We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Juan Luis Pichardo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Juan Luis, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

After visiting different Pilates Studio as a client and them teaching Pilates for a few year i saw the need of a place that can have not only quality of apparatus and teachers but a place that can combine mind, body and soul/spirit and can create a strong and supportive community for its teachers and students (clients).

It has been 5 years since I opened and we have seen some ups and downs and those down moments I’ve seen them as an invitation to check what is working and what need some attention or change in order to evolve and become better. I have also realized how hard it is to be a one man show, when you have to be the teacher, the customer service, the creative mind behind everything, the CEO, the CFO, the husband and still take care of yourself is more than a full time but definitely rewarding as you see everything falling in place after days of work. That what Pilates Gaia is, a place full of hard work, dedication and full of what I do and love, and not only me but my amazing teacher that work hand and hand with me.

We love that fact the we are able to teach people how to get better after an injury, how to trust on themselves and for those without injuries stay out of them as well as feel confidente and willing to learn how to be and move in life in a safe manner because their body and mind and ready.

I think a very important factor for success is to education, as an entrepreneur we need to know not only the business but how to conduct your type of business based on where you are, your clientele, others business like yours and very important what is the vision for the practice you have and be true to it.

Juan Luis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was trained as a Doctor in Dentistry with a big passion for health and with that help people to be better, feel better and look better not only on the outside but very important on the inside. Since a very young age had a fascination with movements experiences having the opportunity to do few disciplines and then I started doing pilates, after couple of month felt in love with it and I thought, this is a perfect combination of movements that makes you feel good because it is a workin and a workout so I soon decided to get certify as a Pilates Teacher. I found Polestar Physical Therapy and Pilates Center where their physical therapy are Pilates based and they have a school as well, so i registered and belong my journey of becoming a Pilates Teacher. After being a Pilates Graduate (as you are called when finishing Polestar Pilates Education program) I submitted an application to the former Pilates Method Alliance Certification Program (PMA-CPT) to have the opportunity to seat on a centralized exam which is now The National Pilates Certification Program who validate, preserve, and advance the legacy of Joe Pilates’ work setting standard for professional competency necessary to safely and effectively teach the comprehensive method and that is one of the purposes of Pilates Gaia.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

In my experience, I believe loving what you do, be open to learn from everyone and accept when your are wrong or things are out of your scoop of practice, having a great referral system that can work for the benefit and well being of the client

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Well, COVID times of course…. It gave me the opportunity to get out of my confort zone, be able to take care of clients virtually and develop the eye to see peoples body moving on the screen and be able to make myself understood verbally as there was no way the give them tactile cues as i would during a regular in person session. Looking back it really made my a better teacher and open a whole other business opportunity as i now offer virtual session on a regular bases

Contact Info:

• Website: Pilatesgaia.com
• Instagram: Pilatesgaia
• Facebook: Pilates Gaia

Image Credits
Photos taken by Anabela Salcedo