Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Natalie Kuhn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Natalie , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

My first job in mindfulness and wellness was with The Class. It was 10 years ago this summer, and I was working at Lululemon in Soho. Taryn Toomey and I began chatting while she was shopping for leggings and she invited me to take this thing that she was teaching to her friends in the gym of her apartment building – it didn’t have a name or website; more than anything else, she explained that it was a tool for her own healing that she had begun to share with a few friends and acquaintances. Years later it would be known simply as The Class.

There was something that both of us recognized in each other in those early days, and in the potential of what the method could be. I offered to set up and break down her Classes, and afterwards on the subway back to my other jobs, I would write down what I had experienced in my body, but more importantly, in my mind and my heart. I practiced teaching to my friends every weekend and a few months in, I taught for Taryn and she added a Class for me.

Days after teaching my first Class, my mother passed away unexpectedly. That’s when The Class fully transformed me; from something that was strengthening my body to something that was helping me move through the complexities of life, from the grief to the joy, the confusion to the clarity.

When I started, there wasn’t a path, let alone a business plan. What there was; however, was a whisper within us that said “give this a shot.” This taught me that if something deep within you is calling you forward, pay attention.

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?

The Class is a global wellness company dedicated to improving students’ physical and mental well being. The Class helps people to live their most fulfilling life by delivering mindful movement with joy, accessibility, and efficiency.

I was the first employee of The Class in 2013 and have had the amazing opportunity to grow with the company, now sitting as Co-CEO. I work to translate The Class method to our audiences around the globe, empowering them with physical and emotional tools to navigate life well. The Class brings together all of my loves: music, movement, psychology, and spirituality.
I’m so proud of this company, growing from a two-woman team to a global digital wellness brand available in 71 countries. We work to strengthen your body, but also reduce stress and anxiety, calm your mind, increase emotional resilience, and provide a greater sense of presence.

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

Success in our culture is often correlated with numbers, whether that’s an amount in one’s bank account, a score on a leaderboard, pounds on a scale, or letters after one’s name. In traditional fitness you see this reflected in calories, weight, miles, or reps. At The Class, we couldn’t care less about all of those numbers or outcomes.

“Success” for us is about your ability to become more aware of yourself: your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and patterns. We invite you to use the squats, jumping jacks, and burpees, among other moves, as a way to challenge your body, not for the purpose of attaining some illusion of physical perfection, but as a way to understand how you meet challenges physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s from that awareness that you build not just strength in the body, but strength in resilience and in character.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

There are plenty of businesses that are crafted behind boardroom doors, organized by ad executives and casting agents. The Class is not that. The key to our growth has been that this method and this business was developed organically, as a response to a personal need. The founding teachers (Taryn, Jacyee, and myself) were using movement to calm the monkey mind, lessen the stress from the complexities of life, and strengthen our ability to be kind to ourselves in order to meet the world in a better way.

This method’s combination of mindfulness and movement that efficiently and effectively supports one’s holistic wellbeing is why our team came together over the years. This practice of honesty and connection to our humanity is what grew our community of students.

Between social media and the wellness industry, messaging is saturated with what to eat, how much to sleep, how to look, and how effortless it should all be. At The Class, we step on to the mat and tell the truth about how it is to inhabit these bodies, in this world, and we embrace the full range of what it is to be human: our mess, our imperfections, our worries, our joy, our celebrations, and our aliveness. Wellness isn’t a prescription or a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s a profound connection to our sense of choice and sense of belonging.

People can tell when a brand, a method, a teacher is playing the role of “being well” and selling something. Inauthenticity doesn’t scale. People want to know that they aren’t alone in their experience of being human and that connection to what’s true and honest is what grows a community; it certainly has for ours.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theclass.com/natalie-kuhn
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisisnatalie/?hl=en

Image Credits
First Image: “Sam Frost”