Earlier this year I was having dinner with a couple of my girlfriends one night. We are all Pilates instructors, and we were discussing how sometimes it’s difficult to find a non-teaching outfit to wear when going out on the town. Somehow over the years of teaching, our personal style changed – but the closet didn’t.  Rewind to several years ago when I was creating my first lesleyloganpilates.com website and I was writing my bio. At the time “yogini” was the term used to describe Yogi’s. Needing a term to describe me and my love for Pilates, the word “Pilatini®” was born. I spent the time and effort to trademark it. Not the easiest thing in the world to do, and I didn’t really have a definitive plan for it yet.

So, there I sat with my friends trying to solve our problem of how to we need to get out of our workout clothes more. We can’t be the only Pilates Instructors with this issue, right? It hit me, we need to go out more. Not just out though, but out with other Pilates Instructors. I took my trademark and looked at my calendar. I picked out a date and made reservations at The Tuck Room Tavern, a new bar and restaurant by Spago’s Sherry Yard. And just like that, Pilatini® Nights was born!

Coming up with the idea and planning the first one was the easy part. Getting instructors to hear about it and attend? A bit harder. Why?

We teachers work long, hard hours and talk all day to our clients. It’s so easy to be just another teacher passing by the Reformers and Cadillacs, and not engage with those around us. Going home after a long day and changing out of the spandex or luon is relieving enough to say, “I’ll go out next time!” But, that is exactly why I designed Pilatini® Nights… so that instructors could spend time together, not with clients or friends who don’t always speak our language. I desired for instructors to have a night where they could meet other instructors, some they may have never had the opportunity to meet. To network. To share their lives, their goals, and even their struggles.

When you come out to a Pilatini® Nights event you will see instructors enjoying their beverage of choice and maybe even some delicious food while gabbing away, laughing away, and listening in on more than just Pilates talk. You can talk about anything you want and you can bring anyone – as long as they are a Pilates instructor. More than just a mastermind meeting,

Pilatini® Nights are an opportunity to meet others outside of workshops or studios. Instructors are free to be themselves, but all share the bond of instructing others in Pilates.

Pilatini® Nights are important to me. I know they can seem like just a night out on the town, but their specific invite makes them more than just a night out. Pilates instructors can find themselves (day-in and day-out) only talking with clients. Even if you work at a studio full of teachers, it is easy to never spend time talking about life outside of the studio. Most sessions end on the hour, but as the first clients leave and the next ones show up, that little 5-minute window turns into a chance to wash hands, check your phone, catch your breath, and move on to the next session – not really a chance to chat. I have studio owners and managers reaching out to me almost daily wondering where they can find additional teachers for their studios. Pilatini® Nights are a great way to network and to meet other instructors in the area who might know Pilates instructors looking for more work.

Sometimes I don’t know what is more fun, meeting new teachers and connecting them with others in their area, or picking out a non-spandex outfit. Yep, that little problem my friends and I were discussing? What better way to fix it then by having a monthly date with our closet, forcing ourselves to dress any way other than to teach! This little problem of not knowing our personal style anymore is slowly working itself out (pun intended.)

Currently, Pilatini® Nights are held monthly in Los Angeles – with the next one being 9/21 6:30pm at The Tuck Room Tavern. Event details are here. This past Friday was the first one outside of LA. Several amazing Pilates instructors I had never met, and a few I had, joined me at La Vida Cocina in Costa Mesa, CA. Can’t make September’s? Mark your calendar for 10/20/16. You can also click over to the Profitable Pilates events calendar (here) to see when upcoming Pilatini® Nights are being held.

If you do not live in Los Angeles, CA and you want to join me at a Pilatini® Nights event then let’s chat! I have some awesome travels coming up including a retreat in the UK, travels to Northern California, Philly, NYC, and more. Wherever I teach a workshop or a retreat I will be planning a Pilatini® Nights event out. Let’s get one scheduled in your area!

I do hope to see you at the next Pilatini® Nights! This teaching community is so strong, and it can be stronger the more we connect with each other and shed the luon. Put on our favorite jeans or LBD. Pilatini® Nights: come as you are and enjoy the camaraderie of Pilates instructors.

xx~LL