Meet Kelly Hendricks | Pilates Studio Owner, Pilates Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelly Hendricks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelly, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
After graduating college in 2003, work life balance never crossed my mind. Not once did I think about work life balance because I did what I wanted – I worked, I hung out with friends, spent alot of time with my husband, and did whatever my heart desired around work hours. Happy hours turned into late nights but I always made it to work on time the next day and the cycle continued. Then it changed when I hit thirty, we had our first child and my corporate job started turning into 50+ hours a week. Life changed, my schedule changed along with my priorities in the best way. Now there was another life to be responsible for, to care for every minute of the day – another life to love with all my heart. Balance suddenly wasn’t a choice, it slapped me in the face and it became a reality of how do I balance it all? It was the hardest decision to quit my corporate job (it gave me financial stability) but there just wasn’t the flexibility to have the balance of my current priorities – being a present mom, wife and friend.

Shortly after our second child and right before our third was born, I craved balance – yes being a stay at home mom was rewarding but I needed more balance from diapers, bottles, and crying. Now I was trying to figure out how to be a mom while balancing work – I needed more. We decided to open a Pilates studio. Now as a new small business owner, I had no idea that balance would never exist in the same way again since your business is like having another child – you always worry about it, work all hours of the day/night, and it’s a big challenge (especially during a pandemic), and you are constantly learning! Everyday is a new lesson in balance. Did I give my kids enough time, did I give myself time to destress, did I give my team the time they deserve so they can succeed? Balance is all you think about because you are pulled in every direction. Then you wonder, does balance truly exist, what does balance even mean?

As a Pilates instructor, I hear the word balance and I think of physical balance – can I stand on one foot? Am I pressing equally with both hands? If I feel physically balanced, my mind always feels mentally balanced. For me, its not one or the other (physical or mental) it has to be both to feel whole. When my mom died 6 years ago, it was 2 weeks before we opened the Pilates studio and I took care of my mom’s every need for the last year of her life as she lived with me and my family. When she passed, I felt heartbroken, guilt, sadness, anger, yet a sigh of relief that she was out of so much pain. My mental balance was broken. For me, it took gaining physical balance to help heal my mental balance. Pilates gave me my balance back – in so many ways – physically & mentally. But it took alot of hard work for me to feel balanced again with my work, life and family. Balance is always an evolving process. Some days balance feels really hard and unrealistic while other days balance feels like I nailed it!

In my 20s it was all about me, myself and I. In my 30s, I learned the world does not revolve around me and felt completely unbalanced with kids, work and life while learning about myself and my passions. Now newly 40, I can say that balance is now something I strive for with great awareness. Balance in a sense of my priorities…what lights my soul on fire – that’s what I want to balance in my life. So will I ever feel completely balanced? Probably not because work, kids and life each need more or less of you each day. But if I intentionally work towards building a life that gives me balance in the big picture – weekly, monthly, yearly – then I can be a successful mom, leader, wife, and friend. Balance is hard. Balance changes as life evolves. Balance might break me some days but other days it will fulfill me mentally and physically where I feel like I can conquer any and everything. That’s the feeling I strive for! I go into each day with a realistic expectation that balance won’t happen the same way each day but it will happen most days if I intentionally work hard for it. Balance is not something we are given, it’s something we create.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I love our Pilates studios! What sets us apart is that between our 3 studios, we have 20 instructors who are all diverse and bring their own specialty & personality to each class. We have so much variety in teaching styles to help our community feel better and stronger. Our community of clients are amazing – I know it sounds cheesy but each client inspires us – each story, each new exercise they try and every new friendship made in our studios.

When the pandemic hit, I was filled with anxiousness and worry – what do you mean we have to close? It felt like a huge punch in the stomach – multiple punches really. But I lifted my head up (it took a few days) and was determined for our studios to come back better & stronger than ever. And we did – because our entire team was on board to make it happen together. When clients started calling asking when will we reopen because their mental health was starting to deteriorate without Pilates – I knew I had to work as hard as possible to reopen as soon as we could. To help our community feel better. To help our community feel balanced. Although I couldn’t control what was happening in the world, I could control how I reacted to it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In the winter, defiantly a weekend to enjoy snow in Cooper or Winter Park. Then ice skating at the Longmont ice rink, happy hour at Left Hand, dinner at The Roost and then Jefe’s the next night.

In the summer, bike rides all around town, a float down the river, paddleboarding at Lake Mcintosh, hiking in & around Boulder (I always love the Royal Arch and Mount Sanitas), happy hour on the Roost roof top or St Vrain Cidery, and a walk on Main Street Longmont with a stop at Scrumptious for ice cream.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My friends, especially mom friends who can relate with life’s struggles. My family. My kids and husband are so supportive of all my crazy ideas.
My team! They all inspire in their own special ways to be better.

Website: www.clubpilates.com, www.fitgoalguide.com

Instagram: @khendrickspilates, @cplongmont, @clubpilateswaneka, @clubpilatesboulder

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KCosentinoHendricks, www.facebook.com/clubpilateslongmont, www.facebook.com/clubpilatesboulder, www.facebook.com/clubpilateswaneka