My goodness, but people can be bold. Even though it was clearly stated that my studio hours were “by appointment only”……..that didn’t seem to stop people from showing up unannounced, expecting to take a class. Call me bitchy, but I am a little particular about how I liked my studio to run. I like things organized; neat, tidy and obsessively controlled. You want to piss me off “pop in” without an appointment.
While I was doing the renovations, it wasn’t uncommon for people to wander into my space, look around and start asking questions “So what kind of business are you putting in here”It’s a Pilates studio “a what?” A Pilates studio…it’s a type of exercise.
It was the same question and answer routine that I went through when I first started teaching, except just a teensy bit more irritating……why????……. because people would just show up at random. I worked alone, not that I ever felt that I was in danger, but I kept a golf club near by, just in case. Things were more controlled when I was working out of my house. It was harder to find me. People couldn’t just show up at my front door without calling for directions. Not that I am super formal, but I do appreciate a phone call asking if it is OK to stop by to chat about classes and to see my studio. Showing up with a party of four, mats in hand without an appointment like I was running some kind of Pilates fraternity party was kind of rude…..of course, that is my opinion.
After all, this was my studio; which meant, that I got to make the rules. My classes were not a free-for-all, like the gym, where a teacher could have 25 or more people in a mat class. There were limits to the number of people that I would take in a class; and that was somewhere around 8……. but I would usually end up with 10. I didn’t just teach an exercise class; this was a lesson in movement. People were paying me 15.00 per class; I didn’t feel right standing at the front of the room calling out exercises like some elite version of square dancing. “Ok, now everyone promonade…..I mean rollup”
I had been to enough of those types of classes, and never liked the teaching format. I felt like it was a waste of money. I wanted to give people something more other than the opportunity to tell their friends that they took Pilates. Of course, when I first opened the studio, that was definitely the case. I am sure that it sounded impressive at a cocktail party in response to the question “What’s new?” ….answer….” I just started taking a Pilates class”….question……“Really? What’s that?”….and so forth.
Regardless of how accurate the conversation was in terms of description, it seemed to work…..people were calling wanting privates, classes……whatever they could get.
For me, it was hard taking on so many new people at one time. Of course, I certainly had my share of “freak shows” walk in the front door expecting some type of S&M session with the Pilates teacher after watching too many episodes of Sex in the City. After a couple of those, I learned how to screen clients a little bit better. I was starting to develop a system. Every new client filled out an intake form, giving me their list of “what I don’t like about myself” complaints, along with any medical conditions, missing body parts or mental disorders. I knew way too much about some of these people than I really wanted to. I guess my form should have been more specific, only requesting information that was relevent to my field of movement, although the missing body parts would certainly apply.
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