You ready to Be In The GLOW? Us too. Welcome to The WellHouse Fit's monthly blog, Be In The GLOW. We are so excited to be launching our studio blog and allowing our friends, clients, and followers to engage with us, learn, and relate to us. Because we are so much more than a boutique fitness studio. We are a community. We are a community within our great community of Greensboro, but a a social fitness studio and community that will support, share, love, lift up, and bring joy to any and all who wants to follow us. We are a lifestyle. From sharing struggles and successes of life, motherhood, health and fitness journey's, to finding the best SPF moisturizer, perfect color for your pout, and best holiday cocktails. Be In The GLOW is just that. The more you know and are enlightened, the more you will stay lit from with in. Feel comforted by knowing that you're not alone and you having something to look forward to. So here we go...Let's BE In The GLOW.
This month we're diving a little deeper into getting to know studio owner and instructor of The WellHouse Fit, Ashley Collicutt. Continue to read on to learn who "AC" is and how she became a small business owner.
That be me! Hey there shugs. I guess I'll dive straight on in and share who I am and what I'm trying to do and create with The WellHouse Fitness here in Greensboro, NC.
First to dive into myself personally. I am 35 years old, soon to be 36 on April 13th. I have been married to my husband and partner, Charlie for going on...is it 11 or 12 years? I do that all the time and cannot remember how many years or dates. Charlie is my biggest supporter and cheerleader in life. He is extremely intelligent and witty. He will start talking about stuff that's way over my head and just blows my mind of how he could even know that, like the most random bits of knowledge. He brings me coffee every morning in bed and loves me for all that I am.
I am a mother to 3 precious jewels, Conner 11, Pierce 7, and Bo 2. Three's a trip and Charlie and I are constantly out numbered. Our youngest boy, Bo is insane and makes us feel like we have no clue what we are doing as parents. Like totally and completely different than the other 2. Conner is the epitome of a big protective brother. He has the heart of gold and truly is the kindest soul. Pierce is like that too. Just the best heart. She's my mini me and totally loves life and never sees the negative. And Bo is all boy in every way. We call him chairman of the board because it constantly has this look of disapproval on his face and does not want to be bothered.
I grew up dancing. It was and will forever be my passion and heart beat. My sister and I had a challenging childhood stained by parents divorce, step-parents, divorce, custody drama, more divorce, and instability. There were three things that saved me from all the turmoil and that was my sister, our grandparents, and dance. Of course over the years, I would often get questioned "why dance?" and "why care so much about it?" and at 35, I feel that I can finally articulate the "why" and say that dance is what tugs on the human heart strings. It provides a voice when a person cannot speak. It provides an outlet. But it also allows you to really dig deep into the emotions that life creates and becomes the delicate edge of your soul. So that is why. As a child and really even as an adult, I was never good with my words to be able to speak and articulate myself. I was very insecure and when challenged by friends or parents, I would get so jumbled up and blurt crap out that wouldn't make any kind of sense. I would often burst into tears out of frustration that I couldn't be quick enough with my words and people in confrontations would thrive off of that. My inability to speak my mind or stand up for myself just fed the ones who were cutting me down. I was an easy target for sure. Dancing allowed me to let it go. And it still does. I still put on my ballet shoes and work at the barre while listening to the most random playlist ( I absolutely love music!). I still put on my nerdy dance sneakers and jump around like a lunatic, and I recently purchased pointe shoes and challenged myself to get back up on pointe. I have totally let go of my care of what others think and finally just gave in to myself and follow my own path that I create and do what I want. Besides the outlet dance can give, it's first and fore most art. Moving art that can be beautiful, sad, and unpleasant. It pulls out feelings and allows you to interperate in your on mind what it is. Music is also a huge part of dance. Having musicality and an ear for beats and rhythm is also a huge part of dance. However you can have all of the technique, form, and musicality you want, but without the artistry, you can't be a dancer.
Movement and fitness has always been very important to me and a huge part of my life. As a child I was obsessed with Denise Austin and the lady who did "Buns of Steele", and not sure what her name is. I loved workout videos and fitness equipment. Not from an unhealthy place. It was never about trying to work for the perfect body. It was more about how it made me feel. Every year for Christmas I would ask Santa for workout equipment. Like step aerobics, that slide skating thing where you put the booties over your shoes and slide side to side, or a Gazelle that that trainer guy had out, I think his name was Tony. I loved it ALL. I did get the step aerobics and the slider thing; I think the Gazelle was a bit too much. Trampolines were also my obsession. I freaking loved bouncing as high as I could and touching my toes. I had the best toe touch. I also didn't have a whole lot of fear and taught myself how to do all sorts of flips. I remember I wanted to make the varsity cheerleading squad, but was only a freshman and if I was going to be even considered, I had to have a least a back handspring. So, I taught myself on the trampoline, then moved to a matress, then moved down to a lawn chair cushion and my dad would just kinda stand with his arm out and yell at me to do it. So I did. Always a mover and a shaker.
Flash forward to 20 some years later, I now own my own business and fitness studio. I had gone through a lot of crap to get to this point. I went through a very dark period of insecurity and low self-esteem. My dream of dancing was no longer an option for me. I was lost and had dropped out of college and had to grew up way too fast. I did land into a pretty solid career and did love what I did for many years, but still had this massive whole in my heart. When the song by the band Surgarland, "Theres got to be something more", would come on the radio it became my anthem. I knew that life just had to be more rewarding. I know Charlie was so over my broken record self and being all talk and no action to change. Then life took a turn. One of Charlie's dearest friends wife had passed away during childbirth. I will never forget getting that phone call. I will never forget the pain that went through my entire body. I had been so fortunate to not have really faced a loss till this point. Being a mother of two myself, I couldn't imagine the agony of it all. I still can't put into words of how my heart broke for this dear friend of ours and his amazing wife. 2 people that we knew and knew well. A couple that witnessed my marriage. She held my babies and I held hers. And snap, life changes. I was a person on the very far outside of that. I knew shortly after that I had to change my life and be happy.
That began the long journey of where I am today and I have no regrets. I have been teaching Pilates for a little over 6 years now. I was introduced to Pilates years ago when I was trying to recover from a back injury and became hooked. I began to put all of the pieces together of myself. What was I doing? What is this going to look like? Can I afford it? I mean a million questions ran constantly, but I knew I had to finally feel this void. To become a Pilates instructor at the level that I was aiming for is not for the weary. It is a long and hard road. I was able to apprentice (nearly 800 hours) at another studio and after completing my certification, I continued to teach both Pilates and barre classes. I hated barre. I did not enjoy that one bit and you could tell. Not my thing. During my time teaching at this studio, I learned a lot of what to do and what not to do. Coming from coorporate world and being a trainer, is very different in the fitness studio life. I am appreciative of my time teaching there, but I was not a fit for that person's studio vision and environment. As a child I wanted to open my own dance studio and that thought came around to the front of my mind. And here we are today.
Living in Greensboro most of my life, I did feel that something has been missing in the small fitness community and I wanted to see if I could fill that void by providing a space where people feel at home. Where they feel excited to come 10 minutes earlier to class so that they can chat with other peeps and catch up. And I think I got one of the best compliments the other day from a client, she's adorbs, but she said, "I love it here because it reminds me of my dance studio and how happy I was to be there." Aww, that hit the nail on the head for what I am trying to create here. I want a way of life for people to make their happiness and health their number one priority. A lifestyle where support is granted at all times, failures are appreciated, and friendships are nurtured. I feel that through The WellHouse Fit, I am making that a reality. Set aside the modalities that I offer, but look and see if you can feel the vibe of it. The Southern Belle flare, with heels and lipstick that can be the next ninja warrior. Creating a signature brand. And it's just that. The WellHouse Fit is a brand. Totally and completely.
I do love all forms of fitness, but Pilates is just the best. It truly is. In this town, everywhere you look, there are yoga studios that are packed to the gills. I love that. I love that people have such a huge support for yoga and for our small businesses that are not big franchise chains. And I am a little jealous of that popularity. How could I not be? It's almost like the homecoming queen verses the girl who will never be homecoming queen. You can't be mad at the girl who is though. You just keep learning and become your best self. In a day where fitness is everything. Fitness content blasted all over social media, I'm trying to get a piece of the pie there. Now I'm not the only Pilates studio in town. There are other great studios, but I am the new kid and I'm growing up in the era of social media. Facebook ads, killer content on Instagram, perfect posts that get a ton of likes. That is how you must promote and get the word out. Referrals are still the #1, but it's about what are you doing, how are you doing it, and is it any good? And I am. I truly am. I know I offer multiple points of difference to my brand in comparison to others. And I know I offer great forms of movement and modalities. They're just not as common as the yoga, barre, and Cross Fit world. Pilates is weird and hard. It just is. You either like it or you don't. Bouncing on trampolines is also weird and hard. It doesn't seem like it's something that could be a form of fitness and not just a jump around for fun thing. But, it's quite amazing. It truly is.