Our Leadership

I was in my early twenties, fresh out of the University of Colorado, working my first desk job, when an injury sent me to physical therapy. My PT happened to be a Pilates teacher, and in our second session she put me on a reformer. I have never forgotten that first feeling of spring resistance, challenging and supportive at the same time, demanding something from my body and my mind at once. I was hooked. I’ve now been practicing for nearly 25 years, and the work still challenges me. That’s the magic of springs: there is always a way to make a movement spicier or gentler, for yourself or for a client. You never outgrow it.

Before TIGHT, I spent 15 years as a history professor. I earned my PhD at Yale, taught Latin American history in Georgia, Chicago, and Connecticut, and earned tenure along the way. I loved my students. But somewhere in those years, Pilates quietly became more than a workout for me, it became the thing I trusted most.

It earned that trust the hard way. In Chicago, I broke my heel and spent four months unable to walk. Six months of dedicated reformer work, alignment, functional strength, patient repetition, and I had full mobility back. Not despite the method. Because of it.

When my mother’s scoliosis worsened, her doctor said it was Pilates or spinal surgery. I knew she’d only do it if I taught her myself. Six years later, my mom practices daily and has avoided surgery entirely.

My day starts at 4 AM with coffee with my husband, Edward, breakfast for our dog, Teddy Bear, and then a 45-minute full-body workout alongside some of our most dedicated early risers. I still teach every week, Relax & Restore, a small five-client class built around stretch and breath work. I believe an owner who stops teaching stops understanding her studio.

Mostly, you’ll find me at the front of the studio, learning your name, asking about your week, and probably offering a hug. I want every person who walks through our doors to feel like they’re coming home, seen, known, and well cared for.

I first came to TIGHT to complete my Lagree certification. Then I took my first class, and I was immediately impressed by the lights, the music, and the energy of the room. But what truly kept me coming back were the women in class. They were so strong and encouraging that I immediately wanted to get to know them!

When there was an opening at the front desk, I asked if I could fill it. I became one of the first trainers to come through TIGHT’s internship program, and since then I’ve held nearly every role in the studio, front desk, trainer, assistant manager, and now Studio Manager. I did all of it while putting myself through school full-time, and I was offered the manager role before I’d even finished my BS in Psychology at the University of North Texas.

Before anyone arrives, I set the studio: blinds down, warm gold lighting to ease everyone into the morning, and a quick reset of each Mega. I print the day’s schedule for our trainers and add notes where I can, if I know someone is coming in with an injury or celebrating something exciting, our trainers know before class begins.

I take three to four classes a week and never teach a routine I haven’t done myself, several times, until every transition is right. Outside the studio, you’ll find me cooking a delicious meal with my boyfriend, Pierson, taking a well-earned nap, or feeding the turtles at the creek on my evening walk.