We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Pridgen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. What’s the best advice you ever gave to a client? How did they benefit / what was the result? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

The best advice that I ever gave to a client was to meet their body where it is NOW. Meaning we don’t meet at the barre to strive or to punish our bodies. We don’t come to lose a certain number of pounds or to fit into x size. We meet our body where it is today and come to each workout grateful to have the ability to move and grow stronger together. I really feel there is a lot of shame and heaviness that comes when people think about their bodies, things they want to improve in their body, etc. When the opposite should be true! If you can move, be thankful! Every workout you begin to feel stronger, you get your endorphins going and you leave feeling happier and accomplished. This is how we should meet ourselves at the barre (or any workout for that matter). Give grace to yourself and enjoy your workouts!

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 started teaching in gyms around Charleston in the early 2000’s. I taught all sorts of formats and really fell in love with leading others in a workout. I love the energy of sweating together, accomplishing a workout together, laughing together, chatting after class, all of it. It fueled me and I realized how important it was to make exercise a fun, safe place for people to come together. I was introduced to barre in 2010 and after being trained in New York, I came back and immediately started teaching. I was hooked to a completely new format of exercise that absolutely surprised me. Low impact but still super challenging, light weights but still feeling strong in my upper and lower body, more flexibility and less pain. Yes, please! I taught barre for a decade before opening my own studio in Summerville. Everyday I come to the studio I feel so fortunate. I love the community and the space that has been created at Barre Nation.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

When it comes to your team, think of them as the face of your business. Love on them, listen to them, do nice things for them, be available to them, be flexible, and communicate well. I love hosting my team in my home or somewhere fun around town to spend time together outside of the studio. I send monthly emails so that we are all on the same page. Birthday gifts are a must! Make being a part of your business a blessing and it will benefit you, your clients and your business as a whole!

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think that in any profession it’s important to never “arrive”. Always be a learner of your field. If you are open to learning and remain teachable you will continue to grow as a person and a business owner.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barrenation.com
• Instagram: barre_nation
• Facebook: facebook.com/barrenation

Image Credits
All photos taken by Adrienne Cooper