New York Pilates (newyorkpilates.com) has gained a cult following since the opening of its first studio nearly 10 years ago. Now, thanks to its fearless founders (and husband-wife duo) Heather Andersen and Brion Isaacs, it has opened the doors to its eighth space in Bridgehampton. We sat down with the power players to talk all things pilates.
New York Pilates founders and owners, Heather Andersen and Brion Isaacs
LET’S GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING. IT’S BEEN NEARLY 10 YEARS SINCE YOUR FIRST STUDIO IN NEW YORK OPENED ITS DOORS. WHAT WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND YOUR FIRST OPENING?
HA: Before the opening of our first studio, I had already been teaching Pilates for about eight years. I spent so much time working in various studios and really felt like there was a gap in the market for a studio that was centered around its clients’ fitness goals. At the time, the majority of Pilates was only available as private sessions, and studios tended to have more of a therapeutic focus. I wanted to be able to take a challenging, fun Pilates class, but that wasn’t really available. On top of that, there also wasn’t a branded experience in the Pilates market, so both of those factors really encouraged us to open our first location.
BI: To add to that, before we opened our first studio together, I had my own art gallery and design studio, and I was working as an active DJ and musician. Heather and I truly mixed both of our talents together to make this a really unique fitness experience in New York City.
Andersen and Isaacs atop their 1964 Ford Ranchero in Montauk
YOU’VE NOW EXPANDED TO EIGHT LOCATIONS AND 13 STUDIOS! WHAT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY?
BI: Ah, there are truly so many things! I think one of the main things that we’ve learned is to lead and build the community you want… and to recognize that as a founder and visionary of a company, no one else is going to be able to achieve your goal for you. You have to become that leader that you wish you had. Heather and I started this company really young—we were in our late 20s—and there was always this idea that maybe one day someone would come in and make all of your dreams come true. But, we realized along the way that we are that person. Only you can make those dreams come true, and you have to do that by having an extremely clear vision and an extremely strong way of communicating. Usually, you don’t have those skills at that age, so developing and growing into that was an extremely unique and amazing opportunity that we have proudly achieved.
HA: To be really successful in any business, you need your product to be great. There are so many brands that spend the majority of their energy on ideas that seem successful from an external perspective, but to build something that really resonates with people on a deeper level, you’ll have to work on ideas from an internal perspective first. The brand’s core values have to live inside your product (or, for us, our classes). From the start, we knew our core values needed to be built from the inside out and be very apparent in our classes and studios.
WHAT CAN GUESTS EXPECT FROM YOUR SIGNATURE ABS ARMS ASS CLASS?
HA: At every Abs Arms Ass class, guests can expect to do two rounds of abs, arms and ass. Inside the class, the instructor will give advancements and modifications throughout—as well as spring tension options, so guests can make the exercise easier or harder, depending on their strength level. It is a completely customizable experience that can accommodate everyone, from strong athletes to people who are maybe deconditioned and coming back to exercise.
YOUR MOST RECENT STUDIO IN BRIDGEHAMPTON OPENED THIS PAST MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. HOW HAS THE HAMPTONS COMMUNITY SUPPORTED YOU OVER THE SUMMER?
HA: The community has been so supportive and excited to officially have us out East this summer. And we are so thrilled to announce that we’ll be staying open year-round in Bridgehampton. Our students have been asking about our plans for a while, and they were stunned to hear that we are staying. We feel very connected to the Hamptons community and are honored to stay open year-round.
BI: I grew up in New York, and I will say that gr owing up somewhere where very few people are actually local and live year-round makes it really easy to relate to a place that sees a lot of people come in for a season and then leave. I believe that the most authentic way we could provide community and quality service to people was to build a permanent location for the brand. We’ve been attempting to do this since we opened in 2015, but it kept getting pushed back. Last year was the first time we’ve been able to stay open all year and create that demand. It feels amazing to be able to bring this really healthy product to people. It seems like if everybody around here could stay open just a little bit longer, it would help grow this community and create a more dynamic place to be all the time. It’s one of those things where you have to build it, and then it will come. It’s a risk, but it’s a risk that we’re really happy and proud to take.
Photography by: ALL PHOTOS BY WIL WEISS
