Women who Inspire - Kayla & Gigi
The Barre journey started 8 years ago when a childhood friend of Kayla's starting dating Gigi and brought them together. From their very first conversation, they found that they had a connection through health and fitness. A few years into their friendship, Kayla called Gigi and proposed opening a barre studio together in the south coast. It was a big dream and seemed like it could be a great partnership, however the timing was not quite there, Kayla was just beginning a family and Gigi was living in Boston.
Kayla, originally from Westport, had moved up to the Boston area after college. A friend recommend she try a barre class and she quickly fell in love with the practice about 10 years ago. That passion grew when she earned the opportunity to train and build a great foundation in barre from one of the leading barre studios where she continued to teach for many years. Family called Kayla back to the Southcoast and she and her husband Shane put down roots just over the bridge in Fairhaven. She eventually went off on her own to teach barre and created her own unique style at a local gym.
Gigi grew up in southern California and moved to Boston in search of (the love of her life Daniel Turpin) an adventure. She had always felt at home in fitness studios as an avid class taker and dreamed of one day being an instructor. She has been fortunate in her career to experience many different types of jobs which provided knowledge in marketing, sales, design and management. Gigi and her partner Daniel were in search of a town to make their home and fell in love with what New Bedford had to offer and found a place downtown.
Fast forward, 5 years later and we found ourselves both living minutes from downtown New Bedford. Kayla called Gigi once again about opening a barre studio and this time they went for it! It was a perfect partnership, the unique style that Kayla had developed became the foundation for our classes and Gigi's experience teed her up to build the marketing and sales plan.
When it came time to discuss where we would build our business, we both had been admiring the growth and potential that New Bedford had to offer. We knew we definitely wanted to be a part of that story and to help the city prosper. We had long been craving a community atmosphere and couldn't find a place where we felt at home, so we knew that had to be a part of our story, too. That is why community is such a big part of our mission. So much so, that we dedicated one of our rooms to be a lounge, a place where people could chat before and after class and get to know one another. Now looking across the hall as classes get out and seeing clients chat with one another is one of the proudest accomplishments for the both of us.
Another amazing thing that has really taken shape on this journey is our mission to empower women (and a few brave men) to love the skin they are in. There is something that has manifested itself with this amazing community and cycle and support, which is an acceptance and gratitude for the body we are given. We think that is obtained by feeding mind, body, soul, the nutrients it needs and welcome clients of all different shapes, sizes, ages and levels of ability. We love that barre has become a part of so many peoples journey in finding that, and it has become a very important focus for us to sustain.
Now, just a little over a year into our journey we have had held over 2200 classes with nearly 40,000 client visits with 154 people taking 100 classes and 13 take over 250 classes! And this is just the beginning of our journey where we hope to continue to grow our shared passion of building something special to help transform our community of New Bedford.