EMMAUS, Pa. — After falling in love with Pilates while living in California, Maria Corradini said, she knew she wanted to bring the fitness fad back to the Lehigh Valley.
The century-old exercise is described as a combination of lower-impact exercises, with many fitness chains highlighting its benefits in mind-muscle connection and other physical benefits, such as improved posture or enhanced balance.
But Corradini said she wanted to offer a different kind of physical benefit: bringing people together.
"When I came back home, there were a couple different chains that were offering [Pilates], but they were kind of missing that music element, and then the community space," she said.
"So we thought, while it's still on the ground floor over here, maybe we could build something on our own."
With her idea and experience as a foundation, Corradini said the pieces just started to fall into place.
She toured the property at 106 Main St., Emmaus with her mother and co-owner, Alison Corradini.
"I was like, 'I don't think that's in our budget,'" Alison Corradini said. "And we made an offer and they accepted... It really was meant to be."
In October, the Corradinis signed the lease, eager to breathe life into the former district court building — cultivating the environment they hoped to offer, relying on family and community to make their dreams reality through renovations.
Or, as the Corradini's would put it: they alchemized their studio, Alchemize Pilates Community.
"Kind of similar to the name, I feel like we kind of manifested this building," Maria Corradini said.
'Its own space'
In a few weeks — courtesy of help Maria Corradini solicited from her brother's Muhlenberg fraternity, Delta Tau Delta Theta Chi and some persistence from older relatives — the muted tones of the former district court were replaced with vibrant colors.
Eight Pilates reformers now sit ready in the same room that once held a judge's bench, and a lounge room awaits the community it intends to support.
"And especially as women connecting with other women, sometimes you'll see at gyms women are standing in the parking lot for 30 minutes talking to each other, like, 'Oh is a friendship brewing?' And we want to encourage that here."Alison Corradini
"What I really love about [the lounge] is that this part is its own space," Maria Corradini said.
"At a lot of other Pilates studios, it's kind of like a strip mall: So you walk in, you can see the reformers right away and you can hear it. You can't stay and talk because there's a whole class going on.
"And while this class is going on, other people can be in our lounge area waiting or just staying afterward, and no one's bothering anyone."
"And especially as women connecting with other women, sometimes you'll see at gyms women are standing in the parking lot for 30 minutes talking to each other, like, 'Oh is a friendship brewing?'" her mother said.
"And we want to encourage that here."
The two don't just hope their members engage with one another after class. They plan to offer events to help build a sense of community.
This month, the studio will hold it's first event: a vision board-making night on Saturday, Jan. 24. And Maria Corradini teased other ideas, such as "The Bachelor" viewing parties, Botox parties or a book club.
A rapid interest
Introductory classes — which, just over a week into business, continue to sell out — start at $15 for 30 minutes and cover the basics of the reformer machine and a brief walkthrough of basic and targeted class workouts.
A single class currently costs $33. The $15 introductory class cost is later credited as a discount to the first month of a membership.
The first 100 members at Alchemize Pilates Community are considered "founding members" and will pay discounted monthly rates from $114 per month to $274 per month.
By Jan. 9, six days after officially opening for business, Alison Corradini said 70 founding members already had signed up.
"I think a lot of people, especially after COVID, they're wanting to go to another space where they see people again," Maria Corradini said.
"They're feeling a little isolated — a lot of people are working from home, but they still miss people, so they love coming here, taking a break during the day and getting to have fun under the disco ball."
With such a rapid interest from the community, the Corradinis said they already have two more Pilates instructors joining their team next month so they can expand their availability.
"I don't want that long wait," Alison Corradini said. "It's very important to customer satisfaction, and we want to retain."
Alchemize Pilates Community currently offers classes starting with introductory classes and including music genre or artist-specific workouts, muscle-targeted classes and even workouts geared toward a specific energy.
Those include the "Manifest Monday" class, which features a "playlist of songs that boost confidence and help manifest your dreams."
'Here for everyone'
Although Alchemize Pilates Community brandishes pink signage and Pilates generally appeals to a female crowd, the Corradinis want the Lehigh Valley to know they welcome anyone and everyone to try Pilates.
"[The reformers] look intimidating, but they are for everyone," Alison Corradini said. "Elderly, plus-sized, injuries... But I mean, we have all ages, all walks of life. And you don't have to be fit, but you can get fit."
"Wherever you start at is your baseline and then we progress from there," Maria Corradini said.
Since the business opened Jan. 3, Maria Corradini said, she's seen a "diverse" group of members and participants in introductory classes, including weightlifters who say they've found Pilates helps them stretch better.
'Beautiful and amazing' community excitement
The business owners say they hope the interest continues to grow, especially as their social media channels do.
Alison Corradini said her daughter, who has a degree in media and communication studies, manages the Alchemize Pilates Community social media.
While numbers steadily grow, Maria Corradini said she's seen a lot of success from several members who attended their open house on Dec. 27, including TikTok videos amassing around 100,000 views.
"I would say some goals would definitely be to have those events where we have our community. Where everyone knows each other, and they show up to class and they're saying 'Hi' and making friends who are on the reformer next to them and, ultimately, feel supported."Maria Corradini
The Corradinis said it's "beautiful and amazing" to see the community's excitement about the new Pilates studio.
"We don't want to sound cocky about it, but we're very big into speaking what we want to happen," Maria Corradini said.
"From the jump we've been like 'It's gonna be great our first month!' Even if you say it as a joke at first it really starts to settle in and you're like 'OK, it really does work'"
"Failure is not an option," Alison Corradini said. "We we're just gonna do whatever it took."
The mother-daughter duo said they never would have thought they would end up owning a business together, but called it a dream.
That dream ultimately includes multiple locations in the future, but Maria Corradini said they're focused on their core goal of building a community.
"I would say some goals would definitely be to have those events where we have our community," she said.
"Where everyone knows each other, and they show up to class and they're saying 'Hi' and making friends who are on the reformer next to them and, ultimately, feel supported."
