One woman, one year ago, with one person in a class; read below and get to know one of Barre Intensity's trained instructors, Kara Robinson, and her journey to the barre and beyond.
What is your background in the fitness industry?
Barre Intensity is where it’s all started for me. I’m currently an instructor at Studio 11 in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Master Trainer, Elyssa Sardy, led the first and only training I’ve ever participated in back in May of 2018. As a young girl, I took ballet and didn’t really know what barre was until I took my first class. I began teaching the technique in August of 2018. I’ve always been an avid runner and a healthy eater but Barre Intensity really changed my body composition.
What do you love most about being a barre instructor?
I personally love the community my barre classes create for those who attend. Barre Intensity consistently creates new content and clips each month to help keep the creativity fresh in my classes. I’ve been an avid user of BarreNow since I completed my training. I really enjoy incorporating different movements and props into my classes each week. You’ll find me on the edge of my seat each month waiting for a new class to release and share with my clients. It’s so nice hearing the feedback from clients too! They usually let me know by the next class how sore they are. It’s wonderful seeing the same reaction from others that I had as a member.
What inspired you to take the leap from a taker of barre to a teacher of barre?
It took a few things to help me take the leap. First, my husband. Month after month of taking classes he’d say, “you’re really getting defined” and he showed me a picture of my progress. I was shocked! I could finally see the definition in my body that I had been working hard for since my last pregnancy. It was all because of Barre Intensity.
Second, my fellow instructor, Kylie. Kylie is also a Barre Intensity instructor and the only person I took classes from. I really wanted to be as good as Kylie so I had to put the practice in. I’m a very Type A personality, but in a lazy way (laugh). I really have a hard time winging things. Kylie went out on leave for surgery and I had to step up to help out because she was our only barre instructor. The leap came quicker than I expected but it’s been an amazing leap at that!
How have you grown from one class with one person to more?
Starting out as a sub for a really amazing instructor was at first challenging. I started with sometimes 1 person in 1 class. Attendance really never went above 4. At one point the studio added a new class time and it was a standstill with a big ole 0 in attendance. That can be discouraging. So I turned to social media for some help. I created a personal FaceBook page, Barre Intensity by Kara, and started creating events. I would invite anyone and everyone to each of the events and it went well! Attendance started to increase from 0 to 10 and in a couple of months I had my first “over capacity class”.
It really takes putting yourself out there and connecting with your community. Creating themed classes like, “Bring Your Bae to Barre” add fun and involve new faces to the classroom. I currently teach 4 classes a week and hope to add a 5th class this Summer.
I’ve learned that having the tools to do something isn’t always the end all be all, you have to put those tools to work. My goals are to become more involved with Barre Intensity and continue to grow my community in the classroom.