This Mat & Chat was hosted on on Instagram Live on Sunday, March 13th, 2021. The chat followed a 25 minute mat workout.
Victoria: I told Rachael- I was out late last night, drank a little- regretting it today!
Rachael: You needed it!
Victoria: Thank you so much! Oh my God, that was amazing.
Rachael: Look at you!
Victoria: For those watching at home, that was an amazing example of how you can make the beginner system- what did we add? Swimming, swan? That’s it? I mean, footwork obviously. But how you can make the beginner system so freakin’ challenging. You can stay in that beginner and literally murder somebody. My right leg is like Jell-O. You’re like: “Straighten your leg.” And I was like: “Um…” Oh, look- Bess! Bess says: “I’m dead too.” Thank you, Bess. I’m glad. Solidarity over here.
So for those of you who are just tuning in, if you didn’t hear my intro in the beginning, I’m live with Rachael Lieck Bryce. She’s a classical instructor who is now in Virginia, but has spent a lot of time between Virginia and Texas, Virginia and Texas- bouncing back and forth. Now in Virginia. So you described a really abbreviated version of your journey in the beginning, but I want to go back to all of it and talk about it more deeply, especially because we have a lot of really exciting things to talk about regarding your space in Virginia! You’re in a barn right now- is that a window behind you?
Rachael: So that is this beautiful stained glass that gets all lit up. It’s lovely. We have some windows that go to the beautiful outside. I had to bring a chandelier with me-
Victoria: Of course!! Like Pilates Methodology.
Rachael: Yes!
Victoria: Okay, so that will be the grand finale thing we talk about I think. That will keep people hooked until the end. So guys, if you’re interested in knowing what’s going on in Rachael’s life, it will be the last thing we mention- so you have to stick around for the entire chat. Sorry! *laughs* So anyways- Rachael, you are originally from Texas?
Rachael: I am. I am a born and raised Texan. I’m very proud of my lineage. You might not know this, but I am Texas royalty.
Victoria: I did not know that. Is that where your love of chandeliers comes from?
Rachael: Well, that comes from old houses and my love for very old things.
Victoria: So what, are you a debutante?
Rachael: Oh God, no. It just means that my family settles Texas before it was part of the United States. The Republic of Texas, when that was still a thing.
Victoria: Wow, so was that hard to leave at the time?
Rachael: Yes, so without the full long story-because that requires a martini- I married my husband and on our honeymoon, I think he was having this moment. At the time I was a single mom, and I think he had this moment where he was like: “Oh my God, I have a full-on family now. I better up my game.” So on the beaches of Hawaii, he was like: “I’m thinking of getting an MBA.” And I said: “Okay!” Like, whatever. It didn’t really mean much to me. He was like: “Yeah, I think I’m going to apply to business school. But it was like third round, and I don’t think I’m even going to get in.” So he was going to apply to some of the top-level schools in the U.S. I didn’t really think he was going to get in! *laughs* So lo-and-behold, he did! So we celebrated our first anniversary in Virginia, in Charlottesville, because he got into the Darden School of Business at UVA. When I got the phone call, I had been teaching for roughly 5 years at that point-
Victoria: In Texas?
Rachael: In Texas. In Austin. I loved the studio in Texas that I taught at. I had a dance company there that I had developed with friends. I had my life there, my clients- they came to my wedding. My family was there. So when I got that phone call that he got in, I hung up like: “Oh that’s wonderful honey.” I hung up the phone and started bawling. I was so upset. One of my clients at the time said to me: “What if you look back and this ends up being the best thing you ever did for your life?” And that is truly what happened. But I can tell you that when we loaded all of our sugar, honey, and iced tea in the moving van, driving, leaving the house that I owned in Austin, that my daughter was born in- I bawled the whole way to the Texas border.
Victoria: You drove to Virginia?
Rachael: We were poor college students, newly wed. Are you kidding? Yes, we rented the biggest Penske truck you could get. My friends were with my daughter and sweet dog in the Suburban, behind us, and we drove all the way to Virginia- we had a couple of stops on the way. When we got to Virginia, I started having the notion that I was going to open a studio, because I felt like it was the first time in my life…like I said, I had been teaching for 5 years at that point, I interviewed at a couple of studios, and it was- I’ll be polite- it was not-
Victoria: It was not the right fit.
Rachael: There wasn’t any classical studio that I could necessarily find, so everybody thought I was nuts, because and MBA program is only 2 years, and then you are super unlikely to stay where you are, and everybody thought I was crazy. A couple of close people next to me said: “If you think you can do it, go on with your bad self.”
Victoria: Those are the important people.
Rachael: I said, I’m going to open it and I’m going to sell it in two years. Then lo and behold, this beautiful woman named Grace came into my life- she’s still one of my best friends- do you want to meet her?
Victoria: Wait- is this the Grace that’s there right now?
Rachael: Yeah! Do you want to meet her?
Victoria: Yeah! Grace, sorry- putting you on the spot!
Rachael: Ya’ll don’t know this, but while Victoria was suffering, so was my very good friend Grace. Come on! Come over.
Victoria: Grace, come say hi- it’s your moment.
Rachael: So Grace started out as one of my part-time teachers.
Victoria: Hi Grace! We don’t often get cameos- this is so fun!
Rachael: She was silently suffering with you.
Victoria: Grace, that was a hard one! I hope it was just as hard for you as it was for me.
Grace: It was extremely hard.
Rachael: So Grace was a yoga teacher, and I brought her to the dark side.
Victoria: So Grace, do you still have the studio?
Grace: I do!
Rachael: She does! Grace, how long have you owned Momentum now, 13 years?
Grace: Since 2008.
Victoria: Momentum Pilates? Is that what it’s called?
Rachael: Momentum Pilates Studio.
Victoria: And where is it in Virginia?
Rachael: Charlottesville, Virginia.
Victoria: Okay, plugging, plugging! Everybody go!
Rachael: She’s done an amazing job. That was a very intense negotiation. We couldn’t talk for a year, and then when we saw each other we just wept. And now we can’t be pulled apart.
Victoria: That’s why you moved back to Virginia, right?
Rachael: I’m not going to lie, she was a large part of the equation.
So we landed in Dallas because of my husband’s work. I worked at a studio there because at the time I was still with Power Pilates.
Victoria: Oh yeah, wait. At what point did you bridge to Power?
Rachael: So I was first with Colleen Glenn, and then I think I had been teaching maybe 4 years, and I bridged with Power.
Victoria: In Texas?
Rachael: In Texas. And then, when I moved to Virginia, Kathy Moran (for those of you that know her), she and I had developed a bit of a relationship, and I became a host studio for Power, while I was in Virginia. It didn’t make sense if I was going to be leaving, would I got through the teacher training, and what would that look like. So when I landed in Dallas two years later, I started to go through the Power Pilates teacher training program. That is where I really got to absorb great time with Bob, and Susan Moran.
Victoria: Susan’s here too! I just saw her- she waved.
Rachael: Susan!! I have tons of love because every step of the way, regardless of what choices I ended up making moving forward, I can look back and know where my education came from and the people that influenced me and what made me the teacher I am today. I have so much respect for the people that I spent time with.
When I got to Dallas, I worked at the regional Power Pilates studio, and I became a teacher trainer there.
Victoria: When did you meet Juan [Estrada]?
Rachael: *laughs* When did I meet Juan? Juan and I met at the very beginning of my Power journey. I feel like I probably met him in New York- I think- he’d have to correct me if I’m wrong. Let’s call it a good 10+ years ago. It’s funny how much our lives have sort of stayed parallel with each other.
Victoria: Yeah! Power Pilates, Real Pilates.
Rachael: Yes, Power Pilates, Real Pilates. When I landed in Dallas, while I loved the woman who worked there- her name was Veronica, and we have a long history together, and I was glad for what I did. I hated working for somebody else. I was already ruined! I already had the studio in Virginia, and I had a waitlist for the waitlist. I was on studio ownership high and then I started working for somebody else who did not put a lot of their Pilates- the program was amazing, and the woman who ran it was amazing, but the facility it was in really cared much more about their personal training. That was a hard hit for me. I obviously am super passionate about Pilates and what I do- I love it. So, there was no changing my mind. I spent three very long years there.
Victoria: At that studio?
Rachael: At that studio. But I had another child, my boy Clark, and so- like I said, even the things I didn’t love, I can still look back and be grateful for what it got me. So I had my son and then when he was about 2 years old, not even two- 14 months, I met a woman and decided to open studio number two, which was called Classic Pilates, in Dallas. While I loved that experience, I would say that partnership was not for me.
Victoria: *laughs* I see where this is going.
Rachael: We are on good terms- it took a little while, but I will just say that it was necessary to have a divorce.
Victoria: I see you looking at Grace.
Rachael: *laughs* People often ask if I am a serial starter of things. I would say “maybe” now. But at the time, I would say it was circumstantial. At the time, I sold the first studio because we weren’t staying in the same town. And then, that second relationship did not work well. We had very different ideas about how things should be run. But again, that then allowed me to really identify what I really wanted, even more so. I would say that Pilates Methodology, my third studio in Dallas, really identified who I was as an owner and manager, and who I wanted to be. There were lots of mistakes along the way- don’t get me wrong. A lot of hard lessons to learn.
There was a lot of success there- I had amazing team by the time I left. The team that I cultivated in the last two years of being there, after we culled the herd a little bit was phenomenal, and still is. They’re still in tact. I met some great people along the way- one of them, at the very beginning of the process, and actually when I owned studio #2. Actually, Simona [Cipriani] who you had on not too long ago- she had fabulous conferences- “The Art of Contrology” conferences. I went to the first one she had, I think I went to the first and the second one, and that’s where I met Alycea [Ungaro].
Victoria: Oh, really! Interesting!
Rachael: I took her business workshop, of course- she’s the queen bee- and she’ll laugh, but it was this whole: “You went into the kitchen to make meatloaf and you got distracted by the chicken”- it’s a long metaphor, but it was like everything she said was like: “Oh my God- that’s amazing, that’s amazing!” and I couldn’t write fast enough. So I decided from that point forward that I was just going to follow her around, because she was the next person that I was ready to learn from. Through a couple of years of developing a relationship, she asked me to come on board her team, and how could I say no? So I went through Real Pilates teacher training, and then I went through another learning to be a lead trainer for Alycea, so now I’ve been a lead trainer for Alycea Ungaro for a few years now.
Victoria: Yeah, and Pilates Methodology was a host studio!
Rachael: Pilates Methodology was the first host studio in Texas- apparently Karen [Winselmann] in Florida has me beat for who was the actual first host studio.
Victoria: So exciting!
Rachael: I know! And then it meant that I got to meet a whole slew of other people and train more folks and have a great journey. Then the pandemic hit, the shutdown hit. It was the first time that I was truly able to be still in about 15 years. And my first and only objective was to get Pilates Methodology to the other side. I had a robust staff and team- it was very important to me to keep them working and to make sure that they had a studio to return to on the flip so. So I did that successfully- thank God. When I got to the other side, I was toast. I won’t use this to talk about my son, but there’s a whole story there. Anybody can reach out to me if they need help with special cases with their kids- not just Pilates. But I always felt that my son could benefit from being out in the countryside, which is how I was actually raised- in the Texas hill country. I rode horses, those people that don’t know. I was a barrel-racer.
Victoria: That’s so cool!
Rachael: So I felt strongly that my son could benefit from that. We had a lot of love for Virginia and our time here, and of course there’s Grace.
Victoria: Right, the #1 reason, really.
Rachael: I looked at my husband in late August, and I said: “Let’s go back to Virginia.” And he said: “Let’s go!.”
Victoria: Where is he from?
Rachael: He’s a Texas boy, born and raised. Austin city boy! He full on went to Austin High, if you’ve ever seen the movie Slackers.
Victoria: So two Texans go to Virginia.
Rachael: Two Texans go to Virginia. From the point where he said: “Let’s go”- I don’t think he quite knew, but he does know my speed- in less than two months we sold our house, I sold the studio- my third studio- and we bought a farm in Virginia.
Victoria: I want to take all the time we need to talk about the cliffhanger we mentioned ten minutes ago- what your fourth and final venture might be, will be- in Virginia.
Rachael: So, first of all, I said that to my husband the other night: “My fourth, and potentially final business venture.” And he looked at me and said: “How old are you?” *laughs* and he started laughing and was like: “Yeah, right!” We’re going to call it my fourth and potentially final.
Victoria: I like that better. Leave the door open.
Rachael: That’s right. So drumroll…
Victoria: *makes drumroll noise*
Rachael: I have decided to open a Pilates retreat here at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and its name is going to be Heirloom Springs.
Victoria: It sounds wonderful. Oh- Juan just walked in! Juan, you joined right in time for her announcement!
Rachael: My big announcement- Heirloom Springs. So my focus here is going to be farm, food, and of course Pilates. This beautiful barn that you see, that I’ve given you a little snapshot of- we’ll wind up having some equipment here. There will be some tables and chairs. While I have totally shifted gears here, and I’m not going to lie, Victoria- for the first couple of months I was kind of stuck- what am I doing, who do I want to be when I grow up? You know, going through that whole process again. So I decided- alright, the first thing I’m going to focus on is farm. As I mentioned, my sweet boy Clark- we have big ducklings coming this week. Bees, honeybees are coming next month, baby chicks are coming next month. I don’t know if you can hear it occasionally, but there’s a tractor and Juan, I’m not going to lie, he’s kind of smokin’- but he’s outside working on my gardens. I’ve ben an avid gardener my whole adult lift. The name “Heirloom”- it speaks to-
Victoria: Tomatoes.
Rachael: It’s a little bit beyond that, but yes- tomatoes.
Victoria *laughs* Of course it’s more than just tomatoes!!
Rachael: To be fair, “Heirloom” is yes- lots of tomatoes, but it means that it is old seed that it can be traced back to their starting point.
Victoria: Right. Like a family heirloom.
Rachael: They have kept their integrity of where they came from. For years, I have only planted heirloom seeds. I grow heirloom roses. And then, there’s the cooking part, so for those of you who really know me, gardening and cooking have certainly been my hobbies because they were my stress relief and I could pour my passion and heart into it and really enjoy it. I use very old-school methods of cooking: everything is made from scratch.
There’s also heirloom as it relates to Pilates. Another word for heirloom is legacy. I certainly look at classical Pilates and my endeavor of trying to stay close to the roots of Pilates with Joe- it’s a legacy. The name “Heirloom” was buzzing around. Some of the animals I was looking at are heirloom animals.
Then there’s “Springs”. Springs is kind of easy and straight-forward, right? There’s Pilates springs. All we use is hard, heavy springs.
Victoria: Oh my God, I’m so stupid! I didn’t think of that at all! *laughs*
Rachael: Well, the flip side of it is that there are 7 natural springs on the property. One of which- I said I love old things- our beautiful farm house that is on the property that is over 100 years old, there is a spring- a water spring that has supplied the house water for over 100 years and continues to be piped to the house.
Victoria: That is so cool! That’s amazing.
Rachael: So- Heirloom Springs. My hope, the big dream- it’s starting to take shape, which is super exciting. Because I am now a serial starter of things, I love the beginning parts of the creativity: finding the name, the logo, what’s it going to do, how do I want it to look, etc. So right now, it looks something like we will have a focus on gardening, what that is like, and be able to eat the things that are grown here. I’m putting in an entire stone fruit orchard that will take a little while to take shape. We will do hiking, there are 67 acres here, and most of them are forested. Grace actually leads hiking legitimately with UVA, so she will be our hiking instructor. She barely knows that- she knows now.
Victoria: That’s Grace’s big announcement.
Rachael *laughs* Yes, that’s Grace’s big announcement. We will probably also add things like yoga in the forest, picnic lunches in the forest. There is a gazebo over in what we call the back pasture. There is a creek that is flowing- amazing water. And we will also do Pilates education here- obviously. I am talking to Alycea about what it looks like- I can’t say anything of that yet since it is not fully formed, but there will be education here, and we will probably do education weekends here. There might be some retreats that are more like “relax, unplug”- there is very low cell service here, so you have to unplug which I love. You get to just be. Then there will also be intensive education hosted here.
Victoria: Awesome, that’s so great. Super exciting- I am so excited for you! It sounds like you’ve been able to channel all of your passions and callings in to one. If you are lucky enough to be able to do that you’ve hit the jackpot. You described how at Pilates Methodology, you learned more about who you are and who you want to be, and now it seems like you are fulfilling that in Virginia, which is so cool.
Rachael: Yes, I would absolutely say that.
Rachael’s Speed Round
City or beach- Mountains!
Sweet or savory?
Cat or dog?
Adventure or comfort? Middle- glamping
Books or movies?
Nights in or nights out? Unless I can set super dressed up!
Summer or winter?
Tea or coffee?
Early bird or night owl?
Pizza or pasta?
Europe or Asia?
Spring or fall?
Breakfast or dinner?