Where to begin when you write your first blog? Especially when you NEVER write anything! Ok, sometimes I write things but mostly shopping lists, to-do lists or any kind of scribble on paper. Another thing is that I always write on paper, I even wrote my Uni essays on paper before typing them up, so this whole digital note pad stuff is foreign to me. I also have a terrible grasp on the English language, I stuff quotes up all the time and ask me what a proverb is and you’ll be met with a blank stare. So safe to say, this whole concept is a little nerve wrecking.
So, yes, it’s taken me a while to actually sit down and write my own blog. I really had to think hard about what I had to offer a blog *long pause* and to answer this I thought about the two things occupying my mind right there and then. Get me talking about these two things and I have verbal diarrhoea. Yep, you guessed it, my two beautiful sons (my partner, their Dad, deserves some kudos here. Without him, our sons and I wouldn’t be surviving and thriving as we are. Thanks
Bern x) and my very own new Pilates business. It’s really because of my two boys that I started my own business. They were my inspiration, even before they were born.
A little more about me … when I finished Uni I landed an awesome Government grad role which eventually turned into a ‘real’ job and I was there for 7 years. I was so sure for so many years that I would make my up the corporate ladder, buy a house, raise some kids, collect sick leave and long service, have some holidays etc. etc. However, when I think back to that mindset now it just seems so foreign (I wouldn’t mind a couple of those sick days up my sleeve though). At this time,
I was a client at a Pilates studio twice weekly and my teacher would often say that I’d make a great teacher. I would laugh and scoff to myself at the idea of this. I’d worked my butt of to get this corporate job, I wasn’t going to throw it all away to wear leggings and work a few hours here and there in the morning and night. I reflect on this now and it’s nice to know she had my back from the very beginning (thanks, Noels).
It was after an organisation-wide restructure that I started to (seriously) evaluate what I wanted from my professional working career. I always knew that I wanted to have kids, do more Pilates, and the teacher’s schedule suddenly looked more appealing to me. My teacher was able to drop her kids off at school, pick them up again at the end of the day, and take her weekends off (a rarity for most in the industry but she had worked hard to get to where she was so employed
others to teach those times). As I said, this non-traditional working schedule was starting to look pretty good.
So, I took the leap and fast forward years and I have quit my corporate job, completed my Pilates teaching qualification and had two sons (Maddox 3 years and Levy 18 months). I now work part-time at the same studio where I did my first ever Pilates class and 6-months ago I started my own Pilates business, Kirsti Pilates To You. My business is built on my own experiences of finding it hard to get out of the house and do exercise when children are in the picture. So with Kirsti Pilates To You I take the hassle out. I bring all the equipment to your lounge room and we get our Pilates on! I come whenever it suits my clients - babies can be asleep or awake or I can come after hours (some of my clients are corporate work long hours), I don’t mind. I have found that whatever the circumstance, my clients love my service because they can’t talk themselves out of a workout when their teacher turns up at your door ready to whip them into shape.
To be honest, while the flexible working hours allow me to be with my boys during the day there are some cons. To make it work, my partner and I have to be on opposite schedules. He works in the day and I work mornings, nights and weekends (luckily he is a teacher so we all get to hang out during the holidays). The nights that I am home I’m usually working on some admin for the business or further Pilates development or trolling through Instagram (a perfectly good example of how to further my knowledge in the field, right? :)). Also, one thing that I sometimes miss about working in the corporate world is being part of a team. Some days are tougher than others but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way for me and my young family.
Joining HMC excited me in a lot of ways. Firstly, I am part of a team again! Secondly, I get to contribute to a project that I am passionate about. I understand that all Mum’s are time poor and trying to juggle looking after their children and themselves. If I ca help Mums with just one small part of that juggle puzzle, then that makes my heart happy.
Well I guess that’s enough about me for now. I look forward to sharing my tips and tricks and ‘talking’ with you through this blog.
Kirsti