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

Kristina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I had been teaching and practicing mat Pilates for over 10 years, but had recently started Reformer Pilates because I had found a studio that was within my price range and had classes that worked with my work schedule. I had fallen in love with it and was participating 5 to 6 times a week. One day I arrived at the studio for a class and there was a sign on the door saying that they had suddenly shut down permanently. I was shocked. I went home and my husband asked why I wasn’t at Pilates. I told him about the closure and he told me he was sorry because he knew how important it was to me. I had an injury from 15 years of ballet that was the best it had ever been due to Reformer. I told him right then and there that I was going to open my own studio. His response was, “okay”. I spent all night putting together a business plan and pitched it to one of the instructors I had made friends with at the studio. She was surprised and hesitant at first, but in the end, she jumped in with me. A year later in March 2019, we opened Mission Pilates Solvang. We weathered COVID, and then opened Mission Pilates Orcutt in 2022.

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?

I was a ballerina for 15 years and practiced Mat Pilates since I was 16 and was certified when I was 18. I’ve continued to dance, as well as teach it, and I have gone into weight lifting and training over the years. I went to college, getting my undergraduate degree in Osteology and my MBA in Business Administration. I became certified in Reformer Pilates through Balanced Body, as well as Barre Bounce through Tracy Mallet. Through my education and certifications, I have gone the route of rehabilitation, working with many clients in functional fitness, acute rehabilitation, and focusing heavily on improving quality of life through injury and ailment prevention methods.
Kaycie worked as a certified personal trainer through NASM for many years, as well as working with a chiropractor in his practice. She was certified in Mat and Reformer Pilates through IMX and has Bounce certifications from Both Tracy Mallet and Bellicon. Most recently she became certified in Barre as well! Kaycie’s passion and focus is on group fitness, especially fun, interactive, high energy workouts that make you want to be there and keep you coming back for more! She thrives on the group energy and loves fitness in all forms
Overall, Mission Pilates thrives to be a place that has something for everybody and is accessible to every body. We want everyone to find happiness through fluid movement

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When we opened the business, a stipulation I put into place was that no matter what the situation, we always put at least 10% of any profits into savings every month. We were fortunate enough to make some profits in our first year in business, but I never could have imagined that those savings would be the thing that would keep us afloat during a global pandemic. The shutdown occurred the week of our one year anniversary. We were told we didn’t qualify for PPP loans because we didn’t have employees, so the savings were what kept us going for multiple months. But by month 4, one more month would clean us out. I knew of a unit with a very large balcony on the third floor that was empty. Since businesses were allowed to continue outside, I asked our landlord if we could move our machines onto the rooftop balcony for the time being so that we could continue operations outside. They permitted it and we enlisted family in the arduous task of moving eight large steel machines onto the rooftop. At over $5000 a piece, they needed protection from the elements, so we bought furniture covers and borrowed easy ups from family and friends. Multiple times a day we would cover the Reformers with waterproof tarps, and lower easy ups over them, then take them off and bring the easy ups up for classes again. We did this for an entire year to push us through the pandemic. It was a rough time, but our loyal clients were determined to keep us going, and we had the drive to make it happen.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think a lesson we had to unlearn is the same one most people do when opening a business. You start something and all you want is for it to do well and grow, and you’re willing to do anything to make that happen. But, doing anything to make that happen always bites you in the butt in some way or another. The lesson is that you can’t make everyone happy. You have to have boundaries and your have to stick to those boundaries. You can do everything you can to make people happy within those boundaries, and you may be able to make the majority of people happy, but some people just won’t be happy no matter what you do. And that’s true whether you waiver on your boundaries or not. The problem is that if you are not firm on your boundaries, others will begin to trample on them as well, until you find yourself resentful and exhausted by the situation. The day you start enforcing boundaries with a smile on your face and a good attitude, and learn to accept that not all customers are right for your business, just as not all businesses are right for all customers, your business runs smoother and your life becomes easier. This is hard in the beginning, but gets easier through practice. An example of this was our late cancellation and no show policy. We have fees for people who do not show up to a class that they signed up for or cancel right before class. The fees are there because we are appointment based and there are limited spaces available, so it is to discourage people from taking a space from someone else that may have wanted it. They are also there because the instructors plan their classes around the clientele and their needs and abilities. Instructors put time and effort into tailoring the classes to the individuals signed up for the classes. We use to get a lot of clients with very flimsy excuses for their late cancels and no shows, asking not to be charged. In the beginning we would let little things slide here and there, but people began to abuse that and started no showing and late cancelling constantly, many times leaving open spaces that could have gone to people on wait lists, but still expecting to use the same bad excuses to not be charged. We realized we had let them get away with far too much and the rules had to be fully enforced. There was a lot of push back when we started fully enforcing no refunds unless there was an actual emergency (and headaches don’t count), but we stood our ground and people were much more mindful of their sign ups for it. Done clients were angry, but the majority were happy because they were being better service by getting off wait lists and participating in more classes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Missionpilatessolvang.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/missionpilatessolvang
• Other: Instagram.com/missionpilatesorcutt
  Missionpilatesorcutt.com

Image Credits

Amber Dolyak Photography