Bombshell is coming to Gramercy!
If you had asked me just five or six or so years ago if I wanted to own my own Pilates studio, the answer would have been an emphatic “NO”. I just wanted to teach my students to the best of my ability, and I was happy enough renting space in other people’s incredible spaces, including in a lovely little place downtown called Feel Good Pilates.
But the pandemic hit, and it changed everything for me. It closed a lot of doors and opened some very specific new ones. The original Bombshell Pilates Micro Studio sort of happened by accident, and it felt a little like a miracle. I came across the space in an easily missable Facebook Marketplace post. It was a small office sublease with a friendly and welcoming landlord. I got a good gut feeling as soon as I walked into the space, and I knew I was meant to be in it. I already had most of the equipment I needed, minus a reformer. (That was a problem.) But in the middle of an equipment shortage, I managed to acquire a Wunda Chair, ladder barrel, mat, tower, and a few accessories. I said yes and trusted a reformer to come to me. It may have even been later that day, after refreshing FB Marketplace for the millionth time, a beautiful Gratz 80 inch reformer named Little Martha popped up in Pittsburgh. I immediately contacted the owner, and then my husband and I took the weekend to make the seven hour drive claim the reformer. In July of 2021, I opened my tiny Covid-safe private studio.
I can say that I expanded to our current space with quite a bit more intention. I took about six months to look at every space in Chelsea remotely within my budget, but couldn’t find anything that felt like fate. But one day, a space in our very own building became available. I met the landlord, walked into the space, and immediately felt home. We took the leap, and here we are with an amazing teaching staff and the best students we could ask for.
While I was busy building a Pilates community in Chelsea, Kayla Prestel was keeping Feel Good Pilates alive and well through the pandemic. Kayla began F.G.P. in 2019 in a similarly miraculous fashion to Bombshell – her situation did also involve a unicorn onesie, which I’m sorry to say is missing from my own story. But she experienced the same “meant to be” feeling, and she went on to create a welcoming and cozy Classical Pilates studio. I was so happy to be there at the beginning to witness her start.
Kayla and I have followed each other’s journeys over the past several years – rooting for each other from afar and sometimes getting together over a cocktail or two to compare notes and encourage each other. When Kayla reached out to tell me she was going back into the performing arts full time and to ask me if I would take over Feel Good as a Bombshell studio, I knew it wasn’t a matter of “if”, but “when”. Combining Bombshell and Feel Good was a natural fit, and the answer to “when” has become “NOW”.
And well, that’s it! As of June, Bombshell Pilates Gramercy will come into being! I am so thrilled to be able to continue what Kayla has worked so hard to build – it’s a wonderful space and community, and I intend to honor what she has done while moving it forward.
We want to build a schedule of very intentional availability around our current and former students. If you’re interested in booking sessions in Gramercy, please join our waitlist, and we’ll reach out with scheduling options soon!