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

Hi Rachel , thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

We wanted to bring beautiful, sustainable and durable design to the Pilates space.

Made with PURPOSE, INTENTION and FUNCTION.

Props are part of the decor of the studio. As a person who values investing in thoughtful design in their home I also values it in the studio. As a studio owner you have created this place people want to go and every detail of it should be considered.

We wanted to put pieces out there that are durable and will be there to enjoy for a long time, the Loops are made form recycled material. We want to be conscious of the earth; what we take from it and what we put back.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Tell us about yourself and How you got into the industry:

I am originally from Scotland and moved to New Zealand to do a ski season after university in 2004, I ended up meeting my husband there and staying. I started taking Pilates classes in New Zealand, loved it so much I trained and started teaching. I have been an Instructor Trainer, worked with some incredible Physios / Osteos and taught small and large group classes for nearly 20 years.

We moved to Australia in 2006 where we lived for 13 years and had our daughter. Then in 2019 we moved to California as a move with my husbands work.

Having worked with bodies in so many different situations and modalities I love the use of props to facilitate or challenge a persons movement.

Fast forward to COVID when everything shut down. It was here we saw the need for people to purchase their own set of reformer straps to bring to group classes; much as you would with a yoga mat. This is where Reformer Loops was born. We started with one color range and people loved them. Individuals were bringing them to class and studios started offering them for sale. From there we started added to our range by creating beautiful props to compliant the modern studios they were in.

What type of products you provide:

Reformer Loops (straps for the reformer machine)
Resistance bands
Sliders
Balls
Props for use at home and studio classes.

What problems do you solve:

Pilates is one of those movement modalities thats only getting more popular over time. Client retention is high, people do it, they feel amazing and they keep coming back. The exercises are just part of that. A huge reason why people love pilates is because a studio starts feeling like home. They talk to their instructor about their body and make a deep connection with them.
A Pilates studio is a sanctuary and so many studio owners are ahead of the design game. The spaces they create are beautiful. It felt to me that the props on market weren’t keeping up with the design aesthetic of everything else in the industry. Instead of soft, muted tones it was either black or bright primary colors with a lack of consideration for overall design. We set out on a mission to change this.

What sets you apart from others:

Primarily what sets us apart from others is that I work as an instructor where I get to meet with our users on a daily basis. We take their feedback and use this to craft new products. Along with this insight our appreciation for great design, materials and colors sets us apart.
We also strive to be environmentally conscious with materials used in our straps being made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

We were very lucky because this was a well understood process for us. My husband is an Industrial Designer. He knows how to design and source products and already had a lot of connections in manufacturing.

The fact that he could design everything in house and we could collaborate about the product requirements was a game changer. It really is the best situation. I am someone who has used these products for years and knew exactly what I wanted, and my husband had the ability to turn these ideas into reality.

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

I think there is 3 keys things. Product quality, industry relationships and authenticity.

Honestly just having a really good product. We have been approached by numerous companies who can make our products at a cheaper cost but it just isn’t worth it for us. We want to maintain the level of quality of our products.

I try to make sure I repost everything we are tagged in on social media and connect with those who share and enjoy our products.

I am lucky that I have worked in the Industry for so long. During my 15 year career living and working all over the world I made amazing connections with Instructors and studios owners. I sent product samples to friend’s whose opinions I value to gather user feedback. I want it to come from those who genuinely love and use our pieces.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reformerloops.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformerloops/

Image Credits
Justin L’Heureax Bianca Sciotto Ryane Nicole