Deepening Our Mission Commitment with Explicit LSQP Antiracism & Inclusion Goals

On the heels of our second anniversary, I’d like to take an opportunity to share some insight into our journey as a mission-driven business and a deepening of our commitment to making Pilates accessible to all.

One of the first things my co-founders, Kristi Wood, Aileen May, and I did as we began building our plan for Logan Square Pilates + Core Studio was to align on a mission statement. Despite our varied experiences, perspectives, skills, and roles within the business, we were 100% aligned on our purpose in bringing LSQP into the world: 

To make Pilates accessible to all bodies in our Logan Square community in an upbeat, non-intimidating, affordable studio environment, where individuals receive the utmost respect and support.

Our initial efforts to live out our mission came in the form of setting affordable pricing compared to the broader industry, seeking to hire instructors and staff from diverse backgrounds, and partnering with mission-aligned nonprofits and businesses in our community. 

While I am proud of the studio we’ve built and the positive impact we’ve had on the health and wellness of our community over the past two years, I’m also acutely aware that we have not been doing enough to truly advance our mission. Our community of staff, instructors, and students is a bit more diverse than the “average” Pilates studio in this country, but it is still a far cry from being truly inclusive and representative of wellness seekers of all races, ethnicities, gender identities and sexual orientations, shapes, sizes, and abilities. And this is on me.    

About six months ago, I began a long overdue journey into understanding and taking responsibility for my role as a white woman in perpetuating racism and white supremacy and failing to utilize my white privilege to drive much needed change. A life-changing training facilitated by the Racial Equity Institute and reading the book White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo triggered this shift in perspective and helped me move beyond thinking of racism as a characteristic of other individuals, singular events or acts, or a good/bad binary but as an oppressive structure of policies and ideas that produce and normalize racial inequities. A structure in which I play a role and in which I receive inequitable benefits over people of color. 

When I discussed this shamefully late discovery with my friend, Jae, founder of Fuse Her Fly – we decided that LSQP would be a great place to host the first event in their new Tough Talk series on “Racism & Colorism in the Empowered Community”.  During that event, as I listened to the room full of women of color share their experiences in the wellness and fitness industry, I realized it was not happenstance that our studio lacked diversity – it was because we had not been intentional enough in creating a truly inclusive, safe space where they could be themselves and thrive. I needed to dig in, listen, and fully commit to developing an antiracism plan to address the non-inclusive environment that I had created. 

As I began to seek out information about existing antiracism efforts in the Pilates industry, my friend Tanya helped me discover the Black Girl Pilates (BGPI) group on Instagram. I learned a lot from posts and articles like this one by BGPI founder, Sonja Herbert and she graciously agreed to meet with me and LSQP’s Operations Lead and Assistant Manager, Taylor McDonald and Gaby Cordero during a trip to NYC last November. While there, we also had a chance to take classes at The Fit in Bedford Stuyvesant and meet with founder, Ife Obi. Both Sonja and Ife pushed me to keep investing in learning from leaders of color, to look inward and do personal work on racism and privilege, to create equitable structures to listen and respond to people of color, and to share power in an authentic, non-tokenizing way.  

As I looked at the broader wellness industry, I began to learn of other important discussions and movements to advance representation of Latinx, Asian, LGBTQ+ communities, and those who aren’t young, white, cis-gender, heterosexual, and thin. Eliana Chinea and Jessamyn Stanley are two of many critical voices in the yoga industry. Locally, I admire the intentionally inclusive programming at The Alter Chicago and Ganesha Yoga. I’ve also learned a lot from articles like this one on cultural appropriation and whitewashing in yoga and this one on young, thin, white as the problematic norm in boutique fitness, both shared by my friend and LSQP student Maithili Jha.     

While I am grateful for friends like Jae and Maithili, my LSQP team members Taylor and Gaby, leaders in the Pilates industry like Sonja and Ife, and the women at the Tough Talk event who openly shared their perspectives and experiences with me – I also know that it is not the responsibility of people of color to educate me on racism. I am committed to continued learning, self-examination, and discovery. At the bottom of this post, I’ve shared a short list of resources that I’ve found incredibly helpful so far.

And while I have a lot more learning to do, I also feel it is time to start putting this knowledge into action within LSQP through four explicit antiracism and inclusion goals:  

  1. Create structures to listen deeply to and hold ourselves accountable to underrepresented community members.

To start, we will soon launch a community advisory group to surface issues, identify opportunities, get input and feedback on initiatives, and otherwise inform and advance our antiracism and equity work. We will specifically seek participation from people from underrepresented groups – including Black, Latinx, Asian, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized and minoritized groups as well as people of all shapes, sizes, and ages - within the LSQP student community, within the broader Logan Square community, and within the broader Pilates and wellness industry. We will bring humility, a sense of responsibility, and an action orientation to these discussions.

2. Invest in increasing representation of people of color and those from other underrepresented communities in the Pilates industry.

We are excited to announce that we are partnering on the launch of the Whole Body Pilates Chicago Teacher Training Program, starting in April. The mission of the program is to advance equity in the Pilates industry by increasing accessibility to a rigorous educational program that builds the foundation for teaching Pilates to participants from diverse backgrounds, settings, and communities. This program is a partnership between LSQP, Hyde Park-based tabPILATES & Bodyworks Center, and Denver-based Whole Body Pilates – with sessions being taught in both LSQP and tabPILATES studios. We are providing scholarships for participants from communities that are underrepresented in the Pilates industry, with priority for participants of color – targeting at least 50% of program slots. Through this partnership, we are also exploring longer term opportunities to support pathways for Pilates studio ownership by instructors from underrepresented communities.

 3. Transform our space to be a truly inclusive place where people of color and other underrepresented community members thrive.

We know that our physical and digital space does not yet feel like one where people of all races, ethnicities, gender identities and sexual orientations, shapes, sizes, and abilities belong and are equally valued. We have a lot of work to do to deeply transform our space. Two initial steps we are taking are to: (1) Feature diverse Pilates and wellness practitioners in our content and programming, demonstrating that LSQP exists for all communities as much as for white people, and (2) Invest in training by Women Unite! for our leadership, staff, instructors, and teacher training program participants on racism, white supremacy, white privilege, bias, antiracism, allyship, advocacy, and community so we are all equipped to contribute to the creation of an inclusive environment. 

4. Partner with, promote, and purchase from organizations led by people of color and others from underrepresented communities.

Building on our Tough Talk collaboration, we are grateful for continued partnership with Jae and Fuse Her Fly on our upcoming Re:new Your Wellness: An International Women’s Day Wellness Fest on Sunday, March 8th which will feature a diverse community of wellness practitioners and bring to life our shared belief that wellness is for everyone. In addition to partnering with Master Pilates Teacher, Tabatha Koylass of tabPILATES on our teacher training program, we are also committed to featuring her and other master instructors of color in our visiting instructor workshop series – launching this year. We also explicitly commit to prioritizing local businesses owned by people of color and from underrepresented communities in our LSQP Local Perks program. Finally, we are evolving our donation class program to more deeply and equitably partner with community organizations, including those focused on advancing wellness and opportunities for communities of color. 

What do you think about these goals? What’s missing? What resonates? What are you concerned about? The official announcement for our community advisory group is coming very soon and we encourage you to apply if you want to help us refine these goals and inform how we bring them to life. 

In the meantime, please send me direct feedback, questions, comments at chelsea.v.katz@gmail.com. Thank you!

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A sampling of people and resources that I’ve found incredibly helpful:

Chelsea Hansonpilates, antiracism, inclusion, community