Beyond the Reformer

"I would rather be effective than sexy."

In this episode, we are joined by Lindsey Hammond, Pilates studio owner, educator, and author of Teach Pilates Like It Matters. Lindsey has been running her first studio for 18 years and now trains teachers through her own education programme, which she is also licensing to studios.

Together, Nic and Lindsey explore the gap between being qualified on paper and actually being ready to teach real clients. They unpack why teacher training covers the what of teaching but not always the how, why the idea of a teacher "it factor" is a myth, and how intentional repetition is what builds real confidence, charisma, and skill.

They also get practical, from planning three classes a week instead of twenty and cutting your cueing down to what really matters, to trauma-informed teaching, tactile cueing and consent, and what studio owners are really looking for when you walk into an audition.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Lindsey Hammond and Teach Pilates Like It Matters
00:54 What makes a Pilates teacher ready
01:18 The gap in Pilates teacher training
02:39 Why Lindsey created a bridge training for new teachers
04:55 From client to teacher: what makes a great Pilates teacher
06:56 How to fast-track becoming a great teacher
08:38 The myth of the Pilates teacher "it factor"
10:57 Cognitive load and teaching apparatus-based Pilates
14:55 Why repetition helps clients progress
15:40 Secondary cues: same exercise, different class
17:56 Inside Lindsey's onboarding programme for new teachers
20:16 The audition question that reveals everything
23:31 What's inside Teach Pilates Like It Matters
25:08 Trauma-informed Pilates teaching
29:22 When cueing goes wrong
31:39 Tactile cueing and consent
33:48 Why you need to take private sessions to teach them
36:29 How to plan three classes a week instead of twenty
38:48 Building your classes in "paragraphs"
40:49 Depth vs trends in Pilates
42:01 How to make your cueing more effective
45:44 Why your repetition needs to be intentional
48:09 Quick-fire questions
49:49 The cueing habit Lindsey wants teachers to stop
53:05 What studio owners look for in auditions
55:55 Where to find Lindsey

If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure you're following along so you don't miss future episodes. And feel free to share this one with someone you think would take something from it.

Connect with Nic:

Beyond the Reformer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyond_reformer_pod/

Soul Pilates Education: https://www.instagram.com/soul_pilates_education/

Sign up to Our Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bff55298739/beyond-the-reformer

Connect with Lindsey: https://www.instagram.com/lindseydhammond/

Ready to take your Pilates teaching to the next level? Applications are now open for Soul Pilates Education's 2027 Teacher Training programs in Bristol! Choose between our 12-month Comprehensive Training (Jan 2027) or our 7-month Reformer Training (Mar 2027). Learn to teach with real depth, adapt movement, and gain full confidence with clients. Limited places available. 

Become a Certified Pilates Teacher in 2027

Ready to take your Pilates teaching to the next level? Applications are now open for Soul Pilates Education's 2027 Teacher Training programs in Bristol! Choose between our 12-month Comprehensive Training (Jan 2027) or our 7-month Reformer Training (Mar 2027). Learn to teach with real depth, adapt movement, and gain full confidence with clients. Limited places available. 
Become a Certified Pilates Teacher in 2027

"We looked really, really busy and busy isn't the same as profitable."

In this solo episode, Nic, founder of Soul Pilates, shares the key lessons from a recent talk she gave on studio operations, and turns it into a mini workshop for Pilates studio owners.

She opens up about the moment her accountant told her she'd made no money despite a full studio, and explains why good operations and good profit are part of the same thing. She walks through her three pillars of great studio operations, clarity, consistency and ownership, and shares how Soul Pilates uses the RACI model to make sure nothing falls through the gaps as the team grows.

Nic also digs into the common gaps she sees in studios, from late cancellations, class cover and client complaints to the sales journey and reformer maintenance. She shares real stories from her own studios, why SOPs need room for grey areas, and how building a daily, weekly and monthly rhythm frees you up to work on your business, not just in it.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to Beyond the Reformer
03:03 The questions every studio owner should ask themselves
04:15 Why growing means you can't do everything yourself
06:04 Write down every task you do in a week
08:08 Busy isn't the same as profitable
10:08 Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should
11:43 Pillar one: clarity in every role
14:15 Pillar two: consistency, and when SOPs go wrong
16:55 Pillar three: ownership and the RACI model
19:21 Turning frustrations into processes
20:08 How to handle late cancellations
23:45 Class cover and keeping great teachers
25:52 Handling client complaints
29:10 Teaching consistency and the sales journey
30:46 Reformer maintenance and safety
31:49 Building your studio rhythm
33:47 Operations are built one problem at a time
34:26 Your one operational commitment this week
36:25 Why every studio should be run like it could be sold

If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure you're following along so you don't miss future episodes. And feel free to share this one with someone you think would take something from it.

Connect with Nic:
Beyond the Reformer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyond_reformer_pod/
Soul Pilates Education: https://www.instagram.com/soul_pilates_education/
Sign up to Our Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bff55298739/beyond-the-reformer

Ready to take your Pilates teaching to the next level? Applications are now open for Soul Pilates Education's 2027 Teacher Training programs in Bristol! Choose between our 12-month Comprehensive Training (Jan 2027) or our 7-month Reformer Training (Mar 2027). Learn to teach with real depth, adapt movement, and gain full confidence with clients. Limited places available. 
Become a Certified Pilates Teacher in 2027

"Good exit strategy is just good business strategy."
In this episode, Nic is joined by Mitch McGinley, founder of Boutique Fitness Broker and author of The Number Nobody Talks About. Mitch has spent his career helping boutique fitness and wellness owners buy and sell their studios, closing over 70 transactions worth more than 30 million dollars, and he sold his own yoga studio before founding his brokerage.
They explore what actually makes a Pilates studio valuable, and why it's rarely the things owners assume, like a beautiful build out or steady revenue. Instead they unpack profit margin, owner dependence, and team strength as the real drivers of value, along with why some studios never should have expanded to a second or third location in the first place.
They also get into the practical side, from how a studio is actually valued using earnings multiples, to what takes the longest to fix before a sale, to why every studio owner, even those with zero intention of selling, benefits from thinking like they might one day.
Timestamps

 01:15 Does revenue and utilization make a studio valuable
 02:47 Are studio owners paying themselves enough
 05:13 Extracting yourself from the day to day
 10:47 What owners think makes their business valuable versus what buyers actually value
 10:55 The build out myth
 12:10 What is a healthy profit margin
 13:31 The biggest misunderstanding about business value
 15:22 Who is actually buying studios
 19:03 The emotional side of selling
 21:45 What makes a sale go smoothly
 23:21 What actually makes a studio different
 26:09 Standing out in a saturated market
 29:16 Feeling the pinch as margins get squeezed
 31:29 Is now the time to sell
 33:16 What makes people think about selling
 35:06 Why you should sell at the peak
 38:39 Making your studio more valuable over the next three years
 40:59 What takes the longest to fix before a sale
 42:51 Is multiple locations more or less valuable
 45:25 Why bed count matters for profitability
 47:57 Buying versus building new locations
 49:29 How a studio is actually valued
 51:57 What people do after they sell
If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure you're following along so you don't miss future episodes. And feel free to share this one with someone you think would take something from it.
Connect with Nic:
Beyond the Reformer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyond_reformer_pod/
Soul Pilates Education: https://www.instagram.com/soul_pilates_education/
Sign up to Our Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bff55298739/beyond-the-reformer
Connect with Mitch McGinley:
Website: https://boutiquefitnessbroker.com/

Sign up below to hear more about our Pilates Teacher Training Courses and to get priority access when our next course opens here.
Ready to take your Pilates teaching to the next level? Applications are now open for Soul Pilates Education's 2027 Teacher Training programs in Bristol! Choose between our 12-month Comprehensive Training (Jan 2027) or our 7-month Reformer Training (Mar 2027). Learn to teach with real depth, adapt movement, and gain full confidence with clients. Limited places available. 
Become a Certified Pilates Teacher in 2027

"Good exit strategy is just good business strategy."
In this episode, Nic is joined by Mitch McGinley, founder of Boutique Fitness Broker and author of The Number Nobody Talks About. Mitch has spent his career helping boutique fitness and wellness owners buy and sell their studios, closing over 70 transactions worth more than 30 million dollars, and he sold his own yoga studio before founding his brokerage.
They explore what actually makes a Pilates studio valuable, and why it's rarely the things owners assume, like a beautiful build out or steady revenue. Instead they unpack profit margin, owner dependence, and team strength as the real drivers of value, along with why some studios never should have expanded to a second or third location in the first place.
They also get into the practical side, from how a studio is actually valued using earnings multiples, to what takes the longest to fix before a sale, to why every studio owner, even those with zero intention of selling, benefits from thinking like they might one day.
Timestamps

 01:15 Does revenue and utilization make a studio valuable
 02:47 Are studio owners paying themselves enough
 05:13 Extracting yourself from the day to day
 10:47 What owners think makes their business valuable versus what buyers actually value
 10:55 The build out myth
 12:10 What is a healthy profit margin
 13:31 The biggest misunderstanding about business value
 15:22 Who is actually buying studios
 19:03 The emotional side of selling
 21:45 What makes a sale go smoothly
 23:21 What actually makes a studio different
 26:09 Standing out in a saturated market
 29:16 Feeling the pinch as margins get squeezed
 31:29 Is now the time to sell
 33:16 What makes people think about selling
 35:06 Why you should sell at the peak
 38:39 Making your studio more valuable over the next three years
 40:59 What takes the longest to fix before a sale
 42:51 Is multiple locations more or less valuable
 45:25 Why bed count matters for profitability
 47:57 Buying versus building new locations
 49:29 How a studio is actually valued
 51:57 What people do after they sell
If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure you're following along so you don't miss future episodes. And feel free to share this one with someone you think would take something from it.
Connect with Nic:
Beyond the Reformer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyond_reformer_pod/
Soul Pilates Education: https://www.instagram.com/soul_pilates_education/
Sign up to Our Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bff55298739/beyond-the-reformer
Connect with Mitch McGinley:
Website: https://boutiquefitnessbroker.com/

Sign up below to hear more about our Pilates Teacher Training Courses and to get priority access when our next course opens here.

"I'm about as alpha male as it gets. I come from 30 years in special forces. It doesn't come much better than that. And I now teach Pilates and I absolutely see the benefits."
In this episode, Nic is joined by Tim Gough, co-owner and instructor at Vagabond Pilates in Dorset, and a 30-year veteran of the Royal Marines and Special Boat Service. Tim shares how his wife Millie's own Pilates journey through cancer recovery pulled him into the method during deployment, and how that eventually led him to leave the military and co-found a full-equipment Pilates studio with Millie and Molly.
They explore why Pilates is still seen as a female-dominated space, what needs to change in how it's marketed and taught to get more men in the door, and the surprising overlap between special forces mindset and the discipline of a Pilates practice. Tim also opens up about the challenges of studio ownership, adjusting to life after the military, and what he's learned about teaching, mentorship and building a team since joining Vagabond as an instructor.
Timestamps 
00:00 Tim's first podcast and his path into Pilates
 01:43 How his wife Millie's Pilates journey began
 03:53 Teaching Pilates to his unit during deployment
 07:11 The mission to get more men into Pilates
 13:52 Running a men-only class at Vagabond
 16:53 Making the studio feel welcoming for everyone
 20:44 Thirty years in special forces, then Pilates
 23:20 Why one session isn't enough
 30:18 Clients who say Pilates changed their life
 31:09 Why nobody notices your struggle in class
 34:34 Meeting high-performing clients where they are
 38:17 How Vagabond Pilates started
 40:40 Interviewing to become an instructor
 43:49 Adjusting to life after the military
 44:29 Working with his wife and an all-female team
 49:11 Mentorship and keeping good teachers
 51:50 A look inside the Vagabond studio
 54:03 Quickfire questions
 59:15 Where to find Tim and Vagabond Pilates
If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure you're following along so you don't miss future episodes. And feel free to share this one with someone you think would take something from it.
Connect with Nic:
Beyond the Reformer Instagram
Soul Pilates Instagram
Soul Pilates Education
Nic's Instagram
Join Soul at Home
Book a Pilates Class
Sign up to Our Newsletter
Connect with Tim:
Tim Gough LinkedIn 
Tim Gough Instagram 
Vagabond Pilates Website

Ready to take your Pilates teaching to the next level? Applications are now open for Soul Pilates Education's 2027 Teacher Training programs in Bristol! Choose between our 12-month Comprehensive Training (Jan 2027) or our 7-month Reformer Training (Mar 2027). Learn to teach with real depth, adapt movement, and gain full confidence with clients. Limited places available. 
Become a Certified Pilates Teacher in 2027