CO-FOUNDERS
MEET HOLLY SWANSON
Holly comes from a long background of movement and has always been active in athletics. Starting at the age of two, Holly was an accomplished gymnast and ballet dancer for most of her early life. Beginning in college, she was introduced to Pilates after attending a session with her mother during a visit home.
Shortly after her return to Chicago, she completed her Pilates certifications in both Stott Pilates and the PhysicalMind Institute, including a concentration in breast cancer rehabilitation through the Pink Ribbon Program.
In 2015, Holly's love of teaching led her to open the Core Chicago Instructor Training Center with Holly as the lead Instructor Trainer. Holly is certified through the Pilates Method alliance as a PMA-CPT®. In 2018, Holly and Jacquelyn collaborated in creating The Lab training program to bring together their vast knowledge of the work.
Meet Jacquelyn BrennaN
Jacquelyn has been working in the wellness world since she was 16 years old. Her passion for enhancing movement, strength and endurance comes from her athletic background. In 2017, Jacquelyn opened Pilates+Coffee in Chicago with her husband as a space to share their love for Pilates, coffee, and especially community.
Her passion for movement and health provided direction in her life, especially in her career and lifestyle goals. As an athlete, an avid runner and marathoner, Jacquelyn found Pilates as a way to stay injury free, find balance, build uniform strength, and overall increased well-being. She became a Fletcher Pilates teacher in 2009 and assisted in teacher training as an adjunct Fletcher faculty member. Since then her teaching style has evolved, incorporating yoga and therapeutic modalities helping her to create challenging, safe and exciting movement sessions for clientele of all levels.
Co-creating The Lab with Holly in 2018 has been a very exciting endeavor, bringing together 25+ years of teaching experience has been so wonderful.
FACILITATORS
MEET JORDAN SUGARMAN, LIFTED STUDIO, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Jordan teaches from a place of authenticity, with the goal of enriching and lifting her client’s lives through Pilates. She brings expertise from the Pilates and fitness industry, passion for educating the community, and a zest for life to her teaching. Her careful eye, allied with an intricate understanding of perfect form, makes her workouts as enjoyable as they are challenging.
A former dancer and athlete, Jordan was introduced to Pilates in 2008. It caught her attention with its unique combination of education of the body and dynamic, graceful movements. She is certified through the PhysicalMind Institute in New York, completing over 200 hours of education, observation and an apprenticeship.
After teaching for several years, Jordan wanted to further her education and journeyed to New York to study Yamuna® Body Rolling under the world-renowned and visionary, Yamuna Zake. She is dedicated to continuing her education, and remains as passionate for Pilates and fitness as ever.
Jordan served on the Board of Directors for The Center for Balanced Living from 2014 –2017 and, by doing so, aspires to create strength through balanced living. The Center is an organization providing comprehensive outpatient treatment, research and prevention services for persons with eating disorders in Central Ohio.
MEET JUSTINE MALICK, SAPPHIRE PILATES, SILVER LAKE, CA
Justine views movement as medicine and is forever fascinated by the healing and transformative power of working with the body-mind through the blend of various modalities. She was a competitive figure skater for over a decade, and Pilates has been an integral part of her life since she was 12. Justine completed a comprehensive Pilates training through Body Arts Science International (BASI) as well as yoga trainings with YogaWorks and Embodied Flow to become a 500-RYT. In addition to studying Yoga & Pilates, Justine has completed trainings in Deep Bodywork Massage and Resistance Flexibility Strength Training (RFST). Justine currently lives in LA and owns Sapphire Pilates.
Meet Penny Lane, The Pilates House, Baltimore, MD
Penny Lane is the owner of Pilates House in Fells Point, Baltimore. She has been teaching movement for over eight years and draws inspiration from her background in yoga, barre, and mat Pilates. She is passionate about educating her clients about their bodies, teaching them how to flow on the reformer, and helping them feel their best.
MEET JESSICA SOWYRDA, VESSEL PILATES, KINGWOOD, TX
Jessica Sowyrda is the founder of Vessel Pilates and lives in Kingwood, TX with her husband and three beautiful children. She was first introduced to Pilates Reformer after giving birth to her first baby and she immediately fell in love. She quickly saw its benefits through her own transformation during her postnatal recovery and continued to practice Pilates during her next two pregnancies.
Jessica is comprehensively trained in the Pilates method and certified as a Postnatal Corrective Exercise Specialist, Prenatal and Postnatal Pilates Teacher, and in Diastasis Recti Recovery through The Center for Women's Fitness. She strives to help women heal who suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction, diastasis recti and postural alignment issues after childbirth. Jessica’s main goal is to bring a specialized wellness experience to the Kingwood area—one that encourages women to take care of themselves and feel good in their bodies. She teaches with absolute passion and loves to focus on connection, breath, rhythm, flow and the mind-body-spirit alignment. She is also trained in Pilates Suspension Method, Barre Body, Rebounding, and Fascial movement on various release tools.
Meet ELENA LEMADRID, STUDIO PILATES, NasHVille, TN
Elena is originally from Scottsdale, Arizona where she fell in love with classical ballet at the age of 4. At 16, she moved to Houston, Texas to professionally train with the Houston Ballet Academy. While attending the academy, Pilates was implemented into the program as a form of cross-training. She found that Pilates helped her dancing through stabilizing her flexibility while continuing to build muscular strength. After completing her training, she moved to professionally dance with Nashville Ballet. Under David Gensheimer she became a fully certified Pilates Instructor through Balanced Body. After completing two seasons with Nashville Ballet, she decided she had a greater passion to return to school and pursue Physical Therapy. After two years in school, she decided life had different path for her and knew she wanted to pursue opening her own pilates studio.
MEET NATHALIA GOROSH, PILATES HUB, SEATTLE, WA
Entrepreneur, mom, get-shit-done kind of girl. I started The Pilates Hub because I’m passionate about movement, about helping people feel good in the body they have. I’m a firm believer that when you feel better in your body, you’ll be so much happier. When you understand what your body is capable of, what it’s comfortable with and how it moves and exists in the world, the rest of everything falls more cleanly into place. As an avid traveler and lifelong learner with 18 years of teaching movement, my journey has been a bit of circuitous one. From dance to yoga to Pilates to culinary —but all the while keeping movement at the center of my being. And it is my pleasure to bring that passion to the Pilates Hub. Every day. -certified through Polestar Pilates
MEET VERONICA COLWELL, VERO PILATES, LONG BEACH, CA
Veronica Colwell, the owner of the Vero Pilates Studio. Veronica discovered Pilates back in 2006 as she struggled to overcome lower back pain. She fell in love with Pilates from her first session and never looked back! After moving to LB in 2011 and falling in love with the city and its warm community, Veronica realized that there was room to create a unique space dedicated to the teaching of the Pilates Method. Over the years Veronica has been joined by an incredible team of experienced and enthusiastic instructors who make members’ lives better every day. We look forward to welcoming you to our studio, sharing the joy of movement with you, and helping you attain your goals!