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Community Highlights: Meet Melissa B. Quezada of Perfectly Fit Pilates

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa B. Quezada.

Melissa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began dancing recreationally at 7-years-old and professionally at 14. After dancing domestically and internationally for 12 years, I pursued Pilates to keep practicing my love for Precision, Poise, and Purpose in a different form. I founded Perfectly Fit in 1995 out of a passion for sharing the fantastic transformative benefits of Pilates with my community. I started teaching out of my dining room while building my first studio location in San Marino. The rapid growth and loyalty of my clientele in San Marino inspired me to open a studio closer to home in La Cañada Flintridge. The La Cañada location opened in 1997. After five years of operating both studios while raising three children, I focused my attention on the La Cañada Flintridge location. We’ve been in operation there for 26 years, serving over 75 families in the community that calls Perfectly Fit their “fitness home.”

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The best struggle I can think of is balancing running a business while raising three children. I strive to give my best to both my family and my staff of teachers. My team of teachers give their best, and a few of my teachers also have families to take care of and children to raise. Whenever it became difficult to balance the two, my staff supported and covered each other. Helping the people around you is essential if you’re trying to grow as an individual or a business. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed this being something that many other companies seem to miss. But it’s simple: When we lift others, that also lifts us.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?

To cultivate the highest level of teaching, one should always remain a student of their craft. My very first Pilates teacher was Mari Windsor over 30 years ago. A few years after being certified, I started training privately with Jay Grimes every week. Jay Grimes learned from Joseph Pilates and taught at his original studio in New York. Weekly lessons with Jay Grimes for 15 years is what inspired me to bring Classical apparatus into the studio. I wanted to offer clients the best of both worlds by providing a mixture of classical and contemporary apparatus in the studio. I feel that this enables each client to have the best pilates experience possible because their sessions can be perfectly tailored to every aspect of their body’s needs at any age or ability level.

My staff acts much like a family, supporting each other as they strive to learn, grow, and work as a team. For example, two trainers who have very different work approaches will often share the same client. They both work toward the particular client’s unique needs and goals and converse with one another from week to week to discuss their progress. Collaboration enables clients to bridge a connection to what they’ve learned from one teacher to another and beyond the studio in the way they move in their daily lives.

Our success has come from a combination of word of mouth, hard work, and commitment to each client. Perfectly Fit is a studio where you still want to be there no matter what kind of day you’re having because we foster a supportive and caring atmosphere. We meet clients where they are each day and ensure each client leaves feeling better than when they come in.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?

We offer training in the form of 50-minute private sessions, as well as duet sessions to all ages and all bodies. To schedule, simply give us a call and we will work on getting you started.

After 26 years of being in business, we have just recently begun sharing online through social media platforms. Please support us by following us and sharing our content with friends!

Pricing:

  • For new clients, we offer a special package of 3 Private Sessions for $195. This gives you the opportunity to become familiar with the apparatus, and to really see and feel the difference.
  • A single private session is regularly priced at $85. Sessions are 50 minutes.
  • Ongoing Package options start at $425 for 5 Sessions, $800 for 10 Sessions, & $1500 for 20 Sessions.

Contact Info:

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