Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Smith.
Ashley, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, riding and showing horses my entire life. I was first introduced to Pilates while attending the University of Arizona, 12 years ago, GO WILDCATS! It was the first fitness program I truly enjoyed and the closest thing to riding I had found. I felt empowered, strong and flexible.
When I moved to Cypress upon graduation, I found a studio nearby to continue my training. From there, I decided I wanted to deepen my understanding of this lifestyle that I had fallen in love with. I became certified through the well-known worldwide organization, Balanced Body University in Mat and Reformer Pilates.
I opened up Trinity Pilates Studio in the fall of 2011 with the help of my husband. I am proud to say Trinity Pilates is going strong in our 6th year of business with an amazing team and incredible clientele.
After having my daughter almost a year ago, my world has become more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. My family is my world and we live through Pilates. It is a lifestyle for our family.
Has it been a smooth road?
As Pilates instructors, our goal is to make all the exercises look easy and fluid. I believe it’s the same as a business owner. If clients think what we do is easy, we are succeeding. Balance is always the key and a consistent mindset.
The biggest challenge I have faced is making sure to not personally “take my work home with me.” When clients come in with an issue, for example, rotator cuff pain, often times I put myself in his or her position. This way, I can actually feel the pain; in which case, I am fully aware of what exercises to incorporate in order to help ease some of that pain. When I leave the studio, it is essential to leave all of that empathy there. I say empathy because I’m not sure if all instructors have this or if this is a personal trait. That being said, I believe it’s what makes me the instructor and person I am today.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Trinity Pilates is based on the “holy trinity” of Pilates: strengthening, stretching and releasing. In every class, we strive to include all three of these so that clients never plateau and keep progressing to better themselves. We believe that we set ourselves apart with our knowledge of Pilates and modifications as well as our ability to help clients in a positive environment striving to make sure clients leave feeling better than when they came in. We use reformers in every Pilates class along with some mat work.
We offer small group reformer Pilates classes (60 min) at 5 people maximum along with Surfset (50 min) and Barre classes (50 min). Offering these other classes, we wanted to give our clients something different to go along with their Pilates classes. Every class offered at Trinity is Pilates-based in which our mantra is embraced: strengthening, stretching, and releasing in every class.
Surfset is a low impact, high intensity workout in which we bring Pilates to the Rip Surfer X, a surfboard with 3 stability balls attached underneath to a stable base. This allows the board to move as if we were on water. It challenges the body in a diverse way that helps to create that “surfer body” look. We create a surfer-vibe in the studio that is relaxed yet fun to help clients let go and embrace the positive. Surfset is an awesome total body workout, especially if you want to shake things up, that you most definitely feel days later.
Barre is what we call a “total body lift.” Again, we make sure the studio is a fun environment, cool lighting, energizing music, etc., to go along with this great workout. It has a little more cardio, which is awesome but is super low impact as well to protect joints.
We have also had over 12 “Trinity babies,” in which we are proud to be part of pre and postnatal journeys. Especially now that I have had one myself, I am so proud of these women and feel so incredibly honored they have asked Trinity to help with their journeys.
Our amazing Trinity team loves what we do because we are able to help people rehabilitate and better themselves. When a client comes to us and says, “we have changed their life,” whether it’s emotionally, physically or both, it literally means everything and keeps our outlook on the world positive and beautiful reminding us every day to be grateful for what we do.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
At Trinity, we honestly want our clients to go and experience a healthy lifestyle. We encourage them to do something every day, whether it’s Pilates, boxing, yoga, walking, strength training, running, etc. Pilates only betters everything else you do, so as long as Pilates is part of your lifestyle in some way, we strongly believe everything else benefits.
Our city definitely needs more studios and healthy options to help get people on a healthy lifestyle track. For example, in California it seems like there are healthy options, such as juice bars and Pilates’ studios, at every corner. Here, we have to search for it making it a little more difficult. Healthy options in and around Houston are popping up more these days but we still need better options!
Pricing:
- Single Pilates – $40
- Single Surfset – $25
- Single Barre – $25
- Package of 10 (any) -$250
- Package of 20 (any) – $450
Contact Info:
- Address: 12111 Spring Cypress Road, Suite C.
Tomball, TX 77377 - Website: trinitypilatestx.com
- Email: info@trinitypilatestx.com
- Instagram: @trinity_pilates
- Facebook: fb.me/trinitypilates
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
