Today we’d like to introduce you to Magen Benedetto
Hi Magen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Before I ended up in the fitness and wellness industry professionally, it had always been a side hobby and personal passion of mine. I initially had a different career in brand communication and content management at various agencies and corporations, having received a Master’s at NYU in print and digital media in 2016. I always took my own health and fitness seriously, dedicating myself to various modalities such as olympic weightlifting, strength training, functional fitness and pilates. This led me to getting my personal training certification in 2017 from ACE and my comprehensive pilates certification with Keary Ann Bixby in 2020. I had always loved movement and fitness and did it on the side for friends, coworkers and clients, offering group classes, personal training sessions and even leading wellness initiatives at the companies I worked for. Finally in 2019 I decided I was going to start the transition to do it full time and make it my career. Throughout the ups and downs of 2020 I had slowly begun phasing out of my corporate life and made moves to open my own pilates and movement studio that offered group classes and privates and by June of 2021, The Body Process opened it’s doors officially. We had an amazing start and even expanded in October of 2022, creating two distinct studio experiences, one specifically for our private sessions and trainings and one dedicated to group classes.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being a small business owner, it’s never a smooth road, especially when opening at the tail end of a pandemic. It was an interesting world to navigate as folks began to congregate again in person and take classes together indoors. We had to keep up with the different regulations of local government in terms of mask and vaccine policies, continue our communications with clients and staff to ensure everyone felt informed and safe and maintain the overall health of the studio during each phase of the pandemic and the different variants of COVID. Luckily, our community was extremely resilient and respectful and we grew every month, despite the challenges we faced. I think folks desired community again and as a local fitness studio in the neighborhood, we provided that. Folks felt connected again, even through masks and social distancing protocols. Even after we got through those challenges, small businesses consistently face hurdles from finding the right locations to proper permitting and the taxes and fees associated with starting and growing a business in Los Angeles but it’s part of the process of going into business for yourself. You learn to move with the twists and turns and come out the other end even stronger.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Body Process?
The Body Process is a Pilates and Movement studio, primarily known for offering group fitness classes on the reformer as well as private and semi-private sessions with certified instructors at a fully equipped private studio. We also pride ourselves on our continued education for our communities through various pilates workshops geared toward deepening our members’ pilates practice and their understanding of this modality as well as trainings for aspiring or current instructors. We usually offer a yearly teacher training, continued education on different pilates apparatus and specific educational workshops on perinatal fitness, injury prevention or advanced exercises.
We are different from other fitness and pilates studios in that our focus as never been the aesthetic pressure. That isn’t what we sell and not what our goal is for our community. While that can be a happy byproduct for some and a personal goal of our members and clients, we focus on helping folks move their body and feel their best. We’re advocates for moving daily for both mental and physical health and steer clear of the “weight-loss” narrative and language because we believe in celebrating what you and your body are capable of rather than how it looks. That can be intimidating and debilitating in a group fitness class, let alone in Los Angeles. We think there’s enough pressure out there for people so why not have a space where for 50 minutes out of your day you can simply do something you love, move your body and not feel judged or insecure. We want folks to enjoy their movement and workout rather than seeing it as an obligatory punishment for their body.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I think providing a safe space for everyone to move their body with confidence matters most to myself and our team. Empowering folks in a class with education, support and guidance is the best feeling in the world and why we do what we do.
Pricing:
- New Client 1 week unlimited pass for $5o
- New Client Private Package: 3 privates for $265
- Unlimited monthly membership for $275 a month
- Class and private package options
- Donation-Based Community Classes
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thebodyprocess.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_bodyprocess/#
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBodyProcess
- Yelp: https://www.facebook.com/TheBodyProcess
Image Credits
Isaac Wingold
