3 Things Nobody Tells You When You Open Your Studio

New York City breeds ingenuity, and Pilates is proof of that. Joseph Pilates opened his first studio right here in this city, finding new ways to move our bodies and redefining what strength and function could look like.

There is something about New York that pushes you to create, to build, and to show up without apology for exactly who you are.

I am a beach, hills and desert loving LA girl, but New York has had a piece of my heart for a long time. Long before I opened my first studio here, I felt it every time I landed. The pace, the variety, the way the city moves, the people who live in it and love it. There is nowhere else like it. So when the opportunity to plant a flag on the Upper West Side came together, it was not a business decision so much as it was an inevitability.

Opening a new studio is one of my favorite things in the world and also one of the hardest. The logistics alone are enough to make your head spin, and there are moments in every opening where the weight of it sits heavy. Thank God for the team who makes this all happen with me.

What I have learned, after doing this more than once now, is that the answer is always the same: Trust yourself, trust your methods, trust your tools.

After 18 years of building this work, the methodology does not waver when you walk into a new room — it shows up with you and does exactly what you trained it to do. There will always be something that needs figuring out, something that is not quite ready, something on the list that did not get finished before the doors opened. What steadies you in those moments is not having everything perfect. It is knowing that the work itself is solid, that you have put in the time, and that what you built is worth showing up for.

Surround yourself with people who want what you want and will show up to help you build it. Lean on your friends and your community.

The people who believe in what you are building before it is finished are the ones who make it possible. I did not open ten studios alone and I never could have. Every opening has taught me that asking for help is not a weakness, it is the strategy, and finding people who share your vision and your standards is one of the most important things you will ever do for your work.

No matter what, keep moving your body. This is not negotiable, not on a packed travel week, not on a hard day, not ever.

I was in New York for five days with a full schedule and I still got on a WundaFormer/Aurum. I made time to lead an educator workshop and a foot health workshop featuring the WundaCore line that week, and walking into both rooms reminded me exactly why having a system you believe in changes everything. I snuck over to the Upper East Side and took a class myself because movement is the thing that makes everything else possible, and I am not willing to be someone who tells you that and then does not live it.

A Note to the Upper West Side

This neighborhood has been on my wish list for a long time, and being there this week reminded me exactly why. The people, the energy, the architecture, the particular way the east coast shows up for movement — there is something about this community that I have always felt drawn to and being able to serve it from a studio I love in a neighborhood I love is not something I take for granted. The UWS is exactly where I wanted to be, and I am so glad we are here. If you are in New York, come find us.

Can't Make It to NYC?

The WundaCore line was built so that a piece of this work can come to you wherever you are. You need the right tools and the right guidance, and I have both waiting for you.

If you want to move with me today, my YouTube channel is there for you anytime.

WundaLove,

Amy