Hello Everyone, please meet Kelly Snailum, PSC’s awesome Master Trainer from Scottsdale Arizona. Kelly has a lovely studio and offers Pilates, Massage, Burn at the Barre, TRX and MORE! Please enjoy this little Q and A and feel free to reach out to Kelly and get to know her better in the future!
PSC: Hi Kelly! Can you tell us a bit about your studio in AZ? How big, how’s it equipped, etc?
Kelly: I co-own Remedy Pilates and Massage with my sister-in-law, Amanda Snailum in Scottsdale, AZ. We opened the doors in October of 2008 with 1800 square feet. We started off with four Balanced Body Clinical Reformers with Towers, a Cadillac, four ExO Chairs, four Avalon Step Barrels, a Ladder Barrel, two massage rooms and a partridge in a pear tree (wink, wink). We expanded our space to 3000 sq feet in 2012 to include group fitness classes like Burn at the Barre, TRX, Mat Pilates and more.
PSC: When did you first become a PSC MT? How’s the experience been for you?
Kelly: I had no doubts I wanted to become a Master Trainer. in 2010 after teaching for 7+ years and taking many workshops from different programs, I was a little overwhelmed with the direction I was headed. I needed a program I could believe in enough to teach to students. I like to teach to my clients and their personal needs, not to a program. I purchased a PSC Jump Board DVD and my decision was made. My experience as an MT has been nothing short of amazing. I knew I enjoy
ed teaching Pilates but had no idea how much I would enjoy teaching others to teach Pilates. PSC is an amazing program and the word is out in AZ.
PSC: Can you give some of our newer MT’s and idea of the difference between teaching classes and clients versus teaching PSC certification?
Kelly: Teaching classes will always have a place in my heart. Clients appreciate what we do for them and I love to see the progress and change in a committed body. Teaching students to be Instructors is a completely different satisfaction. Mentoring students with tons of experience to those who barely squeak by with their 30 sessions of experience takes working with others to a whole new level. Nurturing their own teaching styles and watching them turn into Instructors right before your eyes is extremely gratifying. I have learned more about myself and my teaching as a Master Trainer than I would have ever learned with just my clients.
PSC: Can you give us your biggest studio challenge that you have faced this year?
Kelly: Our biggest studio challenge this year has been marketing to group fitness clients rather than our traditional referral based Pilates clients. Adding Burn at the Barre has been awesome but our “if we build it, they will come” plan was not as realistic as we thought. Our classes are small yet mighty right now and the word is traveling fast.
PSC: What has been your most effective marketing tool in promoting teacher training programs?
Kelly: My most effective marketing tool in this area has actually been referrals from other Instructors. I push my workshops like crazy to other studios, etc. Once I can get an instructor into a PSC workshop they are so intrigued and learn so much when they know people interested in teaching Pilates they are sending them to me (not their programs). I think that says a lot about what PSC has to offer.
PSC: Finally, can you tell us your favorite story about a student that went through certification?
Kelly: I have so many favorite students with amazing stories, but I recently “graduated” a Trainer with more on her personal plate than most people I know. She has been a stay at home mom to a Brady Bunch of kids and had not done something for herself in a long time. She was a client but more on and off and when she came to me about becoming an instructor I could sense she was going to take this serious. She was dedicated, emotional, professional and a natural at teaching. All I could think to myself was “I need to get this girl/energy full time at Remedy.” Her at home life got even crazier and created more obstacles than even she expected, yet she pushed through. She completed her Certification and it seemed like she had been teaching for years. She is the kind of instructor I could give anyone to and they would see and feel the passion she has for what she is doing. I am so proud to be a part of something that not only gave this special mom her life back, but trained someone who I know will some day make a difference in our Pilates community. Thank you Renee – for being so special.
