We had the good fortune of connecting with Teri Adam and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Teri, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Throughout my career, I always played it safe, being recruited into positions that I thought made logical sense based on my skills, experience, and natural progression. But taking a risk played a huge role in starting my Pilates studio and coaching business. While starting a new business can be risky, I think mine was more of a calculated risk. I believed in starting small and going slow, which was an essential part of building and organically growing my business. I put the client first by creating a space for them to feel safe while exercising during an unknown time while providing them with individual attention and instruction. I knew from day one starting a Pilates studio wasn’t going be easy – there was always some uncertainty about how things were going play out during the pandemic – but I truly believe that focusing on my clients and maintaining a positive attitude improved my chances at succeeding.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I started Pilates 1st, a boutique Pilates studio, as a way to help inspire others, especially my 3 children, to always put their health and fitness first. Exercise has always been an important part of my life and I wanted others to experience the same sense of accomplishment in creating and sticking to an exercise routine, gaining energy, and feeling more confident in their bodies.

Our studio is different because we focus on private and duet sessions and maintain a small class size of only 4 clients. Instructors are able to tailor workouts to each client, provide individual attention to and correct form, and work with clients who are at different levels by creating progressive steps to exercises. What I love most is the community we are building. Clients support and cheer each other on in their workouts, businesses, and lives.

As a breast cancer survivor, my specialty is helping others who are going through their own breast cancer journey. After my breast cancer diagnosis, I used Pilates to help build strength before my double mastectomy surgery and to regain my range of motion, and heal my body after surgery. I created the Pilates in Pink Coaching Program to help women increase their energy, ease joint & muscle pain, and get stronger whether they are recovering from surgery, going through treatment, such as chemo or radiation, or working to maintain their health to prevent a reoccurrence. My program takes a mind, body, and soul approach to recovery, helping women exercise safely and find healing through movement. We also started a local breast cancer support group that meets monthly at the studio.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
What I love most about Arizona are the beautiful sunsets. We would start by driving the windy road up South Mountain, parking, and finding a great place on the rocks to watch the sunset. We would visit some great local restaurants including Cornish Pasty, Flower Child, and Joe’s Farm Grill. Next, we’d grab a milk tea at Cafe Mollie and enjoy a spa day at Camelback Inn.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family deserves a huge shoutout! They believed in me and gave me the love and support I needed to accomplish my goal of starting my Pilates business. Another very important shoutout goes to women with breast cancer and survivors who continue to inspire my coaching business. Their stories of courage, strength, and survival gives me the motivation to continue creating content and providing resources that will help them throughout their journey and in their fight for recovery.

Website: www.Pilates1st.com

Instagram: @pilates_1st

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pilates1stStudio

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pilates-1st-mesa-2

Other: On demand videos: https://app.arketa.co/pilates1st/on-demand

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.