They started STOTT PILATES nearly
20 years ago, before anyone guessed
what a sensation the exercise would create.
“We didn’t get into this because we
thought Pilates would be a big business,”
remembers Moira Merrithew, executive director
of education for STOTT PILATES,
who co-founded the company with her
husband, Lindsay G.Merrithew, president
and chief executive officer. “In 1988, we
were at the right place at the right time.
When we started, Pilates was very much a
cottage industry. Our goal was simple—to
make Pilates as accessible as possible.”
Recalls Lindsay,“There were indicators
that people, especially Baby Boomers,were
moving toward more mindful forms of exercise,
and Pilates is a thoughtful form of
exercise that’s all about body awareness.”
Lindsay holds a bachelor of commerce
degree from Dalhousie University in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a graduate of
the Juilliard School of Performing Arts in
New York City.Moira is a former principal
dancer with the City Ballet of Toronto
and the Atlantic Ballet Company.After an
injury,Moira became certified as a Pilates
instructor by Romana Kryzanowska at the
original studio founded by the late Joseph
H. Pilates.
Today Moira oversees the programming
component for the STOTT PILATES education
and certification division and is one
of the featured performers in the STOTT
PILATES video series, along with other
master instructor trainers. Lindsay directs
the growth of the Merrithew Corporation
and its premier brand, STOTT PILATES,
and is instrumental in designing, producing
and marketing the company’s extensive
equipment and video lines, including more
than 120 videos for professional and retail
consumer markets. STOTT PILATES has
over 125 employees, corporate studios in
Toronto and New York, and 50 licensed
training centers in 19 countries.
In order to keep up with modern medicine
and physiotherapy as a whole,
Lindsay and Moira worked with numerous
physical therapists, sports medicine
professionals and fitness professionals to
evolve the original method.Today STOTT
PILATES offers a contemporary, anatomically
based approach that is founded on a
combination of key medical research and
modern-day knowledge of biomechanics.
|
“Initially, access to Pilates equipment
was very limited. We wanted to make
equipment that would adjust to people’s
needs, so we used metal instead of wood
and added more versatility and user
specificity,” explains Lindsay.“We created
a reformer that had adjustability to suit
the user and that was both ergonomically
and aesthetically appealing.”
Innovation continues to be a guiding
principle for STOTT PILATES,which recently
introduced the V2 Max Plus™, a
functional new reformer with a vertical
frame and a retractable rope pulley system
that enables more rotation and overhead
movement, allowing for a more
diverse workout by a wider clientele.
“We embrace what is new and exciting
because we think this form of exercise has
so much potential for the future,” says
Lindsay. “We want to continue to make
Pilates more functional, and more accessible
to everyone, including men, kids and
teens, athletes and sports participants.”
Education and certification are central
to their business model: the company has
trained in excess of 15,000 instructors
worldwide and has a goal to train 32,000
by 2010. “It’s important to empower instructors
and give them the tools they
need to make decisions that match the
right exercisers for every individual,” says
Lindsay.
Lindsay feels that for the company,
and the fitness industry as a whole,
adding value to the professional lives of
instructors and developing their career
paths are the biggest challenge and the
greatest opportunity. As part of that effort,
STOTT PILATES assists health clubs
in growing and managing successful, revenue-
generating Pilates programs.
Moira and Lindsay believe their success
is just one example of the tremendous opportunity
that exists in the wellness arena
today. They encourage professionals to
take advantage of opportunities, be passionate
about their work, innovate, and
create their own success stories. “The industry
has changed so much from when
there were mostly part-time jobs in fitness,”
says Lindsay, “There’s a lot of room
to make a difference, because this isn’t a
seasoned industry. It’s young.There are so
many chapters still to be written, and
everyone can be an author.”
Mary Monroe is a freelance writer in
Los Angeles. |
