He Had a Waitlist Before He Taught His First Class

In 2008, I was running a workshop at my Pilates studio in Long Beach, California. It was a full horse with twenty-four people in the room. Within the first few minutes, I found myself drawn toward one of them.

His name was Joe. He wasn’t loud and he wasn’t disruptive, but his energy was palpable. The whole section of the room seemed to be vibrating with energy. His presence was something I could not look away from. Joe was all focus, enthusiasm, and joy. Within minutes of the workshop starting, I knew I wanted him on my team.

Joe and I had a discussion after the workshop and to my surprise, and delight, Joe was looking to move out to southern California and was also eager to work at our studio. After an audition, which I didn’t really even need to do, Joe joined our team.  He moved out to Long Beach a couple of weeks before his first official start day and he practically lived at the studio. You could find Joe in the lobby every morning, greeting clients and team members alike, and by name. He took every class he could get into and observed the rest. Joe made everyone feel seen and by the time he officially started teaching, his classes were already full, with waitlists.

He worked at that studio for nearly eight years. When he left, we threw him a huge farewell party. I think every single client showed up.

Joe had the Pilates IT Factor like no one I have ever met. And for years, I could not explain exactly what it was. I just knew it when I saw it.

The Question That Changed Everything

What was Joe doing that other teachers were not? My team was the strongest group of teachers I knew.  They were all special.  They all had technical knowledge, years of experience, and the ability to fill their classes consistently. But something about Joe was different. It was in how he showed up, how he communicated, and most of all, how he made people feel.

Around two years ago, I began analyzing my decades in the Pilates and fitness industries. I started first as a Group Fitness Director at some of the most respected health clubs in the country, then as a studio owner, then as the founder of Pilates and Fitness TV. In all of those roles, I had watched hundreds of teachers teach. And I started to understand and recognize a pattern. The teachers who built full practices, who had loyal clients, who made people feel something were almost always exceptional communicators.  Technical skills, experience, and education mattered, but that ability to connect deeply with clients was the secret sauce.

I started calling it the IT Factor. But naming it was not enough. I wanted to fully understand it.

Outside the Industry

I realized that if I was to really get to the heart of it, I needed to look outside of the Pilates industry to find what I was looking for.

So, I studied TED Talks. I studied keynote speakers and executive presenters. I studied vocal theory, neuroscience, psychology, hormones, and emotional intelligence. I looked at what the best communicators in the world were doing and I asked the same question I had been asking since 2008: what are they doing that everyone else is not?

And the answer was the same every time. They were not just delivering information. They were connecting. Through their voice, their body language, their presence, and their energy, they were creating an experience that made people want to listen, want to move, want to come back again and again.

I realized that it isn’t a talent. It’s a skill. And if it’s a skill, it can be taught.

What I Built

I have spent the past few years turning what I had learned into a framework that Pilates teachers could use to connect. I developed a practical, trainable set of skills that every teacher could develop, regardless of where they are on their teaching journey.

That framework is The Pilates IT Factor. It is built on five pillars: Vocal Foundations, Physical Communication, The Science of Communication, Presence and Energy, and The 5 Pilates Teacher Archetypes. Each one is a part of the eco system of exceptional communication, and more precise, the ability to connect. And each one is something you can do in your very next class.

What Joe had that so many others do not is the ability to combine all five of the pillars in every session, naturally and intuitively. Most of the great teachers have at least a few of them. But the very best use all of them.  And they are completely learnable. Because once you understand what the IT Factor actually is, it stops being that intangible thing you either have or you do not. It becomes a set of skills you can practice, build, and make your own.

I built this because I keep meeting teachers like Joe who change the lives of the people around them. And I keep meeting teachers who have the knowledge, the passion, and the dedication, and who just need a framework to help them communicate everything they know.

That framework is now available for everyone. And it starts with the Guide.

Ready to find your IT Factor?

The Pilates IT Factor Guide is the foundation of everything. 130+ pages covering all five pillars, with the free downloadable workbook included.