Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Sowyrda. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Our mission is to provide a safe and supportive space for women to take care of their bodies through movement, nutrition, and self-care. As a mother of three, it was important to me to fill my vessel so I could pour more into my family and others. And by filling my vessel with mindful movement, I was able to not only realign and heal my body postpartum, but also improve my mental health. When I first opened Vessel, there wasn’t much offered to moms with young children. I felt that as moms, we always put others first and it’s hard making time for yourself, much less keeping a consistent workout routine with small children in tow. So we opened a welcoming space with a kid’s club where women can feel confident and comfortable to help them focus on their movement routine without the hassle of finding a babysitter. Our bodies are our only vessel and we need to fill it up with what brings us joy.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After my first baby, over 10 years ago, I stumbled upon the Pilates Reformer after a friend’s suggestion. I found a class about 6 months postpartum and immediately fell in love. I continued to practice Pilates throughout my other two pregnancies and began my journey with becoming a Pilates teacher pretty much immediately. With each apparatus, my passion for the movement grew. I saw and felt so much change in my own body that hours in the gym never did in my 20’s. Needless to say, I was hooked! After my third baby, I had some postpartum issues that then led me to deep dive into how pilates can help heal after delivery and postnatal. Narrowing my focus primarily on supporting Prenatal and Postnatal women to help support their changing bodies and heal after giving birth. It’s the most rewarding feeling to help others learn more about their bodies and see healing happen.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
One big one that comes to mind is having to close our doors right before our 1 year anniversary due to Covid. We had to adapt to our new normal through live classes on zoom, recorded on demand classes our community could do from the comfort of their own homes, and transitioning our boutique to online shopping. We even rented out some equipment and sold some props for our clients to use to follow along in our classes. Once we reopened our doors, we updated our cleaning routines, restructured our class schedule to allot more transitional time between classes, and reformatted our studio layout to accommodate the 6 feet apart requirement. Our ultimate goal was to help our community feel safe while focusing on their health and wellness.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
When I first started the process of opening Vessel, I read Blue Ocean Shift by W Chan Kim, Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek, and Start with Why by Simon Sinek. Another favorite is Dream Big by Bob Goff. Specifically for Boutique Fitness Studios, I have learned so much from listening to The Business of Boutique Fitness. I also enjoyed Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vesselpilates.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vesselpilates/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vesselpilates