Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristi Chaussard.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Born and raised in Santa Barbara, I’ve spent my life in movement – from exploring the great outdoors to competitive athletics, to working out in the gym and studio. Founding Vi came from a lifetime of accumulated experience starting way back with my dream to play tennis professionally as an adolescent, injury set backs and come backs, marathon pursuits and eventually finding Pilates. Pilates healed my injuries and brought me back to strength and movement at an advanced level, lead to becoming an instructor, quickly applying my knowledge and passion to help competitive athletes get an edge and teach instructors how to train different athlete profiles. Years later, working with all types of clients, testing and trying things, studying exercise science and human movement research, working alongside other practitioners, and always learning from my own body, I created the Vi method.
Every movement phase, athletic pursuit, and life season has ultimately taught me one important lesson: a great workout is about what it does for the long run, not so much about the feel of the moment. And, the best workout, will make the mover stronger longer instead of breaking them down over time.
There are so many fads in the workout world, swings this way and that. At the end of the day, movement is a must. Not everyone will love it, but to live long and well basic training is necessary. You don’t have to be an athlete, but to keep up with your grandchildren and enjoy your own autonomy and mobility, keeping a base training is essential. I’ve seen a lot of workout “fall outs” and had injuries myself from certain trends or fads. There are also so many choices, how do you know what you need, what to do when, and where do you find the time for it all. I’ve worked with changing needs based on life seasons whether age, stage (i.e. postnatal), or injury related.
Five movement essentials are obligatory for longevity and vitality: strength, mobility, cardio, power and recovery. From these “big 5” Vi was born. I wanted to provide a true base training that covers all the bases in one class. I wanted to respect that we all would like to have more time to do what we enjoy, so how can we get our base training in responsibly, efficiently and keep it in a sustainable manner. Workouts are based on Pilates methodology and technique, as well as evidence-based functional movement modalities: progressive weight lifting, HIIT cardio intervals and plyometrics. At Vi, while you work hard, you will improve your strength, mobility, flexibility, balance, bone density, lean muscle mass, power, cognitive reactivity, posture, technique and more. In offering a structured methodology rooted in exercise science and human movement research, my goal is to measurably strengthen clients to move and live stronger and better. The workouts are meant to work for you, not you for them; to buy you time back to spend in other ways knowing your bases are covered.
Lastly, as part of my physical studio, because my space is limited in how many people I can see at once, I opened an on demand studio in 2016. I’ve built an impressive library of one thousand workouts, including many workout programs. I am now focusing on building more workout programs focusing on specific results such as: Fit after 40, but also providing that base training that we ultimately need to repeat over and over consistently.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Running a small business is never a smooth road, but I’ve always believed in what I do and have to share with others. I would say that is also what has kept me going – the relationships I’ve built with my clients, seeing their lives changed, hearing their stories of how our training has helped them or enabled them to do all sorts of things.
Some of the biggest struggles have come in the form of where my own weaknesses are: like with social media or marketing. Things that are essential to the life of any business today but truly don’t come innately to me. When running a small business you have to sort of wear all the hats, farming the job out to someone else isn’t always an option. So the greatest challenges have come in learning these jobs and executing them while not burning out and sacrificing my clients’ experience of me as their instructor and coach.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Vi is an exclusive, integrative fitness studio in Santa Barbara. I see 1 and 2 clients at a time and am by appointment only. This highly personalized environment means: you get full attention on you, you get real results, your class is unique to you, you don’t waste your time.
Vi also offers an on demand option via our App in the app store or google play. By monthly or annual subscription you can have unlimited access to a vast library of workouts and many workout programs targeting specific results.
The Vi Method is built on the “Big 5” movement essentials for longevity and vitality: strength, mobility, cardio, power, and recovery – all in one class! Workouts are based on Pilates methodology and technique, as well as science-backed, evidence-based functional movement modalities: progressive weight lifting, HIIT cardio intervals and plyometrics. This ensures you are covering your bases for your body’s needs now and for the future so you thrive outside the studio at every stage of life.
At Vi, while you work hard, you will improve your strength, mobility, flexibility, balance, bone density, lean muscle mass, cognitive reactivity, posture, technique and more. In offering a structured methodology rooted in exercise science and human movement research, my goal is to measurably strengthen clients to move and live stronger and better.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
That’s a great question! I would define success as achieving what one’s dream or vision was. That pathway can also be full of pitfalls, so learning through the failures and getting to even a reworked end is a success, and maybe even more of one because one had to learn to adapt and adjust as they went.
I will also say that, to me, success is making a difference in someone else’s daily life by something we have done in our training – though it may be measured much differently or as a smaller success, I do believe it is just as important.
Pricing:
- 220.00 – first time 2 personal training sessions
- 50% off – use code: vitality – for any 2 sessions whether individual or duet
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thisisvi.com
- Instagram: vipilatesandfitness
- Facebook: vipilatesandfitness
- Youtube: vipilatesandfitness
- Other: studio@thisisvi.com
