but just in case we did, hey, I'd be gone for something else here.
00:57:13.839 --> 00:57:15.119
Come up and you don't know what's gonna happen.
00:57:15.199 --> 00:57:15.759
Yeah, it's cool.
00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:18.639
Oh, Tim, I have absolutely loved talking to you.
00:57:18.719 --> 00:57:19.839
I could talk to you all day.
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:22.399
Let's end with some quickish fire questions.
00:57:22.719 --> 00:57:26.559
What would you say to a man who still thinks Pilates is not for him?
00:57:26.960 --> 00:57:28.000
Have you tried it?
00:57:28.319 --> 00:57:29.359
That's very true.
00:57:29.599 --> 00:57:30.559
If not, why not?
00:57:30.639 --> 00:57:31.920
I'll take you for a session right now.
00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:32.480
Let's do this.
00:57:32.719 --> 00:57:39.359
Uh what would you say to a teacher who wants to get better at working with high performing or very driven high-energy clients?
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:40.319
God.
00:57:41.920 --> 00:57:42.559
I don't know.
00:57:42.879 --> 00:57:43.920
Because you've worked with those guys.
00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:51.119
You know, that's what we talked about, you know, in terms of those elite athletes, those former military, you know, if someone's out there, they're like, I I like what Tim's saying.
00:57:51.199 --> 00:57:52.719
I want to work with those kind of people.
00:57:52.799 --> 00:57:53.920
How do you attract them in?
00:57:54.159 --> 00:58:00.239
I think it has to stop that education again and say, look, this is gonna, this is gonna be a great addition to your regular training.
00:58:00.319 --> 00:58:02.079
It's not gonna be anything like you've done before.
00:58:02.159 --> 00:58:05.920
It won't be fast, it won't be furious, but you will feel it, I guarantee you.
00:58:06.079 --> 00:58:10.239
And then bring them in for that session, take them through, don't push them too hard because you don't want to.
00:58:10.399 --> 00:58:13.119
They need to learn the basics before they're gonna run and go from there.
00:58:13.199 --> 00:58:16.399
And then give them that carrot and say, look, this is a this is a starter class.
00:58:16.480 --> 00:58:18.799
Okay, then take you through some basic repertoire to start with.
00:58:18.960 --> 00:58:20.159
We'll build in it from here.
00:58:20.239 --> 00:58:24.559
And very, very soon we'll be on to the more higher-end intermediate, then get into the advanced.
00:58:24.639 --> 00:58:25.279
So it's a journey.
00:58:25.440 --> 00:58:28.079
I probably just verbalize that look, this is a journey.
00:58:28.319 --> 00:58:30.480
It's not one and done, it's not straight away.
00:58:30.559 --> 00:58:32.639
I think that that's probably the best way to attract them in.
00:58:32.719 --> 00:58:34.639
But they've got to have a have that interest in the first place.
00:58:34.719 --> 00:58:35.599
They'll be open to it.
00:58:35.759 --> 00:58:36.879
And I think that's it, isn't it?
00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:43.119
I think sometimes it's a bit like, you know, when someone has to go to therapy, you know, you've got we've all got that friend or that relative, and you're like, dig a bit.
00:58:43.599 --> 00:58:44.960
You can't tell them to do it, right?
00:58:45.119 --> 00:58:45.759
People have to be ready.
00:58:45.839 --> 00:58:48.079
And I think Pilates is kind of similar in that sense.
00:58:48.159 --> 00:58:49.599
People have to be open to doing it.
00:58:49.759 --> 00:58:51.279
I've definitely dragged a few friends.
00:58:51.359 --> 00:58:57.519
You know, you can become a bit of a preacher on high in this world because you you know, you know, you're like, it doesn't matter what your problem is.
00:58:57.679 --> 00:59:02.159
Honestly, Pilates will probably do give you a good, you know, solve it somewhat anyway.
00:59:02.319 --> 00:59:05.119
Um and then I've realized over this, like, don't do that, actually.
00:59:05.279 --> 00:59:09.759
Just, you know, like you said, educate, keep saying, and then one day they usually go, Do you know what?
00:59:09.920 --> 00:59:12.079
I was thinking you've been talking about this for quite a while.
00:59:12.239 --> 00:59:12.879
Maybe I'll go.
00:59:13.039 --> 00:59:15.440
And then, of course, they've decided.
00:59:15.599 --> 00:59:16.960
And I think that works really well.
00:59:17.279 --> 00:59:18.480
Well, it's one of two things, isn't it?
00:59:18.559 --> 00:59:23.839
That they've either fed up with you talking about it and they think I'm gonna shut you up now, I'm gonna come along, or they're they use father interests.
00:59:23.920 --> 00:59:26.799
So either way, you get him in the studio and and and you'll hook them.
00:59:27.119 --> 00:59:32.399
And we talked a little bit earlier about, you know, this like obsession with trying to sort of always prove Pilates is hard.
00:59:32.480 --> 00:59:40.239
But if we stop trying to prove that Pilates is hard, what should we tell people about it instead that would help them understand it better?
00:59:40.639 --> 00:59:42.879
That it's about bulletproofing your body.
00:59:43.119 --> 00:59:44.719
Certainly into older age.
00:59:44.960 --> 00:59:50.239
I'm not getting any younger, but I'm probably the fittest I've ever been at the moment.
00:59:50.480 --> 00:59:56.000
That's not just Andropilates, that's because I do other training as well, but I have it in my life.
00:59:56.239 --> 01:00:02.559
Not only that, but coupled together with that, I've already touched on it, but it's that it's having that tin time, it's having that 50 minutes of just me.
01:00:02.719 --> 01:00:07.839
And I make it it's very important to me that I don't just instruct in in the studios, I come to classes as well.
01:00:08.000 --> 01:00:10.319
A, because I get some great ideas for how I'm gonna teach.
01:00:10.399 --> 01:00:17.440
So I pinch stuff, and then secondly, it's just improving that practice and it's getting corrected by another instructor, which I really, really enjoy.
01:00:17.519 --> 01:00:19.599
I'm not I'm not brilliant, I don't profess to be.
01:00:19.920 --> 01:00:20.639
No, none of us are.
01:00:20.799 --> 01:00:22.079
We all need to be taught, you know.
01:00:22.239 --> 01:00:24.960
When I go to class, I'm like, please correct me.
01:00:25.119 --> 01:00:27.039
Like it's like, right, Tim, push your hips through.
01:00:27.119 --> 01:00:28.399
Oh, oh God, there you go.
01:00:28.480 --> 01:00:28.719
Right.
01:00:29.039 --> 01:00:32.799
And clients, but also, you know, to some of the things we talked about earlier, Tim.
01:00:33.039 --> 01:00:35.839
Clients love seeing teachers in classes.
01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:45.759
Like if you run a studio, like I all my teachers have free classes because it it kind of showcases that A, we're not all perfect, we're all working on our stuff, clients get to know you.
01:00:45.920 --> 01:00:50.639
There's something about you've kind of been part of the energetic makeup of the studio as well.
01:00:50.799 --> 01:00:52.079
Like it's a really important thing.
01:00:52.239 --> 01:00:57.519
And I do think, as I said earlier, it is the other stuff that will have made a big difference as well.
01:00:57.679 --> 01:01:00.399
But maybe you wouldn't be able to do some of that other stuff without the Pilates.
01:01:00.639 --> 01:01:01.679
That's certainly my story.
01:01:01.759 --> 01:01:06.000
And it's it's part of kind of an ecosystem of well-being, isn't it?
01:01:06.239 --> 01:01:07.119
I think absolutely right.
01:01:07.199 --> 01:01:09.440
I did a class the day before yesterday with uh with Molly.
01:01:09.599 --> 01:01:11.599
I turned up half hour early because I was teaching afterwards.
01:01:11.679 --> 01:01:12.719
There's a spare reformat.
01:01:12.799 --> 01:01:14.079
I was like, I'm gonna jump on.
01:01:14.239 --> 01:01:17.359
And the gasps from the clients, oh, Tinder joining us, right?
01:01:17.440 --> 01:01:18.239
Is it gonna get harder now?
01:01:18.319 --> 01:01:23.119
And he's like, no, he's just gonna join in regular class because he needs to practice as well as well as you guys do.
01:01:23.199 --> 01:01:25.599
And it was a bit of a, it was almost like a penny drop moment for the clients.
01:01:25.759 --> 01:01:27.519
I was like, oh, you guys do it as well.
01:01:27.759 --> 01:01:29.199
Well, yeah, I need to.
01:01:29.359 --> 01:01:33.359
I need I I have a need in me to be good at this, so I need to practice it as well.
01:01:33.599 --> 01:01:34.799
Clients need to see that.
01:01:34.960 --> 01:01:35.599
They they do.
01:01:35.679 --> 01:01:37.920
I think it's it's a huge thing for clients.
01:01:38.000 --> 01:01:42.239
And also, as you said, that hour of Tim Tim is so important for us.
01:01:42.399 --> 01:01:49.039
As studio owners, as teachers, I was asked recently on a panel, like, we know what's the thing that you would advise teachers who are burnout?
01:01:49.119 --> 01:01:55.679
I said, maybe actually do some Pilates because I would imagine most of us aren't doing it, and the whole panel was like, oh no, we're not doing it.
01:01:55.759 --> 01:01:56.399
I was like, Yeah.
01:01:57.039 --> 01:02:07.759
Remember, remember when you and something I say on my teacher training is remember that it's important to always be a client because it's like you said, it's good for you in so many ways.
01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:10.480
Um, and you know, there's a reason we fell in love with this.
01:02:10.559 --> 01:02:15.920
You still want to be the guy on the mat doing your work that made you fall in love with it and remembering that.
01:02:16.239 --> 01:02:17.440
Definitely, yeah, definitely.
01:02:17.599 --> 01:02:20.399
So, Tim, what's kind of coming up for you at Vagamon Pilates?
01:02:20.639 --> 01:02:21.679
Is there any new plans?
01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:25.519
We've got a few things in the pipeline, but two that are really sort of close to my heart.
01:02:25.679 --> 01:02:27.199
First one's a retreat we're doing next year.
01:02:27.279 --> 01:02:28.960
We're doing our first foreign retreat.
01:02:29.199 --> 01:02:31.920
Natural choice for me and Minnie was to have it in Cyprus.
01:02:32.079 --> 01:02:33.519
Millie was born there for starters.
01:02:33.920 --> 01:02:38.159
Second, we lived there for three years and love the island, love the people, food, the culture.
01:02:38.319 --> 01:02:39.679
So for us, that was a no-brainer.
01:02:39.839 --> 01:02:40.559
It was a natural choice.
01:02:40.639 --> 01:02:41.759
It's not that far away either.
01:02:41.920 --> 01:02:44.879
Millie and Molly went out recently for a recce girls week.
01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:46.399
Uh, they had a brilliant time out there.
01:02:46.480 --> 01:02:48.319
Um, so that's happening next year.
01:02:48.559 --> 01:02:52.239
And then the second one, which is really my partnership with the Vagabond, is going online.
01:02:52.799 --> 01:02:54.399
So we'll have an online service.
01:02:54.559 --> 01:02:59.039
You can uh it's as much as you eat, or eat as much as you want, rather, pay a normal fee, and then you're good.
01:02:59.119 --> 01:03:01.519
And it's you can take Vagabond with you wherever you are.
01:03:01.759 --> 01:03:05.599
That's important to me and Millie because we've been deployed places where there is nothing else.
01:03:05.679 --> 01:03:09.279
There's nothing apart from work, sleep, and occasional bit of food.
01:03:09.440 --> 01:03:14.879
So to have that on a tablet or a mobile, you can take it away with you and still keep up with your Pilates practice.
01:03:15.039 --> 01:03:15.759
I think that's great.
01:03:15.839 --> 01:03:18.000
So they're two pretty exciting things we've got going at the moment for us.
01:03:18.239 --> 01:03:20.639
Well, Tim, it's been an absolute joy to talk to you.
01:03:20.799 --> 01:03:22.239
Thank you so much for joining me today.
01:03:22.799 --> 01:03:23.359
Thank you for having me.
01:03:23.599 --> 01:03:25.679
You've had my Pilates crush on your show.
01:03:25.759 --> 01:03:27.039
So Tracy Mallet's been on.
01:03:27.199 --> 01:03:28.480
I'm going to be a wow.
01:03:28.960 --> 01:03:30.799
Well, I met, you know, I I met Tracy.
01:03:31.119 --> 01:03:32.319
Well, I met her at my studio.
01:03:32.399 --> 01:03:36.799
I am I I'd had a couple of glasses of wine one night and was like, I just opened a new location.
01:03:36.960 --> 01:03:40.960
I was like, I'm gonna meet I'm gonna message Tracy and see if she'll come and teach a workshop.
01:03:41.119 --> 01:03:42.239
And she went, yeah, I'll come.
01:03:42.480 --> 01:03:48.639
So I met her and then I said, Listen, I've been having this idea of this podcast, and she was the one actually who really because that's who she is.
01:03:48.799 --> 01:03:50.719
She's such an empower, she empowers you.
01:03:50.799 --> 01:03:52.399
She's like, you should do this, it'd be really good.
01:03:52.559 --> 01:03:58.000
And then at the beginning of the year, I actually got to go to her studio and interview her there.
01:03:58.159 --> 01:03:59.440
And that was just so cool.
01:03:59.519 --> 01:04:08.480
And and that's what's been amazing about this project, really, is I get to to meet all my artists crushes and kind of have conversations with them under the guise of a podcast.
01:04:08.639 --> 01:04:10.399
But really, you know, when do you ever get to chat like this?
01:04:10.480 --> 01:04:12.079
So it's it's been a joy, so I'm glad.
01:04:12.159 --> 01:04:15.599
But yeah, people love that episode, it went massively viral, as you can imagine.
01:04:15.679 --> 01:04:17.119
So it's a great one.
01:04:17.440 --> 01:04:17.599
Yeah.
01:04:17.679 --> 01:04:19.039
But Tim, thank you so much, my love.
01:04:19.920 --> 01:04:20.079
Thank you.
01:04:20.239 --> 01:04:20.879
Love to meet you.
01:04:21.119 --> 01:04:24.639
Tim, thank you so much for joining me on this week's episode.
01:04:24.719 --> 01:04:26.159
I really enjoyed our conversation.
01:04:26.399 --> 01:04:30.159
If you have enjoyed today's episode, please make sure you help us out.
01:04:30.319 --> 01:04:34.239
Please follow Beyond the Reformer on your podcast platform or go on to other ones and do it.
01:04:34.319 --> 01:04:35.359
That would really help me out.
01:04:35.519 --> 01:04:38.399
Subscribe on YouTube, even if you don't listen, it really helps us.
01:04:38.480 --> 01:04:41.599
And share the episode with someone you think would get something from it.
01:04:41.759 --> 01:04:46.000
All these things are what you can do to help me keep going with this Beyond the Reformer project.
01:04:46.159 --> 01:04:50.079
You can find us on Instagram at Beyond underscore reforma underscore pod.
01:04:50.239 --> 01:04:52.559
I'll share clips and continue lots of these conversations.
01:04:52.719 --> 01:04:55.199
You can also subscribe to our newsletter via there.
01:04:55.279 --> 01:04:57.599
I'm gonna be doing lots more behind the scenes coming up.
01:04:57.679 --> 01:05:00.000
I need to just find some time to do it, but it is coming.
01:05:00.159 --> 01:05:05.039
And I will see you next week for another episode of Beyond the Reformer.
01:05:05.119 --> 01:05:06.000
Thanks so much for being here.
01:05:06.159 --> 01:05:06.639
See you soon.
01:05:06.719 --> 01:05:06.879
Bye.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.679
You were 30 years in the Special Forces.
00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:06.879
Did Pilates teach you something different about strength and about movement than all those years of fitness training?
00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:12.800
It's that gender stereotype that you have to dress a certain way in your matching set, drink matchulates, and it's all female.
00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:16.079
One of my friends had a bad hip, bad back because of his injuries.
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.199
After about six weeks doing the mat Pilates for Millie, he danced around his room.
00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.239
Whereas before you get like an old man, I'm about as alpha male as it gets.
00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:23.920
I come from 30 years in the special forces.
00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:28.960
I wish him 20 years ago said, hey mate, go and do some Pilates, because you're almost bulletproof for your body.
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.479
Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of Beyond the Reformer.
00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:41.359
I'm Nick Lenny.
00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.159
I'm a studio owner in Bristol in the southwest of the UK.
00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:51.280
I'm a Pilates educator and I am your host for these conversations every week, looking at the big wide world of Pilates.
00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:56.640
At the time of recording, I am just back from what was supposed to be my big summer break.
00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:01.200
Although, if I'm perfectly honest, it didn't quite feel like a break at all, didn't really go to plan.
00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.200
We had some major family illness.
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:08.480
We had holidays that we had to cancel, and then in the middle of it all, my gorgeous dog Charlie Beagle died.
00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:11.519
He was 13, but you know, it was really sad and it's been a tough month.
00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:18.400
So I have slightly crashed back into work without feeling particularly rested, which is kind of funny, isn't it, when you think about it.
00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:26.400
Because as teachers, we are very good at telling everyone else how to listen to their bodies, slow down when they need to, and look after themselves.
00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:30.159
But then we're not always very good at taking our own advice.
00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:31.439
Well, I'm certainly not anyway.
00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:44.560
Anyway, I'm just saying that out loud, partly to remind myself, and actually flying to New York, I'm going to meet some really interesting people, visit some studios, and I'm going on a training course with one of our recent podcast guests.
00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:49.599
So, as always in my life, there's a lot happening, but I'm really excited to be back recording again.
00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:50.959
It's lovely to be with you.
00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:55.200
And today's conversation feels like a really fun one to come back with.
00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:59.040
My guest today is Tim Goff, one of the founders of Vagabond Pilates.
00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:08.719
And when Tim first approached me about coming onto the podcast, one of the things that really caught my attention was when he said he was on a bit of a mission to get more men into Pilates.
00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.680
And I thought, yeah, I would really like to talk about that.
00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:17.599
We actually tried something at my studio this August a couple of weeks ago that made me think about this even more.
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:27.199
Because every year, during the last week of August, which is for us typically one of our quietest weeks in the studio, we often run a referral or a bring a friend offer.
00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:33.759
And if I'm honest, it creates a bit of activity, but historically, these people don't typically tend to convert into long-term clients.
00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:37.199
But it's a nice opportunity to give our members the opportunity to bring people.
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:41.199
So this year, I decided let's do something a little bit different.
00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:44.240
We called it Bring a Man to Pilates.
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I wasn't sure how that was gonna land, but you know, I often joke that some of the male clients in our studios are actually some of honestly our most loyal, most committed, some of our highest spending, and often some of the most joyful clients to have around.
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I absolutely love their company.
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But almost all of them had the same origin story.
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Their wife brought them, their girlfriend brought them, their sister brought slash dragged them because basically a woman dragged them through the door.
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It always kind of feels like that.
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We often joke about it with those clients.
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And what was really interesting was that this campaign created a huge amount of buzz.
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We had lots of men coming in, I think 84 booked in, and we have already had several of them go on to become members because they were like, this is great.
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So I thought this was a perfect moment to have this conversation with Tim and just get his viewpoint on all things about men and Pilates.
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Because I want us to go broader than just how do we get more men into Pilates.
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And as always, if you're enjoying these conversations, please help me out by liking, follow, subscribing to wherever you're listening or watching.
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Share the episode with someone you think would enjoy it.
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Come and find us on Instagram.
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I genuinely love reading your comments and hearing what you think.
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All of these things make a huge difference to little old me sitting in my office.
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Here I am in my office, coming up with these episodes every week.
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All right, that's enough from me rattling on.
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Let's dive into today's conversation with Tim.
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Tim, thank you so much for joining me on Beyond the Reformer today.
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Hi Nick, it is a genuine pleasure to be here.
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First ever podcast.
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I love it.
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And if if you're watching on YouTube, your beautiful studio is behind you, and uh you'll be able to see it if you're watching the video.
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And we were going to talk a lot about your studio, but I wanted to kind of just kind of get straight into it, really.
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You were 30 years in the Special Forces, and you know, when we think of special forces, we think of all the fitness training that you do.
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But when you then looked at Pilates, and we'll look at how you got into Pilates, but when you looked at Pilates, Tim, did Pilates teach you something different about strength and about movement than all those years of fitness training?
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Yeah, I think it did.
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It's it's a lot more controlled when you do your practice doing Pilates.
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There's a lot of crossover actually from my previous career to where I am now.
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Before I was I was 12 years in the Marines and then 18 years in in the special boat service, and you're full throttle the whole time, physically, mentally, doesn't matter what you're doing, training, operations, etc.
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You have to control that to a certain extent, but a lot of it's aggression that gets you through.
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To come into a studio and actually practice my own Pilates, it has been it's been eye-opening to what I can do, and I have the control there as well.
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Mind, body, spirit was something that Joseph Pilates said, and I didn't really cue into that until I started doing the Pilates.
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But again, crossover.
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That thread goes all the way back through my entire career.
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You haven't got the mind, body, and the spirit, you're not gonna do it.
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It's as simple as that.
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So it's been eye-opening, the journey to get here, and it's a journey, right?
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It's it's never ending, which is what what I think I like about it as well.
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You're always striving for that next, you know, the next next big thing.
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Me too.
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I love the fact you don't just know it all.
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You know, we're I mean, it's why we spend a fortune on C and D.
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We're always learning.
00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:02.319
So tell me, Tim, how did Pilates then come into your life and you know get you to where you are today?
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So my wife, Millie, she started doing Pilates a long time ago.
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She then got cancer in her knee, quite a rare form.
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Had a couple of operations to take it away, and then used Pilates as part of a rehab so she could bend her knee again.
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So I watched her go through that.
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She then trained as an instructor, and I was away at the time for a six-month tour.
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And where I was, you were either working or you were sleeping.
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There wasn't much anything else you could do where we were.
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So your physical exercise took a back seat because you couldn't do it.
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We Skyped most nights, and she said one day, do you want to do some matte pilates with me?
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And I was like, Yeah, go on in.
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It's better than that.
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That sounds great.
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Better than do nothing.
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So I screencast I went to a big TV, and the best point for the Wi-Fi in the whole area was right in the middle of the corridor between the rooms.
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So it's massive TV, Minnie's massive face on the screen, taking me through a Matte Pilate session.
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After about a week, some of the guys walked past and um they sort of stopped mid-was mid-flow and they said, Uh, what are you doing?
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I said, I'm doing Matt Pilates with my wife, who's the instructor.
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And they sort of looked at each other a bit sheepish, and then one of them said, Um, can we join in?
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I was like, Yeah, full of your poops, of course you can.
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Grab a mat, we'll go for it.
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Millie, this is so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so.
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And after about uh two weeks of doing that, I then got us a room.
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We had a dedicated Pilates sort of studio where we were, and Millie would take us through a session most nights.
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And the best thing about that story is one of my friends, he was shot a couple of times when he was away previously, and he had a bad hip, bad back because of his injuries.
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Didn't tell us about it at all.
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I didn't know about it either.
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After about six weeks of doing the Matt Pilates with Millie, he said uh he'd get up in the morning and he danced around his room, whereas before he got like an old man.
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And he said, If that that for me was the impact that Pilates has on people's lives, and that really sparked my interest in how how how we could use this um in our day-to-day.
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It's so interesting.
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So, in a pre in a previous life, I was an Air Force girlfriend, and uh when I was training, I used to train my boyfriend, like lots of the friends, you know, they got interested in it.
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You know, the guys were like, Can I come and do it?
00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:09.360
And it was it was really interesting because you'd see them going through all their fitness drills, which is so different though, very much like you said, like lots of momentum kind of carrying them through.
00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:19.759
And then they would find it so humbling to, in a good way, though, and we'll talk about this, like, because I think there is something out there about let's make Pilates really hard for men, and let's discuss that in in in a moment.
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But you know, for you, and I I always think the same is that isn't it amazing that you can have the tiniest amount of space and you can do a movement practice and you can bring Matt Pilates anywhere, so I love Matt.
00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:34.879
But how was it for you?
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Like, yes, it got your body moving, but did it do more of that?
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I mean, you're in a very high pressure situation over there.
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Did it help you?
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Did you kind of notice other changes beyond the physical?
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Yeah, I did, yeah, because you've got that mind-body connection.
00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:51.120
It was just it was an hour of Tim Tha how I used to say it.
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It it was it was an hour with my wife, which I loved anyway, it was great.
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But she was taking me through some something which took my mind off of the here and now, all the pressures, the danger that's in the area.
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You just sort of leave it behind, you go into your into your practice, and then you zone in on practicing what you're doing.
00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.200
And it's it's probably as close to meditation as ever I've ever come.
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Just concentrating on doing one thing, fighting gravity the whole time, and she's a cruel mistress, uh, but you're concentrating on doing that with your body.
00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:17.600
So it just focuses you.
00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:22.799
And I've I found that really sort of I'm not spiritual at all, but really uplifting.
00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:27.039
So I finished my practice hour with Millie and thinking, I feel on top of the world right now.
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I feel taller, which is nice anyway, because I'm only five foot eight.
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So to feel tall is a good thing.
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And I feel on top of the world, right, back to work, what's coming next type thing.
00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:35.519
So yeah, definitely.
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Yeah, it wasn't just the physical aspect of it, it's certainly the mental side of it as well.
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And we see that in the studio, people come in and they say, right, this is my 50 minutes, it's for me.
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I'm gonna walk off and then go back to the real world.
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But this 50 minutes is just for me.
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And it's I think it's a nice thing to do.
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And I think for me, that was similar.
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It was such an important part of this.
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It was the thing that slowed me down.
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I did feel like it was meditation.
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I always think if you're a really busy person, it's like meditation, mindfulness.
00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:06.960
Yes, it's strength and toning, but also, you know, rehab benefits as well.
00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:10.320
This is a damn good use of an hour if you're really time poor.
00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:22.000
But it's really interesting to see, and it's interesting to see how that story of, you know, you were doing it in the corridor because that was the best Wi-Fi you could get, and suddenly people watch it and then they're like, oh, actually, what you know, and did they did those guys enjoy it?
00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:28.159
You know, the you had you told about the guy who obviously he's like you know, he felt so much better, but the other guys as well, they obviously wanted to come back and do it again.
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Well, everyone came back every day, and so yeah, they've got a lot of enjoyed it.
00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.159
I don't think it was because there was a lack of anything else to do.
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I think it's because they actually enjoyed it.
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Um and then the word spread really quickly around the around the whole bunch of guys I was with uh that hey, Tim's doing Pilates with his wife.
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And you're gonna get people that's gonna go, oh, that's not for me, it's just a bit of stretching.
00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:51.039
And that's just an education thing on on us as instructors and people who are passionate about Pilates, say it's not.
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Come and have a go.
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I'll take you through it and show you what it's actually all about.
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But yeah, to answer your question, the guys loved it.
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Absolutely lapped it up.
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It was great.
00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:02.240
And when you wrote to me, Tim, you said, you know, I'm on a bit of a mission to get more men to do Pilates.
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And I do think that's such an interesting thing because it's so interesting that it's created by a guy.
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Sometimes you say that to guys like, is it?
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:16.240
And yet this is a very female-dominated space, both from uh the instructors that are out there, but definitely from a studio perspective.
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Why do you think that men aren't coming to Pilates?
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I think that it's that gender stereotype that you have to dress a certain way in your matching set, drink matchilates, and go in and it's all it's all females.
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And some guys don't like training with females, and I get that.
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I understand that.
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I don't simp I don't um empathize with that, but I sympathize with it.
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Some people don't like to be shown up, and then that's fine.
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:44.720
We can offer all male classes, but it's breaking down that um that gender stereotype that it is just for females.
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Look, it was invented by a bloke, four blokes.
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It's just that women are quick enough and clever enough to think this is great, and blokes are a bit slower on the uptake.
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We're starting to see it creep into Premier League football, NFL, a big into it as well.
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So it's coming, but it's really, really slow.
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And it's something that I'm quite passionate about to break down that wall and say to some of the guys, hey, come and have a go.
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It's really good as an addition to your regular training.
00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:15.600
I mean, I lift, I climb, mountaineer, do marathons, but I still do Pilates as part of my practice as well.
00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:17.200
And I think it's a sweet spot.
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It really, it really does help you out in prehab and rehab as well.
00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:22.639
I always think it's really interesting, Tim.
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I'd love your thought on this.
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So what I typically tend to see in the desire to promote Pilates to men is groups of men, usually on reformers, they can't do it.
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They think it's, you know, they're finding it hard because they can't do it.
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And it's one of my bugbears generally in life.
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Like, if you can't do it, I'm not doing a great job as a teacher.
00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:43.200
Exactly.
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Do you think that that's what guys want?
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They're desperate.
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Because it feels like there's a feeling out there that it's trying to be promoted in a similar way to maybe like what gym is or Hyrox is or things like that that tend to be quite male-dominated spaces.
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And it feels like there's a sense of marketing for men that is let's show how hard it is, and that's what will get people in.
00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.440
Is that do you see that working, or do you see that they just need to understand it more?
00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:11.279
I think it's probably a mix between the two.
00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:16.559
So if you say your average guy who goes to the gym and lifts, he does that because it's hard and it hurts his muscles to do that.
00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:21.440
So you obviously change your muscle groups throughout your week routine to not train the same muscle groups every day.
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And guys like doing hard things.
00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.039
So uh it's probably a mix between the two.
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The message needs to change that it is for both genders, it's not gender for gender specific at all.
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I don't think we should go down the route of saying, look, this is super ninja hard, come and give it a go.
00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:45.120
And you see the Instagram reels, which I love, of like Aussie Rules football teams going onto um a reformer and getting absolutely smashed by an instructor and they can't do it.
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They're like shaking dogs all over the place.
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And I thought A, it's funny, but B, it puts out there, look, this isn't easy.
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You've got to have the technique properly.
00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:57.600
And you're right, if you're your people can't do it, as instructor, you've probably gone wrong somewhere, you've pitched it too high.
00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:01.279
So rein it back in and start baby steps, go from there.
00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:06.159
And I think as soon as people start queuing onto fat, this is really good for you, it'll become bigger and bigger and bigger.
00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:11.039
So I think the message you needs to change that yeah, it's hard, but it doesn't start off that way.
00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:16.000
And it's so unbelievably good for your entire body, and a bit of mindfulness chucked in there as well.
00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:26.879
And often I think, Tim, that it Pilates is hard in a different way to what the gym is hard, or Hyrox is hard, or HIT is hard, or running a marathon is hard.
00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:35.360
Like it's got a subtlety to it, and most of us find the subtlety quite hard, the slowing down quite hard, the being connected, the feeling, the noticing.
00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:36.879
Like that in itself is hard.
00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.480
But that's not very Instagrammable because usually people look quite meditative and like they're really concentrating.
00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:50.559
I always joke to my new graduate teachers, like the resting Pilates face looks quite grumpy because we're so concentrating.
00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.159
We don't look very happy at all.
00:14:52.399 --> 00:15:03.919
And so I sometimes wonder like, then is there a mismatch between because don't get me wrong, I could absolutely take a group of any gender and give them lunges and planks and you know, heavy, heavy, stronger things.
00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:07.360
And that exists on the reformer and on all the other pieces of equipment as well.
00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:10.720
But then often they come to class and it's you're a beginner.
00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:16.159
So, you know, you might be, you know, I've worked with top-level athletes that I know you have as well.
00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:22.559
And even though they're, you know, the world number one at their sport, they're a beginner at this, so they kind of have to look at the beginner stuff.
00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:29.360
And so sometimes I think, you know, is there a mismatch in that it's this big hard shake, can't do it?
00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.519
And then you come in and you're kind of potentially met with the subtlety of Pilates.
00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.120
And is there a mismatch there?
00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:41.759
Or should we be giving those bigger type of moves earlier on if we're teaching a male population?
00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:46.159
I think that's uh that that's the messaging thing, and maybe an education piece as well.
00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:48.799
Because answer your last questions first.
00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.320
I don't think we should be chucking people in a deep end and getting them to do control front straight away.
00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.240
I don't think that that has to weigh ahead at all.
00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:55.519
You end up hurting people.
00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:03.919
There needs to be that baseline of your understanding of the repertoire and understanding the muscle groups you're gonna use and then the breathing as well, which is so important, in it.
00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:08.559
So as long as the education is there to say, hey, come on in, it's gonna start fairly easy.
00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:22.639
We'll make you shake because we can, but we're gonna teach you and teach you and teach you, and then all of a sudden you get it's gonna it's it's gonna it's gonna click, and then we can start pushing the repertoire going into the advanced, going upper intermediate into the advanced.
00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:24.240
Um so I think it's an education thing.
00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:32.720
But no, I don't think we should be bringing people in and say, right, I'm gonna make you shake like a dog for 50 minutes, you're gonna hate every second, sweat's gonna be everywhere, and then come back and do it again.
00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:34.639
Because I don't think people come back if I'm honest.
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:41.759
No, I don't think they do, and I don't think we're doing our jobs right because I think the the method that exists in Pilates works for a reason.
00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:46.879
And and I think, and it's lovely to hear you do too, because I'm always like, have I got this wrong when it comes to male clients?
00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.240
You know, that actually the method doesn't really change.
00:16:50.399 --> 00:17:06.720
But I do think your point that you made earlier about sometimes men don't like being in female spaces, and I personally don't know if it's the female space or it's the fact that usually the females are much better than them, maybe because they've been doing it longer, and so they don't like they're like, why is this so hard?
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.039
Everyone else seems to be able to do it.
00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:14.000
And I think about back in the day when we had female sections of gyms, and that's gone now, hasn't it?
00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:15.039
Where we're all kind of together.
00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:22.480
But I, you know, you have created some men-only classes, and has that felt like a really nice space to bring some guys in.
00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:30.079
Yeah, we started doing a class called Broforma, great name, and it lasted for about a month, I suppose.
00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.880
And then the guys who trained with me came into the mixed classes, which was I was all for it.
00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:40.319
I was happy to drop bro forma and just teach regular classes of mixed, and it didn't bother me in the slightest.
00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:46.880
Those people that did that, I think, were a bit broader-minded, and they said, Look, this lady next to me is better than me, but I'm gonna learn from her.
00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:51.200
I can watch her while I'm doing my own practice, listen to the instructor as well, and I'm gonna get that good as well.
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:55.359
It's that growth mindset, I think, that that sort of stands that person apart.
00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:00.079
How we conquer mankind in one go, I I honestly don't know.
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:01.599
I'm not sure what the answer is for that one.
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:03.680
Certainly, like I said, the education thing.
00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.759
And I I can't I can't imagine a gym having two sections.
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.680
To me, that that just blows my mind completely.
00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:10.640
I don't understand it.
00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:11.519
I don't get it.
00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:15.039
I get why guys don't want to train with females because you might get shown up.
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.319
I can like I say, I understand that, I don't, but that's not me.
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:24.559
There's a little bit of humbleness on the individual, I think, in order to come in and accept you're not gonna be the best in the class.
00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:29.920
And that's why we actually did we at the end of August, we always do a bring a friend week.
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.920
It's a referral week, it's a way of us driving.
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.559
And you know, the members love it, they get to bring people.
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:37.839
If I'm honest, we don't tend to convert very well out of it.
00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:42.720
So anyway, this year we thought, let's do a bring a man to Pilates.
00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.039
It's funny that you then wrote to me afterwards.
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:50.720
Um, because I some of the male clients that we have are the loveliest guys.
00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:53.119
They are so fun to be around.
00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.440
They love the detail of this work.
00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:08.480
They're some of our most loyal members, our biggest spending members, but all apart, I think one, all of the rest of them, and there's a lot, they were all brought by their wife, girlfriend, sister, slash dragged, if I'm honest.
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:12.559
So we kind of did it as a bit of a tongue in cheek, and we were like, I wonder like how this would work.
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.400
Well, 84 came, 84, and quite a few have signed up.
00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:25.440
And it was really interesting to kind of think about how we do that, but also think about to your point earlier about how do we market it, how do we educate?
00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:29.279
And I think part of it is around the aesthetics of your studio as well.
00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:34.160
And like we, when we do photo shoots now, we're always saying we need a man in the shoe.
00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.400
I mean, it's easier for you because you know, you're there, aren't you?
00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:37.920
You can be in the shoe, I guess.
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:42.240
But you know, for us, we are a we've got one male instructor, which is an interesting thing.
00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.079
You know, there's there's not many around.
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:49.440
So, you know, thinking about how you can even in your photography see that because you're right.
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:54.319
I was at the gym this morning, and it was pretty much nearly all women there actually at that time of day.
00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:57.759
And I've been there other times where it's, you know, a mix, and it's lovely.
00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:58.640
I really enjoy it.
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:07.920
I can't imagine there being separate spaces, but of course there was for a while, wasn't there, where it was felt that women didn't feel like they would feel self-conscious, I guess, in the weight section of the gym.
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.119
So they had their own section.
00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:13.039
And I suppose we've we're kind of going through a similar space, maybe in that now.
00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:19.519
And it's about how do we, as you said, get those men into the mixed ability, into the mixed gender classes as such.
00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:26.319
I think that's the interesting point about um having those um those those separate gyms, male and female, because females didn't feel comfortable.
00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:29.279
It's maybe putting that same analogy onto Pilates.
00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.640
Get guys in, make me feel comfortable, and then it becomes the norm.
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:37.119
It becomes norm for people to say um down the pub, yeah, I've been to Pilates for an hour, absolutely brilliant, loved it.
00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.599
Got smashed, sweated, shit like a dog.
00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:40.240
It was great.
00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.319
And then that that word then spreads, doesn't it?
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:43.440
And it becomes normal.
00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:52.240
And what was really interesting about our bringing man to Pilates is I had so many conversations with our male clients coming up to me in the corridor, being like, Nick, I'm so excited.
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:53.519
I've got all these guys I'm gonna bring.
00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.799
You know, they were really excited, as you said, to ask other people to come.
00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:13.200
And it got me thinking, actually, from what you've said, is I wonder if it's not about like you have a permanent men-only class every week, but maybe every now and again you run a workshop or a three-week or six-week block of them just to kind of encourage them to come in.
00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:15.039
Because it's true, isn't it?
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:23.680
We if you feel uncomfortable in any situation, that's any of us, it's harder maybe to really feel and see what something is about, whatever that might be.
00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:34.880
So I think if you just kind of get rid of some of that and you accept that I always think it's interesting how any new client coming into your studio, Tim, you forget how nervous they are.
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.960
Male, female, any age, right?
00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:42.400
You forget until maybe you go and do something new and you turn up and you're like, where is this?
00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:43.440
How where do I go?
00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:44.480
Where's the front door?
00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.519
What do I wear?
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:46.400
All those things.
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:50.480
And of course, with the gender thing, I guess you've just got that on top of like, am I gonna feel uncomfortable?
00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:51.680
Am I gonna be rubbish?
00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:59.759
Whereas at least if they look around the room and everyone else is a little bit stiff and tight in certain areas, then you know, off they go and you kind of realize, oh, I'm okay actually.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.799
Actually, this is it.
00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:05.039
So that's kind of a nice idea, actually, maybe to think about that might be how you do it.
00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:05.759
I like it.
00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:07.920
I think it's an important part of our job as an instructor.
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:17.200
You're obviously the instructor to take the class, but the one of my most important things that I do is make fit people feel comfortable and welcome, which is why we designed our studios like they are.
00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:18.640
They're not all neutral colours.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:20.319
You don't have to have a matching set to come in.
00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:22.720
Come in as you are, and we'll meet you where you are.
00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.599
That that's our mantra of how we do things at Vagabond.
00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:26.720
And it's worked really well.
00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:34.319
And what's heartbreaking is you get a message sometimes from a from a curvier lady saying, um, is there a weight limit on the reformers?
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:39.680
And that genuinely breaks my heart that people think they're too big to come and train with us.
00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:41.920
So we write back straight away, no, don't worry about it.
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:42.480
Come on in.
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.279
We will absolutely meet you where you are and get to your goals.
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:46.400
And I found that heartbreaking.
00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:49.200
You could probably put that analogy on on males as well.
00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.799
Get a message from a male, I'm really nervous about doing this because I won't be any good at it.
00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:54.480
Don't worry, mate, I got you.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:55.680
Doesn't matter at all.
00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.720
I started off, I was like a pretzer when I first got on the reformer.
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.920
You should see me doing mat palates, pretty useless.
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:12.960
But you go through that journey of becoming good at something, then you want to instruct it, and it's it's that never-ending um striving for excellence that fires me to do it.
00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:18.480
It's just firing out other people, I think, as well, and getting them on board and saying, look, come and have a go, you'll be good one day.
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.319
And clients love hearing those stories that you've gone, you know, you've been on your own journey.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.240
I think sometimes we're so many years down the line, we forget what what our story was like at the beginning.
00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:28.480
I was absolutely useless at this when I started.
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:28.880
Of course.
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.279
You know, and I as I say to my kids all the time, of course you're not good at this.
00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:34.720
You've never learnt yet.
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.400
And Pilates, tennis, you know, it doesn't matter what it is.
00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:39.119
It's the same.
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.240
I don't, I can't just suddenly put on a pair of skis and I can ski.
00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:43.519
I've got to learn to ski.
00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:45.599
And I think Pilates is a skill, isn't it?
00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:49.119
It's kind of it's more than just coming in and being like, well, I'm not fit.
00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:55.279
It's got lots of movement patterns in there that, you know, your body might not be used to anymore.
00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:57.599
So you've got to come in and have that.
00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:59.920
And it's it's that it's a how do we make them feel welcome?
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:03.599
Who, you know, male, female, old, young, big, small, whatever.
00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:06.160
Because what you said, I hear those stories as well.
00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:07.599
And it's awful.
00:25:52.080 --> 00:25:56.560
It's a nice thing that I can do, and Millie and Molly do as well, is to write back and say, what?
00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:58.080
Don't worry, come on in.
00:25:58.240 --> 00:25:59.279
That's a nice thing we can do.
00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.040
You if you feel good about doing that.
00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:07.120
Yeah, but I don't know how to get more blokes into Pilates.
00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:09.360
I mean, I'm about as alpha male as it gets.
00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:11.120
I come from 30 years in special forces.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:12.720
It doesn't come much better than that.
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.800
People will disagree with that, but I don't think it does.
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.440
And I now teach Pilates and I absolutely see the benefits.
00:26:17.600 --> 00:26:18.960
I wish I started earlier.
00:26:19.120 --> 00:26:23.600
I wish Tim 20 years ago said, hey mate, go and do some Pilates, can I square your way?
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:25.600
Because you're almost bulletproof for your body.
00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:29.519
And then to put yourself through the courses that I've done and the career that I've had.
00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:35.279
So I was a man for leader in the Marines, I was a sniper in the Marines, I then went and did 18 years in special boat service as well.
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:40.960
So all those courses put together, I would have been better off doing Pilates as an addition to my training.
00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:50.240
If I can get that message out to guys and say, look, I've done these courses, help operate at this pretty elite level for 30 years, and I've had two broken ankles, and that's pretty much about it.
00:26:50.320 --> 00:26:51.360
But I've been lucky.
00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:58.240
But it proof your body, get it done now, and that will serve you into old age, and you're still being doing it with you loses when you're 85.
00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:08.240
And I think that's what I often see, Tim, is that what the guys who come in, often something has happened in their body that makes them think, I need to do things differently.
00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:11.120
And I think that opens them up to having a different approach.
00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.600
And Pilates, I think that's what is hard about Pilates.
00:27:13.840 --> 00:27:20.480
I think it is that it's a different approach to what we're used to, to a lot of what's marketed out there, like harder is always better.
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:23.519
Actually, Pilates is there's a real subtlety.
00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:28.000
Done well, Pilates has such a subtlety to it that nothing else really does.
00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:34.080
And and often it needs, doesn't it, somebody to, you know, to something has happened.
00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:34.720
I mean, me too.
00:27:34.800 --> 00:27:35.440
I hurt my back.
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:36.240
That's how I got into it.
00:27:36.320 --> 00:27:37.680
It's you know, very common.
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:42.000
Whereas it's interesting hearing your story because you I think the same.
00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:46.720
I always think Pilates is like the servicing of your body, it's what keeps it going.
00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:55.600
Whether that's just to get into old age or whether that's to keep doing the things you love, whatever that is, whether that's sport, whether that's music, whether it's walking your dog, playing with your kids, it's that.
00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:59.920
And I similarly am on a bit of a mission to be like, I wish I'd learnt about this earlier.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:05.279
I would have not got myself into such a pickle and had to kind of undo it.
00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.800
But I do think, you know, and I I guess it needs to have stories like yours.
00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:11.600
People hearing that and thinking, okay, maybe.
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.960
And also, please come to more than one session.
00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:18.160
Because one, you might be like, I don't get it.
00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:20.640
That's usually I think that's quite common for guys.
00:28:20.800 --> 00:28:23.840
And runners, female runners seem to be the same, right?
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.840
They're used to push, push, push.
00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:33.680
And they're like, it's a bit slow, or it's a bit meditative, or it's a bit like I I feel you need a few, don't you, to kind of get a sense of it.
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:40.560
And I always say that to people, friends of mine, I'm like, can you just commit to at least three or four sessions and then make your mind up?
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:42.400
Because I think you need more time.
00:28:42.560 --> 00:28:46.400
If something feels different, it can feel uncomfortable before it feels good.
00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:47.360
I totally agree.
00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:50.240
We have a saying in the service that two is one, one is none.
00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:52.000
So what's the point in doing one session?
00:28:52.080 --> 00:29:03.920
You you're right, you get a decent workout, you have a basis of what's going to happen, but you've hit eight or nine of the different things you can do in Pilates on any piece of equipment in a 50-minute session.
00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:07.840
So that's not really a broad outlook on it holistically.
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.279
Yeah, so you need a lot more than that.
00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:11.120
Yeah, how do you get people in to do that?
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:11.680
I don't know.
00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:16.880
Special offers, I suppose, uh in your studios, we do a three for 50 if you come in for three sessions.
00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:20.480
And normally after that, um, people are like, okay, I can see the benefits to this.
00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:25.279
I run an athletic class a couple of times a week, which is faster, a bit more furious.
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.759
I speak a bit faster, if that's possible.
00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:30.880
And it becomes very military because that's my background, right?
00:29:31.040 --> 00:29:33.680
But people are lapping it up, and that is just a sweat fest.
00:29:33.840 --> 00:29:39.440
But then going back to the actual dua pilates that I that I really enjoy teaching, you need those sessions to come through.
00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:42.960
Because otherwise you might get you're getting a taster, and that's pretty much about it.
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:43.759
Yeah.
00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.120
It's an interesting question.
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:46.800
How do we break down that stereotype?
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:47.360
I don't know.
00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:54.400
So, Tia, if you think of the guys that you've got in your studio or your friends who, you know, who did the math classes, I guess, back in those days.
00:29:55.040 --> 00:29:57.120
What is it that's made them stay?
00:29:57.279 --> 00:29:59.920
What what are what are the things you hear from those guys?
00:30:00.080 --> 00:30:01.360
Why do they love this work?
00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:07.920
Have one guy come in and he X4 Marine and he he couldn't bend down to do up his shoelaces and it was heartbreaking for him.
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:09.440
So he came in and he's been with us.
00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.519
The first time he came in, I took him for his first session.
00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:13.040
So we immediately had that common ground.
00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:16.160
We end up talking for most of it, um, spreading stories to each other.
00:30:16.320 --> 00:30:22.160
And then he came back and came back and came back and came back, and he is an absolute diehard vagabond now.
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:23.759
Won't miss a single session.
00:30:23.840 --> 00:30:27.440
And it's story, if you can get stories like that out, brilliant.
00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:28.880
Absolutely fantastic.
00:30:29.040 --> 00:30:35.920
Um, so I think the way we the way we teach it, certainly the inclusivity that we have, I think that brings people back.
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:40.000
And then somehow we've created this community around the studio.
00:30:40.080 --> 00:30:41.920
I don't know how it's happening because we didn't sound to do it.
00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:43.040
It's been really organic.
00:30:43.120 --> 00:30:47.600
But you can have five or six people who don't know each other from Adam coming for their first session.
00:30:47.840 --> 00:30:51.840
I'll take them through it, and then I'll chuck in a verbal hangar in at the end and say, hey, what's everyone doing tonight?
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:52.880
What's everyone's plans?
00:30:53.040 --> 00:31:01.440
I'll step back, start cleaning things down ready for the next session, and I'll just watch them and they start talking and then they're exchanging numbers, then they're going to a cafe for a latte.
00:31:01.600 --> 00:31:04.400
So it turns out Pilates and lattes is actually a thing.
00:31:04.560 --> 00:31:07.600
But uh that's happened really organically, and it's such a nice thing.
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:09.360
They come in now, best of friends.
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:12.240
So there's that community thing as well, which again brings people back.
00:31:12.320 --> 00:31:13.759
But it's a bit shed endeavor.
00:31:13.840 --> 00:31:17.759
They're doing some quite hard exercise, but they're doing it together and they enjoy it.
00:31:18.080 --> 00:31:19.200
I absolutely agree.
00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:24.560
I've just done an episode which will have gone out just before our episode, actually, around these conversations.
00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:30.880
I think a huge part of the success of a studio is how do we facilitate these conversations?
00:31:31.040 --> 00:31:34.560
Yes, for you to get to know your clients, but for them to get to know each other.
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:40.720
Because I'm still friends with my Pilates friend from like 20 years ago who doesn't live, you know, every now and again she'll message.
00:31:40.800 --> 00:31:42.160
We don't live near each other anymore.
00:31:42.320 --> 00:31:51.120
But we became friends through Pilates because it does tend to bring in lots of like-minded people, similar approaches to life, similar things, and they get on really well.
00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:56.240
And it makes me so happy to see those kind of friendships that are happening then outside of the studio.
00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:59.440
Like you said, they go for coffee afterwards, they go for a glass of wine.
00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:06.000
A group of them come on retreat with us, but they never they didn't know each other before they came to the studio, and now they're the best of friends.
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:10.240
And I think us as instructors, that is our job to facilitate.
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:17.759
Like you said, you know, you ask an open question like that, it doesn't always happen, but sometimes you get that kind of organic thing.
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:19.120
Oh, I didn't know you did that.
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:20.240
Oh, I go there and da-da-da.
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:21.920
And then it just suddenly becomes that.
00:32:22.080 --> 00:32:29.040
And that makes people, it goes back to what you said earlier about how do you make people fundamentally feel really comfortable and want to come to a space.
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:31.120
And I think that is a big part of it.
00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:32.080
I think so, yeah.
00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:35.920
Certainly when they walk in, you brought up a point earlier, people are nervous when they first walk in.
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.400
And it's my job to say, what are you nervous about?
00:32:38.560 --> 00:32:39.279
I'm a human.
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:43.279
I'm gonna take you through a certain set of exercises and um we'll go from there.
00:32:43.360 --> 00:32:45.360
And we will, I will meet you where you are.
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:46.880
I'll adjust the weights for you.
00:32:47.040 --> 00:32:57.040
I've got an older client who comes in and um, she reminds me of my Nan, uh, who's no longer with us, but she's brilliant and came in with a bad back, hadn't slept for about three months because her back was that bad.
00:32:57.120 --> 00:33:05.279
She came in about three or four weeks after I started working with her and said, uh, for the first time I've slept through the entire night, and it's all down to all down to coming here.
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:14.880
But I'll get her on the on the reformer, I'll adjust her springs for her, I hand her a pillow, I help her off the reformer, and it's having that sort of, it's almost like a personal touch, which I really get a kick out of doing anyway.
00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:16.480
I like it because I like to look after her.
00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:25.440
She's not the only client I do that for either, but um, it's making people feel welcome, making people think it's a friendly space and a safe space, more of the point.
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:31.279
I remember when Minnie first started working at our first unit, which was at home in our conservatory that I converted for her.
00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:34.240
She was half plotties instructor, half counsellor.
00:33:34.560 --> 00:33:38.240
And people come in, and because they're doing exercise, it sort of breaks down barriers.
00:33:38.320 --> 00:33:40.320
I don't know what it is, but it's something that breaks down a barrier.
00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:43.600
All of a sudden, they'd be in floods of tears, telling her their entire life story.
00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:50.640
I get a signal like that from I was in the kitchen, so I make a cup of tea, bring a cup of tea in, and we just sit and shoot the breeze for a bit.
00:33:50.800 --> 00:33:54.560
It was a really uplifting experience for me to see that happen.
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.200
It was cool.
00:33:55.360 --> 00:33:57.519
And I looked in, because I was still serving at the time.
00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:03.360
So I looked in at what Millie was doing and then what Molly was doing when she joined Millie in Vagabond and thought, yeah, I want in.
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:04.240
That looks really cool.
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:06.000
We can start helping people out here a little bit.
00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:09.279
I mean, that side of the work I find so interesting.
00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:16.159
If you are a teacher doing privates, especially if you can teach privates in a space like you had where it's just you and the client in there.
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:19.360
We have one of our studios is really small and it still happens there.
00:34:19.759 --> 00:34:20.880
People do, don't they?
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:22.400
They do tell you everything.
00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:25.440
And it's an interesting thing because people go, Oh, it's not really your scope of practice.
00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:31.039
Listen, my view on it is I'm not there to counsel them, but I can listen, I can hear.
00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:34.079
And sometimes I think people just need space, but there definitely is something, isn't there?
00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:40.400
When you get the body moving, it seems to release emotions and energy, and you've just got to kind of just be with it.
00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:44.159
So, you know, when clients get teary and say, like, oh my God, I'm so sorry.
00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:46.639
I live, I'm like, this is really good.
00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:48.639
It means something has moved.
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:52.800
And especially if you're a client in chronic pain, that probably just needed to move.
00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:55.039
It's it's just a cool experience.
00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:01.279
We've had clients come in and say, You've literally saved my life, and it doesn't get much better than that as an instructor.
00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:02.400
Didn't set out to do that.
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:03.920
I just took you through a party session.
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:08.719
But it's become part of your daily routine, part of your weekly routine, and we're here for you.
00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:11.279
And that's um, I don't take that lightly either.
00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:16.239
I think that's really special that someone's happy to open up about that to me as an individual.
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.000
And it but it shows the trust, doesn't it?
00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:19.599
It goes back to everything we've been saying, actually.
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:20.239
It shows the trust.
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:21.279
They feel safe with you.
00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:27.119
And I, you know, always feel passionately that if we can help clients feel safe, their body will do anything.
00:35:27.279 --> 00:35:31.519
The reason their body isn't doing something is because it doesn't feel safe somewhere along the line.
00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:33.119
Their body is communicating to them.
00:35:33.279 --> 00:35:34.159
No, don't go there.
00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:35.279
That doesn't feel good.
00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:37.119
So it's part of it, isn't it?
00:35:37.279 --> 00:35:37.840
It's part of it.
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:43.759
And it kind of that vibe then transcends into whether it's group classes or privates, you know, it's there.
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:49.920
And back to thinking about men, thinking about it, like I I, our studio, we do a lot of rehab type work.
00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:56.559
So we have people then that move to group classes and they will say to me, Oh, Nick, God, the amount of things you had to adjust.
00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:58.399
And I say the same thing to every client.
00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:05.199
You have no idea as a client how many people in the room were doing variations on things, right?
00:36:05.279 --> 00:36:06.239
You'd agree to him, right?
00:36:06.319 --> 00:36:09.839
Everyone in the room's kind of having their own workout, but nobody sees it.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:18.000
So if you're the guy there thinking, oh God, I was rubbish, I was tight, I was stiff, nobody has noticed except yourself.
00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:27.039
Like you didn't notice that someone over there had to do a completely different exercise because they couldn't do that one, or the person over there couldn't lie on their back, so they were lying on their side.
00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:30.399
Like everyone in the room is having their own unique experience.
00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:34.960
And I think that's also such a wonderful thing, even in groups that we're able to facilitate.
00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:35.839
I think so too.
00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:42.639
I think it goes back to that whole mind, body, and spirit thing because people are doing their own practice in their own bubble, for one of the better expression.
00:36:42.799 --> 00:36:44.319
So they're concentrated where they're doing.
00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:46.399
What everyone else is doing is completely irrelevant.
00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:52.319
And as the instructor, you'll know this more than I because you've been doing it for longer than I have, but you never make a song and dance about changing something.
00:36:52.399 --> 00:36:57.039
You just walk across, go and do it, tell them what to do, let them crack on, keep your BDR on them.
00:36:57.119 --> 00:36:58.239
And that's the way it should be done.
00:36:58.319 --> 00:37:04.079
It shouldn't be a all right, wait, everyone stop because so-and-so over here has got to get an adjustment.
00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:05.359
It's just not the way it's done.
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:06.879
And it shouldn't be either.
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:08.960
You should be victimized because you couldn't do something.
00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:10.239
That's just that's just not on.
00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:12.799
For me, that's a very important part of our studio.
00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:17.519
Tim, I'd love to ask something that always, you know, I'd love to ask your advice on something, really.
00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:21.599
Those people, I thought you're the person to ask about this.
00:37:21.839 --> 00:37:22.159
Right.
00:37:22.399 --> 00:37:25.839
Those people in life that love pushing hard, right?
00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:28.799
You, your whole career was built on this, your previous career.
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:32.960
You know, there's a mentality, isn't there, that you can push, push, push, push, push.
00:37:33.279 --> 00:37:35.279
And runners can often be.
00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:37.679
The marathon runners can often be these people, right?
00:37:37.759 --> 00:37:40.719
They're so used to they can push and they can turn something off.
00:37:40.799 --> 00:37:46.639
I well, I think they can turn something off that stops them feeling how much pain their body might be in.
00:37:46.879 --> 00:37:58.639
And sometimes I hear from a lot of guests, and we have it in our studio too, that when those people come to our work, sometimes they can struggle to understand maybe what Pilates is.
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:00.799
And you mentioned you've kind of got an athletic class.
00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:06.719
And is there an element of let's meet those people where they're at and let them do this work but in a more athletic way?
00:38:06.879 --> 00:38:11.119
Or do you have you learned any, you know, tips or tricks over the years of how you get those people?
00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:19.679
You know, you talked about some ex-military guys that you've been working with to come into this and do some of the softer, more mind-body element of this?
00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:27.440
So the athletic cast that I run, it's probably about a 60-40 ratio on pure repertoire and then other things that I've adapted.
00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:41.679
So I is uh it's all from the uh from the the repertoire, but I've just adapted things make them slightly harder, maybe up the springs, um a little bit more on the reformer, put a bit more weight on, maybe get them to do a few more reps as well, just get that uh get the muscles burning where they normally wouldn't do.
00:38:41.839 --> 00:38:48.159
Um so it was all based around pure Pilates, but the way I run it is slightly different, and I think that appeals to the people.
00:38:48.319 --> 00:38:52.799
I have an ultrabund that comes in and she absolutely loves her classes, can't get enough of them, it's brilliant.
00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:54.159
I love training with her as well.
00:38:54.399 --> 00:38:57.920
You get those people coming in and all of a sudden they're addicted, which is really cool.
00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:06.319
And it's it's almost like they get the same sort of endorphin rush from doing a session like that as they do for going out and doing a two and a half, three hour run.
00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:08.480
To your point on pushing yourself.
00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:13.759
I don't know, uh I did a um I did an ultramath and it was a few years ago.
00:39:13.839 --> 00:39:15.440
There's a 50 miner in in Cyprus.
00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:22.239
We lived out there in the True Ross Mountains, and I I gave myself kidney failure doing it, but I wouldn't stop.
00:39:22.399 --> 00:39:23.759
There was no way I was gonna stop.
00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:29.199
So I don't know if that's a unique thing that some people have and some people don't, or it's just stupidity.
00:39:29.359 --> 00:39:30.559
I'm not entirely sure what it is.
00:39:31.279 --> 00:39:32.159
Well, I don't have it, Tim.
00:39:32.319 --> 00:39:32.719
I don't have it.
00:39:32.879 --> 00:39:34.159
I'm a terrible runner.
00:39:34.319 --> 00:39:37.279
I get to about four kilometers, I'm like, I'm dead.
00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:38.000
I'm done.
00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:47.519
But I have recently, this last year, I've taken up strength training and I've loved that because it's kind of got the detail I love about Pilates, but now I'm loading my system.
00:39:47.839 --> 00:39:58.239
But I really wouldn't have been able to do this work without all the Pilates I've done because I'd had so many injuries, I had so many kind of inefficiencies in my body that as soon as I loaded it, I would just be injured again.
00:39:58.319 --> 00:40:02.000
So, you know, it goes back to what you said earlier about this the work goes hand in hand.
00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:03.839
It's not necessarily one or the other.
00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:07.519
You you need Pilates alongside other things that you do in your life.
00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:15.199
But from what I'm hearing from you, is kind of your approaches, maybe meet these people a little bit more where they're at and don't take them too slow.
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:17.679
Maybe they'll ask to go there later.
00:40:17.759 --> 00:40:25.519
But I've been thinking about through all the strength work I've been doing, I've been thinking about similar to what you've been saying, could we load someone a bit more?
00:40:25.599 --> 00:40:30.319
Like I see all the cable work at the gym, and I think we could do that in Reformer.
00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:36.639
And I find it weird at the gym that when you do cable work, it doesn't get heavier because in the reformer it gets heavier as you pull it, right?
00:40:36.799 --> 00:40:38.000
The spring gets more load on it.
00:40:38.159 --> 00:40:51.279
So I was like, oh, you could be interesting, but a lot of that work, I think, has where we've blended it has maybe lost some of the nth, that the essence of the detail and the controlology and all the things that you were saying earlier about Pilates.
00:40:51.599 --> 00:41:00.480
So I think there are ways that we can bring the repertoire in and play with it and not lose the essence of what it is.
00:41:00.799 --> 00:41:01.679
I think absolutely right.
00:41:01.759 --> 00:41:02.799
I've I've been in the gym.
00:41:02.879 --> 00:41:06.079
We're a studio here where we are now is next door to a gym, which is really good.
00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:07.279
So I go there to train.
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:16.879
And I've done sign-kneeling um arm series, but with a free weight instead, just standing in front of the mirrors, and I watched people watching me and I watched another lad pick up a weight and do the same sort of thing.
00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:18.000
So it's infectious.
00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:20.879
You can see something, and your muscles are straining when you're doing this.
00:41:21.119 --> 00:41:30.639
You transfer that back into a Pilate studio onto a reformer, and you can lower the weight and get the exact same essence of the move with a lower weight, and it feels harder.
00:41:30.799 --> 00:41:37.119
Because A, you're putting that spring, so you've got more resistance behind it, but secondly, you'll concentrate the muscles you need to concentrate on as well.
00:41:37.359 --> 00:41:40.079
I think you're hitting the sweet spot of your training.
00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:43.839
So strength training, osteoprocess, older age, joint congruency, etc.
00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:45.519
And then you're doing your Pilates as well.
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:50.159
I think personally, Tim's opinion on the world, that is the sweet spot to be training.
00:41:50.319 --> 00:41:50.719
I think.
00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:51.759
I've loved it.
00:41:51.839 --> 00:41:54.239
And uh I also I love the rest breaks.
00:41:54.399 --> 00:41:56.079
This is my favourite bit of it.
00:41:56.239 --> 00:41:59.279
I have to spend two minutes doing nothing.
00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:01.359
This is really hard for me.
00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:05.279
I have no, I have no issue with the motivation and doing that, but I like I just want to get on to the next thing.
00:42:05.359 --> 00:42:07.679
And my trainer's like, no, no, no, you have to do nothing.
00:42:07.839 --> 00:42:08.319
We just chat.
00:42:08.399 --> 00:42:10.079
She's like, This is when I message you, Nick.
00:42:10.159 --> 00:42:11.279
She works in my business as well.
00:42:11.359 --> 00:42:12.480
She's like, This is when I message you.
00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:14.239
I'm like, oh, right, okay.
00:42:14.399 --> 00:42:18.399
And I've loved it, and it's been it has been really interesting to see my body shift.
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:22.000
And I'm lucky my my gym actually has a couple of reformers in.
00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:26.719
So I need you always end up going on the reformer at the end because you're like, you kind of miss all the spine movement.
00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:31.039
Listen, Tim, I'd love to talk to you about your studio Vaccabon Pilates, which is in the background.
00:42:31.119 --> 00:42:32.079
Tell me a little bit about it.
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:37.920
So your wife was the teacher first, and you had the studio in your conservatory.
00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:39.199
Kind of what happened?
00:42:39.279 --> 00:42:40.799
How have you got to where you are today?
00:42:40.879 --> 00:42:42.000
Tell me a little bit about that.
00:42:42.319 --> 00:42:45.039
It got really big, really quick, really by accident.
00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:46.799
So I said Millie had cancer.
00:42:46.960 --> 00:42:52.719
She was in the Air Force at the time and she was a very successful sex officer in her own right, uh, 21-year career.
00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:57.839
But on the back of the cancer, successful operation, etc., um, she lost her career through medical discharge.
00:42:57.920 --> 00:42:59.279
So, like a double whammy, really.
00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:02.639
I was in a fortunate enough position to say, look, I've got you.
00:43:02.799 --> 00:43:08.639
Take six months, take two years, take whatever time you need, go and find something that fills your cup, and we'll go from there.
00:43:08.799 --> 00:43:10.799
And Pilates filled her cup.
00:43:10.879 --> 00:43:12.559
So she wanted a studio at home.
00:43:12.719 --> 00:43:14.159
So I said, okay, we'll do that.
00:43:14.319 --> 00:43:18.239
We'll warm roof, warm wall the conservatory, we'll make you a Plate studio at home.
00:43:18.399 --> 00:43:20.239
That got really big really quickly as well.
00:43:20.399 --> 00:43:24.719
And about that time, a lady called Molly came along, and she was doing her postnatal journey with Millie.
00:43:24.799 --> 00:43:26.079
They got on like a house on fire.
00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:29.199
Two ferociously intelligent, really driven females.
00:43:29.359 --> 00:43:30.879
They got on really, really well.
00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:33.440
And so Millie said, Look, this is getting too busy for me.
00:43:33.519 --> 00:43:35.119
I need someone else on board with this.
00:43:35.279 --> 00:43:38.319
So she approached Molly, who snapped her hand off and said, Yep, I'm in.
00:43:38.399 --> 00:43:39.199
Let's do this.
00:43:39.359 --> 00:43:45.359
So Vagabond Plate started with Millie and Molly and Tim on the outside looking in, thinking they're doing something really cool.
00:43:45.519 --> 00:43:46.239
Where can I help?
00:43:46.399 --> 00:43:48.000
The wait list got ridiculous.
00:43:48.159 --> 00:43:49.279
We needed a studio.
00:43:49.519 --> 00:43:52.879
So Minnie and Molly um found us a barn.
00:43:53.279 --> 00:43:57.679
So I walked into the barn, having already said that I'll do it for you, I can do that sort of thing.
00:43:57.839 --> 00:44:03.119
And the roof was falling down, there was a wall in the wrong place, there was a door in the wrong place, there was no door and a ship and the door.
00:44:03.199 --> 00:44:05.519
And I was thinking, what the what have I done?
00:44:05.679 --> 00:44:07.519
What have I done by volunteering for this?
00:44:07.679 --> 00:44:15.440
So with the help of some builders who were really, really good, my dad, and pretty much the village turned up to help us, which was so unbelievably cool.
00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:17.279
We got our first studio up.
00:44:17.599 --> 00:44:20.960
At that point, I was, like I said, look over the fence, thinking they're doing something special here.
00:44:21.119 --> 00:44:23.519
I had about finished my time in the service.
00:44:23.679 --> 00:44:24.719
I didn't really want to continue.
00:44:24.799 --> 00:44:25.359
I'd had enough.
00:44:25.599 --> 00:44:26.879
I already had a CV written up.
00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:30.480
And our usual pathway when we leave the special forces is to go onto what we call the circuit.
00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:35.599
So close protection, VIP, VIP uh protecting, or um go and do some military consulting somewhere.
00:44:35.759 --> 00:44:38.000
It's not to read something that's ever photo my boat.
00:44:38.159 --> 00:44:44.079
So I approached Million Molly for a very stilted conversation to say, look, I want to join you in vagabond Pilates.
00:44:44.399 --> 00:44:46.719
I want to be an instructor, I want to help you with the business.
00:44:46.879 --> 00:44:55.599
So they asked for my CV, which was humbling, and then had a 40-minute interview with two fierce people, and they absolutely grilled me.
00:44:55.759 --> 00:44:56.239
Yeah, yeah.
00:44:56.399 --> 00:45:00.960
They wanted to make sure that I was as passionate about vagabonds and pilates as they were.
00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:07.279
They didn't just want me coming on for an easy ride, grabbing all the coattails and thinking, well, this would be an easy transition out of the military into something else.
00:45:07.359 --> 00:45:11.679
I didn't want that either, but I had to actually tell them that that wasn't the case.
00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:15.039
So I became part of the business before I became the instructor.
00:45:15.119 --> 00:45:16.639
But instructing has always been my passion.
00:45:16.719 --> 00:45:18.079
I've done it throughout my entire career.
00:45:18.239 --> 00:45:21.839
I've taken recruits who basically training at Limpston in Devon.
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:28.079
I've taken, I did two years up at the Special Forces training command, taking people through the special forces selection pathway.
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:38.719
So teaching people, instructing them, and getting them from week one to the sixth month point on selection was probably one of the most fulfilling things I did in my entire career.
00:45:38.799 --> 00:45:41.039
It was a real privileged position to be in.
00:45:41.279 --> 00:45:43.920
And I see guys in the squadron, and I thought, yeah, I knew you guys.
00:45:44.319 --> 00:45:45.119
To pass day one.
00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:48.559
And it's great that they had the willpower to do that.
00:45:49.279 --> 00:45:51.440
But that brings it back to Pilates again, right?
00:45:51.599 --> 00:45:56.879
So you could in put Pilates in selection because we're after Land Rovers, not Ferraris.
00:45:57.039 --> 00:46:02.639
You see people turn up and they're a three-time combined services CrossFit champion, they'll be gone by day two.
00:46:02.799 --> 00:46:06.719
And it's little guys like me who can take a knock and crack on that will pass.
00:46:06.879 --> 00:46:09.519
And Pilates will help you bulletproof your body to do that.
00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:27.599
I've digressed there slightly, but No, and I was gonna say, like, it feels you know that the the way, you know, what it what it means to be a teacher, what it means to teach people, and and I'm passionate about we're teachers more than just instructors, in the sense of we teach people how to do this and to get better.
00:46:27.759 --> 00:46:34.879
And just like you did through that six-month selection process and getting somebody to the end line, like they have to improve and they you have to progress them.
00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:38.799
And I think as as Pilates teachers, we have to be doing that too.
00:46:38.879 --> 00:46:40.559
We can't just keep people at the same level.
00:46:40.719 --> 00:46:41.839
We have to get them somewhere.
00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:43.279
That's what makes them stay with us.
00:46:43.440 --> 00:46:45.759
Like I've got clients who've been with me 10, 11 years now.
00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:46.399
That's why.
00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:47.679
Otherwise, you'd be bored.
00:46:47.839 --> 00:46:49.599
You'd be so bored if it was the same thing.
00:46:49.759 --> 00:46:55.440
And I think that's why people really love Pilates because it it you know, it's not just doing the same workout over and over again.
00:46:55.679 --> 00:46:56.159
No, you're right.
00:46:56.239 --> 00:46:57.679
It's it's progression of practice, isn't it?
00:46:57.759 --> 00:46:59.039
And it's a practice for a reason.
00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:00.639
That's why it's called a practice, right?
00:47:00.799 --> 00:47:01.839
Yeah, I totally agree.
00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:03.519
You don't keep all the people at the same level.
00:47:03.599 --> 00:47:08.799
You don't push them the same respect that I used to push people when I was taking them through selection because that just wouldn't work, they wouldn't come back.
00:47:08.879 --> 00:47:14.480
But you you push them, you meet them where they are, and then you take them a little bit further and you say, Look, you can do this, you've just done it.
00:47:14.639 --> 00:47:15.039
Good job.
00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:16.239
Right, on to the next thing.
00:47:16.399 --> 00:47:21.759
And that Cheshire cat grin that I get off someone when I've taken them through a move, they couldn't do, couldn't do, they've nailed it.
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:23.119
That for me is the juice.
00:47:23.279 --> 00:47:24.239
That's why I teach.
00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:25.519
I absolutely love it.
00:47:25.759 --> 00:47:28.159
And tell me about that studio ownership journey then.
00:47:28.239 --> 00:47:33.440
So you you come into the business, you've had your interview, you've, you know, you go and do your training, obviously.
00:47:33.679 --> 00:47:38.879
What have what have been the things that have surprised you about studio ownership and the challenges around it?
00:47:39.039 --> 00:47:42.960
Because you know, you've had, you've led a life that's full of pressure.
00:47:43.199 --> 00:47:45.920
But what has been the difference with studio ownership as such?
00:47:46.239 --> 00:47:48.960
I think when we leave the armed forces, there is an adjustment period.
00:47:49.039 --> 00:47:50.879
And I I paid lip service to that completely.
00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:51.679
I thought, nah, that's fine.
00:47:51.759 --> 00:47:52.719
I've made my peace for the fact.
00:47:52.799 --> 00:47:55.199
I'm leaving the service, I'm gonna be a sibi, that's great.
00:47:55.359 --> 00:47:56.239
And it's really difficult.
00:47:56.319 --> 00:47:58.480
And what you need in your life is a sense of purpose.
00:47:58.559 --> 00:48:02.559
And Vagabond has given me that sense of purpose that I didn't really know that I needed.
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:05.279
It's like a second chapter that's opened up.
00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:06.639
It's been challenging.
00:48:06.799 --> 00:48:13.039
There's certain challenges that are there, but certainly that that that sense of purpose is why I get up in the morning.
00:48:13.119 --> 00:48:17.039
I get up in the morning, I put on my Lulus and I go to the studio and I teach.
00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:18.399
And that is my sense of purpose.
00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:18.960
I love it.
00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:21.279
Then back home and work the back end of the business stuff.
00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:21.920
It's cool.
00:48:22.159 --> 00:48:23.359
And how is it working with your wife?
00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:24.480
I also work with my husband.
00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:26.879
I have not managed to convince him to be a Pilates teacher yet.
00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:28.719
He is in the in the background.
00:48:28.879 --> 00:48:30.000
But how how does that work?
00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:31.679
Do you have to have some set rules around?
00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:36.000
I was I caught myself having a chat about 9.30 the other night that went on till 11.
00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:37.599
I said, I've broken my own rule.
00:48:37.679 --> 00:48:38.559
I'm so sorry.
00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:39.599
It's hard, right?
00:48:39.839 --> 00:48:41.599
Do you have some boundaries around that?
00:48:41.839 --> 00:48:43.119
We'd love to, but no.
00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:45.679
Is a short answer to that?
00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:48.799
Definitely if it's both of you, but regardless, like this is your life, right?
00:48:48.879 --> 00:48:50.799
I've running a studio is my entire life.
00:48:50.960 --> 00:48:53.839
There isn't a conversation that happens that doesn't revolve around the studio.
00:48:53.920 --> 00:48:56.639
So even with my friends, half my friends come here anyway.
00:48:56.879 --> 00:48:57.519
It's a funny one.
00:48:57.599 --> 00:49:04.239
Working with your wife, who's also your best friend, is there's a challenge there, certainly, because it redefines the boundaries of your marriage, right?
00:49:04.399 --> 00:49:06.799
Then you couple that with the fact we've got Molly on board as well.
00:49:06.879 --> 00:49:10.879
And as I said before, they're ferociously passionate about vagabond.
00:49:11.440 --> 00:49:15.199
My biggest concern in joining was that I wouldn't do them justice.
00:49:15.359 --> 00:49:17.759
They're they're the genesis of vagabond, right?
00:49:17.839 --> 00:49:19.920
And I didn't want to come on board and be a handbrake.
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:21.039
That that's not what I wanted to do.
00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:24.079
I wanted to support them as best I possibly could.
00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:26.559
So my biggest fear is I don't do enough.
00:49:26.719 --> 00:49:30.319
And in doing that, I'm trying to do too much because of the character that I am.
00:49:30.399 --> 00:49:31.920
So I try and take on board too much.
00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:33.119
And there's been an adjustment period.
00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:38.319
There's another girl who worked for us called T-Jan, and she's the business manager and she's the glue that holds it all together.
00:49:38.480 --> 00:49:46.159
And we have a weekly Monday morning meeting around my coffee table, and the three girls will say half a sentence to each other, then nod, and then start writing some notes.
00:49:46.319 --> 00:49:52.879
And I was sat there thinking, right, they'll catch me up in a second, or there'll be an action point, I'll write something down, I'll go and do that.
00:49:53.039 --> 00:49:53.679
It never comes.
00:49:53.759 --> 00:49:55.519
I still haven't got to the point where that happens yet.
00:49:55.599 --> 00:49:59.199
And then about 10 minutes later, I'll put my hand up and say, Hey gang, have you thought about doing this?
00:49:59.440 --> 00:50:03.839
Now T Jim will give you the loveliest, sweetest smile as if to say, ah, bless.
00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:11.759
Moni rolls her eyes at me, then looks at me to see if she can laugh at me, and then Millie just looks at me deadpan and says, catch up, and then goes back to writing her notes.
00:50:11.920 --> 00:50:16.079
So working with um those three desperately intelligent people, that's a challenge.
00:50:16.159 --> 00:50:18.159
And uh and a surprise, if I'm honest as well.
00:50:18.239 --> 00:50:20.960
I thought I'd be up there at the same level as them, and I'm not.
00:50:21.199 --> 00:50:23.359
So, but hey, it's a constant journey.
00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:26.079
I'm getting better and getting better, but it's not been easy.
00:50:26.399 --> 00:50:39.119
And I it just made me think about you know, you've got the adjustment of coming out of the military anyway, but then you've also got the going from a very male-dominated environment to now actually a very female-dominant environment, whether that's your colleagues, but you know, your clients as well.
00:50:39.199 --> 00:50:41.279
And I guess that's that takes some adjustment too.
00:50:41.599 --> 00:50:42.879
I think adjustment's a good word for it.
00:50:42.960 --> 00:50:43.759
I'd say education.
00:50:43.839 --> 00:50:49.359
I've I've gone from working in small teams with all guys, no females at all, to working for an all-female team.
00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:50.639
I am the only guy here.
00:50:50.799 --> 00:50:52.239
And yeah, it's been educational.
00:50:52.399 --> 00:50:55.440
I'll leave it there, let you let you let your mind do the rest, but it's been educational.
00:50:55.519 --> 00:50:57.199
Sometimes they're worse than a bunch of Marines.
00:50:57.279 --> 00:50:59.119
But yeah, it's it's just fun.
00:50:59.279 --> 00:50:59.759
It's fun.
00:50:59.839 --> 00:51:03.599
I've got those three girls to work alongside, which is a privilege.
00:51:03.759 --> 00:51:06.960
And then the rest of our team of instructors who are all top-notch as well.
00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:07.679
It's great.
00:51:07.920 --> 00:51:09.119
Life doesn't get any better than this.
00:51:09.199 --> 00:51:10.079
It's um it's awesome.
00:51:10.319 --> 00:51:12.239
So, how has the team expanded as you've expanded?
00:51:12.319 --> 00:51:14.879
Like you said, you've got more instructors, you've got a business manager.
00:51:15.039 --> 00:51:18.159
What kind of team members have you needed to bring in to support the three of you?
00:51:18.399 --> 00:51:21.759
So, we definitely need T-June on board because, like I said, she's the glue that holds all together.
00:51:21.839 --> 00:51:26.639
Things we can't do, haven't got time to do, um, don't know how to do, she does for us, which is which is brilliant.
00:51:26.719 --> 00:51:31.199
And I get usually get a a um a WhatsApp first thing in the morning saying hey Tim, have you done this, done that, done that?
00:51:31.279 --> 00:51:32.559
I'm like, nope, I'm on it now.
00:51:32.639 --> 00:51:33.039
Thanks.
00:51:33.359 --> 00:51:34.639
We all need one of those in our lives.
00:51:34.719 --> 00:51:36.960
I need, I need she needs to come and work for me.
00:51:37.359 --> 00:51:39.679
Don't pinch her face, she's brilliant, we'll fall apart.
00:51:39.920 --> 00:51:43.839
My poor Asana has to ping me messages every day, being like, Nick, have you done this?
00:51:43.920 --> 00:51:44.879
I'm like, no, no.
00:51:45.039 --> 00:51:45.679
That's funny.
00:51:45.839 --> 00:51:46.319
I like it.
00:51:46.480 --> 00:51:52.159
And then to have that all female team of of top-notch instructors who all have we've got each other's backs as well.
00:51:52.319 --> 00:51:55.039
So if someone's having a bad day, it's a WhatsApp message.
00:51:55.119 --> 00:51:56.079
Can you fit them for my class?
00:51:56.159 --> 00:51:57.199
Yeah, I can, no problem at all.
00:51:57.359 --> 00:51:58.079
Just change it over.
00:51:58.239 --> 00:51:59.279
And it's really nice.
00:51:59.359 --> 00:52:01.679
And we all teach differently because everyone does.
00:52:01.759 --> 00:52:03.599
And that gives the clients variety, right?
00:52:03.759 --> 00:52:05.039
And they seek that sometimes.
00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:09.039
It's it's it's a it's a unique experience, certainly in my my life.
00:52:09.119 --> 00:52:10.319
I've never done anything like it before.
00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:14.399
And how how has it been finding instructors where you are in in the world?
00:52:14.639 --> 00:52:15.920
Not too bad, to be honest with you.
00:52:16.159 --> 00:52:17.679
We're all we're all stock trained.
00:52:17.759 --> 00:52:21.440
It's a accreditation that we decided to go down predominantly because Millie was stock trained.
00:52:21.519 --> 00:52:24.639
So I thought, right, I'm gonna do what she does because it looks really intense.
00:52:24.799 --> 00:52:25.440
It looks hard.
00:52:25.599 --> 00:52:29.359
And that appealed to my appeals to my sense of let's make it as hard as I can.
00:52:29.599 --> 00:52:31.039
So yeah, not too difficult.
00:52:31.119 --> 00:52:34.159
We there's got quite a few instructors who used to be clients.
00:52:34.319 --> 00:52:36.879
They've now trained as instructors and now work for us as well.
00:52:37.039 --> 00:52:38.799
And that's always such a nice journey, isn't it?
00:52:38.879 --> 00:52:40.719
We have as well, and I absolutely love it.
00:52:40.879 --> 00:52:45.920
They're the best teachers because they they they have lived and breathed your ethos.
00:52:46.159 --> 00:52:48.159
Because that I think that is one of the challenges, isn't it?
00:52:48.399 --> 00:53:01.359
You want everyone's individual teacher personality to come through, but you also want there to be a level of consistency in terms of the ethos and beliefs and the feels, and you know, like you said, even the way you welcome clients and chat to them, they're all such important things.
00:53:01.519 --> 00:53:04.159
Do you do you have to do work on that with your team?
00:53:04.319 --> 00:53:07.920
Or has there because if they've been clients, maybe it's sort of in them?
00:53:08.159 --> 00:53:10.480
So Mili does some mentorship with them, certainly.
00:53:10.639 --> 00:53:17.119
We have a lady, um Lucia, who comes in uh once a quarter, and what she does about Pilates writ large isn't worth knowing about.
00:53:17.440 --> 00:53:26.480
So we all come into the studio up here, she comes in and takes us through a masterclass for three hours, and we ping our questions beforehand to say, look, I need to know more about this, I need to know more about that.
00:53:26.559 --> 00:53:29.599
And she comes in loaded with that, takes us through a masterclass.
00:53:29.679 --> 00:53:34.879
So there's there's always that sort of constant striving to be the best that we can be, and that feeds quite nicely into that.
00:53:35.119 --> 00:53:38.960
Yeah, and I was doing a talk recently, and that was the question that was asked actually, it was around mentorship.
00:53:39.039 --> 00:53:42.719
You know, what if your team isn't not saying yours isn't, but like you say, your team isn't experienced enough.
00:53:42.799 --> 00:53:47.679
And I was like, You you've got to have it in your budget to bring somebody in because that's what the top studios do.
00:53:47.839 --> 00:53:50.719
And also it means that you keep really good teachers, don't you?
00:53:50.799 --> 00:53:51.519
Because they love it.
00:53:51.599 --> 00:53:52.639
Because and we all love it.
00:53:52.719 --> 00:53:58.559
Like you said right at the beginning of our our talk, you never know all this work, and that's why it's fun.
00:53:58.799 --> 00:53:59.359
So it's great.
00:53:59.440 --> 00:54:04.639
So and you're doing that kind of quarterly, which is a great commitment to the teaching team and to your clients to do that.
00:54:04.960 --> 00:54:09.359
I think Richard Branson said if you um look after your staff, your staff look after your clients.
00:54:09.519 --> 00:54:10.559
So that's what we do.
00:54:10.719 --> 00:54:16.159
Look after yourself, and that translates then into how they teach, uh the way they teach, and how professional they are as well.
00:54:16.239 --> 00:54:20.799
I think Millie's had a big hand in how we are as people in the studio.
00:54:21.039 --> 00:54:26.319
I distinctly remember my first lesson that I taught, and Millie was sat in the back because I enjoy a bit of instant feedback.
00:54:26.559 --> 00:54:29.119
And Millie gives it to me straight away, which is fantastic.
00:54:29.279 --> 00:54:29.839
I love it.
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:33.440
And the first lesson I ever taught was I run it like a range package, more or less.
00:54:33.599 --> 00:54:38.079
It was very much right, get down, lie down, put your hands in straps, put your feet in the footbar, off we go, type thing.
00:54:38.239 --> 00:54:39.759
And there's no finesse in there at all.
00:54:39.839 --> 00:54:41.839
And I thought I nailed it, thought I crushed it.
00:54:41.920 --> 00:54:42.559
Everyone loved it.
00:54:42.799 --> 00:54:44.159
Smiles, sweat everywhere.
00:54:44.239 --> 00:54:47.359
And Millie's first point to me was, you can't teach like that, mate.
00:54:47.519 --> 00:54:48.799
It doesn't work this way.
00:54:49.039 --> 00:54:51.519
So I've had to adjust the way that I teach and instruct.
00:54:51.599 --> 00:54:53.440
But there's a lot of Millie in how I teach.
00:54:53.599 --> 00:54:54.879
Molly's an awesome teacher as well.
00:54:54.960 --> 00:54:56.079
She's got her own way of doing things.
00:54:56.159 --> 00:54:59.199
But everyone has their own little way of doing bits and bobs, and that's what I like about it.
00:54:59.359 --> 00:55:00.719
And like you said, clients love that.
00:55:00.879 --> 00:55:02.000
They love that, don't they?
00:55:02.159 --> 00:55:05.119
And tell me a little bit about the mix of your studio because I'm looking behind you.
00:55:05.199 --> 00:55:06.559
So it's not just reformer.
00:55:06.960 --> 00:55:09.839
What tell me about what you're offering there at your studio?
00:55:10.239 --> 00:55:13.679
Um at Blamford, where I'm at the moment, we've got it's a full equipment studio.
00:55:13.759 --> 00:55:16.000
So there's a Cadillac, you can't see it's behind you there.
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:18.879
We've got towers on six of the reformers.
00:55:18.960 --> 00:55:22.159
There's two maritures in here, and then um uh lines.
00:55:22.239 --> 00:55:26.719
Uh, we've got ladder barrels, uh, we've got chairs and a spine uh spine extender as well.
00:55:26.799 --> 00:55:36.239
So it's it's gone full equipment up here, which is which is really exciting as well, because we can offer a lot more than just reformer and there's a mat extenders, so we do mat classes in here as well.
00:55:36.319 --> 00:55:41.039
So we're trying to bring the whole methodology in one place, not just offer a single thing.
00:55:41.279 --> 00:55:42.719
And how do you bring that methodology?
00:55:42.799 --> 00:55:45.599
Do you do it in a group class and how does that group class run?
00:55:45.679 --> 00:55:52.079
Because I think, you know, we we do too, and I think it's it's a really interesting point to start teaching clients about the system.
00:55:52.639 --> 00:55:53.279
I think so too.
00:55:53.359 --> 00:55:53.519
Yeah.
00:55:53.599 --> 00:55:57.279
So I do a class called roulette, and no one knows what's gonna happen until they turn up.
00:55:57.440 --> 00:56:02.000
So it could be just reformer, it could be a tower, it could be Matt, it could be chair, it could be all four.
00:56:02.239 --> 00:56:04.000
So you've got enough chairs for everybody as such.
00:56:04.239 --> 00:56:04.639
So it can be.
00:56:05.039 --> 00:56:05.279
Yeah, yes.
00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:07.920
Six reformers with towers, six chairs.
00:56:08.079 --> 00:56:08.159
Okay.
00:56:08.639 --> 00:56:09.279
Exactly right, yeah.
00:56:09.359 --> 00:56:10.480
And no one knows what's gonna happen.
00:56:10.559 --> 00:56:12.399
At least of all me when I turn up to instruct it.
00:56:12.559 --> 00:56:15.679
So I've obviously programmed something out and it changes week by week.
00:56:15.759 --> 00:56:19.920
Um, and that just introduces people into look, Plate isn't just a reformer.
00:56:20.079 --> 00:56:22.319
It's got so much more to add to it as well.
00:56:22.399 --> 00:56:24.000
And by the way, get on the tower.
00:56:24.079 --> 00:56:25.519
We're gonna have a go at that now as well.
00:56:25.679 --> 00:56:27.519
And again, people love it because it's something new.
00:56:27.599 --> 00:56:30.000
It's shiny, it's got springs, etc.
00:56:30.239 --> 00:56:32.159
And they really enjoy get getting a feel for that equipment.
00:56:32.399 --> 00:56:40.480
Yeah, we have a one my smaller studio, it's just got kind of well, it's got two reformers, but one piece of each of equipment as such, and we do some small like little circuit classes on that.
00:56:40.639 --> 00:56:43.759
And sometimes people can be a bit like, oh, it's a bit slower than reformer, granted.
00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:52.719
But once they've done a few classes of it, they start to realize like each piece of equipment brings something else, lots of similar patterns of movement, but it feels very, very different.
00:56:52.879 --> 00:56:59.039
And I've been thinking about like how do we bring maybe more chair in alongside reformer as well as maybe tower work as well.
00:56:59.119 --> 00:57:02.000
Because I think it's a really, you know, it's a cool, but I like that roulette idea.
00:57:02.159 --> 00:57:03.119
Also nice for the clients.
00:57:03.199 --> 00:57:05.759
You're like, you know, it keeps it fresh, doesn't it?
00:57:05.920 --> 00:57:08.319
You're like, I don't know what I'm gonna turn up to, which is really nice.
00:57:08.639 --> 00:57:09.679
It's keeping interest going.
00:57:09.839 --> 00:57:13.759
Not that I think we'd be thinking need to, but just in case we did, hey, I'd be gone for something else here.
00:57:13.839 --> 00:57:15.119
Come up and you don't know what's gonna happen.
00:57:15.199 --> 00:57:15.759
Yeah, it's cool.
00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:18.639
Oh, Tim, I have absolutely loved talking to you.
00:57:18.719 --> 00:57:19.839
I could talk to you all day.
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:22.399
Let's end with some quickish fire questions.
00:57:22.719 --> 00:57:26.559
What would you say to a man who still thinks Pilates is not for him?
00:57:26.960 --> 00:57:28.000
Have you tried it?
00:57:28.319 --> 00:57:29.359
That's very true.
00:57:29.599 --> 00:57:30.559
If not, why not?
00:57:30.639 --> 00:57:31.920
I'll take you for a session right now.
00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:32.480
Let's do this.
00:57:32.719 --> 00:57:39.359
Uh what would you say to a teacher who wants to get better at working with high performing or very driven high-energy clients?
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:40.319
God.
00:57:41.920 --> 00:57:42.559
I don't know.
00:57:42.879 --> 00:57:43.920
Because you've worked with those guys.
00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:51.119
You know, that's what we talked about, you know, in terms of those elite athletes, those former military, you know, if someone's out there, they're like, I I like what Tim's saying.
00:57:51.199 --> 00:57:52.719
I want to work with those kind of people.
00:57:52.799 --> 00:57:53.920
How do you attract them in?
00:57:54.159 --> 00:58:00.239
I think it has to stop that education again and say, look, this is gonna, this is gonna be a great addition to your regular training.
00:58:00.319 --> 00:58:02.079
It's not gonna be anything like you've done before.
00:58:02.159 --> 00:58:05.920
It won't be fast, it won't be furious, but you will feel it, I guarantee you.
00:58:06.079 --> 00:58:10.239
And then bring them in for that session, take them through, don't push them too hard because you don't want to.
00:58:10.399 --> 00:58:13.119
They need to learn the basics before they're gonna run and go from there.
00:58:13.199 --> 00:58:16.399
And then give them that carrot and say, look, this is a this is a starter class.
00:58:16.480 --> 00:58:18.799
Okay, then take you through some basic repertoire to start with.
00:58:18.960 --> 00:58:20.159
We'll build in it from here.
00:58:20.239 --> 00:58:24.559
And very, very soon we'll be on to the more higher-end intermediate, then get into the advanced.
00:58:24.639 --> 00:58:25.279
So it's a journey.
00:58:25.440 --> 00:58:28.079
I probably just verbalize that look, this is a journey.
00:58:28.319 --> 00:58:30.480
It's not one and done, it's not straight away.
00:58:30.559 --> 00:58:32.639
I think that that's probably the best way to attract them in.
00:58:32.719 --> 00:58:34.639
But they've got to have a have that interest in the first place.
00:58:34.719 --> 00:58:35.599
They'll be open to it.
00:58:35.759 --> 00:58:36.879
And I think that's it, isn't it?
00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:43.119
I think sometimes it's a bit like, you know, when someone has to go to therapy, you know, you've got we've all got that friend or that relative, and you're like, dig a bit.
00:58:43.599 --> 00:58:44.960
You can't tell them to do it, right?
00:58:45.119 --> 00:58:45.759
People have to be ready.
00:58:45.839 --> 00:58:48.079
And I think Pilates is kind of similar in that sense.
00:58:48.159 --> 00:58:49.599
People have to be open to doing it.
00:58:49.759 --> 00:58:51.279
I've definitely dragged a few friends.
00:58:51.359 --> 00:58:57.519
You know, you can become a bit of a preacher on high in this world because you you know, you know, you're like, it doesn't matter what your problem is.
00:58:57.679 --> 00:59:02.159
Honestly, Pilates will probably do give you a good, you know, solve it somewhat anyway.
00:59:02.319 --> 00:59:05.119
Um and then I've realized over this, like, don't do that, actually.
00:59:05.279 --> 00:59:09.759
Just, you know, like you said, educate, keep saying, and then one day they usually go, Do you know what?
00:59:09.920 --> 00:59:12.079
I was thinking you've been talking about this for quite a while.
00:59:12.239 --> 00:59:12.879
Maybe I'll go.
00:59:13.039 --> 00:59:15.440
And then, of course, they've decided.
00:59:15.599 --> 00:59:16.960
And I think that works really well.
00:59:17.279 --> 00:59:18.480
Well, it's one of two things, isn't it?
00:59:18.559 --> 00:59:23.839
That they've either fed up with you talking about it and they think I'm gonna shut you up now, I'm gonna come along, or they're they use father interests.
00:59:23.920 --> 00:59:26.799
So either way, you get him in the studio and and and you'll hook them.
00:59:27.119 --> 00:59:32.399
And we talked a little bit earlier about, you know, this like obsession with trying to sort of always prove Pilates is hard.
00:59:32.480 --> 00:59:40.239
But if we stop trying to prove that Pilates is hard, what should we tell people about it instead that would help them understand it better?
00:59:40.639 --> 00:59:42.879
That it's about bulletproofing your body.
00:59:43.119 --> 00:59:44.719
Certainly into older age.
00:59:44.960 --> 00:59:50.239
I'm not getting any younger, but I'm probably the fittest I've ever been at the moment.
00:59:50.480 --> 00:59:56.000
That's not just Andropilates, that's because I do other training as well, but I have it in my life.
00:59:56.239 --> 01:00:02.559
Not only that, but coupled together with that, I've already touched on it, but it's that it's having that tin time, it's having that 50 minutes of just me.
01:00:02.719 --> 01:00:07.839
And I make it it's very important to me that I don't just instruct in in the studios, I come to classes as well.
01:00:08.000 --> 01:00:10.319
A, because I get some great ideas for how I'm gonna teach.
01:00:10.399 --> 01:00:17.440
So I pinch stuff, and then secondly, it's just improving that practice and it's getting corrected by another instructor, which I really, really enjoy.
01:00:17.519 --> 01:00:19.599
I'm not I'm not brilliant, I don't profess to be.
01:00:19.920 --> 01:00:20.639
No, none of us are.
01:00:20.799 --> 01:00:22.079
We all need to be taught, you know.
01:00:22.239 --> 01:00:24.960
When I go to class, I'm like, please correct me.
01:00:25.119 --> 01:00:27.039
Like it's like, right, Tim, push your hips through.
01:00:27.119 --> 01:00:28.399
Oh, oh God, there you go.
01:00:28.480 --> 01:00:28.719
Right.
01:00:29.039 --> 01:00:32.799
And clients, but also, you know, to some of the things we talked about earlier, Tim.
01:00:33.039 --> 01:00:35.839
Clients love seeing teachers in classes.
01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:45.759
Like if you run a studio, like I all my teachers have free classes because it it kind of showcases that A, we're not all perfect, we're all working on our stuff, clients get to know you.
01:00:45.920 --> 01:00:50.639
There's something about you've kind of been part of the energetic makeup of the studio as well.
01:00:50.799 --> 01:00:52.079
Like it's a really important thing.
01:00:52.239 --> 01:00:57.519
And I do think, as I said earlier, it is the other stuff that will have made a big difference as well.
01:00:57.679 --> 01:01:00.399
But maybe you wouldn't be able to do some of that other stuff without the Pilates.
01:01:00.639 --> 01:01:01.679
That's certainly my story.
01:01:01.759 --> 01:01:06.000
And it's it's part of kind of an ecosystem of well-being, isn't it?
01:01:06.239 --> 01:01:07.119
I think absolutely right.
01:01:07.199 --> 01:01:09.440
I did a class the day before yesterday with uh with Molly.
01:01:09.599 --> 01:01:11.599
I turned up half hour early because I was teaching afterwards.
01:01:11.679 --> 01:01:12.719
There's a spare reformat.
01:01:12.799 --> 01:01:14.079
I was like, I'm gonna jump on.
01:01:14.239 --> 01:01:17.359
And the gasps from the clients, oh, Tinder joining us, right?
01:01:17.440 --> 01:01:18.239
Is it gonna get harder now?
01:01:18.319 --> 01:01:23.119
And he's like, no, he's just gonna join in regular class because he needs to practice as well as well as you guys do.
01:01:23.199 --> 01:01:25.599
And it was a bit of a, it was almost like a penny drop moment for the clients.
01:01:25.759 --> 01:01:27.519
I was like, oh, you guys do it as well.
01:01:27.759 --> 01:01:29.199
Well, yeah, I need to.
01:01:29.359 --> 01:01:33.359
I need I I have a need in me to be good at this, so I need to practice it as well.
01:01:33.599 --> 01:01:34.799
Clients need to see that.
01:01:34.960 --> 01:01:35.599
They they do.
01:01:35.679 --> 01:01:37.920
I think it's it's a huge thing for clients.
01:01:38.000 --> 01:01:42.239
And also, as you said, that hour of Tim Tim is so important for us.
01:01:42.399 --> 01:01:49.039
As studio owners, as teachers, I was asked recently on a panel, like, we know what's the thing that you would advise teachers who are burnout?
01:01:49.119 --> 01:01:55.679
I said, maybe actually do some Pilates because I would imagine most of us aren't doing it, and the whole panel was like, oh no, we're not doing it.
01:01:55.759 --> 01:01:56.399
I was like, Yeah.
01:01:57.039 --> 01:02:07.759
Remember, remember when you and something I say on my teacher training is remember that it's important to always be a client because it's like you said, it's good for you in so many ways.
01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:10.480
Um, and you know, there's a reason we fell in love with this.
01:02:10.559 --> 01:02:15.920
You still want to be the guy on the mat doing your work that made you fall in love with it and remembering that.
01:02:16.239 --> 01:02:17.440
Definitely, yeah, definitely.
01:02:17.599 --> 01:02:20.399
So, Tim, what's kind of coming up for you at Vagamon Pilates?
01:02:20.639 --> 01:02:21.679
Is there any new plans?
01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:25.519
We've got a few things in the pipeline, but two that are really sort of close to my heart.
01:02:25.679 --> 01:02:27.199
First one's a retreat we're doing next year.
01:02:27.279 --> 01:02:28.960
We're doing our first foreign retreat.
01:02:29.199 --> 01:02:31.920
Natural choice for me and Minnie was to have it in Cyprus.
01:02:32.079 --> 01:02:33.519
Millie was born there for starters.
01:02:33.920 --> 01:02:38.159
Second, we lived there for three years and love the island, love the people, food, the culture.
01:02:38.319 --> 01:02:39.679
So for us, that was a no-brainer.
01:02:39.839 --> 01:02:40.559
It was a natural choice.
01:02:40.639 --> 01:02:41.759
It's not that far away either.
01:02:41.920 --> 01:02:44.879
Millie and Molly went out recently for a recce girls week.
01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:46.399
Uh, they had a brilliant time out there.
01:02:46.480 --> 01:02:48.319
Um, so that's happening next year.
01:02:48.559 --> 01:02:52.239
And then the second one, which is really my partnership with the Vagabond, is going online.
01:02:52.799 --> 01:02:54.399
So we'll have an online service.
01:02:54.559 --> 01:02:59.039
You can uh it's as much as you eat, or eat as much as you want, rather, pay a normal fee, and then you're good.
01:02:59.119 --> 01:03:01.519
And it's you can take Vagabond with you wherever you are.
01:03:01.759 --> 01:03:05.599
That's important to me and Millie because we've been deployed places where there is nothing else.
01:03:05.679 --> 01:03:09.279
There's nothing apart from work, sleep, and occasional bit of food.
01:03:09.440 --> 01:03:14.879
So to have that on a tablet or a mobile, you can take it away with you and still keep up with your Pilates practice.
01:03:15.039 --> 01:03:15.759
I think that's great.
01:03:15.839 --> 01:03:18.000
So they're two pretty exciting things we've got going at the moment for us.
01:03:18.239 --> 01:03:20.639
Well, Tim, it's been an absolute joy to talk to you.
01:03:20.799 --> 01:03:22.239
Thank you so much for joining me today.
01:03:22.799 --> 01:03:23.359
Thank you for having me.
01:03:23.599 --> 01:03:25.679
You've had my Pilates crush on your show.
01:03:25.759 --> 01:03:27.039
So Tracy Mallet's been on.
01:03:27.199 --> 01:03:28.480
I'm going to be a wow.
01:03:28.960 --> 01:03:30.799
Well, I met, you know, I I met Tracy.
01:03:31.119 --> 01:03:32.319
Well, I met her at my studio.
01:03:32.399 --> 01:03:36.799
I am I I'd had a couple of glasses of wine one night and was like, I just opened a new location.
01:03:36.960 --> 01:03:40.960
I was like, I'm gonna meet I'm gonna message Tracy and see if she'll come and teach a workshop.
01:03:41.119 --> 01:03:42.239
And she went, yeah, I'll come.
01:03:42.480 --> 01:03:48.639
So I met her and then I said, Listen, I've been having this idea of this podcast, and she was the one actually who really because that's who she is.
01:03:48.799 --> 01:03:50.719
She's such an empower, she empowers you.
01:03:50.799 --> 01:03:52.399
She's like, you should do this, it'd be really good.
01:03:52.559 --> 01:03:58.000
And then at the beginning of the year, I actually got to go to her studio and interview her there.
01:03:58.159 --> 01:03:59.440
And that was just so cool.
01:03:59.519 --> 01:04:08.480
And and that's what's been amazing about this project, really, is I get to to meet all my artists crushes and kind of have conversations with them under the guise of a podcast.
01:04:08.639 --> 01:04:10.399
But really, you know, when do you ever get to chat like this?
01:04:10.480 --> 01:04:12.079
So it's it's been a joy, so I'm glad.
01:04:12.159 --> 01:04:15.599
But yeah, people love that episode, it went massively viral, as you can imagine.
01:04:15.679 --> 01:04:17.119
So it's a great one.
01:04:17.440 --> 01:04:17.599
Yeah.
01:04:17.679 --> 01:04:19.039
But Tim, thank you so much, my love.
01:04:19.920 --> 01:04:20.079
Thank you.
01:04:20.239 --> 01:04:20.879
Love to meet you.
01:04:21.119 --> 01:04:24.639
Tim, thank you so much for joining me on this week's episode.
01:04:24.719 --> 01:04:26.159
I really enjoyed our conversation.
01:04:26.399 --> 01:04:30.159
If you have enjoyed today's episode, please make sure you help us out.
01:04:30.319 --> 01:04:34.239
Please follow Beyond the Reformer on your podcast platform or go on to other ones and do it.
01:04:34.319 --> 01:04:35.359
That would really help me out.
01:04:35.519 --> 01:04:38.399
Subscribe on YouTube, even if you don't listen, it really helps us.
01:04:38.480 --> 01:04:41.599
And share the episode with someone you think would get something from it.
01:04:41.759 --> 01:04:46.000
All these things are what you can do to help me keep going with this Beyond the Reformer project.
01:04:46.159 --> 01:04:50.079
You can find us on Instagram at Beyond underscore reforma underscore pod.
01:04:50.239 --> 01:04:52.559
I'll share clips and continue lots of these conversations.
01:04:52.719 --> 01:04:55.199
You can also subscribe to our newsletter via there.
01:04:55.279 --> 01:04:57.599
I'm gonna be doing lots more behind the scenes coming up.
01:04:57.679 --> 01:05:00.000
I need to just find some time to do it, but it is coming.
01:05:00.159 --> 01:05:05.039
And I will see you next week for another episode of Beyond the Reformer.
01:05:05.119 --> 01:05:06.000
Thanks so much for being here.
01:05:06.159 --> 01:05:06.639
See you soon.
01:05:06.719 --> 01:05:06.879
Bye.
