Sarah Gilbert & Jessie Mckenna

Sarah Gilbert (‘12) & Jessie Mckenna (‘12), founders of Pilates Online, always aspired to create a business alongside helping people feel stronger and more confident within themselves. They also love how they still feel apart of a tight knit community as Loreto Old Scholars’.

Sarah & Jessie in their own words:

It is hard to believe it has been 10 years since we graduated from Loreto. Graduating in 2012 was bittersweet – while we were excited about the next chapter of our lives, it was sad to say goodbye to a place where so many lifelong memories and were made. Our high school years proved to be some of the most fun and special times. We came out of Loreto with lifelong friends and we love that we still feel part of a tight knit community as old scholars.

The path to where we are in our careers today has not been linear. Both of us left school uncertain of the exact career path we wanted to follow, so pursued degrees that offered a wide scope of prospective career options. For Sarah, this was Public Relations at UniSA. After graduating in 2016, she enjoyed working in the field for a number of years. Ultimately looking for a career outside of the traditional 9-5 and something that fuelled her passion for nutrition, she decided to go back to Uni and study Nutrition.

Also looking for variety in career prospects, Jessie enrolled in Nursing following school. However, she realised early on that it wasn’t the right fit for her. Drawn towards something creative, she also pursued a Bachelor of Media and Communications (formerly Public Relations), graduating in 2020.

Pilates came into our lives when we joined KX Pilates as clients back in 2018. It was the first kind of exercise we actually enjoyed and we became addicted to the physical and mental changes it provided. Looking back, signing up to this studio was ultimately the moment that changed our career paths, leading us to becoming Pilates instructors a few years later.

We can both agree that the decision to enrol in a Pilates teaching course has to be the best one yet. Being quite a significant financial and time investment, there was a lot of back and forth about whether or not to do it.  Putting this aside, we decided to go for it and haven’t looked back.

While studying nutrition, Sarah became qualified as a Pilates instructor and was offered a role at KX Pilates in North Adelaide, where she taught for 3 years. Whilst Jessie was juggling full time work and Uni, she obtained her Pilates qualification and was also offered a role at the same studio, teaching here until earlier this year.

Teaching has never felt like work – it’s our job to make people feel good, and we love doing it. It’s a wonderful thing to have found something that you’re genuinely passionate about and can see yourself doing forever.

The idea of creating a business was something that the both of us always aspired to, and even better was the idea of doing it together. We’ve always been alike and shared similar interests – both having done the same Uni degree, also having worked together in 4 different workplaces and then both becoming Pilates instructors – at the same studio. Starting a business together, doing what we both love seemed like a no brainer for us.

In 2021, the concept of Pilates Online was born. What started as casual conversation along the lines of ‘imagine if we started an online Pilates studio together’, very quickly turned into a tangible business model. We became obsessed with the idea and decided to give it a real go.  

Pilates Online is a subscription based, online mat Pilates platform, designed to be accessible to anyone, from anywhere. Regardless of age, lifestyle, prior Pilates experience or fitness levels, our classes are designed for everybody; with beginner, intermediate and advanced classes available. Our workouts are inspired by traditional Pilates moves that focus on using correct technique, helping people move in the most effective way possible. 

Our goal for Pilates Online is to create an easily accessible digital platform, where men and women can use Pilates to increase strength, gain mental clarity, improve energy levels and their posture, balance and stability. We want to help people create real and sustainable change, both physically and mentally through feeling stronger, happier and more confident within themselves.

Alongside our online classes, we also run Beach Pilates every Friday morning throughout the Summer. We take people through a 45 minute mat class, while watching the sun come up at the gorgeous Henley beach. It is one of the most beautiful settings; the beach is pristine and the water is crystal clear – sometimes we’re lucky to see dolphins splashing in the distance.

With Pilates Online launching at the end of this month and Beach Pilates starting up again in October, it’s a really exciting time for us - we can’t wait to see where this new adventure takes us!