We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Ruggiero a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

It was 1998. I had just moved to NYC to be a dancer. I had a Pilates practice in college that was part of the curriculum and wanted to maintain that practice as I viewed it essential to my dance career. There was no way I could pay for it on what dancing and waiting tables was paying me. A physical therapist of mine Sean Gallagher had a Pilates Studio and teacher training program. He offered me a position of assisting the director for Pilates, Inc teacher training program. As an employee that provided me benefits such as discounted private sessions, free group classes and a discounted rate for the Pilates teacher training program. I worked in the office for Pilates Inc the organization that ran the training program and sometimes for The Pilates Studio. My goal at the time was to become a Pilates Instructor, to stop waiting tables and to continue to dance. I had no idea the skills I was learning there at 22-24 years old would come valuable years later when I opened my own business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Jennifer Ruggiero. I am a native of Westchester County, NY and began my Pilates journey while pursuing a BFA in Dance Performance at SUNY Purchase. I moved to NYC after college to be a dancer and in 2000, I completed Pilates teacher training with Romana Kryzanowska, Sari Santo and Bob Liekens at Pilates, Inc. In 2006 I opened my own Pilates Studio, The Pilates Movement NYC. The mission was and still is to bring authentic Pilates to the neighborhood, to create a warm and welcoming environment where everyone feels welcome and to mentor staff.

In 2014, I became a RYT 200 Yoga Teacher completing teacher training at ISHTA Yoga and is a Restorative Yoga teacher with Judith Hanson Lasater. In 2021 I was named by Crain’s New York Business as a Notable Women Business Owner and was recognized for her contribution to her community. In November of 2023 I opened The Pilates Movement Tarrytown, bringing Authentic Pilates to the Village of Tarrytown, NY.

What sets my business apart from others is the high standard I set for my staff. To teach Pilates at The Pilates Movement you must have completed a training program 600 hours or more, be knowledgable, personable, have attention to detail and be a team player. The staff truly cares about each client that walks in the door. The continue their education with industry leaders and feel comfortable asking questions.

The Pilates Movement over the years has had a great number of physicians and physical therapists referring their patients to our studio. We have a lot of experience in a wide range of physical injuries and tremendous success.

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

Covid shutdown really challenged my resilience. Starting in January 2020 in NYC clients were getting very sick. I kept a spreadsheet of who was sick and how long there were out of the studio.

I could tell by the financial reports for my company that we were headed for a mandated shutdown. In NYC, we have a great group of Pilates studio owners that really organized very quickly to help each other out. I had a lot of phone calls and zoom meetings with various business owners.

In a matter of 48 hours, I taught myself and my staff how to use Zoom which was the platform we would use to hold virtual livestream private pilates sessions and group classes. The goal was to move the entire schedule to online teaching. The company had already lost a lot of revenue from January-March that completing shutting down wasn’t an option.

My staff and clients all adapted very quickly and we were able to keep the business running and growing. NYC was mandated closed for 6 months! The revenue from the virtual livestream platform, negotiating with my landlord for a reduced rent during shutdown all helped keep me in business.

I learned that I could learn new things, adapt to change quickly and keep moving forward.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been personal connection. Truly caring about each person that comes to the business. Marketing methods have changed over the years. My business opened in 2006. Marketing was print ads, flyers, postcard mailings and word of mouth. Today, word of mouth is still the most effective strategy for growing the clientele as is email marketing, sponsoring events, google ads and my website. I don’t do a ton of social media and that is on purpose. I will feature myself or even a staff member or the equipment, I will not feature clients. I find the work we do to be personal and private and will not post my client base on social media where people tend to be cruel.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pilatesmovementnyc.com
• Instagram: @the_pilates_movement_nyc and @thepilatesmovement_tarrytown
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pilatesmovementnyc and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556288404854
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-pilates-movement-new-york?osq=the+pilates+movement

Image Credits

Meghan Montgomery