I have interviewed enough founders who scaled past a single location to know the moment their story turns: not when they open door number two, but when they realize the thing people loved could get lost along the way if they are not deliberate about protecting it. Karen Lord, Founder of Karen Lord Pilates Movement, never set out to build the biggest Pilates business in Los Angeles. She set out to build an experience worth coming back to.
That distinction has shaped Karen Lord Pilates Movement from the beginning. Lord had a specific vision for what she believed a Pilates studio could offer: exceptional teaching, movement that challenged clients, great music, thoughtful design, and an environment where people wanted to spend their time. As the community grew, so did her understanding of what she had created.
“When I started, I had a clear vision. I wanted to create the kind of Pilates experience I felt was missing: exceptional teaching, challenging movement, great music, and a beautifully designed space people genuinely wanted to come back to.”
— Karen Lord, Founder, Karen Lord Pilates Movement
Eventually, she recognized that the experience wasn’t tied to one physical space. “There was an integral method and an experience that could grow without losing what made it special.”
Today, with four Los Angeles studios and a growing team, Lord is confronting the challenge familiar to many successful founders: how do you expand a business without diluting the qualities that made people care about it in the first place?
Her answer offers a lesson that reaches well beyond Pilates. Growth depends on preserving standards, developing leaders who understand why those standards exist, and creating careers that give talented professionals a reason to grow with the company.
Growth Requires Protecting What Made People Care
Scaling a boutique fitness concept presents a particular challenge. Clients are not simply purchasing access to equipment or a workout. They are buying into an experience shaped by instructors, environment, energy, programming, relationships, and dozens of small details that can be difficult to reproduce.
Lord has approached expansion by becoming more deliberate about those details.
“Growth can’t come at the expense of what made people care about the business in the first place. For us, that means being incredibly protective of the quality of the teaching, the environment, and how clients feel when they walk through the door. As we’ve grown, we’ve deliberately made those things more intentional.”
— Karen Lord
That philosophy reflects how the Pilates consumer has changed, too.
Lord sees today’s clients as increasingly discerning. Access to Pilates has expanded considerably, and consumers have more choices about where and how they train. Simply offering classes is no longer enough to distinguish a studio.
“Clients are much more sophisticated now. They want results, but they also care about the quality of the instruction, the environment, and whether there’s real intention behind what they’re doing.”
— Karen Lord
For trainers, there is an important lesson in that observation. As consumers become more knowledgeable, technical competence becomes the starting point rather than the differentiator. The experience surrounding the instruction matters, from how a client is greeted to how clearly an instructor communicates the purpose of the work.
The same expectations are influencing the professionals choosing where they want to build their careers.
“Instructors are looking for that too,” Lord says. “They want to work somewhere with a point of view, strong standards, and opportunities to develop.”
Her response has been to keep refining the company’s own identity rather than allowing industry trends to define it. “That pushes us to keep refining what we do rather than following where the industry is going.”
The Founder Eventually Has to Learn to Lead Beyond the Room
For many women who build successful fitness and wellness businesses, the first stage of entrepreneurship begins with expertise. They know how to teach, coach, create an experience, and build relationships with clients.
Growth eventually asks for a different skill set.
Lord experienced that transition firsthand.
“It’s been a huge evolution,” she says. “Teaching Pilates and leading a company require very different skills.”
The qualities that make someone an exceptional practitioner do not automatically prepare them to set expectations for a growing organization, develop other leaders, navigate difficult decisions, or maintain consistency across multiple locations. Lord had to learn those skills while simultaneously protecting the standards behind her name.
“I’ve had to learn how to communicate expectations clearly, make difficult decisions, and give people room to grow without losing the standards that define us,” she says. “Leadership is ultimately about creating clarity and consistency while still allowing people to bring themselves to the work.”
That balance is especially important in a coaching environment. Too little consistency and the client experience changes depending on who happens to be teaching. Too much rigidity and talented professionals have little room to develop their own voice.
Lord’s approach offers a useful leadership cue for trainers moving into management: “Understand the standard, understand why it exists, and then learn how to uphold it without asking everyone to become the same person.”
That philosophy also influences what she looks for as Karen Lord Pilates Movement builds its leadership team.
Exceptional leadership, in Lord’s view, begins with example rather than title.
“They’re accountable, consistent, thoughtful with people, and deeply invested in the client experience,” she says. “I want leaders who understand our standards and values but also deeply know and embody the reasons behind them.”
Her ultimate measure of leadership is even simpler.
“The real test is whether I trust someone to make the right decision for the company when I’m not there.”
— Karen Lord, Founder, Karen Lord Pilates Movement
For a founder whose name is on the door, that trust represents an important stage of growth. A business becomes scalable when its standards can live through other people.
Pilates Needs Career Paths That Go Beyond Teaching More Classes
Lord’s vision for growth also challenges a longstanding limitation within the Pilates profession.
An instructor becomes skilled at teaching, develops a following, and fills a schedule. Then what?
For many professionals, the traditional answer has been more classes, more private clients, or eventually opening a studio of their own. Lord believes the industry can offer more possibilities.
“Pilates has historically been treated as a job where the primary path forward is simply teaching more classes,” she says. “I want to broaden that.”
At Karen Lord Pilates Movement, she sees the instructor role as a potential entry point to several directions within the profession.
“Someone should be able to come here as a talented instructor and develop into a mentor, educator, lead trainer, or leader within the company,” she says. “Our responsibility is to give great people opportunities to keep developing their craft and their careers.”
That idea matters as Pilates continues to attract both consumers and professionals. An expanding modality needs an expanding definition of what a career within it can become.
Teaching more hours has a natural ceiling. Developing people creates another path.
For an instructor considering a new opportunity, that makes the questions asked of a potential employer different. How will you become a better instructor here? Who will mentor you? Can you eventually teach other teachers? Is there a path into education or leadership? Does the organization want your role to grow as your capabilities grow?
Those questions can reveal whether a studio is offering someone a schedule or helping them build a profession.
They also speak directly to the kind of company Lord says she wants to create. Her goal is not simply to attract exceptional instructors. It is to give those instructors enough room to imagine a future within the organization.
Building Something Enduring Changes the Definition of Growth
The fitness industry has no shortage of expansion stories. More locations, more members, more classes, and more revenue provide clear measures of momentum.
Lord is thinking about the next chapter differently.
“I’m much more interested in building something meaningful and enduring than just building something bigger and bigger for the sake of it.”
— Karen Lord
That distinction brings her original vision full circle.
The goal that began with creating a Pilates experience people wanted to return to has expanded into creating a company where both clients and professionals can stay long enough to develop.
“I want Karen Lord Pilates Movement to be a place where clients can develop a lifelong practice and where talented instructors can build meaningful careers they are passionate about,” Lord says.
For clients, a lifelong practice means Pilates becomes more than a class they take during one phase of life. The method can evolve alongside their bodies, goals, and circumstances.
For professionals, longevity requires something different. It means seeing a future beyond next week’s class schedule.
Lord wants both experiences to coexist.
“I want us to continue raising the standard for what modern Pilates can look and feel like,” she says, “both as a practice and as a profession.”
That final phrase may be the more consequential part of the vision.
The growth of Pilates has created tremendous consumer demand. The next challenge for the industry is making sure the careers behind that growth become equally sophisticated.
For women founders such as Lord, that means building businesses that create opportunities for other people as they expand. It means developing leaders rather than retaining every decision at the founder level. It means protecting the qualities that made a brand successful while allowing talented people to contribute to what it becomes next.
Four studios are evidence that Karen Lord Pilates Movement has grown.
The careers built inside them may ultimately say more about what Lord has created.
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Related: What BODYBAR Pilates Figured Out About the Category Everyone Else Was Selling Wrong
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Karen Lord’s approach to growing Karen Lord Pilates Movement?
Karen Lord describes growth as preserving the qualities that made clients care about the company in the first place. As the business has expanded, she has focused on maintaining teaching quality, the studio environment, clear standards, and the way clients experience the brand across locations.
What does Karen Lord look for in Pilates leaders?
Lord values leaders who are accountable, consistent, thoughtful with people, and invested in the client experience. She also wants leaders to understand the reasoning behind the company’s standards so they can make sound decisions independently.
What career opportunities can exist beyond teaching Pilates classes?
Lord believes Pilates professionals should have pathways beyond simply increasing the number of classes they teach. She envisions talented instructors developing into mentors, educators, lead trainers, and organizational leaders as their skills and careers progress.
How has the Pilates industry changed for clients and instructors?
According to Lord, today’s clients are more sophisticated about the quality of instruction, environment, results, and intention behind their training. She sees a similar shift among instructors, who increasingly want strong professional standards, a clear organizational point of view, and opportunities for career development.
Erin Nitschke covers Fitness and Business of Coaching for Coach360News.
About Erin Nitschke
Dr. Erin Nitschke, NSCA-CPT, NFPT-CPT, ACE Health Coach, ACE-CPT, Fitness Nutrition Specialist, Therapeutic Exercise Specialist, Pn1, FNMS, and DSWI Master Health Coach, is a seasoned college professor in health and human performance. She is a nationally recognized presenter, industry writer for IDEA, NFPT, Fitness Education Online, and Youate.com, and an active member of the ACE Scientific Advisory Panel. With extensive experience in health and exercise science, Erin specializes in holistic, evidence-based approaches to wellness. Her passion lies in empowering individuals to lead healthier, more vibrant lives through personalized coaching. Erin’s philosophy centers on education, accountability, and sustainable behavior change—guiding clients to achieve long-term success in nutrition, fitness, stress management, and overall well-being. To connect with Dr. Nitschke, email her at erinmd03@gmail.com or on Instagram: @nitschkeerin
