Unusual home working jobs – the Pilates instructor

Home working but different

Clare Marie Thomas is one of the many interesting home working people I’ve bumped into on Twitter. I was intrigued to hear she runs Pilates classes in her home in Luxembourg and asked her to tell us more:

Hi Clare, you’re a Welsh girl living in Luxembourg – what took you there?
Hello or should I say Moein (Luxembourgish for hello!)
Well 4 years ago I met my lovely husband to be who is Luxembourgish/Italian and after nearly ten years of living the high life we decided to leave London and move closer to our family and friends.
I wanted to explore a new country, learn French properly and start my business as a Pilates Instructor. Now I can enjoy London as a holiday destination and be a tourist! Ha!

What are the advantages/disadvantages of holding classes at home rather than renting a studio?
The main advantage of home working for me is that I can be more flexible and choose my hours.
Home working also means that I can Skype call my friends, family at more sociable hours. I talk to them more now than I did when I was in London!
For Pilates, you only really need a mat, and you can do Pilates anywhere – it’s so adaptable and flexible. The larger equipment is not essential but is a nice benefit.
Another major benefit of home working is that it’s obviously much cheaper to hold my classes at home rather than rent a studio, which means that I can make my sessions that little bit more cost effective and accessible for clients.
It is my long term ambition to have a studio though, which would be the perfect balance of studio equipment in a homely environment.

Do you have to do much organising/preparation at home before your students arrive?
I always plan my classes and course sessions but it is only a plan, I often change the moves and always offer different levels to best suit my client at that particular moment during the class so that they can get the most benefit from the session.
And like any business, home working includes my accounts and marketing, as well as keeping up my personal Pilates Practice.

What’s the reaction of students to coming to your home?
They love it! It’s great for them to come a nice warm, homely place to practice, they feel relaxed and there is something more personal about it all, which helps you to build a good relationship with the client – an essential factor to being a great instructor. People are sometimes put off going to a studio and find coming to my house a little more inviting and less intimidating.

You also travel to your students’ homes – what’s that like?
Well, I have to admit that initially it was a bit stressful for me, because I don’t really know my way around the city yet. It takes a maximum 20mins to get anywhere in the city. I am not sure how keen I would be to always travel to client if I was still in London!
I think that sometimes it is easier for clients to get into a good, relaxed headspace in their own homes, close the door and focus on themselves, mind and body for an hour. This helps you to get the most benefit out of the session.

Clare offers custom-designed Pilates programmes in the comfort of your own home, office or studio, in and around Luxembourg City. She will be back next week to share a simple Pilates exercise you can do without even leaving your desk!

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