We recently connected with Samantha Gipson and have shared our conversation below.
Samantha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My parents were always very supportive of pursuing my dreams and passions. When I was younger they pushed me to try different activities and to try new skills to see what I felt passionate about. I always loved fashion and sewing, so when I was in 15 my parents sent me to SCAD in Savannah for a week long program that offered fashion design classes. They also signed me up for 4H sewing competitions to help me pursue my passion.
Then when I was 17, my Mom took me on a tour of different schools in NYC, Atlanta, and Miami to get more information on programs that offered fashion design and merchandising degrees to see which path felt right for me. I ultimately decided to go to FIT in NYC and study Fashion Merchandising and had a very successful career in fashion sales for 8 years.
Then when I decided I wanted to make a career move into fitness, I started taking all different formats of workouts to see what I enjoyed the most. Then I decided to get my instructor training in Pilates Mat while still working full time and taught mat classes on the side. I wanted to make sure I enjoyed teaching before pursuing it full time. Once I realized I loved teaching Pilates, I signed up for the full apparatus 500 hr teacher training and have been a full time instructor for 7 years. Over that time, I started a retreat company and created a virtual Prenatal Pilates mat program on Vimeo.
My parents have given me the confidence to pursue my passions, but in a logical and thoughtful way. To try out activities and passions that bring me joy to see if it’s something that I want to pursue. And once I feel confident in my enjoyment of what I want to pursue, I go all in.
Samantha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
In 2018, Samantha Gipson brought to fruition Cultivate Fit and Well. A true manifestation of her passion to live a fulfilled life by means of health, community, fun, and balance. Up until that point Samantha had been a fitness teacher sharing not only her expertise on pilates, strength-training, and mobility but her wisdom on body-positivity and self-love through movement and nourishment.
Growing up in North Carolina, Samantha was involved in a variety of sports, but truly fell in love with holistic fitness post-college. This love stemmed from her own personal challenge with body negativity and exhaustion after years in the Fashion Industry in NYC.
After a relatable journey down the path of diet-after-diet and fitness fad-after-fitness fad, Samantha had her “wake-up” moment when she finally let go and listened to her heart and body. The injuries sustained from her overtraining and cyclical dieting led her to Pilates classes and welcoming a new holistic approach to life and wellness. This ultimately led her to cultivate (pun-intended) a fitness and wellness company that teaches body love through well-rounded sweaty, effective, and fun workout regimes.
Samantha offers a variety of training opportunities to match your lifestyle including private and group training classes, prenatal workouts, as well as fitness and wellness retreats. With a specialized focus on pilates, strength training, mobility/fascia work, and high-intensity-interval-training (HIIT) you will leave these classes feeling strong, rejuvenated, and confident in what your body can do. It wouldn’t be a surprise if you left with some of Samantha’s body-positive and warm energy too!
Enjoy a range of Samantha’s classes or privates throughout Atlanta, GA or reap the benefit of her trainings from the comfort of your home virtually. If you are looking for a “wake-up” moment in your own life, Cultivate Retreats grants you nourishment for your spirit through great workouts, delicious and wholesome food, interactive activities, and inspiring friendships.
Today, Samantha is sharing with her clients a newfound practice that resonates most closely with her new lifestyle: motherhood. Samantha now offers The Prenatal Pilates Series for Every Body complete with training regimens for all three trimesters. Samantha’s own journey of pregnancy along with her experience of training pregnant clients over the years, she became aware of all the overwhelming and potentially misleading information out there around what workouts to do and when you should do them.
Samantha Gipson, Cultivate Fit and Well is your opportunity to uncover the balance, health, and wellness already within you. No matter your current lifestyle, challenges, desires, or if you’re bringing another life into the world. Samantha’s intuitive spirit and badass, “you can do it” mentality accepts you where you are, but more importantly where you want to be.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
I think the key to being successful in the fitness industry is also keeping your own health a priority. We can get lost in constantly helping others and stretching ourselves too thin that we don’t have time to focus on our own self care.
When I first started out in the industry, I was picking up whatever classes and clients I could find, teaching up to 40-45 hours a week, mornings and evenings, and commuting all over the city to different studios. This is absolutely not sustainable and I felt my own health taking a hit, because I was completely burning myself out.
I now try to streamline all of my clients to only 2 studios and virtually.. Only working at studios and with clients that don’t drain my energy and working mornings and midday so I have time to spend with my son and husband. I now make my workouts and self care a priority, so when I fill my own cup, I ‘m able to be present and inspired to help my clients achieve their goals.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
During the pandemic, the studio I was a lead instructor at closed, I couldn’t see my private clients in person, and my retreat company was put on pause. Like so many of us I was thrown into the unknown and unsure of what to do next. My husband and I decided to leave NYC during this time and move to Atlanta where I had to grow a whole new clientele.
During this time, I converted majority of my private clients to virtual sessions and still taught some virtual mat classes for my studio in Brooklyn. Once we were further into the pandemic, I was able to start teaching at some studios in Atlanta to start growing my clientele again.
I also got pregnant during this time. I realized that there was a need for short, effective, and safe workouts for pregnant women since there can be such varying information on what workouts pregnant women can do. From my experience of working with pregnant clients and now being pregnant myself and feeling it my own body, I decided to create Pilates mat classes for each trimester that cater to your needs and how you feel since every stage of pregnancy can feel so different.
And now that we are on the other side of the pandemic and I have a 9 month old, I’m ready to start my retreat company again. Stay tuned for a retreat coming Fall 2023.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cultivatefitandwell.com
- Instagram: @samanthagipsonpilates
- Facebook: Samantha Autry Gipson
- Other: Where to buy Prenatal Pilates Series https://cultivatefitandwell.com/the-prenatal-pilates-series
Image Credits
Ashley Alexander