We recently connected with Ashlee Richardson and have shared our conversation below.

Ashlee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Opening and operating a small business as a main source of income is always a risk; mine being no exception! It’s been a story of risks, but perseverence, and love for what I do have been the drivers and what make doing this work over a more secure line of work in a traditional Physical Therapy clinic or medical facility.

It was a risk to open a Pilates studio at age 27, during a recession, while going back to school in the same year for pre-requisites required to apply to Physical Therapy School. And, with a very gracious business partner and studio manager, went to Physical Therapy school full time for three years. A year out of Physical Therapy school, my business partner was moving in other directions and so I took out my first ever business loan to buy her share while also embarking on a journey of purchasing and being the caretaker of 35 acres of prairie in Southeast rural Nebraska. (which is a whole other story!). The story continued as I navigated a divorce and a pandemic simulateously, which was a quite the adventure while trying to buy my home, figure out how to restore and house and prairie with the help of friends and family, and figure out PP loans and covid restrctions and protocol to keep the business affloat.

Sixteen years later, here we are going strong with a great staff and the best clients!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Ashlee Richardson! I own CoreWorks Physical Therapy and Pilates Center of Omaha; I am a Physical Therapist and Lead Pilates Instructor Trainer for STOTT PILATES. I have always been physically active, being a multi sport athlete almost since I could walk and gravitated towards an exercise science degree in college. I worked at our rec center teaching Yoga and Pilates and found these diciplines to be a good balance with being an endurance athlete. After gratuation I persued certifications in both, eventually becoming an Instructor Trainer for STOTT PILATES (the company who I did my certification courses with). One of the locations I taught Pilates at included a facility which combined Physical Therapy with Pilates. Seeing the impact of how the two worked together to help people move better and with less pain, planted the seed to one day have my own space providing this combination of services. And, when my mentor came to me with an idea to open a Pilates Studio and Instructor Training facility, as a young, niave 27 year old, I said “sure!” and I haven’t looked back!

While in physical therapy school, a lecture on women’s health peaked my interest; I immediatly saw how Pilates and this area of focus would complement eachother perfectly. During this time, there were no clinics outside of major health systems which offered pelvic floor/women’s health specific Physical Therapy and I began putting a plan in place to offer this specialization upon graduation.

I continue to offer Pilates based pelvic floor physical therapy, but I am always elvolving and learning. I recently have been more focused on the Instructor Training side of the business and am currently going down the path to be a Rehab Instructor Trainer in order to offer training focused specifically on rehabilitation professionals being able to offer this form of therapy in their practice.

Growing the business is always an important peice, but what mostly inspires me is giving our instructors the tools to provide safe, quality instruction to ensure a succes story, no matter how big or small, getting to know our clients on a personal level, and most importantly have fun!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I care deeply about people’s experiences and am a very empathetic person. So, it comes naturally for me to ensure that both my staff and clients have a positive experience each time they walk through the door. I feel it is important to give staff the resources to keep learning and growing. We are lucky to be a Pilates instructor training facility, so my staff has this resource at their fingertips. But it is important to learn from other mentors than myself, so I provide a yearly stipend to be used towards outside education opportunities.

The health and wellness industry can be a competitive industry, which can create tensions among staff if this environment is fostered among eachother. So I always set the tone from the first interview that our clients are just that, “our” clients and often split their sessions among multilple instructors and classes. This has created an environment where instructors are always willing to help each other out when a sub is needed.

It is important to me that the studio is a place where the staff wants to not only come to work, but come to work-out and learn from eachother. Instructors are encouraged to drop in to a class that has availability with out a charge. And, a big part of the certification process is practice teaching; Because our certified instructors have had to ask for volunteers to practice teach with, they are very generous with their time with students in training. This lends itself to an environment where people are continuously learning from and supporting each other.

And most of all, as a leader, it is important for me to keep a positive vibe and be available for my staff. We celebrate their birthdays, accomplishments, and aknowledge their set backs. Setting an environment where we get to know eachother on a personal level and celebrate our likenesses and differences has been the most important part of keeping morale high and the studio a positive place where everyone wants to be. They give so much and the studio wouldn’t be what it is with out them, and I never lose site of this.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We have set ourselve apart as a studio with personalized attention that ensures clients are exercising with correct form and options for custmization to meet everyone’s needs for sucess. Because we are a Physical Therapy clinic/combined with Pilates, we are equipped to work with clients who are taking care of special considerations and injuries, from minor to complex. Our instructors have the resource of a physical therapist, but also take additional training for Injuries and Special populations. So we are able to meet the needs of most people who walk in the door; Whether it’s a stroke survivor working through a paralysis or a high level athlete recovering from an injury, our team has the knowledge and experience to meet a client’s needs.

We also require clients go through a series of introductory classes prior to going in to ongoing classes, so they are safe and comfortable and know what modifications/props they might need when they go into their first class. We keep our class sizes small, in order for our instructors to keep an eye on everyone and to avoid a feel of overcrowding.

And we can’t go without mentioning our mascot and beloved shop dog, Miss Molly! She certainly steals the show and brings a smile to everyone’s face when she gets to come to work!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pilatescenterofomaha.com -and- www.coreworksphysicaltherapy.com
• Instagram: @pilatescenterofomaha – and – @coreworkspt
• Facebook: Pilates Center of Omaha -and- CoreWorks Physical Therapy

Image Credits

Nikki Moore Photography
M. Julie Photo