Pilates is for EVERYONE with Lesley Logan

I was like, I felt like Jewel. I felt like Jewel who's going to get her Grammy and was like totally sleeping in her car. So it was a really interesting 3 months. But that was the best 3 months of my life. And I always share that one because you can have the best things happen to you at the same time as the worst things are. And it doesn't have to actually be the worst thing. It actually became like such a great catapult that really helped me design and define my life. Like, where do I want to live? And where do I want to teach? And who do I want to teach? And How do I want to publish this book? And like, all these things came from spending time. I had tons of time because I didn't have anywhere to go during the day when I wasn't teaching to just get to know what I wanted. And all of the things that I designed came from that summer of spending time with myself and getting to know what I wanted.

Leslie Logan, welcome to The Book Thinkers. Life-Changing Books podcast, I have sort of a funny first question for you.

I'm ready.

Let's get back to the basics. What is Pilates?

Oh, I love this. Okay, thank you for letting me tell people right off the bat. And if you saw the Pilates and you're like, ugh, this again, just let me explain to you what it is because I bet you don't know. Um, so Pilates is actually a movement methodology that was designed by a man who brought it to the US in the '20s. And so everyone who thinks Pilates is for women, you're wrong. Because back then, they didn't even let women work out. They actually only let the men do it. So it was designed by a boxer. He was a circus performer. He was like a strongman and brought to the US and he created all these different types of equipment because we realized is the mat work that he created, which is my favorite. So I fell in love with Pilates. It's really hard to do because you have to use your entire body to do all these moves. And most of us have imbalances. Most of our weaknesses, most of us have areas where we're super, super tight or super, super flexible, but not balanced in that. So then he created the equipment. And typically, if you look at Instagram, or you just start to Google around, you'll see only equipment. But really, the mat work is my favorite part, is what I want everyone to do, because it's the most accessible. You just have room on the floor. And really short and sweet. Pilates helps balance your imbalances. It strengthens what's weak and tightens what's loose.

Oh, I like that. Is that yours? It is.

Well, let me—

okay, so, so it helps you balance imbalances. What are some examples of imbalances that I might be dealing with right now that I'm unaware of?

Yeah, you probably are aware of it. You're probably feeling older. That's what we'll say. I'm getting older. My back hurts. I can't sit this long. That's not actually— we are all getting older. But Joseph Pilates would say you're only as old as your spine is young.

And so that was his name. His last name was Pilates.

Yeah, he actually— he's a very interesting dude, I'll say that. There's a, there's a lot about him that's fascinating. Um, and if you want a good book to read about Joseph Pilates, you can read The Caged Lion, um, by John Steele, uh, who's its own— he's its own interesting character. But, um, he called it contrology, so the study of control, right? And when he passed, people called it Pilates. Um, and so That's so his name is Joseph Pilates. Just a very fascinating history because he made up a lot of stories. Every interview you read about him, he had a different story to tell you about where he came from. So there's not a lot that you can base on him. But just sitting here right now, right? When you sit at a desk all day, most of you, most people's shoulders are forward, their heads are forward, and their hip flexors are tight. What is that doing? It's causing your lower back to be tight. Your hamstrings are actually going. Getting weaker. And because your shoulders are more forward, you're actually having more strain on your lower back. It is affecting so many people's posture. And what we know from Amy Cuddy is if you can stand in the power stance for 5 minutes, you have more confidence. But most people don't have the strength to stand in a power stance for 5 minutes. Believe it or not, the head's going more forward, causing neck pain. But more importantly, it's actually putting us in a position to be more in the Like going backwards in evolution, so you're more in that lizard-like brain. So you actually see things coming at you as an attack versus like just somebody walking by. So if you get your head more on your spine, right? So most of us have all these imbalances we don't know about. We blame it on age. We blame it on I need to work out more. But even your dudes who work out all the time at the gym where I work out, there's all these like super super barbell people, and I lift barbells too because I really believe in lifting heavy weights, ladies. But They're so tight that if we were to do a sit-up next to each other, I can roll up and I can hit every bone of my spine on the way up and on the way down. They come up like a mousetrap. Their legs come up with them because they don't have mobility. They have strength. And what will happen with those people is they will tear something. So even your strong muscle— I go to the gym every day— if you are not actually having an active static stretch part of your practice, which is what Pilates would do, You are going to tear something. Women who have a heavy purse, they put it in a bag in the back of their car. That is eventually going to pull on the shoulder. So many people have to have shoulder issue shoulder surgeries. Many one out of five women will have one out of four women will have knee surgery. One out of five men. Why imbalances in hamstrings and inner thighs? Mostly because we sit all day. So that's why Pilates is going to balance those imbalances and hopefully prevent surgeries. But also, if you have to go into surgery, make you stronger on the way in so you can come out in a better place.

Hmm. I am somebody who for the last 10 years or so has focused primarily on weight training. So strength, not mobility. And you know who actually started to change my behavior a little bit was David Goggins, reading about how much he prioritizes stretching hours a day. He says he never misses a day. And that's because he went so far in the other direction that it caused a lot of injuries. You talk about hip flexors and things like that. So a couple of years ago, I started doing a little bit of gravity yoga and I realized how I was not flexible at all. I'm not, I was not mobile at all. I actually went to a stretch therapist at my gym who has like his own little, his own little office space. And I think he said my hamstrings were some of the worst he had ever seen, which is not, it's not a compliment in any way, shape, or form.

That's not a compliment.

Yeah, he was like, man, you have like zero flexibility or movement. And I was like, yeah, that's, that's because I wasn't stretching. So I'm happy that you're bringing this up. And I'm happy that we're talking about it. Because I think that although we focus a lot on this podcast on life improvement, a lot of our conversation tends to be entrepreneurial in nature and less physical. So this is, this is cool. I'm really digging it.

You know what? I get the best ideas I've ever had after a really great Pilates workout on my own because you're— so the only way to do Pilates correctly, which is different than the gym, and again, because I love the gym, go 4 days a week. When I'm squatting, when I'm running, my husband can actually yell across the gym, hey, what are we having for dinner? Right? Because you can actually squat and have a conversation about what's happening for dinner. When you're doing Pilates, you can't really truly have a conversation because you're trying to focus on Connecting all the muscles around what I'll call your axial skeletons. We're a little nerdy. Your axial skeleton is basically from your tailbone to the crown of your head. It's your spine. So hate to break it, your neck is part of your spine, everyone. You didn't know it. Most people don't because they call it the neck, but it's part of the spine, right? So we take all the muscles around the spine and we actually work them to support and stabilize the spine, or at least move it in the way we want to— not sink in one direction, not arch in a direction we're not going for. And then once we have that connection, we use the arms and legs to challenge that stability. Can you move your arm over your head without your ribs popping out? Can you take your leg up without your hip flexors overreacting and your hip hiking, right? So we're challenging all of those things. When we do that, we are actually helping you have an active static stretch in everything that you're doing, which is super, super important. That's how you create flexibility that's real. So like you can just lay over your legs and stretch your hamstrings, or you can actually activate them and then stretch them and you'll get true flexibility. But because I have to think about everything that has to connect, I can't think about anything else. And so on my most stressful days, which happens often running a business, I can— I make myself do at least 30 minutes of Pilates. And I have such a clear-headed idea of like, oh wait, hold on, that's why that thing is bothering me. And this is the direction we have to go. And when you're an entrepreneur, you can't just be reactive all the time. You do have to take a step back. And so for me, that's how I take a step back.

Well, I'm sure you get this question all the time, but I'm going to ask it anyway for context. How did you originally discover Pilates? Like, because for me, you know, like, I'm watching you and I'm like, it's baked into your routine because it's what you do professionally. Most people, right, sitting is the new smoking. They're behind a computer all day. They don't move. You have the luxury of working in a profession that you've created yourself.

Yeah.

Yeah, that, that enables a little bit of movement. I sit on the side of personal development material. I recommend everybody studies it. Everybody should be focused on learning and improving themselves. But I get to do more of it because I do it professionally, which is amazing. So I'm just curious, like, how did you discover this? And what were sort of the first steps into building it into a business?

I love that you bring this up. And real quick, like, what— there's actually a huge problem in the Pilates industry where a lot of people fall in love with Pilates, become a teacher and then stop doing Pilates because they teach so much. They get so— they become so about their clients that they actually forget to take care of themselves. And so I'm like, I am like, I look— people quote me saying it's like, protect your practice. Like, you— if you're bored, your clients will be bored. You have— your practice has to be number one. They can't be. And, and it's really hard for people who are like, but I need to make money. It's like, I get it, but you also— I promise you, you'll be more passionate if you do it all the time. And so If you come to my house, yes, there's Pilates equipment in the living room as the furniture because yes, this is what I do for my profession and I have a husband who doesn't mind that there's equipment in the house. But I actually discovered Pilates because a friend invited me. I was in an interesting place in my life. I just graduated college and I didn't know what I was going to do with my degree. I got a degree and I got the student loans that come with it, but I really didn't know what I was going to do with it.

What was your degree?

I have a degree in communications, interpersonal organizational. Mostly business, which is really funny because I forgot that I did that. You know, you kind of forget. I fell in love with applies, and then I became a business owner, and I was like, "I don't know what I'm doing." And then I was like, "Wait a minute! I did study this. I do know what I'm doing." But I had this degree. I was running a retail store in South Coast Plaza, which is like this really fancy mall, and I was running one of the few family-owned businesses in a mall, right? In this mall, and I was in charge of a million-dollar store selling. Handbags and and really cool jewelry, and just like the stuff you'd see in all the all the magazines. And I just thought I made it. Here I was, like 21. I'm in fashion. I made it. But I had all my friends had moved away from college, and so I didn't really have any friends. So here I was in the same town I went to college in, but like starting over with like the friend world. And so the girl I worked with was like, "Hey, do you want to go to a Pilates class with me?" And I was like, "Ah, that's an infomercial workout." It can't do what it says it's gonna do. I think it's BS. But I needed a friend. So I, I was like, well, I'll go one time and then I'll never have to go with her again. But we'll be able to hang out, right? Like, I'm just gonna just make a friend. You got— I went and within the first exercise, I felt parts of my body never felt before. Because before I did Pilates, I actually was— I did study to be a personal trainer. I was a professional runner. So like, I worked out at the gym all the time. But I felt parts of my body never felt before. And like, this is fascinating. I've never felt this.

I also Uh-huh.

Couldn't articulate this to you then, and it took me many years to figure this out, but I felt what it was like to be in my body, for the whirlwind in my brain to just stop and actually just focus on like being in the present moment. And I always hear these people talk about like meditation and present moments, and I didn't— I've never understood that. I've never been able to sit still and just like clear my mind. But in that moment, my mind was clear. So I started going to Pilates every single day. I changed the store schedule so I can go every single day. The more I went, the more I realized I didn't want to live in that town. I wasn't happy there. And then so I literally was like, I don't want to live here. And I went to the store. I got a phone call from one of the managers in LA. She's like, hey, I'm gonna quit. And I was like, oh, so is your spot open? And I called the company. I was like, can I transfer to so-and-so? I know she just put her notice in 2 minutes ago. And so I, I was so aware Of like what I wanted, I was able to take on opportunities. And so I moved to Los Angeles and went to Pilates as much as I could afford. There was much more expensive. Living there was more expensive. And this teacher I had was like, "You should be a teacher." And I was like, "Really? I could." You know, it's really. I think it's really hilarious. Maybe it sounds stupid that I would say that, but I think we get stuck in what we're doing. And based on maybe how you were raised, my parents all had the same job forever. Like there was no job switching around, and. So it didn't occur to me that I could teach it or even how to teach it or even do I go to school for it? And so I was suggested to do it and I actually became a teacher, fully certified in 2008, which everyone knows that year very, very well. And I got so busy teaching people Pilates sessions, I had to quit my safe retail job, which wouldn't have been safe for very much longer. But people couldn't believe it. And that's really how I got into teaching Pilates. And what ended up happening from there is people started to notice that I was getting clients so easily and without having any problems that they're like, how are you doing this? And you pay attention to the questions people are asking you. I know a lot of people here are starting out in that entrepreneur journey. The questions people are asking are what they think you're an expert on. So I was like, oh, this isn't normal. It's not normal to get a new client when they come in. And so I observed how I was teaching client sessions, and how they were teaching a first-time client session. And I created a workshop. And that workshop got me known in the company that I was working for part-time, but also around the world. I was being hired to come out and teach that workshop in Australia, and the UK, and all these places as a brand new Pilates instructor.

Wow, I love that. So you're desperately looking for new friends. So you go do something that you didn't want to do, which is Pilates.

Yeah.

And then you end up traveling the world and changing careers. And yeah.

But what you resist is here to assist you, I think. Isn't that what they say?

What you resist is here to assist. Yeah, yeah, it is. And I think a lot of times, you know, people tune into a show like this because they're looking to overcome resistance and they want to hear somebody's story like yours. They want to hear what process did you go through to become successful and build the business of your dreams and You shared with me, which I didn't know before we pressed record, that you were actually homeless multiple times, you said.

Yeah.

You know, was that throughout this journey of like once you made the transition into Pilates or before, or at what point did this happen? I'm sitting here today with Ken Rusk, who has done hundreds of millions of dollars in business. He's also sold tens of thousands of books and changed countless lives. We're sitting here today because he is sponsoring today's episode. So Ken, tell everybody about your course.

Well, thank you. I built a course called The Path to a Successful Life. It's designed around trying to get somebody unstuck. You know, sometimes you're feeling like you're kind of stuck in where you are and you're not really sure what you want your life to look like or how to go about getting it. Well, for the cost of about dinner and a movie and maybe the time you'd spend on a weekend, you can know exactly what you want your future to look like and how to go about getting it.

You know the power of vision. That's why you watch podcasts like this. So click the link below, get signed up, and let me know what your experience is like.

So 2 were before, 2 were in college. Part of it was student loans that didn't arrive on time, so couldn't live on campus, couldn't get an apartment. Luckily had had a car I could sleep in and a friend who worked nights at a gas station, so I parked my car while they worked nights, so I was at least safe. And then I could use the school's gym to to to shower. That was it was only a couple weeks stint on that one, so that was really great. And then there was another one where it was in between. School years, and same thing happened. That was a little bit longer, that's about a month. And so thank God for gym memberships, and then, you know, some really kind people who were out of town who let me use their dorm room for a week or things like that. My third one, I had been teaching for a while. In fact, the third one is a, um, I had been teaching— this had been in 2013, so I've been teaching for 5 years. And the person I was with, who everyone thought was gonna be my person forever, um, They had convinced me too. And I was reading StrengthsFinder 2.0 while watching He's Just Not That Into You. And I was like, I don't think he's that into me. I wonder if he knows. Because in StrengthsFinder, they're like, you know, focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. And I was like, all he does is focus on my weaknesses. So I, I left. I left with everything I owned, which was Not very much stuff. And I totaled my car on the way out and the studio I was renting space from closed. And so I found myself very homeless. I had a part-time gig at a high-end fitness company and I had some good friends who let me couch surf and found myself really just kind of accepting like all these things were leaving for a reason. I was writing my book at that same time, and so I spent a lot of time in coffee shops writing that book. And I got a call one day while sitting at a Whole Foods in Brentwood, and like all these celebrities are like walking around with their salads too. And it was Los Angeles Magazine. They're like, "Hey, congratulations! You're you're the best Pilates in Los Angeles. That's what you were voted." And I was like, "I do you not pay for those things? I thought people just paid for those things." She's like, "No, no. We actually sent people out to your classes, and you won." And I was like, wow, this is amazing. I was like, I felt like Jewel. I felt like Jewel who's going to get her Grammy and was like totally sleeping in her car. And, um, uh, so it was a really interesting 3 months, but that was the best 3 months of my life. And I always share that one because you could have the best things happen to you at the same time as the worst things are. And it doesn't have to actually be the worst thing. Actually became like this such a great catapult that really helped me design and define my life. Like, where do I want to live? And where do I want to teach? And who do I want to teach? And how do I want to publish this book? And like, all these things came from spending time. I had tons of time because I didn't have anywhere to go during the day when I wasn't teaching, to just get to know what I wanted. And all of the things that I designed came from that summer of spending time with myself and getting to know what I wanted.

Yeah, there's a great quote out there. I always forget Let me see if I could pull it. I always forget who said it, but it's like all of man's problems stem from his inability to spend 20 minutes alone or something like that with himself. And I think a lot of people struggle because we live in such a fast-paced society with so many things grabbing our attention that we don't have that free space to sit and reflect and analyze. Now, does that— how often does that moment come up for you when you remember the fact that you were homeless? Like, I got a tour of your house. I don't remember if it was you or Brad gave me a tour of your house and all the different rooms and the Pilates stuff and the office. Like, it's so—

I know, it's crazy. I was home 10 years ago homeless and now 5 bedrooms. So I do think about it a lot actually, because I don't— not in a way that like I can't believe it, but as a reminder of like when I'm like, when is this all gonna work out? Like, you know, because we As business owners, you set goals and they don't always happen. You don't always— actually, I've very rarely hit a goal that I set out for myself on time or at the number expectation. And then I— but then I actually recognize that like, well, 10 years ago, I said I would never ever— I would not— I would have one apartment. That would be it. This is the last apartment I have. The next thing I'm going to have is my house. So, if I'm really, really honest with myself, anything I get specific on will happen. It just doesn't happen in my timeline. So, I do think about it. Quite a bit in an amazing way. And then also, I think it's for me, it's really important because it's very easy to see people where they are. And another thing that I'll share is like after my husband came onto into my business in 2020, so from 2013 to 2020, I was doing things my own came to my business. But last year, we almost had a million dollars in our business. That is so that's you know sometimes you're like you get jaded and you're like that's nothing in the business world. That's a lot of money to someone who grew up without it and. also has had a homeless summer and other homeless stints. And so I remind myself, like, you can do any— I can do it. It's just going to take a lot of work. And, and not to get jaded by the bigger numbers that I spend so much time in now. There was a time that I, you know, I was making $50 an hour. So, so I really try to keep that in my mind's eye as a not just like a Motivation, but just a reminder of like how far I've come and like anything is possible.

I love that. Yeah. Greg McKeown defines gratitude something like focusing on what you have and not what you lack. And so the fact that you have this and remembering where you came from, it keeps you in the present moment and keeps you grateful for what you have. And hey, kudos to you on almost hitting $1 million. You're right. It is funny in this world of personal development with so many 9 and 10-figure entrepreneurs out there. That a million dollars is a huge number. I mean, it really is for 99% of people, maybe not everybody at BBG or everybody in the world of personal development writing business books, but like, that's a really big number, you know?

Yeah, it really is. And like, I also will say, thank goodness in my business journey early, early on, I heard that don't, don't be, don't just listen to people's numbers when they say them. Because they're not telling you the margin. So they might say I had a 6-figure launch, but it actually took them— so they made $100,000, but it took them $80,000 to get there in ads. So like, it's really—

Yeah.

Yeah. Or $100,000 or whatever. And so like, it's really, it's really, really important to, to remember that we are in our own journeys and we're all going to get there eventually. But also like, I don't want to get there if it's by smoke and mirrors. I'm going to get there in an honest way and it's going to happen Bringing people along with me. Everything that I do is like hoping to change people's lives in a way that it allows them to do the amazing things they want to. So it's not, it's not easy though, my friends, but you'll get there.

Very true. Bridging to the book. So you had started writing your book at this, this period in your life. You know, you're getting recognized, you're getting inbound calls for being the best Pilates instructor, teaching the best course in LA and everything like that. At what point did you decide, okay, I need to write a book about this? And who is the target reader for your book? Just so we kind of check that box and then we'll go back to your story. Yeah.

So the target reader was really to hopefully help people who were thinking of becoming an Pilates instructor to get them to read it before they paid thousands of dollars for a program. Um, and also just to give them an insight of what they could do, because the, the industry does attract a lot of women and a lot of women who tend to think, oh, like, I don't, I can't make a lot of, I'm not gonna be able to make a lot of money. This will be my side hustle, be a hobby, because my husband makes a lot of money. And I'm a big fan of like, well, your husband could die, or he could leave you, or there's so many things. Like, again, remember I was homeless, so like the ish can hit the fan. So if it does—

I'm a big fan of your husband might die, or he might leave you.

I'm a big fan of just like empowering women to actually like, what if you want to make the money? So let's rephrase that Thank you so much. But also, like, just think about, like, those things can happen. And I— maybe it's because I have, have had those homeless stints or came from no money, but like, I really do think, like, what if, what if the worst-case scenario happens? How am I going to survive this? So, um, so that was what the book was intended for. What's happened is mostly Pilates instructors buy it, um, but the first 3 chapters were really about how to pick the best program for you because the Pilates industry is not regulated. So actually, did you know a lot of things in the fitness industry are not regulated? Kind of like the wellness industry is not super regulated. So you can say, I want to be a Pilates instructor, and you could search for it, and you can find programs that are $10,000 or $2,000, or you can train over on virtual over a weekend, or some are going to take you 2 years. And so what people do, they pick the one that they can afford or is in the timeline that they want, and that might actually get them the job that they want or might not make them hireable. And then what happens is they have to spend more money to fill in the gaps, but they didn't make the money on the first thing. And it can be really disenchanting and, and just really hurt people. And so I happen to be running a gym, running a studio for a high-end fitness company, and I could not hire teachers. And our studio was so busy. It was 450 square feet, you guys. It was so small. We were doing $30,000 a month in Pilates sessions. Like, there was so many people wanted Pilates in there, and I did not have enough teachers.

To help them.

And all these teachers I was finding, they would have been trained only on the mat or only on the reformer. And I'm like, I can't hire you because I have a full studio here. You have to be comprehensively trained. And so that's why I wrote the book. And that was the intention. But it's really funny. It, it hits a lot. I've had 20-year teachers pick it up and go, oh my God, I didn't even know I could do this with my business. And I'm like, you can. You can do that with your business. So I love that it helps people outside of that. newbie person as well.

Yeah, I think that's really cool. And for the average person who doesn't want to become an instructor, but they're in the audience thinking, oh yeah, you're right, sitting is the new smoking. And I do kind of have pain in my neck as I'm listening to this. And maybe I should be a little bit more present in my body. Like, what resources are available for somebody who wants to take a class and just kind of go through the process? Yeah.

Oh my gosh. Okay, if you're new to Pilates, you've never tried it before, you can go to fullbodyin15.com. That is a series I created for the— it literally didn't put Pilates in there because I know so many people are like, I don't do Pilates, it's for women, it's for dancers. So it's fullbodyin15.com. It is a 3-part series. The workout is full body, it's 15 minutes long. And so you— if you don't have 15 minutes for yourself, then do the first 5. That's totally fine with me. I don't— I will not be offended. I won't be offended if you do the first exercise and you take 7 minutes to do it and then you do the last one for the few— like, it's okay. Because you're gonna do what is possible for your body. And then what's really cool is you get to compare yourself to yourself. The way I teach Pilates is the way Joseph Pilates created it, which is the mat has an order. And that's on purpose. It's so you can have certainty in your life. We all do crave certainty. But also, if you want to have something be in your life for a long time, retention studies show certainty and autonomy are really, really important. And so you will be autonomous in this practice, even if I'm guiding you, because you get to focus on what's moving from where, and you get to feel it in your body, and you get to go, wow, that was easier today than it was yesterday. And so if you do that, it's 3 classes. Each class will actually do the same workout. It gets a little faster as we go to the third one. And then at the end of each one of those classes, I teach you how to do the actual exercise. So it's a little workshop, so you can help your own teacher. And if you never ever want to learn from me again, you can actually just memorize that workout and go do it every day wherever you are.

I love it. Well, what's the pricing on it?

It's free. That's totally free.

Well then, I don't know why everybody listening wouldn't sign up for that.

Yeah, I mean, if you want to pay me, we have a membership, you guys. But you'll, you'll hear about it on that. But it's onlinepilatesclasses.com. But start there. Start with something easy. Start with something that's, you know, that you can, you can do for free and for 15 minutes. And then, you know, you'll find me.

Yeah. Well, that's amazing. I think that anybody who says they don't have 15 minutes and that they're too busy is probably the exact person that needs it the most, right?

Oh my gosh, you know, here's— I feel for people who have that limitation because it's, um, well, you get to fight for the limitations you give yourself, but, um, it's a little scary to start spending time with yourself. And so I think it's really okay to admit that you don't have 15 minutes, and it may be a little scary to have 15 minutes. But, um, did you know that 30 minutes of a day is only 2% of the day? So like, if you— that's— we just want 1% of your day. And to be for you, and it's really kind of amazing. You know, I've talked to a friend of ours from BBG, Rodman Schley, and he's like, you know, if you want to have this amazing business, you have to have your mind right, which is a lot of the books that you talk about. It's all about the different mindset and strategies and self-development there. But you also have to have a good body to go with it, and and that body doesn't have to look a certain way, but it does have to function a certain way. So you have digestion, you have great. mind-body connection. You can feel what your body's doing. And trust me, there are days when I'm like, wow, I'm really tired in my personal practice in the morning. Guess what? That means I'm tired at work. So I can actually say, hey guys, today is a low vibe day. What are the most priority things I need to get done? Because I need to take a nap today. You know, like you can actually set yourself up for success the more you spend time with your body.

Yeah, I think so too. I think that self-reflection Being in the present moment. I mean, even right now, you know, I'm sitting. This desk is adjustable. Sometimes I—it's a standing desk for energy's sake. But we're at the end of the day, so I'm sitting down. And just the fact that I can feel my own weight in the chair. Like if you're listening at home, you know, have you ever even really thought about that before? Like can you feel your own weight under your feet or under your butt while you're sitting down? Like just like pausing real quick and just kind of taking inventory, I think is so incredibly important. And Man, so many things are fighting for our attention. It makes it really difficult.

Yeah, it does. But you know, I don't know. At this point, we only have this one life. So I look at—I have a lot of people in my life who are older, and I look at their quality of life, and I look at some of these people who are ninety and driving cars and going on trips, and I look at some people who are sixty and barely able to get out of a chair. And there's a scientific study out came out many years ago. But it basically said, if you cannot get down onto the ground and up off the ground without assistance, you will die 30 years younger than someone else. So it's an actual study. So what they did is they just took thousands of people and they asked them to get down on the ground, and then they counted everything that they did. Did they touch a counter? Did they touch a chair? Did they put their hands on the floor? And then how did they get up? How many touch points? And then 6 years later, they called all the people with the highest touch points, and most of them were dead. So I just think about you have these amazing dreams. Every single person who's listening to this has a person in their life they're going to impact in a way that they may even ever know. And then there'll be a bunch where they get to know, hopefully. But if you don't have that longevity, if you don't have that energy, you can't do those things. And so, you know, there's people out there who are writing these amazing books that will give you the strategies to make millions of dollars or Create millions of followers, or who knows? Put anything other strategy out there, and I feel like it's my mission to get people moving because that is what's going to allow you to have the energy to do those things that you are the only person on this planet who can do it. You are it, and so I think the world would miss you if we lost your lost you in longevity earlier on.

Mic drop moment. Yeah, listen, I agree a thousand percent, and I want to transition to your tattoos. A second. But I, I have a tattoo that says memento mori on my chest, which is remember, you're going to die. And I see it every single day. And it is a reminder to prioritize my time and make sure that I do view success through a holistic sense of the definition. Like, I define it as being healthy, wealthy, and happy, having great relationships and serving other people. Because if you miss any one of those pillars, Success comes at an expense. And so, yeah, if you have a bunch of money, but you die 30 years earlier because you don't take care of your body and you don't move, like, that's not success. That's financial success, but at the expense of everything else in your life. So I love that you're bringing that up. I'd love to have you tell us about one of your tattoos as well. I'm like a tattoo nut.

Okay. You can pick any one. I know I have several and people do want to know the story behind most, but I'll tell you the ones that I put on my hands where I can see them every day. So, I'm left-handed. So, on my left hand, on my thumb, it says, I wonder. And that is because I really, I like to keep my brain thinking in open loops because that's when creativity happens the most. So, I try to wonder more as opposed to like, that's the answer. Try to just wonder more. And so, I used to every single morning take one of our dogs and like hug her and go, I wonder how we're going to make $1 million today. I wonder how we're going to get this thing today. I wonder how I'm going to do this. And I would just go out for my run and let the wonderments happen. And then I have another one. I have these little stars all on my hand, and those are just to see magic every day because I think it's working at a computer, you open up your email or your DMs, you don't always like the things that are coming at you. So I like to see magic as much as I possibly can in all of those things.

Yeah, I love that. That's so cool. I have a bunch of tattoos on, on my wrists and forearms and pretty much everywhere at this point. And I like to think of them as play bigger triggers. That's my little definition. So something in your environment that encourages you to become the person you're capable of becoming, and it puts you on that path. And so, I wonder, or seeing the magic in everything that you do, those are wonderful messages to see consciously or subconsciously thousands of times per day as you're working. It just, it pushes you in the right direction and it reinforces. your subconscious thinking in the right direction. So, that's so cool. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you, Nick, for asking because most people don't. They just think I'm some covered and tattooed weird girl.

Well, I think tattoos are a great form of personal development. So, how about that?

Yes.

All right. We're getting ready to wrap up today. A couple of quick questions. First, where can people go to learn more about you and get a copy of the book and follow you on socials and all the good stuff.

Yeah, so you can get the book, um, on Amazon also. You can, if you want, um, a paperback. If you want the, um, like a digital version, you'll go to profitablepilates.com. It's profitablepilates.com. Um, I like to name things for what they are. I really, uh, so onlinepilatesclasses.com is where you take Pilates, and Profitable Pilates is where you learn how to be profitable. And, um, so you can find me, um, on all of my socials on both of those platforms.

Super cool. All right, Luke, who is normally here to co-host with me, sort of has a famous last question that he didn't get to ask, so I'm going to ask it to the best of my ability. He says something like, if you were to die— we were just talking about death— if you were to die and all of the sites, your history, the book, all of it disappears, but you can leave the world with one message, and we'll put it up on a billboard or something like that. It's got to be quick and simple.

What would that message be? Perfect is boring.

Fact. Well, now I'm curious. Why is perfect boring? And then we can end things.

You know, I'm a recovering perfectionist and overachiever. It's something we say at this house all the time whenever we start to get a little bit too— and then like too perfecty about things, because you can noodle something forever and it'll never get out. And Including with my book, I actually would tell myself perfect is boring because I was so nervous because, uh, grammar, commas are not my forte. Um, I was so afraid that like it would— that I wouldn't have written it well even with having editor on there, um, to, to make sure I did, that people would judge it for that. And I had to tell myself, well, perfect is boring. We're not writing a book on how to like use the English language. We're writing a book to help teachers. Like use their gift and do their purpose. And so I say that to myself all the time. And the other reason I say it is like, if you think about these amazing people you put on these pedestals, you're like, oh my God, they're so good at what they do. They're perfect at the way they market this. They're the perfect way they do this. The reality is, is that that is so intimidating. And it's also quite boring at the same time. There's actually nothing unique about that. There's nothing that surprises you about those people. I surprise people all the time with some of the things that I do. And I had this girlfriend One of the times— during my last homeless stint, she invited me to her house to stay there. You guys, I lasted 3 days. It was— the house was too perfect. It was too perfect. I couldn't even stay. I was like, are my socks even clean enough for this carpet? Like, like, can I sit here? Where can I sit? It's so uncomfortable. Um, so that's always— that's my message. It's the thing I remind myself daily. Um, and I try to remind people who are getting in their own way because something isn't perfect yet.

Well, maybe somebody in the audience today is like, that's the message that I needed to hear. And maybe they'll go get that tattooed. Perfect is boring.

Oh my God, please tag me if you do.

Well, thank you, Leslie. This is a lot of fun talking to you today. Thank you.