Club Pilates

Bios

• 

  Samantha James

  General Manager
• 

  Niia Bishop

  Instructor

  Niia Bishop began studying movement at age 5 as a dancer. She won a scholarship to the Alvin Ailey School of Dance, where she studied ballet, modern, African and jazz until a knee injury benched her at age 16. She began dancing less frequently again, and took classes at Mt. Holyoke and Smith Colleges while earning her bachelors as Amherst College. Though able to participate in sports like rugby and equestrian, her knee injury from high school continued to plague her. Niia danced professionally in companies in Massachusetts and New York before deciding to attend the University of Michigan to pursue a PhD in Comparative Literature. She began practicing pilates in her home with Windsor Pilates DVDs. She found the results so profound that she began a certification in mat and machine Pilates in 2007. In 2009, with the both of her son Reza, she created a mommy and me Pilates class called Mamilates, which she calls "a cross between Gymboree and Windsor Pilates." She taught this class in NYC, Long Island, and Buffalo. She is very excited to join the Club Pilates team. She hopes to bring her decade of Pilates experience to help clients achieve their physical goals.

• 

  Tara Zigdon

  Instructor

  Tara has been a competitive athlete her entire life. She has practiced all different styles of fitness training, but says Pilates has by far been the most life changing. She has been involved in Pilates for six years and received instructor training through Club Pilates. She is currently a pre-med student, and is very passionate about helping people attain a fully-functioning, healthy, strong body. Her favorite part of teaching is helping clients accomplish their personal fitness goals. As an instructor, she loves to push our members to a comfortable limit. Her mantra: Our biggest competitor is our yesterday self!

• 

  Brittany Russell

  Instructor

  Brittany moved to Columbia in 2013 to attend grad school at USC. She values health, wellness, and great workouts, and in the past, focused on strength training. Eventually, she realized she wanted something for the long term that was lower impact but still extremely effective and would challenge her in more ways, so she joined Club Pilates and has never looked back. She says that nothing has ever strengthened her core or given her mobility and flexibility like Pilates has, and she loves sharing it with others. Her favorite quote: “If you think wellness is expensive, try illness.”

• 

  Amelia Stuart

  Sales Manager
• 

  Megan Graddick

  Social Media and Events Manager
• 

  Torie Wyatt

  Sales Associate
• 

  Nellie Crawford

  Instructor

  Nellie was born and raised in Columbia, SC and has always been involved in fitness and sports. After graduating college, she developed a passion for Group Exercise classes - sampling Barre, Spin, Bootcamp, and more. Pilates has always been her favorite because of the results you can get from an exercise class that is built for everyone - college athletes, new mamas, seniors and everyone in between! She's excited to take her passion for Pilates to the instructor side. She's certified through Club Pilates and will be teaching at our Forest Acres studio. When Nellie is not teaching, she works in Learning and Development at Trane Commercial HVAC, and enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs!

• Kaitlyn Bean

  Instructor

  Kaitlyn Vann Bean began practicing Pilates in 2007 in Chattanooga, TN. She fell in love with the practice immediately and knew she wanted to share this lifestyle with others. After 11 years as a Pilates student, she began her Mat training at Fusion Pilates in Asheville, NC and recently completed her apparatus training through Club Pilates. Kaitlyn has taught private one-on-one lessons and Group Fitness classes at the University of South Carolina. Kaitlyn believes Pilates is for every body and loves working with clients to find how to bring Pilates to their daily lives!