Hidden Gems: Meet Amy Carpenter of Grove Pilates and Boutique

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Carpenter.

Hi Amy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My husband Mike and I are professional skydivers. Mike has over 12,000 skydives, is a World Cup Champion in Freefly, is a 12-time British national skydiving champion and also the head coach for the US national skydiving team, he has multiple state, national and world big-way records. I have over 5,000 skydives, silver medalist in 4-way VFS, and have multiple state, national and world big-way records. We decided to open our own pilates studio in California and live the dream, and we are doing that! I’ve taken a break from skydiving, and we now have 2 little babies, Jay and Ben! Grove is a place where we want everyone to feel safe, loved and move their bodies. I’ve dedicated the rest of my life to helping people look and feel good, inside and out! I have AMAZING instructors and managers and we are truly living the dream with Grove Pilates.

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?
We opened Straight Up Pilates in 2014 and before that, I was a manager at Marquis Pilates in Tierrasanta. That way I could learn the ropes of running a studio before opening my own. I had this studio until the pandemic, which I lost SO much money. Fortunately, I was able to focus on my baby and press the reset button since I had been teaching since 2012. When restrictions let up, I was ready to go big. I purchased a commercial building, rebranded to Grove Pilates and Boutique and now my business is thriving and all of the hard work paid off!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Grove Pilates and Boutique?
We definitely have a different business model than a lot of the reformer pilates franchises. We are ONLY a reformer-based studio and all of my instructors come from different backgrounds, have different pasts, different stories, different ways of teaching, different exercises, techniques, and specialties. I feel like all of my instructors can bring a piece of them to their teaching and are better able to bond with their clients. Grove is a community, is a family. We know every person that walks through that door and every new person we make feel welcome and loved. We have a class format for EVERYBODY. Beginner, Stretch, Feel Good, Barre, Cardio, Sculpt, Weights, Classical… so, everyone can find THEIR pilates.

What makes you happy?
Grove, my studio girls, and my family. I feel like they help me become my best self and we all support each other!

Pricing:

• Silver Membership $169 (8 classes)
• Gold Membership $229 (12 classes)
• Platinum Membership $289 (unlimited)
• Privates/Semi-Classes Sessions
• Packages (expiration of one year after purchase)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.grovepilatesandboutique.com
• Instagram: @grovepilatesandboutique
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grovepilatesandboutique

Image Credits
Danielle Zumwalt