23 Jul Celebrating 5 yrs: Q&A with Matt and Carrie McCulloch
This August, Kinected turns 5! In celebrating this milestone, we also celebrate everyone — clients, staff & admin alike — who have made our community feel like family and the studio feel like a home. Studio co-owners Matt & Carrie McCulloch share about their experience opening — and co-directing — a small business together.
Kinected: What inspired you to open Kinected?
Matt: Three things: 1. People. I enjoy investing in individuals, whether it is helping someone develop as an educator, Pilates instructor, or a staff member. I like to help people achieve their goals and opening Kinected provided an environment to do so. 2. Pilates. When I first began taking Pilates personally I was fascinated by it’s versatility and limitless potential as an educational tool (for the body and the mind) and as a conditioning modality. 3. Carrie. Carrie attended a Pilates certification that I was teaching years ago. It was also during her first year of medical school at Mount Sinai. During the certification we would often discuss the disconnect between the medical and movement worlds. These conversations evolved and inspired the concept of creating a space that could educate both of these communities on their respective perspectives and modalities. Our goal in creating this space and environment was/is to bring the healthcare continuum closer together as a community, and ultimately helping patients and clients heal and learn as a team.
Carrie: After being both a medical student and Pilates instructor, I was frustrated with the lack of communication between the medical and movement worlds. I wanted to create a place that allowed clients to seamlessly transition from injury to health and for teachers to have access to more education and clinical learning resources. I also wanted to drive Matt crazy by starting a small business together:)! Seriously, though, I could think of no better way to spend a work day other than alongside my own family and the amazing people that make up our Kinected family.
K: What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned as business owners since opening Kinected?
M: It takes a village. The growth of a studio — or any business — is reliant on its community, which includes the staff as well as the customers. Both are equally important and deserve the same attention and investment.
C: Pretty much the same things our son will learn in kindergarten:) Do your best everyday and treat people as you would want to be treated.
K: What makes Kinected unique?
M: Our staff and their commitment to being both excellent teachers and lifelong students, themselves.
C: Our community. Our admitted obsession with learning. Our point of view on and respect of the body. Our sense of family and humor 🙂
K: How would you describe the culture at Kinected?
M: It is a community that thrives on learning about the body–how it moves, how it heals and how it evolves. It’s an egoless environment in which we all want to give our best to the client and share what we can with each other.
C: It’s a family affair, for sure.
K: How have you seen the studio evolve?
M: The physical space has evolved and our staff has tripled in size, and, yet the community seems to have grown tighter.
C: I’ve watched our staff grow–as both people and professionals–sharing life milestones together and blossoming into incredible teachers and managers.
K: What has remained a constant for you?
M: The community and also the satisfaction of a student learning and a client overcoming an obstacle– physical or psychological.
C: The excitement I feel when I walk into the space and see people enjoying the reason for which Kinected was created.
K: Describe a favorite memory, light-hearted and/or serious.
M: Our staff retreats have given me great memories, from our staff cheering on fellow colleagues at the Trapeze School or candid moments shared during our last meditation-focused retreat. One favorite funny memory has to be when Carrie was pregnant and started to get contractions prior to our Christmas party. We left, but returned after we discovered it was a false alarm, and the staff proceeded to show us a hilarious music video they made for Carrie spoofing Jules’ delivery.
C: I echo Matt’s retreat sentiments. One of my favorite memories has be to be creating our Halloween video parodying a Pilates Mat for Special Pops class. Such great belly laughs shared with awesome, creative people.
Stay tuned for future features with clients & staff, fun facts about our family abroad, and more! Come & visit us on Monday, 8/5, for our kick-off celebration — $5 off classes all day long, sweet treats from Enlightened, and raffle to be entered to win Kinected swag!
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