A Pilates career, beyond the studio

A Pilates career can wander: group classes, then privates, then training other teachers; a studio of your own, maybe a partnership with a physical therapist, maybe some of it online. The Professional Panel at PLTS+ Collective was one hour for exactly those questions. Shelsea Sanchez joined to talk about life beyond the studio.

Who was on the panel

The program named Shelsea Sanchez, speaking on Beyond the Studio. We would rather show one real name than a row of placeholders.

What the wider field looks like

There isn't much public data on Pilates teachers by themselves. The Bureau of Labor Statistics folds them into fitness trainers and instructors, and its Occupational Outlook Handbook counted roughly 388,400 of those jobs in 2025, about 15 percent held by people who work for themselves. Read the rest of that page and you'll find people on part-time and odd hours, people driving between gyms and clients' living rooms, and people who eventually open their own fitness center. The government's own description already assumes a lot of these careers happen outside one studio.

Its forecast is 7 percent more of these jobs between 2025 and 2035, quicker than the economy overall, helped partly by older adults wanting low-impact exercise like yoga and Pilates. Useful background, nothing more. That bucket also holds plenty of people who've never taught a hundred.

Paths worth asking about

You'll find real examples just among the PLTS+ presenters. Holly Swanson grew a studio to several locations, co-founded a 500-hour teacher training, co-founded a practice that pairs physical therapy with Pilates, and started a company that turns studio systems into tools for other owners. Erin Schirack leads a teacher training of her own for group fitness instructors. Those are very different jobs that all started on a mat.

Good panel questions tend to be specific. What did your first step outside a studio actually pay? What did you stop doing to make room for the new thing? Which skill turned out to matter that nobody told you about? What would you track earlier if you started again?

Pair it with the Career Center

If the panel was the wide view, Holly's Day 1 workshop was the close-up. The Pilates Career Center covered auditions, negotiating pay and the numbers to track once you are hired. And if you are still on the first step, start with our guide on how to become a Pilates instructor. For what to learn next once you are teaching, see Pilates continuing education.

When and where

The Professional Panel ran Sunday, November 8, 2026, from 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM Central, at 1809 Pearl St, Austin, TX 78701, on Day 2 of PLTS+ Collective.