March 6, 2017

Meet Elizabeth Gayed of The Bar Method in Pasadena

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Gayed.

Elizabeth, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My journey with The Bar Method started when I began taking classes at the West Los Angeles studio in 2004. I immediately loved the studio, exercises, instructors and the amazing and quick results I was seeing from the workout. I introduced one of my closest friends, Kate Kuo, to The Bar Method as well and for the next 5 years we took classes together 4 to 5 times per week.

Over the course of the same time frame, I completed a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, became licensed as a psychologist, and practiced as a psychologist working with college age students. I loved my work as a psychologist and continued to practice for about 10 years, including for the first few years our studio was open. In 2008, The Bar Method began offering opportunities to

In 2008, The Bar Method began offering opportunities to franchise with them we decided to jump on this opportunity to bring a Bar Method studio to Pasadena and be a part of this company that we really loved and in 2009 we opened our location in Old Town Pasadena. The Pasadena community immediately seemed to love the Bar Method and we have now been open for 7 years and have a wonderful and inspiring community of women and men who are devoted Bar Method fans and attend classes with our studio.

I have taken a pause in my clinical practice to focus full time on the studio but continue to make the focus of my professional life helping people create change in their lives. I love connecting with our clients and staff and helping to create a positive and healthy fitness and wellness environment in Pasadena.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
While there have certainly been many new things for me to learn and figure out as a new small business owner in a field that is not necessarily my field of study, I would say that it has been a generally smooth road. It has been helpful to be a part of a national franchise and receive support from our corporate offices as well as other local studio owners. The challenges have come primarily from encountering unexpected day to day problems or situations that need to be resolved or from learning new aspects related to business that I had not encountered in my previous career. Every day presents a new learning opportunity and that is part of what makes being a studio owner rewarding!

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the The Bar Method Pasadena story. Tell us more about the business.
The Bar Method is a 60 minute, targeted, full body workout that combines elements of ballet, yoga, Pilates, and physical therapy to quickly yet safely create change in the body. It is the gold standard of barre-based exercise and emphasizes sculpting more than other bar workouts by targeting the muscles that play the largest role in changing the shape of the body. Its blend of intense strength work, attention to good body alignment, and exceptional teaching has created a devoted following among its students who see significant changes in their body and health.

The two major items that set us apart as a company are The Bar Method exercise technique itself and our instructional style and focus. Each exercise in The Bar Method is specially designed to most effectively target the muscle group it is focused on while simultaneously being the safest for joints, giving you an intense toning workout that visibility changes your body while also protecting and strengthening your body and joints. We also pair each strengthening exercise with a specific lengthening stretch for the muscle group worked which helps create a long, lean, dancer-like physique.

In regard to instruction, clients receive personalized instruction from our instructors while in a fun, energetic class setting. Instructors focus on ensuring each client has their best form in each exercise by providing verbal and physical adjustments to each student throughout class to maximize results.

The Bar Method is appropriate for a wide age range and a variety of body types and the exercises can also be specifically modified to meet the needs of many clients including pregnant women or those rehabilitating from injuries

Since we have opened, we have been so pleased to be part of creating a positive community of men and women devoted to fitness and witnessing the success of our students. Our staff strives to provide a warm, welcoming, and supportive community where our clients feel inspired to strive to create their best selves, physically and personally.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
While there are clearly both fortunate and unfortunate events in life that present themselves due to factors out of an individual’s control, I tend to feel like it is more how you respond and react to these events that is really the determining factor in how much any particular event plays in your life and/or business. I like to try to focus in on any good or fortunate events which occur and build upon them as much as possible and I find that tends to breed other good and fortunate events. While “bad luck” has certainly occurred in the course of my life and in the life of my business, trying to learn from these experiences and put perspectives or procedures in place that minimize the chances of the same or similar unfortunate events happening has really helped minimize the impact of these kinds of things.

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