My Pilates Anytime Story

You guys! I am loving seeing posts of all the brave Pilates instructors submitting videos for a chance to be the Next Pilates Anytime Instructor. As the 2016 winner I cannot say enough about how much this competition means to me. I honestly still can’t believe I won.

In 2015 I submitted a video and wasn’t picked for the top ten. I was super bummed, but honestly I wasn’t surprised.  I mean, Who did I think I was for applying anyways?, said that little voice inside my head. So when it came time to submit videos for the 2016 competition I wasn’t going to do it. I had just had umbilical hernia surgery and had not been allowed to exercise for 6 weeks. I wasn’t feeling fit or confident, so I decided I wouldn’t apply.  My employees were not happy about my decision, to say the least, and basically bullied me to film a submission video.

I’ve heard a lot of stories of people using their first or second take. This girl filmed at least 50. I am perfectionistic, OCD, and part time crazy, so I was aiming for my very best. I’m absolutely not saying that’s the way you should do it.  I’m just sharing that for those of you who have done the same. You are not alone! I also filmed plenty of takes where my battery died or I ran out of memory on my phone. Those were the really fun times! UGH!!!

Finally I picked a take that was as close to my best as possible.  I submitted it and the obsession began! I wish I could say that I just chilled and hoped for the best, but that’s not my story or my personality type.  I decided that on the chance that I got picked for the top 10 I would start to get to know more Pilates people. Since I lived in a small town, my only resource for meeting people was social media.  At the time I had 250 followers on Instagram and my Facebook page had been inactive for 6 years. I was not well known or known AT ALL for that matter. I was determined to give this my best shot though, so I started to post a new exercise every day and reach out to instructors all over the world.  

In late August I got an email from Pilates Anytime that I had been picked for the top 10.  I honestly couldn’t believe it and for me that was enough of a win. That was until I got the call from Kristi and Amy congratulating me.  That’s when I realized I wanted to win the competition even more than I initially thought. I still knew I had very little chance of winning, but I was going to go down fighting.

That year, once the top 10 was announced, there was a month long waiting period before voting even began.  Once voting began, there were 5 more weeks until the winner was announced. It was intense and brutal. I probably checked the votes 30 times a day. Finally, on the last day of voting, I not only fell asleep that night with no more fingernails to bite, but also in first place. When I woke up at 3 am (I’m on EST so I had to wait until midnight PST to know for sure) I was still in first and that was it. I had won!

My life has changed completely because of the competition. I have taught for Pilates Anytime twice, presented a workshop for Balanced Body, traveled all over the country to teach my workshops, written for Pilates Intel, been in Pilates Style Magazine, am an ambassador for Pilates Nerd and developed friendships with so many cool Pilates practitioners.  I am also presenting at the Pilates Method Alliance Conference in October of 2018. None of these opportunities would have come to me without Pilates Anytime. I think it’s also important to mention that there are a lot instructors on PA who made the top 10 but didn’t win. Courtney Miller, Jenna Zaffino and Lesley Logan to name a few!

Pilates Anytime has opened so many doors for me and I will FOREVER be grateful to Kristi and the entire PA team.

So there’s my story.  I hope this helps inspire you to at least submit a video.  The Pilates community needs YOU! Applications must be in by July 22.  Please do it! You have absolutely nothing to lose!