Shuva Rahim: [00:00:00] Hello, friends. My guest today is Carey Sadler. Carey is a Pilates teacher and owner of Rivercity Pilates in North Liberty, Iowa. She found Pilates in her twenties while living in the Philadelphia area and fell in love with the method of exercise. She did her initial Pilates teacher training in Philadelphia at the Body Precision Studios, and taught there until 2008 when she and her husband Jeff moved back home to Iowa.
Carey opened up Rivercity Pilates in January of twenty-oh-nine, just a couple months after her daughter was born. Rivercity Pilates, recently marked its 15th year in business. Carey and her husband Jeff, have three children and two dogs that keep them very busy. In her free time. Carey enjoys long walks with the dogs, listening to books, and pretty much anything that involves a movement or being outside.
All right thanks Carey for joining.
Carey Sadler: Yay, thank you for having me.
Shuva Rahim: [00:01:00] Yeah. I'm excited because I obviously know you as an instructor and a friend, and I'm excited for this conversation. So we'll start with our opening question, which is, what is one thing that brings you joy every day?
Carey Sadler: Okay.
First I have to say I love this question because just the question makes me just run through all of the things in my life, which I have so many that bring me joy. But the one thing that really stands out to me is my dogs, specifically my Golden Doodle Sadie. The word joy I just immediately think of her because I feel like no matter what is going on in the world, no matter what's happening at home I just always love that she is always wagging tail, wants some attention, wants to give you kisses, wants to snuggle all the time. So that is always one of my favorite things.
Shuva Rahim: Pets really good for that.
Carey Sadler: They are. [00:02:00]
Shuva Rahim: They are. Yeah. One of my cats was just snuggling up to me this morning when I was on my yoga mat and I'm just like, pay attention to me and not the yoga 'cause I'm more important. It's okay, that's fair.
All right. What drew you to Pilates in the first place?
Carey Sadler: Probably like most people, I think when I found Pilates, it was something new and different. At the time when I found Pilates, I was in my twenties. I was running. I think I was actually training for some marathons at the time. I was doing strength training.
I was actually a personal trainer at the time, so I was just getting into like personal training and kind of coaching people. And my cousin, who was also into fitness athletic stuff at that time had said, oh, have you tried this Pilates thing? And I thought, oh, I don't know what that is.
And so at the time, like many people, my first experience with Pilates was a VHS that I got from Target [00:03:00] walked by and thought I should try that Pilates thing.
Shuva Rahim: VHS. Oh my gosh. That's like ancient.
Carey Sadler: We're dating ourselves. I remember doing it and enjoying it. I think some of the things that stand out to me now as I look back, one, I liked that it was very doable.
I felt like I could do it. I think it was probably the first time that I was practicing something that was a mind body. Exercise, right? That focus piece, that practice something and really be present and be in your body. So I think that really connected with me. I think maybe the athlete in me really liked practicing something getting better at it and what little.
Piece of this piece, could I piece of this? Improve on that kind of thing?
Shuva Rahim: Okay. Yeah, that's definitely something I've noticed about Pilates. It's every micro inch of movement that you do repeatedly, you'd [00:04:00] notice something different with every practice, I think. Yes, yoga's the same way, of course, but yeah, definitely.
With Pilates, you notice that. At what point did you decide that you'd open up a studio?
Carey Sadler: My Pilates journey took me to practicing Pilates, and then I decided, of course I wanted to teach Pilates. So when I was out in the Philadelphia area, I went down the teacher training route and started teaching.
I think very early on. I. I had the feel of this is something very unique. And I think because I had never been exposed something to it that I knew one day I wanted to move back to the Midwest or move back home in my mind and maybe start something of my own. Just from that. Yeah. Wanting to bring it to more people, I think.
Shuva Rahim: Yeah, sure. And so then you moved back to the Iowa City area. You're in North Liberty, two towns over, technically, if you wanna look at a map, but. [00:05:00] Back in the Midwest, you're in a smaller town, definitely not Philadelphia. Introducing something new is obviously challenging when nobody else in the area had what you've done or what you're trying to do.
So what were some of the challenges that you encountered in that move in, in that relocation shift when you're opening up a studio?
Carey Sadler: I think for me it was my first taste of opening a business too. So there were so many things. It was probably good that I didn't know what I didn't know because I was just a little naive in the fact of oh I wanna teach Pilates.
I'm gonna open up a space again, in hindsight looking back, like it was a huge learning process just from learning how to, what do you need to do to open a business? What do you need to do to market and let people know that you're there. And I don't know that's any different than if I was on the East coast or if I was here.
I think all of that was [00:06:00] just like learning to start a business kind of thing. For sure. Again, I think part of me loves that challenge, so it was fun along the way.
Shuva Rahim: Okay. Yeah. So talk about your first studio location, because I distinctly remember that first location Yes. When you opened and talk about what that looked like.
Carey Sadler: Yeah. I like to call it the boardroom. And the way we got this space my realtor who had helped us I met her when we moved here. She helped us buy a house. Her realty office had a space that they were just moving into, and they had a space that was literally like a boardroom in their space that I rented, which at the time was perfect because I was really just starting off and wanting to do some private sessions.
Some very small groups because there was not a lot of room in that space. I remember, yeah. Yes. You remember how small it was. And I think back, because we did, [00:07:00] as I grew in that space, we would do like some mat classes. We would get five people in this, five or six people in this little space, which it worked.
Shuva Rahim: It worked great, I think Then you relocated. Yes. So you relocated from that realty office. Realtor boardroom into a new space. So talk about that space.
Carey Sadler: Yeah, that first space we were inside of another business. We had no outside signage, we were pretty small.
But that next space when we opened, we had a storefront, I guess I would say. We had our own little space, probably tripled our actual square footage and got some more Pilates equipment. We were able to start offering small group equipment sessions, mat sessions.
At that point I started teacher training, so then I started to bring in people to teach. So definitely the kickoff of expanding a little bit more
Shuva Rahim: Yeah. And how long were you in that space? [00:08:00]
Carey Sadler: We were at that space, I think it was four years. Okay.
Shuva Rahim: It didn't feel like it was very long, but maybe because it was a long time ago. Yeah. So talk about the new space that you have.
Carey Sadler: Yeah. The space we're in now, we actually have two studio rooms. We have a space where we have a massage therapist. We have a little lobby area so people can hang out in between classes and definitely more space, which I think what I found as we moved to that second space and we started doing a little more of the group stuff, is that I found ourselves wanting more space for.
I was just called Community Time. I think the more I taught and the more I ran the business, I realized how important the connections between people and having that in-between time and space was a big part of it all..
Shuva Rahim: So talk about what Rivercity [00:09:00] Pilates offers, how people can take advantage of that?
Carey Sadler: Yeah, from a Pilates standpoint, we offer private sessions one-on-one. We offer small group sessions utilizing the Pilates equipment. And if you're not familiar with Pilates equipment, there's actually a lot of it.
Shuva Rahim: That's probably gonna be another episode down the road.
Carey Sadler: We offer small group sessions with those, the mat work.
And then we also offer yoga, small group sessions. We offer strength training, small group sessions as well. And then we have a massage therapist who is in our space, who's amazing. And then we also have a whole virtual component to the business, which came about during pandemic, but we've kept, because it's been popular and our clients like it. So we do a series of virtual classes that you can take from anywhere live via Zoom, [00:10:00] and then take classes on demand. And just recently this year we created a on-Demand library subscription, which are not live classes, but it is a huge library of classes that you can take anytime, anywhere.
Shuva Rahim: That's a lot.
And your small group classes are up to five people, correct?
Carey Sadler: Yes. Yep. So we keep 'em small mat sessions, we keep at five equipment sessions we keep at four. Really our sessions are taught to who is coming to class that day. One of the things that I love about Pilates and just movement in general is that small group atmosphere where the teacher's really able to tailor to the people in the group.
Shuva Rahim: Yeah. Okay. I know you probably have a lot of these, but is there a client success story that sticks out to you? Can you share one with us
Carey Sadler: so that you're right in the fact that so many clients coming in and out, but one, because I know she won't mind me sharing [00:11:00] with you. We have a client named Pam who has been coming to us and she's currently in studio my oldest client at 87 years old who came to us.
Nine years ago or something, started Pilates because some friends were like, do you wanna come to Pilates with me? And she was like, sure, I'll try this thing out. She loved it From the get-go, she started coming consistently and just such a great example for others as they're aging of like the power of consistent movement in their life and what it can do for you.
So I guess that's the one that stands out to me. And she's a little bit famous around the studio because she actually has a sign up in the studio that says Pam's Tower wanted the piece of equipment. She's such a regular that very early on when she was coming, it was the joke.
If you came to class and a new person came in and sat on her tower, [00:12:00] she would walk in and give you this look And everybody was like, that is Pam's Tower. Yeah. And she's the sweetest of course, but it was just a silly thing. So at some point got her a sign.
Shuva Rahim: That's funny. I wondered what that backstory of that sign, so that's good to know.
Carey Sadler: One year for her birthday, she came in and we had the sign for her and Oh, that's funny. And we've it ever since.
Shuva Rahim: So that's really funny. This is more of a side comment, but you're also very pet friendly.
Carey Sadler: Ah, yes.
Shuva Rahim: It's not like people are bringing their dogs to class all the time or anything, but it's hard to not notice when there is a furry creature in the studio, in that lobby area, in that community space.
Can you talk a little bit about what kind of pets you've had?
Carey Sadler: That's just one of those things that's just happened organically over the years. I am a pet lover, so love pets, and we have a few clients who will come [00:13:00] in for their private session, or if it's a small group and everybody's cool with it who have a dog, usually it's a dog.
It is a dog coming in who's just really laid back and will just come in and lay down during class not disturb anybody kind of thing. And they'll bring them in with them. If you're a pet person, having your pet with you when you're doing your movement time, I think is a very organic thing for a lot of people.
It makes 'em happy. Just having the pet, your pet there with you. If it's convenient for everybody and works for everybody, it's something we definitely allow. Have, yeah.
Shuva Rahim: That's awesome. Yeah, I have seen some really cute dogs at the studio and yeah, I'm like, oh, can we adopt them?
Very cool. Do you have a favorite Pilates exercise?
Carey Sadler: I would have to say I really love the rolling exercises. If you've done the mat work, rolling like a ball and anything where I'm [00:14:00] rolling through my spine, moving through my back are probably my favorite. Okay. Yeah.
Shuva Rahim: What is the exercise you think that people find the most challenging collectively?
Carey Sadler: I'm gonna just say maybe at first it's what I would call picky articulation, things like. Rolling through your spine. Often you'll hear us say things like one vertebra at a time or one little section at a time. And I think if you're new to that, that can be a challenge or it's an idea maybe you've never thought of before moving segmentally through your spine.
But I think it's also a very key component in Pilates because something we work on a lot is mobility in our back and mobility in our spine. So that one can be a challenge when you're first figuring it out. The fun thing I think is usually once you figure it out and grasp it, then you learn to love it because it feels good. But
Shuva Rahim: yeah, comes with practice, I think. Like at least [00:15:00] for me, I'm definitely following the cues, but it's gotten more natural the more I do it. And I haven't done it in a while, so I should probably go back in the studio and do some Pilates.
All right, so how can people find Rivercity Pilates?
Carey Sadler: Ah, yep. You can find us online, www.Rivercitypilates.com. And then we're also on Facebook and Instagram just under Rivercity Pilates. You can find us there.
Shuva Rahim: Okay, and one thing to note is your clientele is predominantly local. Of course, but with the video library and the virtual classes, you can literally be anywhere in the world.
Carey Sadler: Yes. It's so true. Yes. And it's a fun thing that's happened during the pandemic and post pandemic is that we do have clients all over the country, we have clients who end up traveling out of the country and they can still practice Pilates with us..
So I [00:16:00] love that.
Shuva Rahim: Yeah. And actually one of your instructors is. She's still overseas.
Carey Sadler: So she was in Turkey for quite a while. She just recently moved back to the U.s, but she's in Florida. Okay. So she teaches virtually for us from Florida.
Shuva Rahim: That's awesome. Yeah. Wow. Rivercity Pilates changing the world. One exercise at a time. I love it. Awesome. All right very good. This was a lot of fun and it was nice to hear about how the studio has grown and I know a lot of the story, but it's still just nice for people to hear about it and learn about it, I think, and hopefully try Pilates out in some way.
I know you recently. Got a new website, which I think looks really cool. Two closing questions. Book recommendation and a travel recommendation.
Carey Sadler: We'll go with book first. One of my favorite books to recommend is actually a series. They're called the Sara Books. [00:17:00] Esther Hicks and as a coach and a teacher I'm always fascinated with mindset when it comes to just all things.
And so these books, they're based on talking a little bit about the law of attraction and mindset toward different things and I love them because they're actually written for kids. So they're actually just these really what I think are interesting stories, easy, I love to listen to books, so I'll listen to them.
So many great kind of messages and things to think about in them. So some of my favorites. And then, oh, travel destination. This summer we visited Utah and I have to say, so it's fresh in my head. So fabulous. We went to Arches National Park and just had such a great time. I knew from people telling me it was gonna be beautiful and lots of things to do, but if you're an [00:18:00] outdoor person, I would definitely recommend utah. Utah is very pretty. One of my episodes. I'll have a race review that I did in Utah in the fall. I didn't get to go to Arches, but we went to Zion. Oh yes. It's also pretty cool.
Shuva Rahim: Yeah. Utah is very scenic. I remember seeing the photos that you posted. They were just Insanely beautiful. You had a great
Carey Sadler: time. We joked on the trip it almost got silly how everything was just postcard pretty. Every time you turned around you're like, oh my gosh, look at that. Look like you almost got used to it. You know what I mean? Yeah. It was just so beautiful.
Shuva Rahim: Yeah. Awesome. All right, thank you so much Carey. This has been a lot of fun and I can't wait for more people to learn about Pilates.
Carey Sadler: Yay, thanks for having me. Loved it.
Shuva Rahim: Yeah, thanks.