Beyond the Reformer
Beyond the Reformer
Nic Lenny
Welcome to Beyond the Reformer, the podcast where Pilates professionals and enthusiasts come together for thoughtful conversations, genuine insights, and inspiring stories. Join Nic every Monday morning to feel more connected, inspired, and empowered in your Pilates practice, teaching, and beyond…
How to Build a Pilates Business That Actually Supports Your Life with Caroline Copp
"They create a business that worked for them ten years ago and they forget to move their business to work for them for the future." In this episode, Nic is joined by Caroline Copp, a Pilates teacher turned business coach for wellness entrepreneurs. Having opened and sold two studios, Caroline now helps wellness professionals build scalable businesses through her Scaling Wellness Accelerator and weekly Scaling Wellness Podcast. Together they explore one of the most common traps in the Pilates ...
Aug 3
1 hr 5 min
The Truth About Pilates Cueing Nobody Talks About with Shelly Power
"We're not gonna cue muscles to cue a movement." In this episode, Nic is joined by Shelly Power, Director of Curriculum for Polestar Pilates and one of the most respected educators in the industry. Shelly has been teaching Pilates since 1992, has led teacher trainings since 2000, and has examined and mentored Pilates teachers all over the world, including Nic herself. They explore why great teaching has no finish line, and why the best Pilates instructors stay curious long after they're certi...
Jul 27
1 hr 23 min
Harder Isn’t Always Better: The Smarter Way to Build Strength
"I've been lied to my whole life. This just feels relaxing, and yet my body is starting to change." In this episode, Nic flies solo to unpack a question she gets asked constantly on her teacher trainings: why isn't harder always better? She explores what conditioned so many of us, especially in the fitness world, to believe that pushing more, harder, and faster is always the goal, and shares her own burnout story from the corporate world that led her to Pilates in the first place. Nic unpacks...
Jul 20
42 min
How to Cue Pilates Like a Pro with Alan Herdman
"The technique is less important than the person." In this episode, we are joined by Alan Herdman - the man widely credited with bringing Pilates to the UK, opening the country's first Pilates studio back in the early 1970s. After training in New York under Bob Fitzgerald, Alan returned to London and has spent the last 55 years shaping how Pilates is taught, practiced, and passed on. They explore what real teacher training looked like in the early days of Pilates, from months of apprenticeshi...
Jul 13
1 hr 2 min
What the Future of Reformer Pilates Actually Looks Like with Yvette McGaffin
In this episode, Nic is joined by Yvette McGaffin, co-founder of ReformRx and the driving force behind what is set to become the world's first digitally connected Reformer Pilates machine for the home. Yvette's story is one of the more remarkable in the Pilates industry right now. A professional dancer turned studio owner, she built and ran her own Reformer Pilates studios in Belfast and Edinburgh before identifying a gap that had been sitting in plain sight for decades: the reformer itself h...
Jul 6
45 min
How to Build a Profitable Pilates Studio Business with Joanne Mathews
"I think we're at that time where we can actually professionalize this industry, and we can have the standards that we want to set, and we can offer people careers." In this episode, we are joined by Joanne Mathews, founder and CEO of Ten Health & Fitness, one of London's longest-running Dynamic Reformer Pilates brands, now growing into franchising with Tenreformer. They explore why London's reformer studios have grown 72% in 18 months against just 50% growth in demand, and what that satu...
Jun 29
1 hr 3 min
How Much Anatomy Do Pilates Teachers Actually Need to Know With Tracy Ward
"I really worry that we will lose the essence of what Pilates actually is. How much are we going to dilute it?" In this episode, Nic is joined by Tracy Ward - physiotherapist, Pilates teacher, and author of The Science of Pilates, published by DK. Tracy sits at the unique intersection of clinical practice and Pilates, bringing over 15 years of experience teaching, treating patients, and training new teachers through APPI. They explore what it really takes to understand anatomy as a Pilates te...
Jun 22
52 min
The Wild West of Pilates: Why Teaching Standards Are Letting Everyone Down with Katie Nankivell
"There is a lot of money-hungry people chasing trends with a lack of moral compass and ethics behind them." The Pilates industry is growing fast - but not always in the right direction. In this episode, Nic is joined by Katie, founder of Pilates Delivered, an Amsterdam-based at-home and private Pilates service. Katie trained comprehensively with Polestar Pilates and has been teaching for over a decade across private clients, studios, and her own business. They get straight into the hard conve...
Jun 15
52 min
From Basement Studio to 9 Locations: How New York Pilates Defined Its Method
"Real change in your body happens from grounded, consistent work. Doing the split and a handstand is entertaining, but that's not what Pilates is about." In this episode, Nic is joined by Heather Andersen, founder of New York Pilates - one of the most recognisable reformer studio brands in the world, with nine locations across New York City and counting. Heather built New York Pilates from a basement space in Greenwich Village in 2013, at a time when group reformer classes simply didn't exist...
Jun 8
56 min
The Missing Piece in Pilates Teacher Training with Amy Havens
"I think self-acceptance and self-compassion... it's gonna keep changing and if you hear the loud stuff saying, I can't do that anymore - no." - Amy Havens In this episode, Nic is joined by Amy Havens, a veteran Pilates educator, mentor, and movement teacher based in Santa Barbara with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Amy has trained across multiple lineages - including Fletcher, BASI, Kathy Grant, and Madeleine Black - and is widely respected as one of the most thoughtful voices ...
Jun 1
1 hr 6 min
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